I couldn't sleep, and i regretted sleeping so much last night. I wouldn't have slept at all if I'd known that I'd be locked in the cellar, no food and no water, with nothing to do but sleep.

Instead I sang. I sang every song I knew from Oh Susanna to Omie Wise to The Railroad Boy, which I sang over and over again, thinking of Winnie. In my mind I was begging her to run away again, whether she met up with Jesse and the Tucks or not, to get out of here before her parents dismissed her like they dismissed me.

Of course I hoped the Tucks were alright too. Mae was in jail but that was the most they could do to her, and as for Angus and the boys I didn't have a clue. Hopefully Miles had moved on by now, gotten out of town. Angus wouldn't leave Treegap without his wife, and as for Jesse, well I'm guessing he wouldn't leave without Winnie.

Part of me, the tiniest part, was hoping that Miles wouldn't leave without me either. But he was smarter than Jesse and Angus combined and so I knew that he would do the right thing, and the right thing was to go. He'd left another family before, he'd told me that one night while Winnie and Jesse slept above us, when there was no more room in the loft for me.

His wife had left him, really, and taken their babies with them. He'd tracked them down later, and they were all already gone. He cried into my collarbone in bed and I'd let him, my body soaking wet with sweat and tears.

I sang The Railroad Boy one more time and leaned my head against the stairs leading to the cellar door. The summer heat was cooler down here, but the nicest spot was right on the wooden steps. I'd already tried the door, and it had been locked from the outside as well.

Suddenly, the door above me started to groan. I thought at first it was moving with the heat, but then it started to move as well.

"Winnie?" I called out. "Mr. foster? Mrs. Foster?"

"Oh, Willow!" Winnie said, throwing the cellar doors out of her way and running down to hug me. "I'm so sorry."

Her face was streaked with tears.

"None of this was your fault," I told her, rocking her gently. "None of it. Not Mae being in jail, not your dad locking me down here. You had nothing to do with it, Win, okay?"

"I had everything to do with it," She said, tears staining my white dress.

"Actually, she did." A voice said, and my heart lifted up from my stomach. Miles.

Winnie laughed then and I managed to crack a smile.

"Get out of the cellar, Will." Miles said, offering me a hand. "We need your help."

"Can somebody fill me in on what's going on?" I asked, watching as Jesse emerged from the trees behind the house. Winnie ran over to him, obviously having not seen him for a good day or two, and they embraced, kissing.

Miles and I looked away, glancing at each other awkwardly. We had definitely left off on bad terms.

"Mae is in jail," Miles explained.

"For killing the guy that came after Win, I got that part."

"What about Angus is in jail?"

"No, that's new news."

"He went after the cops when they tried to take Mae away." He said silently, looking at the ground. I searched for his eyes.

"And you didn't?"

"No," He said, blushing. "There was a moment when...when Jesse had stopped holding Winnie. He was going to go after the cop too. I held him back."

I looked over at Winnie and Jesse, having their own little conversation.

"Thank you," I told him gently. "Winnie wouldn't be able to handle it if Jesse was in there too."

He grunted, nodding.

"They go to the gallows tomorrow." He added. "And when they're hung, in front of everyone-"

"They won't die," I sucked in a breath. "And your secret will come out."

"Which is why we need your help, you and Winnie. We need to get them out, tonight."

I nodded and he turned away from me, walking towards Winnie and Jesse, probably to form a plan. I grabbed his forearm tightly.

"And then," I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "You and your family need to leave Treegap, until it's safe."

"I know," he nodded. "It's just so damn hard."

I laughed, thinking about how easy it would be for me to leave here. But then again, this hadn't been my home for over 100 years.

"What do you love about this place so much?"

"You," He said, leaning down and kissing me.