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Peering from behind the curtains, they watch as the car slows and then parks near the front gate. A large man in uniform exits the passenger side and opens the back door for Mrs. Brannan and her husband to get out. The officer spends several minutes talking to them while gesturing and making his seemingly strong points. The older couple remain quiet and just nod their heads repeatedly as if acknowledging that they understand. Soon, the vehicle pulls away from the curb and the Brannans make their way up the sidewalk toward the house.

Clare and James move from the window to greet them at the door. Surprised by their appearance there, the couple is taken aback at first. “Mrs. Thompson, is that you? What are you doing here? Where’s Sophie, is she okay?” asks the father.

“Yes, yes, everything is fine,” Clare hurriedly assures him. “She is upstairs with my daughter. We came to buy some candles early this morning and found Sophie here by herself. And then she told us what had happened. Is everything okay?”

“Mostly, I guess” says Mr. Brannan. “They sure asked us a lot of questions and then they kept us overnight. They might have been trying to scare us a little bit.”

“Scare us?” a fiery Mrs. Brannan jumps in. “They were trying to bully us. That one big guy kept saying that they could kick us out if they found out that Bob is trading with people that aren’t allowed. I felt like kicking him.”

“Now, now, Marion,” interjects her husband. “Take it easy, they were just doing their job. It’s over.”

The weary parents enter the house. Mr. Brannan sits down on the couch as Mrs. Brannan quickly rushes upstairs to find her daughter. He looks exhausted and beaten down. Clare and James join him in the living room and sit quietly until he speaks. “I want to thank you for staying with Sophie, we were worried sick about her. I didn’t think they would keep us overnight.”

“That’s fine. I’m glad that we came by,” says Clare.

“What did they say you were doing wrong?” asks James.

“Oh, they had been told that I was trading with other Sectors. There’s kind of an unwritten rule that it’s okay to trade with the East Fork Sector but not any others. They have an agreement with ours to look the other way if it is coming from one or the other. They just don’t want any of our goods that the authorities don’t know about benefiting any other Sector. I told them that I wasn’t doing that, told them that over and over again. I know they believed me but they had to put up a tough appearance for a while,” says Mr. Brannan.

The girls and Mrs. Brannan then come down the staircase with Jenny leading the way. She excitedly runs over to where her mother is sitting. “Mommy, Sophie let me draw with her. She’s really, really good at it and she showed me how to draw a horse. Look…look!” And Jenny eagerly shoves the piece of paper in front of her mother.

“Oh, Jenny, that’s really good. I like your picture,” says Clare as she passes it over to James to add his approval.