The argali sheep killed by the falling rocks yesterday had already been butchered. Evelyn Ford stepped out of her carriage, and her spirits lifted as she looked at the wide, open road ahead.

She took out the pickled radishes she had prepared earlier from her shipping container. Smelling the sour aroma, Wyatt Vaughn quickly ran over.

"The radishes haven’t gone bad, have they?"

"No, they’re just really sour."

Wyatt Vaughn gulped. "The sourer, the better. I’m so sick of eating meat every day. I need some radish sticks to cut through the richness."

Evelyn Ford opened the lid and poured some into a small bowl.

The sun was warm today, and two Snow Eagles could be seen circling in the sky. Wyatt Vaughn had already carried the bowl of radishes over to the group, so Evelyn Ford grabbed a packet of chili powder to go with them.

"How many days have we been in the canyon?"

"Five days."

Quincy wailed, "Only five days? Does that mean we’re only halfway through?"

"The second half of the route should be easier."

The others looked drained as well. Wendy came to Evelyn Ford’s side and tugged on her clothes.

"Miss Ford, I need to talk to you."

Evelyn Ford saw that her eyes were red and led her away from the group. Once they were some distance away, Evelyn asked her what was wrong.

"Miss Ford... I’m dying."

"My stomach hurts so much, and I’m bleeding a lot."

Evelyn Ford froze for a second, then immediately understood. She had Wendy take her to her carriage.

"Don’t be scared. This is a normal thing, you know? When girls grow up, this happens. It’s called your first period. From now on, it will happen every month. You don’t need to be afraid."

Wendy hugged Evelyn Ford and cried, her whole body trembling. Evelyn’s heart ached for her. With Mrs. Graham gone, there was no one to teach her these things. The situation was so precarious, with everyone constantly on the move, that the thought of Wendy starting her period had never even crossed Evelyn’s mind.

’Come to think of it, Wendy is already ten,’ Evelyn thought. ’Girls usually start their periods around eleven or twelve, but in some cases, ten is also normal.’

"Miss Ford, I... I thought I was dying. I was so scared."

"Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. I’ll help you sort it out."

Evelyn Ford went back to her carriage and got some painkillers, a pack of cotton underwear, two packs of sanitary pads, a roll of cotton cloth, and an embroidery needle.

Returning to Wendy’s carriage, Evelyn Ford taught her how to use the supplies and gave her a painkiller.

"This is cotton cloth. Here, I’ll teach you how to sew cloth strips. Conditions are bad right now, so we can only use these as pads."

Wendy obediently took the cotton cloth and started to learn. The two packs of sanitary pads were something Evelyn had exchanged for with points back at the base. With the situation being an emergency, she couldn’t worry about hiding her stash anymore.

Wyatt Vaughn came over to call them for lunch. When she found out Wendy had started her period, her heart ached for the girl.

"Wendy’s a grown-up now! You’ll be able to ride a horse on your own and even hunt."

Wendy’s eyes lit up. "I want to ride a horse! I want to hunt!"

Wyatt Vaughn gave her a thumbs-up. "A true heroine in the making! Once we reach the grasslands, you can ride a horse."

The three of them made a good number of cloth pads, enough for about three months. Evelyn Ford and Wyatt Vaughn then found Officer Graham and told him about Wendy’s situation. He was both heartbroken and moved.

"It’s all my fault. I didn’t notice a thing."

Wyatt Vaughn quickly comforted him. "That’s perfectly normal. What girl would talk to her father about these things? But now that she’s getting older, she’ll be more sensitive. You’ll just have to pay more attention to her emotional changes."

"I understand. Thank you both."

"Don’t mention it. We’re all in this together."

Wyatt Vaughn boiled a bowl of brown sugar water for Wendy and had Officer Graham take it to her. After eating, the group continued their journey. The road ahead was smooth, so Evelyn Ford went back to sleep in her carriage.

The day’s travel went very smoothly, and they covered nearly fifty kilometers. Low shrubs became more common along the route, and the sheep and horses were let loose on the hillsides to graze on leaves.

In the afternoon, Evelyn Ford went to check on Wendy.

"Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn’t hurt at all anymore," Wendy said, a little shyly.

Evelyn Ford patted her shoulder. "Come on, let’s go to the bathroom."

She called Wyatt Vaughn, and the three of them went into a nearby thicket of bushes.

"Evelyn Ford, can I borrow your needle and thread?"

"Sure, I’ll get it for you in a bit."

Evelyn Ford thought Wyatt Vaughn wanted to mend some clothes, but it turned out she planned to make some undergarments for Wendy.

At two in the afternoon on the twelfth day, they had finally completed their journey through the long and rugged Volan Canyon. Just as Evelyn Ford had predicted, a plain stretched out beyond the canyon exit. Although there was still frozen ground, the path was much easier to travel.

The group arrived at a village just outside the canyon. To their utter surprise, people were still living there.

The villagers were terrified when they saw the newcomers. Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell stepped forward and repeatedly assured them that they meant no harm before the group was finally allowed into the village.

"Where did you come from? And where are you headed?"

"We came from Rivenia and we’re heading to Frelia. Friend, how are you all still living here?"

The man’s eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, so you’re from Rivenia. People from Rivenia started fleeing to The Rovan Wastes in huge numbers three or four years ago. Why are you only leaving now? We wanted to leave at first, too, but my daughter-in-law was giving birth, so we couldn’t make it. Then we just kept getting delayed, and after the blizzards hit, leaving became impossible."

"We didn’t plan on leaving at first either. But the weather kept getting colder and we ran out of food at home, so we had no choice but to leave."

Taylor Vance then asked how many people were left in the village. The man shook his head and sighed. "Including my family, there were originally four families. But a black bear came and killed one person. Two families got scared the bear would come back for more, so they fled in the middle of the night. Now, there are only two families left."

"You don’t plan on leaving?"

"We can’t. We have old folks and little ones. You all have so many livestock and horse-drawn carriages. All we have is a van, and it’s out of gas."

After understanding the situation, Taylor Vance discussed it with the group, and they decided to rest there for two days.

The old man said his next-door neighbor’s courtyard was empty and they could stay there.

The other family disagreed. After all, with so many strangers showing up out of the blue, they were afraid of letting wolves into their home.

In the end, Taylor Vance had to offer twenty pounds of black bear meat to rent the courtyard from the two families.

"That man just said a lot of people have gone to The Northwest. It seems our decision to head there was the right one."

"I took a look just now. Their family really does have a four-year-old child."

After moving in, the group began to clean the house. Once the carriages were unhitched, Peter Owens and Miles Vaughn went out to chop firewood.

Someone from the other family came over to ask about the situation in Rivenia, and Taylor Vance went out to handle them.

"We can finally get a good night’s sleep tonight!" Wyatt Vaughn was ecstatic. She inspected the entire little courtyard and, finding no dead bodies, breathed a sigh of relief.

A little while later, Taylor Vance returned. "That young man who came by earlier told me there are two black bears up on the mountain. He was asking if we’d be willing to go hunt them."

"He probably only asked because we gave them that bear meat earlier."

Taylor Vance nodded. "They usually only dare to hunt roe deer and stags. The person who died earlier was killed by one of those black bears from the mountain."