Spindle(44)

When Fanny returned, Briar whispered, “What does it mean that you’re here now, at this time?” She was afraid to ask the question but needed to. Her mind was forming a picture she didn’t want to see. A magic spindle. A girl named Briar. A fairy. Was the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale a warning? A prophecy? A coincidence?

Fanny padded softly over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Hopefully it means nothing, dearie. I’ve told you too much already. Miss Prudence will have my head if nothing comes of it and I’ve told you what I have.”

“Comes of what?”

“You tell me. Is there anything on your mind? You seem to be having trouble falling asleep.”

Briar stopped a laugh. “You think I can sleep after finding out you’re a fairy?”

Fanny shared a grin. “No, I suppose not. I wanted to tell you earlier but couldn’t risk Prudence’s wrath. She can have a temper.” Fanny pulled herself up tall, forming her expression into a pretty good impression of Nanny.

“So why did you tell me now?”

She looked intently into Briar’s eyes. “I won’t force you, dearie. But if you and I are going to share secrets, we need to share everything.”

Briar bit her lip. What would happen if she told Fanny about the spindle? The fairy would try to stop her from using it, that’s what. It didn’t seem like something Fanny would approve of, a human using a fairy tool for her own good. Briar shook her head. “I’ve nothing to say.”

“In that case, neither do I. We haven’t had any problems all these years. Miss Prudence will likely be home tomorrow. You’ll continue on as before and I can go back to where I’m supposed to be.” She patted Briar’s arm.

Briar frowned. Fanny had been saying for weeks that Prudence would likely be back soon, with nothing to show for her optimism. “But that’s just it. She only agreed to watch the children until I turn seventeen. That’s in two weeks. Will she really send them away after that if I can’t care for them?”

“Hmm. Miss Prudence is punctual about things,” Fanny said with a frown. “She’s like a clock, grinding things out. Doesn’t like change. If she said that’s what was going to happen, you can be sure it is.”





Chapter Twenty-Three



In the morning, Briar found Miss Fanny outside with Whitey Hoppers, the bunny. A warm glow lit up the trees and the wind blew in a sweet smell of dewy earth.

Miss Fanny straightened, putting her hands in the crook of her back, and stretched. “‘Morning. You look like a girl with something on her mind.”

Briar offered up a half smile. “There is a lot on my mind.”

“The weight of the world on your shoulders, dearie. It can weigh you down if you don’t share your burdens.” She handed Briar the bunny.

The animal quivered until Briar flipped it onto its back and then it relaxed, nestling its warm fur into Briar’s palms. “You said I could trust you. Can I trust you not to share with anyone what I tell you?”

Fanny took a deep breath and let it out. She squinted against the sun. “I don’t like to make promises like that.”

Briar waited, taking comfort from the warm bundle in her hands. She wasn’t going to go any further without a promise.

Fanny appeared to grow uncomfortable with the silence. “Fine. I won’t tell anyone your secrets. You can trust me.” Fanny twisted her lips like she wasn’t happy about the agreement.

“I did something this week that both excites and scares me. A peddler gave me a drop spindle. He said I should put the shaft in my frame at the mill and it would fix my problem and increase my production.”

Miss Fanny narrowed her eyes. “Why does a spindle from a peddler scare you?”

Briar set the bunny down. It hopped two hops and sat. “Because he said it was made from fairy wood.”

Miss Fanny raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“I thought he was selling me; you know how peddlers exaggerate. I never imagined the spindle contained real fairy magic. I didn’t put it into the frame until yesterday. I was desperate. My frame was worse than ever and they cut our pay. My new overseer threatened to fire me. I need that frame to work or I’ll lose the children for sure.”

“What happened when you put the spindle in the machine?”

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. But it grew like it was alive and it attached itself to the frame. I can’t get it off.”

Fanny didn’t look surprised. It was as if she already knew.

Briar remembered Jack telling her Fanny was magic, that she could make herself really tiny and spy on them. Could Fanny have been in the spinning room?

“Oh dearie. You have no idea what you’ve done, do you? Well thank heaven you didn’t hurt yourself. I don’t know how it happened, but you’ve found the spindle. The spindle. The one that made Aurora sleep for almost a hundred years.”

Briar paused, processing yet more unbelievable information. “But that was a fairy tale.”

Fanny took a bow. “And I’m a fairy.”

Briar leaned against a garden post, needing the support. Aurora was a real person. The spindle was real. She was talking to a fairy who knew these things. How was any of this even possible? “Is the spindle dangerous?”