Folk Keeper, The by Billingsley Franny

Author:Billingsley, Franny [Billingsley, Franny]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Atheneum
Published: 2001-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

“My wife?”

Finian shall throw the first peat!

It was laughing Sir Andrew of the smoldering shoe who finally explained it to me. Each unmarried person holds a half-burned brick of peat against his heart for no fewer than seven minutes. “When you break it in two, Corin, the color of the strands that hold the peat together will match the hair of the lucky lady you are to marry.”

The crowd again. Finian shall throw the first peat! Sir Andrew glanced at the Tragic Queen with the golden hair and nudged me with his elbow. “We shall have some fun now.” He raised his voice. “Will you find gold in there, Finian?”

There were shouts and cheers. The Tragic Queen blushed, and Finian said, “Do shut up!”

We all did shut up after we’d thrown our peat on the fire, watching it burn, taking care not to confuse our particular square with another’s. Behind me Sir Edward whispered, “What if the strands in yours are black?”

Someone laughed nervously, and I had to glance round to see it was Lady Alicia. It was most unlike her. She was blushing, too.

Amiable Sir Andrew retrieved my peat for me. “Here you are, Samson. I hope the girl’s a beauty, though you’ll have to wait a few years.”

It is lovely to hold a brick of warm peat to your breast. Who would have thought so? Your heart beats against it; you grow tranquil; your heart slows, thuds against warmth; the fibers of the peat glow against your skin, grow around your heart. The crowd grew calmer still, all of us just breathing and beating.

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