The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell

Author:Betsy Cornwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

* * *

I couldn’t bear to get back into my hammock again that night; the tight fabric around my limbs no longer felt like an enveloping hand, but rather too much like the sheets that had bound me to that huge canopied bed in my dreams.

So I sat the night out, keeping watch, just in case . . . I didn’t know what. I believed they were here for the reasons they’d said, but I kept thinking of Little Jane inside the cave, of how recently she’d been hurt by a strange man—​and when images of what she must have suffered pushed their way into my mind, wasn’t I sure it had happened in some quiet and secluded place, and that the man who’d raped her had been as huge and burly and rough as some of these men were?

Looking around at them, most of whom had gone back to sleep almost at once when our little interview was over, I felt almost ashamed to think it.

But I stayed up and kept vigil over the cave entrance nonetheless. Little Jane would be safe and peacefully asleep as long as I had it in me to keep her that way

Bird and the Masons went back inside, and I soon heard the rumble of Nell’s snore. I wrapped my cloak around my shoulders and settled into the idea of passing the rest of the night alone and wakeful.

But after a while, Bird joined me. He brought a cup of smoky just-brewed tea and pressed it into my hands, then sat down next to me on the ground, leaning back against the tree where I knelt.

He said nothing; nor did I. When I’d finished my tea I leaned against his shoulder, and he tilted his head so it rested against mine.

You’re safe now, too, something inside me whispered. You’re safe enough to sleep. I yawned, nestling myself closer to Bird, and my hand slipped into his. He ran his callused thumb over my bandages. I remembered the day before, the kiss that wasn’t a kiss.

But for Little Jane’s sake I had vowed not to sleep for the rest of the night. I pulled away from Bird and scooted a good foot away along the ground. “Thanks for the tea,” I said as I straightened my spine, to take the sting out of it. He shook his head and turned away from me.

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