The House in the Cerulean Sea

The day before Linus leaves, the children fetch him for another adventure. They play at all sorts of dangers before finally arriving at Zoe’s little house, where the children await him with a banner saying they’ll miss him. They eat a tremendous amount of food and laugh and listen to music. Linus feels a keen sense of loss, knowing he will leave the next day. He and Arthur dance. That night, Linus helps Lucy get ready for bed and tucks him in; the love he’s developed for Lucy makes him very emotional, but he puts on a brave face and promises that he will do everything in his power to ensure that no one will take the children away from their home. As he leaves, he comes upon Zoe and Arthur arguing. Zoe is disgusted with Linus for planning to leave; Arthur asks him to stay but backs down when Linus insists that he has important work to do. Zoe takes Linus to the train in the morning and tells him that he’s making a mistake. Linus gets on the train despite his reservations. Two hours into the journey to the city, it begins to rain.