The Twins of Tintarfell by James O'Loghlin

Author:James O'Loghlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2016-08-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Something Good, Something Bad

Later, lying in a comfortable bed in a comfortable bedroom, Dani mulled over her terrible choice. From the other bed came the peaceful sounds of Bart sleeping. She wished she knew what it was like to be him at the moment.

If he stays like he is now, what sort of life will he have? she wondered. Will he be happy or unhappy? At peace or in pain? Is he like a vegetable, alive but with no thoughts or feelings? Is he there at all?

One thing she did know was that she missed him every second of every day. She remembered how, back at the castle, Bart would often wake in the night crying, miserable about his life as a servant, and missing the parents they had never known. Dani would crawl into his bed and hold him, just as she imagined a mother would hold a child, and comfort him back to sleep.

In the kitchens she had always kept an eye on him. ­Whenever he struggled she helped him, whether by showing him how to carry three fully laden plates at once or by cheering him up when his spirits flagged. It had never felt like a burden. In fact, she realised, it had helped her, too. Knowing that Bart needed her had enabled her to find the strength to keep going.

Sometimes, she had been the one who was unhappy. Whenever she was, Bart would notice and sit at the end of her bed and tell her a story. She loved his stories. Usually they were about some twins who lived in the forest and had adventures, and they always made her feel better. More than anything else, she wanted to hear Bart tell her another story.

Dani realised that she had made up her mind. She would do it.

I have to. If I don’t, then every day I’ll know that I could have saved him, but chose not to. Surely that would rot her away from the inside. Every time she saw his big, vacant eyes, she would see her own selfishness. So, what choice did she really have?

Dani promised herself that Bart would never discover the price that she was going to pay to make him better. She didn’t want him to feel responsible for her early death. She would make up some story of a rare illness causing her to age and die, and make Edward promise not to tell Bart the truth. What was the point in saving him if his life was burdened with guilt?

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