Nell Larkspur's Arc

Chapter 11 of 23

Nell led the boy down the narrow stairs one step at a time. The child flinched at every creak. By the time they reached the front room, the fire had burned low and the fox was standing, ears pricked. Lena still slept on the hearthstones under the cloak. Nell sat the boy near the fire and pushed bread into his hands. The boy ate like something that hadn't eaten in days. Nell crouched across from him. "What's your name?" The boy stopped chewing. His eyes went wide and wet. He shook his head. "Who else is in the woods?" The boy's shoulders drew up to his ears. He pressed himself back against the stones. "Was there a girl? Purple hair. Did you see her?" The boy started to shake. The bread fell from his fingers. Nell reached out and the boy scrambled sideways along the wall. Nell sat back on his heels. He was wasting time. Every question made it worse. Outside, the dark pressed against the windows, and somewhere in it was whatever had taken Lena's sister. He needed to know before the fire burned down. He went to Lena and touched her shoulder. "Lena. I need you." She opened her eyes. He nodded toward the boy in the corner. She sat up and took it in without a word — the split lip, the pointed ears, the ribs. She pushed the cloak off and crossed the floor on her knees. She didn't speak to the boy at first. She sat a little away from him and held out her open hand, palm up. A thread appeared between her fingers, then another. She began to knit them together in the air. The boy stopped shaking. He watched. She worked a small square of pale cloth. Onto it she stitched a rabbit, ears long, one paw raised. She held it out. The boy took it in both hands and pressed it against his chest. "You were in the woods," Lena said. Her voice stayed low. "Did you see a girl there? My sister. Purple hair. Hat with paint on it." The boy's mouth moved. Nothing came. "Please," Lena said. "Saw," the boy whispered. "Purple. In the ring." "What ring?" "Trees. They hold her. The tall ones." He touched his own ear, then Lena's hair. "Like him." Nell went still. Fae. "They come for me too," the boy said. "I ran." Lena's hand shook once around the cloth rabbit. She steadied it. "You have a name?" she asked. He shook his head. She touched the moss growing between the hearthstones, green in the firelight. "Moss," she said. "That's your name now." Moss nodded. He held the rabbit tighter. Nell stood and picked up the axe. Lena's sister was alive. She was in fae hands. And whatever wanted the boy would follow him here before morning.