Sarah’s abandonment at Four Winds begins with her father’s rejection and becomes, in her understanding, proof that she is unwanted by both parents. Mae sends her away with Cleo as Alex Stafford is expected to return; left waiting through the night, Sarah is again made to bear the consequences of adult choices. The episode establishes a defining pattern in her childhood: rejection becomes self-blame, and separation becomes an expectation that later shadows her life as Angel.

Causes and Background

Alex Stafford refuses to accept Sarah as his daughter, insisting that he already has legitimate children and had never wanted another. Mae’s efforts to defend Sarah’s place in his life do not change his position. Sarah absorbs the rejection as evidence that her birth has made her mother unhappy, rather than as a failure of the adults responsible for her.

When Alex is expected to return, Mae presents Cleo’s offer to take Sarah to the seashore as an exciting outing. Sarah understands the arrangement differently: she believes her mother is sending her away to keep her out of Alex’s way. She protests that she wants to stay with Mae, but Mae presses the plan, speaking brightly of the ocean and the trip. Sarah reads her mother’s renewed animation as a response to Alex’s expected visit, and the apparent promise of a holiday becomes a feared separation.

What Happens at Four Winds

The separation leaves Sarah waiting for Cleo to return. Minutes pass, then hours, and she curls up in a blanket against the wall. The narrative connects this wait to an earlier occasion when she had also waited for Mae after Alex came, making the new abandonment echo a familiar absence rather than an isolated mishap.

Cleo has forgotten Sarah and left her in a dark corridor overnight. In the morning, she finds the child still there and realizes the seriousness of her neglect. Instead of taking responsibility, Cleo tells Sarah not to tell Mae and blames her for not coming inside. Sarah says that Merrick had told her not to move until Cleo fetched her; frightened by Cleo’s anger, she apologizes and pleads that Cleo not tell Merrick, who had threatened her.

Consequences and Aftermath

The episode reinforces Sarah’s belief that she is the cause of other people’s unhappiness. After Alex’s rejection, she already thinks that her birth has made Mae miserable; being sent away appears to confirm that she is unwanted. That conviction returns when Mae becomes ill and dies while Sarah is eight. Sarah imagines that Mae would have been happy and alive if Sarah had never been born, turning childhood rejection into a lasting explanation for loss.

The abandonment belongs to a larger sequence of failed care. After Mae’s death, Sarah is left with Rab, who later tells her that this is the end before handing her over. As an adult, remembering her childhood, Angel describes how the past is repeatedly forced back into consciousness and then pushed away in favor of emotional numbness. The Four Winds episode therefore functions not only as a separation but as an early instance of the abandonment and self-blame that shape her later distrust and sense of identity.