When he realized that Nicole was dead, Gabriel had to resist the urge to fall to his knees and cry until his voice gave out. He was the head of the household, he needed to keep his composure even though he felt like the world had ended. He asked Marisol to stay home and he made his way to his uncleâs house. As he walked, he kept thinking of how during the night he had been so sure that when morning came, he would go get the apothecary to help his sister heal, not his aunt and cousins to help with her funeral rites. The sun rising behind him felt like a mockery. His sister was not supposed to die, not this young, not when she was the only sibling he had left. But he kept walking, there was no time to cry now.
Meanwhile, Marisol had stayed home with no one but her good-sisterâs earthly remains as company. At least the chickens were going about their day as if nothing had happened. Marisol took care of them and then returned to keep Nicoleâs body company. Marisol was not a believer, she never had been. There was simply no way that someone had the fate of the entire world planned out, she thought. This also meant that she didnât believe in the dead rising again, so she was not afraid at all to be alone with a dead body. Nicoleâs dead body. She wished she had gotten to know her good-sister better, maybe they couldâve been closer. It didnât matter now.Â
Eventually, Gabriel came back with his aunt Diana and her two daughters. Gabriel went straight to the field: farm work spares no one, no matter who dies. Diana, her daughters Ellen and Piper, and Marisol proceeded to undress, wash and place the shroud over Nicoleâs earthy remains, working quietly and efficiently.Â
A vigil was held for a few days, and then Nicole was laid to rest at the local cemetery. Many people came by to pay their respects, including the Greystrokes, the McMullens, and John Wakefield. John was especially distraught, and Gabriel felt sympathy for him. He wouldâve liked for John and Nicole to get married eventually, and it seemed as if John felt the same. If anyone saw how Flora McMullen, a friend of Nicoleâs, was just as upset as John, they didnât think to mention it.
When they finally got home, Gabriel let it all out. He hadnât let himself cry at any point in the last few days, but now that it was just him and Marisol, it was as if a dam had broken. He cried until his voice was hoarse, and then continued crying silently. While Nicole had certainly gotten more annoying recently, and he had thought of marrying her off to get rid of her, itâs not as if he had wanted her to die. She was all he had left of his childhood, his only remaining sibling. And now she was gone. He had never felt so utterly alone.