{"id":3176,"date":"2026-05-18T15:55:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/?p=3176"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:55:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:25:58","slug":"part-2-the-girl-from-the-edge-of-the-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/?p=3176","title":{"rendered":"PART 2: The Girl From the Edge of the Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thomas Hale didn\u2019t step back.<\/p>\n

He stayed by the fire, hands open where she could see them, like he didn\u2019t want to frighten her into slipping away again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re inside,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cYou\u2019re safe now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl\u2019s lips trembled. Her eyes darted around the cabin\u2014walls, shadows, fire\u2014like she didn\u2019t trust any of it to stay real.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t send me back,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019s expression tightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside, the storm threw itself against the house again, as if offended by the answer.<\/p>\n

The girl tried to sit up, but her body shook too hard. Thomas moved immediately, sliding a folded wool blanket closer without touching her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve been out there a long time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Her voice came broken. \u201cI stopped walking\u2026 when it got too dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

That made him go still.<\/p>\n

He glanced toward the door, as if expecting someone to burst through it at any moment.<\/p>\n

No one came.<\/p>\n

Only wind.<\/p>\n

Only snow.<\/p>\n

Thomas reached for a tin cup near the hearth, poured what little warm water he had left, and placed it near her instead of forcing it on her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

The girl hesitated for a long moment.<\/p>\n

Then: \u201cEvelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire cracked softly.<\/p>\n

Thomas nodded once, like he was committing it to memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright, Evelyn,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re not outside anymore. You don\u2019t have to earn staying here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes lifted slightly at that\u2014like she didn\u2019t understand the idea of being allowed to stay somewhere without permission.<\/p>\n

A long silence followed.<\/p>\n

Then, faintly, from beneath the blanket:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Is someone coming for me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas looked at her for a long moment.<\/p>\n

Outside, the wind answered first\u2014loud, persistent, unkind.<\/p>\n

But Thomas\u2019s voice cut through it anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot while I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas Hale didn\u2019t step back. He stayed by the fire, hands open where she could see them, like he didn\u2019t want to frighten her into slipping away again. \u201cYou\u2019re inside,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cYou\u2019re safe now.\u201d The girl\u2019s lips trembled. Her eyes darted around the cabin\u2014walls, shadows, fire\u2014like she didn\u2019t trust any of it to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}