Chapter Eleven

Five days. Five short days until Tate would board the boat used to send incantu children away before their twelfth birthdays. Five precious days before Leelo would never see her brother again.

Leelo held a branch aside as she and Tate made their way through the underbrush. They were practicing his hunting skills the old-fashioned way, since he wouldn’t be able to lure animals with song the way the Endlans did.

Incantu could sing, of course. They weren’t truly voiceless. But their songs held no magic, and the shame that came with their inadequacy meant most incantu children wouldn’t even attempt to sing in front of others.

Tate had a small wooden bow and arrow that he’d fashioned himself over the winter, and as he quietly followed the rabbit he’d chosen, Leelo tried to reassure herself that he would be all right. The rabbit seemed to sense Tate’s presence, but it continued to munch on the clover in the little clearing it had found. At least Tate knew how to hunt. He wouldn’t starve out there.

Yesterday, she and Sage had done their own hunting after their shift as Watchers. There were very strict rules about how many animals Endlans could take for themselves and how many they needed to give to the island. While the Forest was capable of taking its own food, as Leelo had witnessed, it was perfectly content to let the humans help. After all, if it got too greedy, the animals would cross the ice to the mainland in the winter and never return. Everything on Endla was a careful balance of give and take.

Sage had set the snare, and Leelo had done the singing. While every Endlan had a beautiful voice, Leelo had an especially wide vocal range and unique tone. Besides, she far preferred the singing to the killing, and it was always a relief to let the notes out, even if it had only been a few days since she’d last sung.

They were a good team; they’d caught two squirrels and a fat hare. The Forest had gotten the squirrels, since they didn’t have as much meat on them and Fiona could use the hare’s pelt for clothing. Sage had volunteered to take the carcasses back to the pine grove, which had given Leelo enough time to finish all her chores yesterday so she could spend this afternoon with her brother. Sage might not be able to understand what Leelo was going through, but at least she was trying.

For several minutes, Tate sat with his bow poised and an arrow notched, until finally, he released it. The arrow struck the rabbit in its haunches, immobilizing it, and Tate made quick work of slitting its throat, letting the blood run into the soil as he murmured a prayer of thanks to the island.

“Well done,” Leelo said, trying not to look at the rabbit. One of the other good things about hunting with Sage was that she was always willing to do the dirty work, knowing how sensitive Leelo was when it came to death. But she had to get over this squeamishness somehow. If there was one thing she had learned from her aunt Ketty, it was that survival was a bloody business.

Tate smiled at her over his shoulder and cleaned his blade on the grass. “I know you’re worried about me,” he said. “But I really will be okay.”

There was an assuredness to his tone that Leelo hadn’t heard before, and she was grateful he was managing to be so brave. “It’s not you I worry about,” Leelo said, looking off toward the village on the other side of the lake. “It’s them.”

“That’s what I mean. Mama told me something... I’m not supposed to tell you. But it’s a good thing. Something that will keep me safe. So you don’t have to worry anymore.”

“What something?” As far as Leelo knew, her mother had never kept a secret from her before. Certainly not with Tate. He was terrible at keeping secrets, like the time he’d overheard Leelo confide to Sage she had a crush on a boy and Tate had immediately told. Of course, that had been years ago. She looked back at her brother, marveling at how much he’d grown.

Tate kept his lips pressed together and shook his head. “Mm-m. I’m not telling.”

If their mother had told Tate a secret, especially one that could keep him safe, then she wasn’t going to pry. She just hoped it wasn’t a lie Fiona had concocted to make him feel better. He deserved to go out into the world with his eyes wide-open. She remembered the villagers with their taunts and stones all too well.

And then she remembered the boy who buried the hatchling. She hadn’t seen him again, and none of the other Watchers had reported a sighting. She wondered what had brought him here that day and what he thought of Endlans. He had waved when he could just as easily have thrown rocks. Perhaps Tate could find someone like him. Even Sage said some outsiders were better than others.

There were two more incantu leaving in five days with Tate. Another boy and one girl. Only three islanders out of more than three hundred. Why did Tate have to be one of them? Leelo wondered. Why couldn’t it have been some other family?But she knew deep down that those other families would grieve the loss just as much, that her desire was selfish.

