She Didn't Cry Wolf

Ring around

After Nia and Theo had left the City, I decided to take a drive down to the City of Dans. As I was still injured, Fyler came along to help me. We went looking for answers. I wasn't sure what I'd find out but I couldn't leave it there. Yes, Patrick is gone but what he did wasn't exactly dead to me. I don't know what I need, perhaps closure. Yes, this was closure. I could finally close this painful chapter but first, we needed to get to Dans.

Watching Baiford disappear in the side mirror and having Flyer clasp my hand was a sigh of relief. The more the space between the better I felt. Has someone ever held your hand in a way that said, "I'm with you, you're safe." That's all I felt with him, safe. We had not spent a single moment apart even when I told him, "I want to leave, I was thinking of going to Dans." His eyes nearly popped out of his skull with concern and the noodles hung mid air as he ate it but after slurping it up, he agreed. "Wherever you go, I'll go with you." He promised…

It would be a few hours and I'd finally fall asleep without screaming or fighting. The nightmares were another reason I came here, everything else wasn't working. I woke up, firstly confused and also alone. Partly startled by Fyler's sudden appearance, "You're awake?" I sat the chair up and answered him, "Yes, I am but where were you?" He handed me a few brochures, "Where would you like for us to stay?" I looked at them briefly and closed my eyes before picking. "This one!" I couldn't help but smile, it was a house to rent and it was beautiful. White wooden shutters and a white door, "Are these, windchimes?" "Let's go and see."

We sat in the car and I called just to make sure the place was available to rent, "Hi, I'm Pippa Watts. I'd like to rent a property you're advertising." It didn't take long to get everything sorted, we leased it for about a month and got there before dark, the leading agent Priscilla couldn't have been more helpful. "Welcome to Dan's, I hope you'll enjoy your stay."

I thought we were extremely lucky, the place was fully furnished and kept up perfectly. Nothing broken or out of place and the chimes made such a melody even at the faintest breeze. There were no family pictures, just art decor, potted plants here and there. It was straight out of a catalogue. As it was late, we just made dinner and slept by the cosy fire Fyler made. I didn't like the bedroom anymore so I started the habit of falling asleep with Fyler's arm tucked over me, the couch was comfy and big enough.

Perhaps it was the change of scenery but it was the first time that I could rest. The sun peaked in and woke me first, I spent some time just looking at it and I discovered that Flyer snores. I snuck out of the living room quietly and got into the kitchen, made us some breakfast and cleaned up. Is it odd, this felt more like a home than just a rental? I heard a thud and rushing footsteps, "Are you okay?" The words reached my ears faster than Fyler, I couldn't help but quietly smile and say, "Are you always this stressed in the morning?" He was rubbing his eyes, "I'm not used to you waking up and cooking. How did you find everything so fast?" My shoulders went up and with buttered toast I simply said, "I don't know, I just knew where to look."

It was a strange series of events that unfold during our stay there but at the time, it just felt like 'a knowing'. The morning was relatively easy, we washed up and got ready. As I switched on the dishwasher, there was a strange clunk of a noise in the pipes so I called Priscilla, she sent over the plumber named Giannis. He came rather quickly as he lived a few houses away. As expected, a belt and tools were at the ready but what I was not prepared for was, "Witam, nazywam się Giannis. Jestem tu po twoją hydraulikę.” My head shot back so fast, "I'm sorry, what?" He used his hand and pointed as his shirt 'Polish Plumbing' I simply stepped out of the way and led him to the kitchen.

We stood out of his way and he was done in roughly 30 minutes, he called out and said, "Dlaczego miałbyś nosić obrączkę podczas zmywania naczyń?” Again, I was lost in translation but he pointed to his ring finger and handed me this gorgeous diamond ring as well as the bill. Fyler made a joke saying, "I guess that's a sign." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ring. "Who do you think it belongs to?" I shrugged and looked at, "Maybe the owner of the house?" He shook his head no and said, "Priscilla said this house has been empty for almost two years. I do think we should give her a call and the bill because this doesn't belong to us." He placed the ring on the wooden counter near the door and I couldn't stop looking at it.

We did call Priscilla and discuss it, she told us to keep it. The owner took everything he wanted to and doesn't want anything else. We thought about it and decided to head off to the jewellery store. There was an older lady there, she had a cream cardigan on and examined a few diamonds with her loupe. "Welcome, welcome. Please have a seat. I'll be right with you." We sat down on the leather seats and waited for her, you could smell the wood. There was warmth emanating from the glass and made all the diamonds sparkle. "You two seem rather young to be tying the knot so soon." She examined us like the diamonds, her accent made her all the more cuter.

"We're not here to get engaged but we have come with something and it requires your help." She looked at us rather confused, "I don't know how I can help you but I can try." I had wrapped the ring in a small cloth and placed it gently on the counter, she opened it up and the amount of shock and horror on her face was enough to make our faces pale, "Where did you get this?" We looked at each other and answered her honestly, "It was found in the dishwasher, we're renting a place here in Dans for a month. The plumber took it out of the machine." She closed up the ring rather quickly and said, "Please go, take it and go somewhere else. I cannot help you." She left us alone with the ring and with more questions than answers.