The Poison Season(34)

Leelo breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for her mother’s calm, reassuring presence. It was a good lie, since Leelo did often gather foxglove leaves for tea. It was supposed to help Mama with her heart troubles, though Leelo had been warned to be careful. The entire plant was extremely toxic.

“Thank you, Mama. How are you feeling today?”

“Oh, fine. I was just thinking of your brother.”

“Are you worried about him?”

“No, no. He’s a brave, strong boy. I was only missing him, selfishly. But he’ll do just fine out in the world. I imagine it’s a far more welcoming place than Endla.”

As small and insular as her island was, Leelo had never considered leaving. She didn’t even try to imagine what life on the mainland was like, because her elders made the rest of the world sound terrible and frightening. Endla’s Forest was ruthless in some ways, but it was all she’d ever known, and as long as she played her part in its survival, she had nothing to fear from it. So it was strange to hear her mother say that Endla was less welcoming than the rest of the world. Hadn’t the outsiders been the ones who drove the Endlans to this island in the first place?

“Go on,” her mother said. “I’ll be fine here.”

Leelo kissed her cheek, drank some water from the pitcher, and headed back outside. She’d been up and walking for hours, and it was starting to take a toll on her. At least her mother had given her a plausible story. As long as the outsider was dead, everything would be fine.

Except that a person will be dead.

When she finally arrived at the beach, she found Hollis and Sage sitting on a log together, talking.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Leelo breathed as she trotted up to them. “Mama was ill and I—”

“It’s fine,” Sage said abruptly. “Hollis was able to cover for you. But you’ll have to take his shift this evening.”

Leelo had expected Sage to be worried or frustrated. At worst, she’d expected Sage’s anger. But she hadn’t expected her cousin to side with Hollis over her. “We still have over half our shift left. I can take half of his tonight, if he wants.”

“It’s fine,” Hollis said. “I can do a double shift.”

“No,” Sage said. “That’s not fair. My mother will take care of Aunt Fiona. And Leelo can take the shift with Kris.”

Leelo stared at her cousin, hurt despite the fact that she’d brought this on herself. Sage stared right back, as if daring Leelo to argue again.

Suddenly remembering the outsider, she glanced around the beach. The boat was gone, and there was no sign of him.

“What happened to the boat?” Leelo asked.

Hollis shaded his eyes against the sun and looked up at her. “The council members found it washed up on this side of the shore this morning. Huge hole in the hull. They took it away for repairs.”

Where is the outsider? she wanted to scream, but she couldn’t admit that she’d seen him.

Sage was still watching Leelo with an inscrutable expression. “Why do you care about the boat?”

“I don’t,” Leelo lied. “I just didn’t realize they’d already taken it.” She forced herself to take a breath. The young man must not have made it to land after all. Which meant no one had been there to sing for him. She hoped he’d died quickly, at least.

“You can go,” Sage said when Leelo didn’t move. “You still have time to rest before your shift starts.”

Leelo glanced at Hollis to see what he made of all this, but he was just staring blankly across the shore. Sage seemed to be showing off for him, but Leelo couldn’t fathom why. Sage was not the kind of girl to swoon at the sight of muscles, and Hollis wasn’t anywhere close to an intellectual match for her.

Whatever the case, Sage wasn’t going to budge, and Leelo was exhausted. “Thank you for covering for me, Hollis,” she said.

He grunted in acknowledgment as she left the shore and headed back into the Forest. She would go home, sleep, and forget about the outsider, she told herself. But her mind kept snagging on Sage and Hollis. For someone who had all but sworn off marriage, he was an extremely odd choice for Sage. And for someone who had always been so loyal, she seemed rather quick to dismiss Leelo, especially for something as small as coming late to Watcher duty.

With a sick twisting in her stomach, Leelo started to wonder if Sage might know more than she was letting on.

And then she saw the trail of blood.



Chapter Twenty-One


Jaren stumbled through the Forest, dragging his injured leg behind him. After the girl had abandoned him on the beach, he had lain on the rocky shore for a few minutes, as far from the lapping water as he could get.

He hadn’t even inspected his leg. He knew it was bad, and he couldn’t risk staying out in the open, exposed. When the girl had grabbed the rope, he had been certain she was going to try to tip him or prevent him from coming ashore. Instead, she had hauled him toward the beach. But if she was trying to help Jaren, surely she would have checked on him. She had disappeared before he was even out of the boat, probably to get reinforcements, if he had to guess. His only hope right now was to hide somewhere and pray the wound wasn’t fatal.

He had hardly gone far at all when he heard voices in the Forest ahead. Somehow, he managed to scramble up a tree and hide among the leaves. He held his breath and watched as a boy and girl passed below him. If one of them glanced up, they would spot him instantly.