At home, Tate skinned his rabbit while Leelo helped her mother sort wool for knitting. Fiona was making Tate another sweater—he already had plenty, but it was Fiona’s way of working out her feelings—and Ketty was pulling a savory pie out of the oven.

“What’s the occasion?” Leelo asked, inhaling the smell of butter crust and roasting meat.

“Didn’t Sage tell you? We’re going to the Hardings’ for dinner.”

Leelo shot Sage a look. Hollis Harding was the boy Leelo had once had a crush on. She’d liked him for months, until one day he made fun of Tate for not having magic. After that, she’d considered him an enemy, and she hated it when her Watcher duty overlapped with Hollis’s. “Why?” she asked.

“Because their daughter is also leaving.” Ketty shooed Sage away from the pie. “Now wash up. We’re expected in an hour.”

Sage went upstairs with Leelo following. “Why didn’t you tell me we were going to the Hardings’?” she asked when they reached their room.

“I forgot. What difference does it make? At least it’s something to do.”

Leelo couldn’t ignore the sting of Sage’s words. “Something to do? We’re about to send Tate away. I have plenty of other things I’d rather be doing.” She changed out of her tunic and leggings and grabbed the first pieces of clothing she found in the wardrobe, a black skirt embroidered with red flowers and a white blouse. “I didn’t realize Hollis’s sister was incantu.”

Why would he make fun of Tate if his own sister lacked magic? Unless that wasthe reason. Sometimes sadness made people lash out at the very people who could understand their hurt the most.

To Leelo’s surprise, her mother was dressed and waiting when Leelo and Sage came downstairs. She was pale from the effort of standing, but she was there, clearly trying for Tate’s sake.

Leelo looped her arm through her mother’s, and all of them, including Tate, left the house together. Leelo told herself to be grateful for this time and not to dwell on the future. Ketty had given Tate the pie to carry, a generous gesture from their aunt, who usually never entrusted her baked goods to others.

Sage was on the other side of Fiona, helping to steady her, wearing her dress from the spring festival. It was a bit special for a dinner at the neighbors’, but she looked very pretty in it.

“Oh!” she said in realization.

“What is it?” Fiona asked with an amused smile. “Did something bite you?”

“It’s nothing,” Leelo replied, scrambling for an explanation. “I just remembered something I want to pack for Tate.”

She looked at her cousin again, who was using her free hand to smooth her hair. Was it possible this was what had prompted Sage to say she never wanted to fall in love? Could she have feelings for Hollis Harding? Sage’s expression was as serious as always, but Leelo had never known her to dress up for dinner at a neighbor’s house.

The Hardings’ cottage was in a different sector of the island, about an hour’s walk from their home. Some families kept wooden carts and ponies to travel from one end of the island to another, a two-hour journey by foot. As much as Leelo liked walking, she hoped Mr. Harding would offer them a ride home. Fiona was making an effort to appear comfortable, but it was just that: an effort. Her breathing was labored and her face was pale except for two bright circles of color high in her cheeks. Aunt Ketty strode ahead at her usual brisk pace, oblivious to her sister’s struggle.

“We can rest, Mama,” Leelo said, but Fiona shook her head, as Leelo had known she would.

“I’m fine, dear. I suppose this is what comes from spending so much time in bed.” She managed a smile, and Leelo returned it, because she knew that was what her mother wanted.

“If you would sing more, you wouldn’t be so weak,” Ketty said over her shoulder. “There are consequences to missing so many rituals.”

Fortunately, they reached the house not much later, and Leelo made sure Fiona was comfortably seated before she left the adults to find the other children in the yard.

Mrs. Harding had a wonderfully green thumb, and her garden was a riot of colorful flowers and the loud buzzing of various pollinators. She traded her flowers with the islanders, some dried for teas and tinctures, others fresh simply because they were beautiful. Sage and Hollis were sitting on a bench underneath an arch dripping with wisteria, while Tate and Hollis’s little sister, Violet, played with a litter of kittens near a hydrangea bush.

Leelo managed a tight smile as she approached Sage and Hollis. She didn’t know if he remembered her crush, but she couldn’t look at him now without thinking about how humiliated she’d been when Tate confessed that he’d revealed her secret. Needless to say, Hollis had not returned her feelings, calling her pale and scrawny.

