Spindle(10)

“Hurry,” Jack whispered loudly. “’Fore she wakes up.”

Briar opened one eye, but her back was to the boys. The other half of the bed she was in was empty and rumpled. Had Nanny been home, the sheets would have been made neat as a pin already. Judging by the amount of light, no one should be up and moving yet. Briar rolled over to see Pansy still asleep on the floor mat where she slept Saturday nights.

Carefully, she pushed herself off the bed and padded after the boys to the door.

“Where are you boys off to this early? We’ve got church today,” Briar whispered, stopping them by grabbing the necks of their shirts.

“The bunny, Briar,” Jack said, twisting loose.

“We’ve got to make sure he’s still in his pen,” Benny added. “He might’a got out last night. Besides, we told you we’d take care of him an’ he needs his breakfast.”

Jack held up a squished slice of bread he must have put in his pocket during suppertime and then slept on.

Nodding, Briar followed the boys outside. “Did you see when Fanny got up?” she asked.

“Nope,” Benny said.

“She was awake even earlier than Nanny,” Jack said. “Didn’t think anyone waked up as early as she did. Where did Nanny go, Briar? Is she coming back or is she gone forever like Mam and Da?” Questions asked, Jack ran ahead, not waiting for the answers.

Briar sighed. She didn’t know what to tell him.

Benny took off running after his brother. By the time she’d caught up with the boys, they’d both climbed into the secret pen. Intuitively, Jack had cradled the bunny on its back, making it calm enough to endure the petting Benny was giving it. The food they’d left for it last night was gone, but it didn’t seem interested in the bread.

“I’ll get you some plants from the forest today, boys, but you’ll be on your own tomorrow.”

Briar left them making cute faces at the bunny and wandered onto the path, glad for the quiet and the slowly warming light. She peered through the trees to the forest floor trying to find some Solomon’s Seal, not for the bunny but because Henry said they’d started blooming and she wanted to see.

Voices coming down the path made her pause. She didn’t want to get pulled into neighborly chitchat when she needed more time at the cottage getting to know Fanny. Quickly, she gathered some clover, dandelions, and tall grasses, enough for two days in case the boys had trouble on their own. But then she distinctly heard Henry’s voice.

He was just the person she needed to see. She’d stayed up late after the children had gone to bed to write a letter to someone she had never met and didn’t know if she was even still alive. Mam had a sister who’d stayed behind in Ireland, and they’d lost touch. It was a long shot, but Henry was the first person she knew who planned to go overseas. He might be able to do what the general post had not.

But what was he doing back here so soon, and who was he talking to? It could be his mother if he told her his plans to leave the valley. She might be trying to talk him out of it. After all, no Prince ever left the valley. Under pretense of gathering more food, Briar inched closer to the voices. She peered through the leaf cover until she saw Henry. However, she couldn’t see the person he was talking to unless she stepped out from behind her hiding spot.

“There is no need,” said a distant female voice. “She’s a good tracker. She’ll take care of it.”

“Aren’t you tired of this?” Henry asked. His voice came out loud and filled with frustration. “Can’t we end it once and for all and then we can move on with our lives?”

Briar strained her ears to make out what a second female voice was saying.

“You know your family has tried. What makes you think you can make a difference? We contain it. That’s what we do. That’s what you will do.” Then the voice got whisper-quiet and Briar couldn’t hear anything else. Whatever was said, Henry didn’t like it because he threw his hands in the air and stalked off. In Briar’s direction.

Briar spun around and trotted back to the boys, hoping Henry was so wrapped up in his own troubles that he didn’t notice her.

The voices had been so quiet it was difficult to know who was speaking. One might have been Mrs. Prince, but what were they talking about? And what exactly went on at the Prince family farm? Before he could catch up to her, she darted around the back of the cottage and scooted into the enclosed space where the boys were hiding the bunny.

The boys lit up when they saw the food Briar had with her.

“I know how to pick those,” Jack said.

“We both do. You don’t need to help us anymore, Bri. We can do it ourselves.”

Briar reached over to ruffle the hair on both their heads. “I know you can. You two are smart boys. But you best let the bunny alone for now. We’ve got to get breakfast and be off to church.”

They climbed out of the pen and followed Briar back to the house.

“What do you think his name should be?” Benny asked. “Jack picked a stupid name, but I think it should be Hoppers because he hops.”

Jack punched Benny. “Whitey is not stupid.”

Briar was about to reprimand the boys when they turned the corner and saw Henry leaning up against the fence. His arms and legs were both crossed casually, his arms bare from his rolled shirt-sleeves, and he was biting on the end of a long piece of grass like he hadn’t a care in the world. Like she hadn’t been short with him last night. Like he wasn’t about to up and leave them.