Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr

Author:Wendy Orr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2016-05-30T04:00:00+00:00

15

THE COLD NORTH WIND

Squint-Eye has been watching too. She’s afraid she’s made a terrible mistake in banning No-Name. Sometimes, seeing the girl slip by with a parade of cats behind her, wearing a cloak that looks suspiciously like fur, it seems that she’s actually given the cursed child her freedom.

Squint-Eye has never tasted freedom. She’s never longed for it; ruling the other servants is all she wants. What could be better than the power to beat and punish the same way the older servants used to beat her? What’s more rewarding than seeing the fear in her fellows’ eyes?

But she’s old now and slow to move, and last year she’d seen that the other servants weren’t as afraid of her as they should be. She’d needed something to show her authority.

She had never hated No-Name. The child was a good worker; not talking back was a bonus – and Squint-Eye’s seen worse things than dragonflies in the kitchen. But the drama of banishment was exactly what she needed. Squint-Eye is feared again.

The problem is that No-Name herself doesn’t seem to be as punished as she ought to be. She’s hungry and uncomfortable, but she’s free of the chores that the other servants complain of; she’s got a sort of home and a house snake to bless it. And she’s not as alone as she was in the middle of the servants; Squint-Eye can’t prove it, but she’s sure that someone is helping her. Worst of all, sometimes when she thinks no one can see her, No-Name stands like a free person. That’s the reason that Squint-Eye does hate her now.

Without admitting that she was wrong, Squint-Eye needs to regain control over the banned girl. Her allies are the twins – who can follow and spy where she can’t – and the winter. She just needs to wait and the weather will do the rest.

But this morning the north wind is blowing cold and sharp, and Squint-Eye is suddenly afraid that she might not survive the winter herself. It would be unbearable if she died before seeing No-Name beg to return.

So she waits on her bench, pretending to doze in spite of the biting wind, until Aissa tries to slip past. Lashing out with her stick, furious when she misses, she shrieks, ‘No-Name child, you think you can go where you please! But you belong to the Lady the same as those cats – steal what’s hers, and it’s the cliff for you or anyone who helps you!’

Aissa runs.

‘Half-One!’ Squint-Eye bellows. ‘Follow her! Don’t come back until you find her.’

Half-One shivers. She’s never been as brave as her twin.

‘I’ll go,’ says Half-Two.

Squint-Eye’s so angry now that her lips are frothing. No one is ever going to defy her again. ‘I called Half-One! And don’t think you can try your tricks with me: you’ll sit at my feet and not move till she’s gone!’

Aissa is faster now

than when she was a privy-girl

and sometimes she wishes

she could race against Nasta

because she might win.

Half-One is strong

but not a runner

and Aissa knows she can beat her.

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