Since then, he’d grown into a hulking brute of a boy, with golden curls Leelo had once been so desperate to touch that she found any excuse to be near him. One day, a leaf had fallen in his hair, and she’d been elated at the prospect of removing it for him. She chuckled to herself at the memory, finding it hard to believe she’d ever acted that foolish over a boy.

“What’s so funny?” Sage asked. Her hands were fisted in her skirt, and when she saw Leelo looking at them, she quickly released the fabric and attempted to smooth it out.

“Nothing,” Leelo said, taking a seat on the grass. It was still late afternoon, and the ground felt warm and alive beneath her. “How are you, Hollis?”

He shrugged. “All right. I’m getting tired of Watcher duty. Kris can’t seem to stop talking.”

“I’m sorry about your sister.” Leelo ran her fingers through the grass, only vaguely aware of the earth vibrating beneath her touch. “I didn’t realize she was leaving until today.”

Sage’s gaze snapped to Leelo, as if she’d done something wrong by mentioning Violet.

But Hollis only shrugged again. “She’s kind of a pain anyway.”

Leelo visibly flinched, but Sage’s lips twitched in a grin. “I know what you mean.”

Angry and hurt, Leelo rose and went to where Tate and Violet were playing. The litter of kittens was probably around ten weeks old, ready to be weaned. Tate was holding a brown-and-white kitten with tufted ears and a pink nose.

“This one’s my favorite,” Tate said, holding her out for Leelo to admire. “I wish I could keep her.”

Leelo stroked the kitten’s fur and smiled. “I wish you could, too.” They played with the kittens for a while, laughing at their antics, until Mrs. Harding yelled, “Time to eat!” from the house. Leelo helped put the kitten back into its basket, but it promptly climbed out and followed Tate to the house, where Mrs. Harding gently nudged it away from the threshold with her foot and closed the door behind them.

Mr. Harding was a big man, which explained Hollis’s size. He was seated at the head of the table, with Hollis at the other end. Leelo couldn’t help but notice how different it was to be in a household with men. Ten years had passed since her father died alongside Sage’s, and she’d forgotten how much space men could take up. At home, their table was round, with no one’s position more favorable than anyone else’s.

Violet, a small girl with her brown hair in twin pigtails, was wide-eyed but silent as everyone passed around the food and ate. Leelo wondered how someone so shy would manage out there. It would be hard enough for Tate, but Violet was half his size, and as far as Leelo knew, no one had ever taught her to hunt.

“Leelo?”

She glanced up to see the others looking at her. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“I was just asking how Isola has been doing.” It was Mrs. Harding who spoke, but everyone was looking at Leelo intently. “Your mother said you’ve been spending time with her.”

Leelo glanced at Aunt Ketty, who was scowling, but Fiona nodded in encouragement. She must have decided this was a safe space to discuss Isola and her family. Leelo had been busy with her Watcher duties and trying to spend time with Tate, but she made a point of walking at least an hour every day with Isola, just to ensure she got outside.

“She’s still sad, obviously. But I think she’s doing a little better.”

“What was Rosalie thinking?” Mrs. Harding whispered to Fiona. “Allowing her daughter to ruin their family like that?”

“I don’t think Rosalie knew,” Fiona said.

“Really, now. We would know if our daughters were...” She trailed off as her eyes met Leelo’s. “You know.”

“It’s Pieter’s parents I feel sorry for,” Mr. Harding said. His voice was a deep rumble, reminding Leelo of distant thunder. “They didn’t even know their son was back on the island. Isola kept him well hidden somewhere, but she won’t reveal the location.”

Leelo’s ears perked up at this news. She had wondered how Isola had managed to keep Pieter a secret in her own house. A flash of memory—Pieter’s muscled torso, Isola’s screams—swam up, and Leelo swallowed thickly. She glanced at Sage, who was busy watching Hollis. He was too busy eating his second slice of pie to notice.

Sage looked away from Hollis and turned her eyes on Leelo. “They put their feelings before Endla,” she said in a flat voice. “They deserved their fates.”

Mrs. Harding laughed uncomfortably, Fiona frowned, and Aunt Ketty, who hadn’t touched a bite of her pie, nodded.

“The wolf is always at the doorstep,” she said ominously. “That is why we Watch.”

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