“My stepmom said he died on a business trip,” Leo answered quietly. “She showed me a certificate.”
“I see.” Mike was silent for a moment, processing what he’d heard. “We need to call the police, let them sort this out.”
Leo grabbed his arm in panic.
“No, please, don’t! They’ll send me to a foster home. I won’t survive there.”
There was such terror in the boy’s eyes that Mike was taken aback. He could see the kid was telling the truth, and it was a horrifying truth.
“Alright,” he said slowly. “We’ll figure out what to do.”
Mike stood up and paced the room, thinking. Leo watched him with an anxious gaze.
“Okay,” the ranger finally decided. “You can stay here for now, but it’s temporary. Got it? Until we figure this situation out.”
Leo nodded, unable to believe his luck.
“But I have a rule,” Mike continued sternly. “You’ll help with the chores, you won’t make a racket, and you’ll listen to me. Deal?”
“Deal!” Leo exclaimed happily.
Mike showed him a small room next to the kitchen.
“This will be your room. There’s a washbasin here, towels here. I’ll give you some clothes. They’re old, but they’re clean.”
He brought a stack of clothes: a sweater, jeans, warm socks. Everything was too big, but Leo didn’t care.
“Thank you,” he said, nearly crying with relief. “I’ll be a good helper, I promise.”
“We’ll see about that,” Mike chuckled. “For now, let’s get some lunch. You need to get your strength back.”
At lunch, Leo helped set the table and serve the plates. For the first time in months, he felt safe. No one was yelling at him, hitting him, or kicking him out.
The next day, Mike took Leo with him into the forest. The boy walked beside him, looking at everything with interest. The forest that had seemed so hostile and frightening just yesterday looked completely different today.
“This is my ranger station,” Mike said, pointing to a small cabin among the pines. “This is where I monitor this section of the forest.”
He explained to Leo how to tell a rabbit’s tracks from a squirrel’s, showed him the bird feeders, and pointed out which trees needed to be marked for removal.
“And those are wild boar tracks,” Mike said, pointing to the upturned earth under an oak tree. “See how they dig for roots?”
Leo listened intently, asking questions. He was curious about everything: why a feeder needed to be placed in a specific spot, how to tell if a tree was healthy or sick.
“You’re a smart kid,” Mike noted with surprise. “You pick things up fast. It’s a shame what happened to you.”
By evening, they were both tired but satisfied. Leo felt useful, and Mike felt like he was doing a good deed. That evening, they sat by the fireplace. Mike told stories about the forest, the animals, and how nature changes with the seasons. Leo listened, mesmerized; he had never known a life like this.
“Do you have a family?” the boy asked cautiously.
Mike’s face darkened.
“I had a wife, Sarah. She passed away five years ago from an illness.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s alright,” Mike said with a sad smile. “We never had kids, and now… well, now you’ve shown up.”
Leo thought for a moment and said quietly, “I thought I didn’t have anyone left in the world.”
“There’s always someone who will help,” Mike replied. “The important thing is to never lose hope.”
Those words warmed Leo more than the fire. For the first time in a long while, a small but real flicker of hope ignited in his heart.
That night, Leo couldn’t sleep for a long time. His mind was racing. What if his father really was dead? What if the certificate Brenda showed him was real? He remembered the happy days with his parents: going to the lake house, his dad teaching him to fish, his mom baking pies and reading him bedtime stories. It all seemed like a distant dream now. But maybe his father was alive. Maybe he was looking for him right now and couldn’t find him. Leo imagined his dad coming home from his trip, not finding his son, and starting a search.
“If Dad’s alive, he’ll find me,” the boy decided. “He wouldn’t abandon me.”
Outside, the night forest rustled. Branches scraped, and somewhere in the thicket, tree trunks creaked in the wind. But these sounds no longer scared Leo. He gradually calmed down and fell asleep, for the first time in days not afraid of what tomorrow would bring.
Leo woke up and, for the first time in months, felt truly rested. There was no familiar fear of the new day, no feeling of having to be constantly on guard. In this house, no one hurt him. Mike was already up and making breakfast in the kitchen. The smell of frying eggs and fresh bread filled the house with a sense of home. On the table were two identical plates, two mugs—here, Leo wasn’t considered a burden.
“Morning,” Mike said when he saw Leo. “Today we’re going to fix the feeders in the far sector. A few of them got damaged in the last storm.”
“I’d love to!” Leo responded eagerly. He liked feeling needed, useful. At his stepmother’s house, he was always in the way; here, he was a helper.
They ate breakfast in silence, but the atmosphere was warm and calm. No one was correcting him, criticizing him, or rushing him. Leo looked at Mike cautiously.
“Thank you for not kicking me out. I know I’m an inconvenience.”
“It’s a big house, there’s plenty of room,” Mike replied calmly. “As for inconveniences… there are different kinds. Some come from bad people, others from good ones. Yours is the second kind.”
They walked along a snowy path, Mike pointing out different animal tracks and telling Leo about the forest’s inhabitants. The boy listened with interest; he had never known a life like this.
“Look, don’t move,” Mike said quietly, stopping.
Leo froze and saw a family of deer nearby: a doe with two fawns. The animals were cautiously crossing a clearing, occasionally lifting their heads to listen.
“They’re beautiful,” Leo whispered, afraid to scare them off.
“They trust me,” Mike answered just as quietly. “I put out feed for them in the winter when food is scarce. They know I won’t harm them.”
The deer disappeared into the trees, and the two continued on their way. At the broken feeder, Mike took out his tools, and they got to work. Leo deftly handed him the right tools and held boards in place while Mike screwed them in.
“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, kid,” Mike said approvingly. “You learn fast.”
Leo beamed at the praise—it had been a long time since anyone had genuinely complimented him. When the feeder was fixed, they built a small fire and sat down to rest. Mike put a kettle of water on the fire to make tea.
“What was your wife’s name?” Leo asked, watching the dancing flames.
Mike paused, as if deciding whether to answer.
“Sarah. Her name was Sarah.”
“Was she nice?”
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