For the past season and a half, Rachel had been living with on her father's farm again. Mark had started farming at twenty one and had quite a knack for it. His farm was a lot bigger than Rachel's and she had enjoyed the challenge of a herd of fifty cows.

Mark had been sleeping when Rachel arrived back home very late at night, but the hour didn't bother him. He was more concerned about why his daughter had suddenly appeared on the doorstep, surrounded by suitcases and in a flood of tears. He made her a cup of tea and some tomato soup, listened to the story of her break up, hugged her tightly and tucked her into bed as if she were a child again. And Rachel started to feel a bit better. Even so, there was still something that didn't feel quite right.

It was very late in the summer. Rachel could already feel how much cooler it was outside. She hoped it wouldn't be too harsh a winter.

She was sitting at the table in the morning, a mug of tea and some toast smeared with butter and honey in front of her-her favourite breakfast. Mark came into the kitchen with a letter in his hand.

"This arrived for you. I think it's from your old town."

Rachel frowned as she took the envelope and slit it open. "I told Dunhill I didn't want to hear from them." She recognised Dunhill's scrawled handwriting easily.

Rachel

I know you didn't want to hear from anyone in town but this is something I think you need to know.

A few nights ago we were suddenly struck with the worst typhoon in history. It had been completely unpredicted, the most we were expecting was a light rain.

Due to this lack of warning, Charles thought it would be OK to fly his plane that night. He and two other passengers-who aren't town residents-were flying and were caught in it without warning. They never stood a chance at survival.

Camellia and Hina have asked for privacy but they gave me permission to write and let you know. We will be making arrangements for Charles's burial soon so if you want to come back and attend, let me know soon.

Please know I'm not saying you should return to the town, especially if you're not ready, but you have as much of a right to say goodbye to Charles as the rest of us.

I'm so sorry you have to find out this way.

Dunhill

Rachel's hands were shaking and tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Mark asked in alarm. Rachel couldn't speak, but handed him the letter. Mark read it with a furrowed brow.

"Oh, Rachel..." he said quietly. He put his hands on her shoulders as she sobbed into her hands.

After a few minutes, Rachel was done crying and he handed her a tissue.

"I just can't believe it," Rachel sniffed. "Charles was such a lovely man..."

"Rachel, darling, I'm so sorry," Mark said, sitting across the table from her.

Rachel sniffed. "I don't know what to do."

"Don't do anything," Mark told her. "Not yet. Take a day or so to think about it. Right now you just need to calm down and process."

It was a strange day. Rachel felt as if she was drifting. She couldn't focus. When she went to see the cows she tried to milk the same cow three times.

She cried at strange intervals. She would see a plane in the clear sky, or hear some music, and she would feel her eyes watering and her throat constricting again.

At around two o'clock, another letter came through the door. She picked it up and received another shock. The writing was big and looped, but the messiness suggested it was from someone young. She knew who it was from: Hina.

Rachel took the letter to her room, sat cross-legged on the floor, and opened the letter up to read.

Dear Rachel.

Papa's plane was hit by the big storm and now Papa is dead. Mama said he can't come back but we both want him to come back.

We are very sad without him. Mama said not to ask you to come back because you are sad too but I miss you lots. I don't know what's going to happen without Papa and I'm scared. I thought if you came back for a little while we can be sad together?

Lots of love, Hina xxx

There were tearstains on the paper from where Hina had been crying. It broke Rachel's heart all over again. The letter hit Rachel far too close to home.

Rachel quickly ran through dates in her head. Hina would have just turned seven. Rachel was only three years older than her when her own mother had died.

Julia had been a beautiful young woman, with clear blue eyes and thick blonde hair. She was always kind and friendly to everyone and Rachel adored her.

One autumn, Julia started to get sick. It was nothing much-just headaches that got significantly worse in bright lights. Julia brushed it off as the flu.

But then she started being sick a lot and couldn't always wake up in morning. There was a day when Rachel had been called out of school and sent to the local hospital, where she learned the truth. Julia had had a sudden seizure that morning and Mark had insisted on taking her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with meningitis.

The time after that was a blur of school, home and hospital visits. Julia was given treatment immediately, but for some reason it didn't work. It was like her body wasn't even trying. Her condition escalated and she passed away one winter's night in a haze of high fever and hospital medications.

Rachel remembered Mark shaking her awake that night, telling her Julia might not be around for much longer and that they needed to get to the hospital. Julia's cousin Vaughn was there. Rachel had always been a little afraid of him but that night she had clung onto him in the waiting room as Mark watched Julia's life leaving her.

Between Julia's diagnosis and Julia's death, a mere two seasons had passed.

Rachel missed a week of school to recover, but when she went back everything seemed different. Of course, nothing had really changed. But she was no longer interested. She didn't speak in class. She didn't run around outside. She didn't even speak to her friends. It all seemed so pointless and trivial. Why were her friends arguing over coloured pencils when the most important person in the world was gone forever? Eventually Rachel's friends started avoiding her completely. It took a year for Rachel to return to normal, but even so, something in her had broken and it would never be fixed again.

Now, Rachel sat in her room, holding Hina's letter to her heart. The innocent question was running through her mind: I thought if you came back for a little while we could be sad together?

Rachel remembered the first year without Julia. She had felt oddly separated from everyone else. How could she stay in this home-her safe house-and subject Hina to that same loneliness she had had to endure? How could she leave Hina to adjust without her father when Rachel herself had longed for a friend to stay with her and tell her it would be OK?

There was a sudden knock at the door. "Rachel? What's wrong?"

Rachel stood up and opened the door, stepping aside to let Mark in. He looked worried.

"I just got this letter...from Charles's daughter..." She handed him Hina's letter.

"Ah..." Mark sighed as he read the letter. He nodded in understanding. "How old is she?"

"She's just turned seven."

Mark winced, and put his arm around Rachel's shoulders. Rachel guessed he was thinking about Julia too.

"I just...I don't want you going back there because someone else wants you to, you know?"

"Dad, I want to go back." As Rachel spoke, she knew it was true. She wanted to be there for Hina, yes, but she also realised she had unfinished business back in the town. Her home had been a refuge-she was safe from harm, but she was aware that she was hiding from something that she needed to face.

"I'm just thinking...I don't want you to run into that ex-boyfriend of yours and for him to give you anymore grief," Mark muttered. They rarely spoke about Allen, but when he did, Mark's eyes narrowed in hatred. Honestly, it unsettled Rachel and was partly why she didn't bring it up much.

"I'm not going back for Allen," Rachel said firmly. "I'm going to see my friend who has lost her father at a young age. And I'm going to see my other friends, and I miss my farm."

"Well, you're old enough to make your own decisions," Mark sighed. "You'd better let Dunhill know that you're coming back. Tell me if your ex does anything untoward. And you'll always be welcome here at any time."

"Dad..." Rachel swallowed. "Will you be OK?"

"I'll be fine Rachel. And I definitely don't want you staying here just for me!" He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Go wherever feels right to you, OK?"

"OK," Rachel smiled. "I love you, Dad." She hugged him tightly.

Ah, home. The old refuge. I stayed at my parents house in September before having to face a harsh reality. It did feel like I was avoiding it. Luckily everything smoothed out.

I like that a feature of ANB is that you sometimes get letters from other Harvest Moon worlds :D