Malisha Bondurant sat in church with a proud smile on her face. Her husband Granville was by her side, nursing a newly born Jack as he slept and her two boys had, yet again, agreed to join them. She looked over to Howard and Forrest and pursed her lips at the sight of them, trying to hold back a laugh. Howard was not listening to the sermon, or making any effort to make it appear he was paying attention, the dried dirt on the toe of his boot was apparently a lot more interesting.

Then, there was Forrest. Malisha had no misgivings about why her boys were suddenly so curious about religion, it wasn't God they were there for, little Eleanor Thomas was the reason. He was fidgeting something awful, his eyes set on Ellie's usual space right at the front, where she always sat on her own. Right before Forrest would wordlessly leave his family and join her, Howard following seconds later. But Ellie wasn't there today, an extinct occurrence that obviously worried her son. In fact, it worried her too. Clara and Ellie Thomas always attended church and the little girl especially seem to take extra comfort in her faith, even more so when Clara had become sick. From then on, Ellie would just attend alone.

She reached out to place a hand on Forrest's leg, which was bobbing up and down in anticipation, he looked up at her and she leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"You go on an' find your friend." She said and he did instantly, quickly but quietly slipping from his seat and out of the church, leaving a disgruntled Howard who folded his arms in a huff.

Forrest didn't bother checking Ellie-Mae's house, she was hardly ever home. Instead, he headed straight for the rope swing she'd shown him the day they first met, then the huge log by the lake where they often sat and talked, then finally, the old willow in the corn field. His running slowed when she came into view and he paused, frowning as he studied the back of her head. She wasn't sat high in the tree like normal, she wasn't singing a song to herself, her hair wasn't tied up in cute braids like usual and she wasn't impeccably dressed. Alternatively, she was on her knees by the tree stump, her white dress was covered in mud, her hair was loose and looked like it hadn't been brushed in days and she was whispering with her head bowed.

"Ellie?" The whispering stopped and she lifted her head, but she didn't turn to look at him. "What'chu doin'?"

"Prayin'" She squeaked.

"Why ain't you prayin' at church?" Forrest asked carefully, taking slow steps to his friend. She still hadn't looked at him and it unnerved him. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

"I ain't friends with God t'day, For'st." She finally spun on her knees and he gulped, taking in her tear stained face and puffy eyes. He was so used to seeing her angelic face with a smile on it, he wasn't prepared to see it so sad. "He took my Momma."

Her lip quivered when she spoke the words in a whisper and her face scrunched up, and before he knew it she had leapt to her feet and thrown her tiny arms around his waist, sobbing loudly into his shoulder. He froze on the spot. Comforting friends, especially girls was completely alien to Forrest, he was not a boy that was fond of touching or hugging, it always made him feel awkward. But, for his friend who was clearly heartbroken, his arms hesitantly moved to return her hug, one hand stiffly patting her shoulder. But the small action, however unnatural it felt to him, was appreciated by Ellie and after been stood that way for a while, her cries finally died down. She pulled back from him and Forrest surprised himself when he wiped at her damp face with the sleeve of his jacket.

"God didn't take your Momma, Ellie-Mae, she just got sick." He said with a sympathetic smile, he watched as she paused, her mind turning over his words before she nodded sadly.

They'd stayed out late by the willow tree that night, not playing like they did ordinarily but just talking. Forrest listened intently as Ellie talked fondly of her Mother but she didn't cry again, instead, her chubby cheeks were set in a permanent sad smile that made him feel even worse. He'd left her well after sun-down and had been reluctant to do so even then, but Ellie promised she would head home soon after him. He doubted she did.

After the funeral, Forrest assumed Ellie would steadily get back to normal but she only got worse. She acted like she was fine. She dressed in the same pretty frocks and dolly shoes her Mother used to choose for her, she even struggled to braid her hair each morning and whenever Forrest and Howard would see her she'd be wearing a smile. Howard didn't notice a difference but the middle brother knew better, he'd been on the receiving end of enough of the little girl's smiles to know that the current ones were fake. He never voiced his concerns though, he just made sure that he was with her as often as his Mother allowed him to be.

It wasn't until one mid-summers night that Forrest began questioning the root cause of his friends unhappiness. They had been in her empty house, all three of them, bored to their wits end and seeking shelter from the sweltering heat when Ellie-Mae suggested they bake a cake. It was an ambitious suggestion from a girl who could only just reach the kitchen counter but the two boys had agreed. Howard, been the only one tall enough to do most of the work, had taken control of the activity, ordering the two others to do the more menial task and Forrest and Ellie had become bored quickly.

So Ellie had started a chain of events by cracking an egg on Howards shoulder, her high pitched giggle echoing through the whole house as yellow goo dripped down his arm. Forrest recognised Ellie's mischievous laughter as the most genuine he'd heard in months and certainly didn't want it to stop. He reached for another egg and with lightning speed planted it on the top of Howards head, watching from behind his brother with a smile as Ellie broke out into new fits of giggles. Howard had been understandably annoyed at first but as he stood frozen while the disgusting splodge dripped onto his face his shoulders began to shake, the girl's infectious laughter rubbing off on him. Their baking had soon escalated into a full on food fight, all three of them covered in flour and cake mixture, red faced from laughing and running from room to room.

Their excitement had eventually died down, the trio attempting to catch their breath from all the exertion when Ellie had stiffened, the smile falling from her face and she ran to her living room, jumping onto the couch to peer out of the window.

"What's wrong, Ellie?" Howard asked, looking to Forrest questioningly.

"My pa's back." She leaped from the couch and stormed over to them, grabbing Forrest by the arm and tugging. "C'mon, we gotta go."

Forrest relented and allowed Ellie to lead him through the messy kitchen and to the back door, she pushed it open but faltered, looking back at Howard with confusion.

"H'ard, c'mon!"

"We can't just leave your house like this for 'im to find, we gotta clean up." He said with a bemused chuckle.

"Please, H'ard...For'st tell 'im to come."

Ellie's eye's were begging Forrest and he signalled his brother with a sharp inclination of his head, Howard rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed. Trailing behind as Ellie sprinted fast as she could through the overgrown corn field, falling to her knee's when she reached the willow tree and clasping her hands in front of her. Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she began whisper an urgent prayer.

For the first time, Howard was worried and looked at his younger brother who was listening to her prayer and looking on with something akin to terror. For whatever reason, Ellie was scared, for her safety and for theirs. And as an angry male voice hollered her name out into the field, it dawned on the two boys that it wasn't the death of Clara that had made Ellie so unhappy, it was having to live with her Father.