The Grace Year(40)

“It’s only thunder,” Martha murmurs.

“Only thunder?” Kiersten says in a stern singsong voice. “Might I remind you of the story of Eve. Mother Nature herself. She was once a grace year girl. I think she’s trying to reach out to one of us.”

“What does she want?” Tamara asks, sinking deeper into her cloak.

“She’s trying to warn us.” Kiersten lowers her chin, the fire casting ghoulish shadows across the planes of her face. “What happened to Eve could happen to us. If we do not listen … if we do not heed her warning,” Kiersten says staring directly at me. “Like some of you, Eve didn’t believe. She laughed in the face of God. She held on to her magic, and when she returned home, she pretended she was purified, but every day that passed, the magic grew inside of her until it could no longer be contained. Under a full moon, on a night just like tonight, she killed her entire family.”

A wave of repulsion swells through the crowd.

“If the men of the council hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve killed them all.”

I always thought it was just an old wives’ tale, a fable, but looking around the campfire, I can see they’re eating it up.

Kiersten raises her chin, looking up at the churning night sky. “When they burned her in the square, the sky opened up, taking her in, and there she remains as a reminder to us all.”

A clap of thunder makes everyone jump.

“Listen,” Kiersten whispers. “She will not be ignored. If she’s communicating with someone in this group, speak up, claim your power. It’s the only way to save yourself.”

A girl from the back meekly raises her hand. “I hear her.”

Kiersten motions for her to step forward.

Vivian Larson, a mouse of a girl, who received a veil from her cousin, someone that Kiersten has never paid any attention to a day in her life. I doubt she even knows her name, but now Vivi finds herself in the center of the sun, basking in Kiersten’s approval.

“Tell us. What is she saying to you?”

“E-everything you said.” Vivian clasps her hands in front of her. “She’s warning us of what could happen.”

“Did she say there’s a heretic among us … a usurper?”

Another bolt of thunder groans above, and Vivian shoots me an uneasy look. The same look she gave me when I stumbled upon her in the meadow with a boy from one of the labor houses last year. “I’m not sure.”

I pretend not to notice, but I can feel eyes on me from every direction.

“All in good time. Keep listening, friend,” Kiersten says as she pulls Vivi’s red ribbon free, running her hands through her unkempt, oily hair. Vivi smiles up at the moon, like she’s just been released from the devil. From me.

“I only hope it’s not too late for the rest of you.” Kiersten paces around the fire. “All of these things you’ve been building, laboring over…,” she says, pushing over a cooking stand. “They’re meaningless.”

“They’re not meaningless,” I can’t help blurting out. “You’ve certainly benefited from all of our hard work.”

Kiersten turns on me with a focus that makes my skin prickle. “Being comfortable and well fed is not going to lead us to our magic. We’re put here to suffer, to rid ourselves of the poison inside of us.” Her eyes look wild in the firelight, menacing. “We’re here because Eve tempted Adam with her magic. Poisoning him with ripened fruit. If we don’t use our magic, if we don’t rid ourselves of our demons, you know what will happen. You’ve seen what happens to the returning girls who try to hang on to their magic—they’re sent to the gallows … or worse.”

A shiver of fear ripples through the crowd … through me.

“But what if Tierney’s right?” a small voice calls from the back. It’s Nanette. She sleeps on the bed next to me. “What if it’s just our imagination or some kind of illness?”

Instead of exploding in anger, Kiersten gets calm. Scary calm. “Is this because of Tierney’s wicked dreams?”

I look around the campfire, wondering which one of them told, but I’ve got bigger problems right now.

“Don’t you see what she’s doing? Filling your heads with devious thoughts. Trying to distract you from the task at hand,” Kiersten says. “She’s not special. Look at her. She can’t even keep the one true ally she has.” Kiersten looks pointedly at Gertrude, and my worst fears are confirmed. She’s just using her to get to me. And Gertrude knows it.

“Tierney wants you to hold on to your magic, and when you return to Garner County you’ll be sent to the gallows. This is her way of getting rid of us.”

“Why would I want to do that? We’re all in this together.”

“Together?” She laughs. “Did she ever reach out to any one of you back home? Has she ever shown the slightest interest in our ways? This is her magic. Turning us against each other … who we are … what we’re meant to do.”

“You’re lying,” I say, but no one seems to be listening to me anymore.

“You,” Kiersten says, pointing to a girl in the middle of the group. It’s Dena Hurson. Tentatively she steps forward. “Didn’t you say communicating with animals runs in your family magic?”