Spindle(46)

“Oh, I’m breaking so many rules. Prudence is diligent about keeping herself a secret. But since she’s gone to find Isodora, I must contact her to tell her that Isodora is here.”

“No, please don’t. You promised.” Briar grabbed Fanny’s hands as she pleaded. The first time she’d touched her since finding out what she was.

“But Briar, now that you know the significance of the spindle, surely you would want to tell Prudence.”

Briar dropped Fanny’s hands. “No.”

“The whole reason she left was to find Isodora—now we know she’ll never find her out there. She needs to come back to the valley.”

Briar shook her head. “I don’t want to upset her. I’m trying to keep the children together and if she finds out what I’ve done she might not wait until my birthday to send them away. You’re a fairy, too. Can’t you handle it?”

Fanny plucked a dandelion puff and breathed on it. The dainty white puff shrank and became a yellow flower again. “I understand wanting to fix your own mistake. I’ve been fixing mine for years. Together, then. We’ll do it together. But if my best isn’t good enough, I’ll have to tell Prudence. Your life is more important than our pride.”

Briar felt a prick of conscience but brushed it aside. With Fanny’s help, they’d figure it out. “Why did Prudence take us in in the first place? She doesn’t take to children naturally.”

“Your name is Briar Rose, our name for the princess when we were protecting Aurora. You live in a city of spindles. It was a precaution. She thought the temptation for Isodora would be too great if she found out about you…and apparently she did.”

What world was this that Briar had fallen into? Fairies and magical spindles and her name bringing them together. She remembered another conversation with a certain wistful boy who was setting out on an adventure across the sea. “Henry said I needed protecting because of my name. Does he have anything to do with this?”

Fanny’s expression went from shock to panic to resignation in a matter of seconds. “Some parts of this story are not mine to tell.”

“The Princes seem worried that they hadn’t heard from him in a while. Did something bad happen to him?”

Fanny shrugged sadly. “I don’t know. I can tell you that what he set out to do, he has not accomplished.”

Briar swallowed hard. “Should we be worried about him?”

“We have to wait and see if a letter gets through. These rail strikes are slowing everything down. If it were an emergency, he would send his parents a cable. He may already be on his way home. Don’t worry until you have something to worry about. Time will tell.”

“Speaking of time, that’s why Nanny set the deadline at my seventeenth birthday, isn’t it? She’s only concerned about me pricking my finger and then she’ll be off to watch over some other girl named Briar?”

“Prudence doesn’t tell me her plans, but that sounds like a fair assessment.”

“Morning, Briar,” called Pansy, up before the boys for once. She had a basket with her and was headed for the garden.

“Sweet Pea, could you start the twins’ breakfast?” asked Fanny. “Briar and I are having a little talk.”

“About boys, I bet.” Pansy made a face.

Briar laughed nervously. “We’ll be in to help you in a bit.” She reached for the basket and then followed Fanny to the strawberry patch.

Once Pansy had gone back into the house, Briar continued the conversation. “I have so many questions I can’t get them out fast enough.”

“The question now is what do we do about the spindle if I can’t remove it? We can’t just leave you working at the mill with a cursed spindle. Too risky.”

Briar shook her head. “If I left, another girl would take my place. That’s risky, too. I’m the one who put it in there. Now what?”

“I suppose you’re right. We are certainly in a pickle. It’ll be up to you to make sure no one under seventeen goes near the spindle. You must become part of the story, dearie. You watch over the spindle.”





Chapter Twenty-Four



At church, Briar thanked the Princes again for giving her a ride and for sharing Henry’s animals, then she asked them to check in on them once in a while to make sure the children were caring for them properly. And to surreptitiously check on Fanny at the same time.

Before Briar could leave the cottage Sunday afternoon, the children made her say good-bye to each of the animals in their growing collection. Last thing she did was hug each child tight, to the point of making the boys squirm. “You be good. I’ll see you next week.”

Pansy poked at Briar’s bloomers. “Can Miss Mim make me these, too?”

“I can copy her pattern and we can make a pair together, how about that?”

“Okay. Bye!” Pansy scampered off in her dress after the boys.

Fanny walked with Briar and the bicycle down the lane.

“I did everything I could to dislodge the spindle while you and the children were at church, but you’re right. It is firmly attached. I wish you hadn’t made me promise not to tell anyone, but I know what it is to want to fix your own mess. We’ll do this together. You and me. But you need to do everything I tell you. Let’s just make it till the end of your birthday. Once the danger for you has passed, then we can attack the problem without fear.”