Orin Wanderwood's Arc

Chapter 6 of 26

They walked into Copsefire at midmorning. Marrow led. Mr. Echo followed with the white rabbit at his heel. Orin kept his hands loose at his sides. The town was one street of low houses and a well at the center. A woman was drawing water there. Dark curly hair. Red sleeves. She looked up when Marrow raised a hand, then looked past Marrow at Orin, and her mouth went flat. "That's her," Marrow said. "Kate. She lost her brother three years ago. February." Marrow stopped ten paces from the well. "Go slow. She's talked to too many people who wanted something." Orin walked the last of the distance alone. The plum twig was gone. He had nothing in his hands to offer. He stopped at the well's low wall. Kate set her bucket down. Up close her eyes were tired in a fixed way. "You came from the Fen," she said. Not a question. "Marrow's notice said a boy walked out. That's you." "Yes," Orin said. He had a list of questions in his head and he threw it out. One wrong word and she would close. He said the smallest true thing. "I had a sister. Her name was Lily. I lost her a long time ago." He waited. Kate's hand tightened on the bucket rope, then let go. She did not answer. He said, "I don't know if she's yours to look for. I only know mine." Kate sat down on the well wall. She looked at the dirt between her shoes. "My brother's name is Will," she said. "Not Lily. Lily was a girl he was trying to find up there. He told me." She lifted her head. "He said she lost her body in the trees." She watched Orin's face while she said it. Orin felt the ground tilt one degree and steady. He kept his face still. "Then he knew her," Orin said. "My sister." "He was looking for her," Kate said. "He may have found her. I don't know where either of them is now." Marrow came up behind Orin. Mr. Echo stayed back by the road, head turned slightly, listening to something no one else could hear. He said, quiet, "There's a shape at the tree line. Long ears. It's not moving." The rabbit at his feet sat very still. Kate looked past Orin at the trees and her face did not change. "She sends them down sometimes," Kate said. "The one at the hilltop. The pale one. She doesn't like people asking after Will." Orin turned back to Kate. "I want to help you find him," he said. "He was with my sister." Kate stood up. She picked up the bucket. "Then you come inside," she said. "We're not talking about them out here." She walked toward the nearest door and did not look to see if he followed. Orin followed.