Burden Falls by Kat Ellis

Author:Kat Ellis [Ellis, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sort4
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2021-08-24T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

It’s early, and still dark out, but when I try to start Bessie, I find she’s having one of her temperamental days. I’m wide-awake now, though, so I put on my boots and decide to brave the walk to Ford’s instead. There’s only a couple of inches of snow.

Grabbing a coffee and an apple for breakfast, I head out.

The path to the river stretches away crisp and white, unspoiled yet by either humans or animals. It feels wrong to stomp through it in my boots, but also kind of satisfying.

The river itself is a swirling white sheet with darker patches where the thaw is trying to break through. We’re inching into spring now. Like my mom used to say, this is the last snap of winter’s fingers.

Frost gives way to frozen dirt on the path as the trees press in close to the river. The sun must be coming up by now, but the clouds overhead are so thick, it could almost still be night. I hear the bells murmuring from upriver. It isn’t familiar and comforting like it usually is. Now it’s eerie, playing on my nerves like a current in the air.

By the time I see the scarred tree marking Copper Bell Dam, my feet are two blocks of ice. Still, I pause to run my fingers over the evil eye carved into the tree. It’s a tradition. But it stirs something uneasy in me, remembering the one etched into my locker door. It might’ve been some rando at school who did it after hearing I was the one who found Freya, but it felt personal. Now all the evil eyes seem like they’re turned toward me. Watching.

As soon as I catch sight of the dam, something feels off. My head spins like I’ve just stepped off a carousel. I lean back against the scarred tree and close my eyes, waiting for the weird head rush to pass.

Carolyn’s right—I really should switch to decaf.

Cautiously, I open my eyes. Everything has stopped swimming. I’m actually relieved for a second before I realize everything hasn’t just stopped swimming—it’s stopped altogether.

The bells are silent. My breath comes heavy, but doesn’t mist the air in front of me. Even the river’s murmur beneath the ice has died.

I rub my eyes, then my temples, hoping I can somehow massage reality back into its proper place. Trying to breathe evenly, I push away from the tree. But across the feathered white of the river I see someone standing on the far bank. Her head is bowed, as though she’s looking for something in the river. Lank black hair hangs forward to hide her face.

Oh God. Oh Jesus.

It’s her.

“Sadie.” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but the whisper breaks whatever spell is holding time prisoner. A bird squawks and swoops low over the path before winging up toward the slate-gray sky. The bells chime as though they’ve been struck.

“First you see her, then you die.”

I run, the whisper coiling itself deep in my ear.

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