After picking up a pair of twin girls out in the middle of nowhere, man left them at home with his paralyzed wife and took off..

John looked closer and saw they were twins, like two peas in a pod. Straight from the camp, he figured.

Probably snuck off for berries and got lost. And the counselors, of course, too busy to notice. Oh, you’ll get an earful, John decided. They’ll learn their lesson. He took off his coat and draped it over the girls.

“Hey there,” he said. “Lost?” They nodded. “Call me Uncle John, don’t be scared. I used to be a ranger around here.

Come with me to my place. I live just past the old mill,” John offered. The girls climbed down from the log, wiping tears with their fists, nodding in agreement.

They took the road, passed the mill, and reached John’s house, the last one in town. Inside, John sat the girls at the table and poured them hot tea.

He thought to himself, I’ll keep the girls here for now, not head to the camp. Let’s see how long it takes them to notice they’re missing. Then I’ll make those counselors clean the whole forest before I hand the girls back.

Only, they seemed awfully young for camp kids. The camp usually took kids seven and up. These two looked barely five, at a stretch.

Well, we’ll see, John decided. “What’re your names?” he asked. “Emma and Ava,” they answered in unison.

He couldn’t tell who was Emma and who was Ava. Fine, he thought, I’ll sort it later. Then his phone rang.

He stepped outside to take the call. Work. An emergency, he had to head back.

Some crisis at the factory. “Alright, Emma and Ava, my beauties,” he said. “Make yourselves at home. I’ve got to run back to work.

Hopefully not for long. Don’t worry, you’re safe here. No one’ll bother you.

Folks from town don’t come by much anymore. Just don’t go into the next room. My wife, Sarah, is there.

She’s very sick. Don’t disturb her.” The girls nodded.

Funny, John thought. Twins do everything in sync. Or do they ever act different? As he headed to the station, a chilling thought hit him.

What if he hadn’t found them? They’d have sat there on that log, in those thin dresses. Nights were dropping near freezing now. They could’ve frozen to death.

If only he could find out who left them out there. No, he wouldn’t let this slide. Tomorrow, he’d go to the camp with the sheriff and get answers.

Those negligent fools needed to be held accountable. It was dark now. John walked the path to the train, remembering how he used to walk here.

With Sarah. Back when they were just getting to know each other. John started working in the woods young.

Small-town boys, the good ones, start early. Some on tractors, some on combines. His father took him to remote ranger posts starting at eight.

Taught him all the tricks. By fourteen, John was filling in for his dad when his back acted up.

Or so they thought it was his back. So Johnny handled everything for him. They thought it was sciatica—his mom rubbed and warmed his dad’s back.

Followed advice from local doctors and healers. But it wasn’t safe. It was his kidneys, not his back.

Who could’ve known? When John was sixteen, his father passed. Kidney failure.

And from sixteen, Johnny started as a ranger himself. Did the job as well as his dad and granddad. That’s when he set his sights on Sarah.

He just liked her, plain and simple. Often invited her to walk in the woods. Told her about trees, plants, what’s what.

She listened, not bored, smiling. Good girl. Johnny decided right then she’d be his wife.

Her or no one. That’s how he was. Small-town boys grow up fast, know what’s what…