Elara Rootwhisper's Arc

Chapter 8 of 9

Elara stepped aside and let the mother in. She sat the woman on the low stool by the brazier and pressed a cup of hot water into her hands. The ghost girl drifted through the tent flap after her mother and stopped by the sorting trays. She would not look at Elara. She would not look at the woman on the stool. She stared at the packed dirt floor and held her arms tight against her ribs. "Rest here," Elara told the mother. "I need to fetch a thing from my stores. It will take an hour." The woman nodded without hearing. Elara took the binding vial from the table, wrapped it in cloth, and slipped out. She did not go to her stores. She went up the path to Witchwood Haven, where an old gray witch had lingered since the business at the north slope. Elspeth Moonwhisper sat on the plank porch with her bare feet hanging over the edge. Elara climbed the ladder and sat beside her. "I have a girl in my tent who will not speak," Elara said. "Her mother came six weeks on foot to ask if she is dead. The child will not lift her head." "Then she is not ready," Elspeth said. "Or she is ashamed." "Which?" "I cannot tell from here. But I know someone who reads the dead better than I do." Elspeth pointed down the slope, past the herb patch, toward the animal graveyard where a thin woman in dark robes knelt among the small stones. "She finds beds for the ones who never got one. Ask her." Elara went down through the herb patch and stopped at the low wall. Meridian Gravesight stood without turning. "Back teeth ache," she said. "There is a loose one near. Girl. Not buried." Elara held out the wrapped vial. "Her mother is in my tent. The child will not speak or meet my eye. I need to know why before dawn." Meridian took the vial, uncorked it, and held it under her own tongue for one breath. Then she corked it and gave it back. "She is ashamed of the mother, not the death. She let her brother lead her out. She knew he lied and went anyway. Tell the mother that part last. Give the vial to the girl before you speak. It will hold her long enough to answer." Elara walked back to the tent. The mother had not moved. The ghost girl stood in the same spot, head down. Elara uncorked the vial and set it on the tray beside her. The girl's edges firmed. Her white hair settled. She lifted her chin and looked at Elara for the first time. "Ask," Elara said quietly. "Your mother came a long way." The girl opened her mouth. A small, dry voice came out of it. "Tell her I am sorry I went. Tell her Orin took me to the clearing." The mother on the stool dropped her cup.