With a shudder, Scarlet replied, "Yes, it would. They'd kill me. I know too much about them for them to let me go."
A memory suddenly flashed, uninvited, through Scarlet's mind…
"You think you can just leave us?" shouted a tall, heavily-built man in a torn tunic.
"I think I should be able to leave when I want to," retorted an older man with graying hair. It's the same man that brought Scarlet to the Sapphires.
The younger man, clearly a leader, chuckled darkly. "Ok, then go. Leave us. And don't expect to be allowed back."
"Samuel, no!" yelled Scarlet, tears running down her face.
The older man looked at her and his steely gaze softened. Scarlet had been like a daughter to him, and he had been like a father to her. "I have to, Scarlet. I don't belong here anymore."
He left, and the next time Scarlet saw him was a few days later, in the woods. He was lying face-down in the mud, not breathing. Scarlet had cried for days afterward.