sutures from her face, her fingers sticky with blood. She must have already plucked the stitches from her abdomen because blood bloomed brightly across her hospital gown.
I fell to my knees and grabbed her bloody fingers in mine. “Cora, why?” I asked. “Why did you do this to yourself?”
“It wasn’t Kendall,” she whispered. “It wasn’t Violet and Jordyn. They didn’t do it.”
Five months later
Thomas Petit
September 14, 2018
Later, I got to see the video footage from the camera in front of the train’s engine. I came as close to dying as I ever have. The video wasn’t the best quality and there was no audio but it was clear that John Dover and I were having words. I tripped and fell backward and John Dover tried to help me up. It’s a miracle that I didn’t die and it’s equally amazing that John Dover didn’t die trying to save me. I did end up with a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder. Could have been a hell of a lot worse.
I wish I had never gone down to the train station. There are a lot of things I wish I had done differently. I still just don’t understand why Jordyn lied and kept on lying even though she didn’t do anything more than sneak out and try to pull a prank on a friend. She wasn’t the one who sent Cora those fake messages and she wasn’t the one who stabbed and beat her. But still she felt the need to accuse an innocent man, her teacher no less. I tried to get Jordyn to tell me why but she wouldn’t or couldn’t explain it beyond saying that she was scared and afraid they’d never let her come home again.
Tess tells me that we’ll probably never fully understand our granddaughter. She’s had a hard life. Her parents dumped her off on our doorstep. We’ve tried to be good parents to her, but it’s not the same as having your real mom and dad there to sit down with you at dinner and to tuck you in every night.
Mr. Dover resigned from his teaching position and last I heard had moved out of state. Wherever he is I hope he’s been able to make a fresh start.
After I fell on the train tracks and busted up my shoulder, I told Officer Grady about the book bag hidden in the chimney. He fished it out and it ended up there was zero physical evidence that linked Jordyn to any crime. By the grace of God, I wasn’t arrested for tampering with evidence. I guess no one saw the point of throwing an old man in jail for trying to protect his granddaughter.
Once a week we drive to Grayling and I drop Jordyn off at her counselor’s office and then take Tess to her physical therapy appointment. The deal was Jordyn had to go to counseling or be charged for making false statements to the police. The counseling seems to be helping. She’s a lot quieter now, though, stays pretty much to herself. Tess says that in a few months everyone will move on to the next scandal and Jordyn will be surrounded by friends again. But I don’t know. Small towns have long memories.
Beth Crow
September 14, 2018
We packed up the car with our clothes, a few belongings and Boomer and left in the dark of night when the neighbors were asleep. Pretty much like how we arrived—fitting, I guess. I’m afraid, though, that no matter how far we run, Violet and Max won’t be able to recover from our ten months in Pitch. I spent a long time talking with Dr. Gideon about the move. She warned us that running away from what happened wouldn’t be good for Violet, for any of us, but she did think that it might be best for Violet, for all of us, to get a brand-new start. I was sure that if we stayed in Pitch Violet would forever be known as one of the Wither girls and Max would feel like he would always have to defend his sister.
Dr. Gideon also warned me about just up and leaving without having a real plan in place. She suggested that I research where we were going to move, look for a job, find housing and arrange for ongoing mental health support for Violet. She has a lot to deal with. Violet’s best friend nearly died, and even though Violet was innocent, people still look at