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With every day the children were growing and learning a little bit more about the world they were living in. Maggie spent almost every waking minute with her children, trying to teach them everything she knew. They were comfortable around Jasper and Kimbra, though Florence still twitched nervously every time she ruffled her feathers. All her children had received a customary Monroe family tradition; they all wore jewelry hand-selected for them by their mother. Maggie’s green-jeweled bangle still shone bright on her wrist, she had never taken it off since her own mother had given her it. Perhaps that was the only thing her gypsy mother had passed on to her; her love of shiny jewels.
Houston had received a regal gold chain that was wrapped around his neck twice because of his small neck. He looked magnificent in it; the gold brought out his eyes. Memphis received one of Maggie’s own necklaces that had been given to her by a long lost friend. A chipped blue cross hung around her neck on a dainty silver chain. Florence received a necklace as well, a a gold chain with a green and purple design. The cheap gold had mostly faded away and a few of the stones had fallen out but otherwise it was fine. The three children wore their trinkets and always had them close to their heart. Maggie’s heart swelled with pride whenever she could hear the metal jingle.
Maggie’s interests in the pack had waned. She heard of Sirius’ departure, and wondered what sort of dark thing had actually happened. That meant that Salvia was the sole leader now besides her mother, if she even still had any sway with her at all. This was not a healthy environment for her family to succeed in. Denver had agreed, and so the family had chosen to leave peacefully. They were to leave a note explaining their situation, wanting to try living back where Denver came from. In fact they had no real destination in mind, they just knew they would be welcomed back peacefully if they needed to return to their homeland. Maggie also wrote a note to Niro explaining why they were leaving and where they were thinking of heading on a piece of paper attached to Kimbra. The bird flew out just as they were packing up the horse with the bare essentials they needed. The kids were too big to sit all on Jasper’s back, however, so they would have to take turns walking with the great white thoroughbred.
The family looked back at their crumbling residence once last time before taking off just as the sun was starting to rise. Memphis eagerly lead the party with his father, but Maggie was lagging behind with the sleepy girls. By the time they reached the barbed wire fence at the northern border, the sun was fully illuminating the world around them and the children were all trotting together happily in front of their old packland. “Well, this is it,” She said to her mate almost fearfully, looking to him for comfort. She grasped his hand and squeezed it tightly as she walked past the fence, finally free.
The travel had been slow at first so that the children could get used to the amount of walking at first. They had stopped for a rest at the side of a lake a few days walk west of Salsola. The group quickly packed up the next morning at the crack of dawn. But no one had seen the forgotten bag that had been left on the other side of the tree; inside, sleeping happily, was Memphis.