Wyatt is tired but still works hard chopping wood and supporting the family. His mother urges him to forget Sheryl, who has been missing for eight years and is rumored to have moved on. Despite the gossip and pressure to abandon hope, Wyatt defends Sheryl's determination and insists he will wait for her. When the village chief's son mocks Wyatt for holding onto Sheryl and warns of poverty if he marries her, Wyatt firmly refuses to give up on her, setting up a clash between loyalty and skepticism that remains unresolved.