“Once Celine found out we’d been on the Woodsman property she wanted to come out here all the time. I think part of her was always a little jealous over that day you and I had gone without her. I took her because I was happy to have someone else interested in the Woodsmans, even if she didn’t know the whole story. It’s been lonely not being able to share with anyone about what happened for all these years, and I could tell she was lonely too. We never saw anything like Celine had that first day again. Then Celine met Phillip and we stopped coming as much. When Alden Jones began building his park the only way to get on and off the property besides the main entrance was the river. If she wanted to get off the plantation without being seen, if she wanted to disappear, this would have been the only way to do it.”

“Well, she’s not here. There’s no sign of her having been anywhere near this place.”

Jesse climbed back onto the path. Mira sensed there was so much more Jesse wasn’t telling her. She hoped if she waited long enough he’d finally tell her, but he continued to stare in the direction of the swamp water, as if somewhere lurking underneath its stillness was an answer he needed to know.

“Maybe we’ve gotten this whole thing wrong. We’ve spent most of the day looking for Celine but maybe she doesn’t want to be found.” Mira was tired, dirty, and wanted to go back to the cottage so she could take a shower and crawl into bed. Following Jesse had taken her nowhere. They weren’t any closer to finding Celine.

A few yards away a couple appeared from the trail. Mira and Jesse were quiet as the couple passed them by, nodding as they hiked along the path in the direction of the entrance. Mira watched them as they disappeared. “Jesse, it’s what makes the most sense. Maybe she didn’t want to marry Phillip after all. Not sure I can blame her, to be honest, and she left because she was too afraid of facing everyone about it. Maybe that’s all this is. All those people back at the plantation, they’re not concerned at all about Celine and where she could be. Maybe they have the right idea. Maybe she’s just gone.”

“I’d really hoped we’d find her, Mira. Like she’d be waiting to tell us this whole thing was a huge prank on everyone. Or at least we’d see some signs she’d left, deciding not to go through with it after all. I wanted to believe she was different. That she wasn’t the type of person who’d truly want to have a wedding at a place like the Woodsman Plantation. Otherwise it means she hates us.”