All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley

Author:Kyrie McCauley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

21

Sweet Lark, I Will Pluck You

Blood slipped out from beneath Evie’s heel. It was thick, viscous, and congealed, and it seemed to move in slow motion, spilling across the floorboards.

There were flecks of it across the toe of Evie’s other boot, the velvet sage green now marred by crimson dots that evidenced the violence of her actions.

“What was that?” Marin tried to control the shaking in her voice.

She failed, but it didn’t matter. Evie didn’t even look at her. Didn’t acknowledge that she’d spoken.

“Wren, I’ll need an old towel. And the bleach.”

Wren shot off in an instant at Evie’s request, and Thea just stood with round saucer eyes, staring at Evie’s boots and the protruding corpse of the bird.

Marin moved to her, pulling her in and turning her in one movement. But any attempt to shield her from the moment was coming far too late.

“What the hell was that?” Marin asked again, and this time Evie looked up. She’d been staring at the floor, just the same as Thea, as though in a trance.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that, Marin.” Evie’s voice was steady.

“Evie.” Thea looked up to her oldest sister. “You have to tell her.”

“Yes, I know,” Evie said.

Wren returned with some rags and bleach and one of the dog towels, and Evie took it and covered her boot before pulling it away from the bird. She quickly wrapped up the body, tucking the ends in when a few feathers stuck out.

“I’ve got it,” Wren said, taking it from Evie.

“Don’t be silly, I can do it.” Marin stepped forward to take the dead animal from Wren, but Evie held up a hand.

“She’s used to it, Mare, let her go.” Evie’s voice was soft but firm.

She’d never used a nickname for Marin before, and it hung in the air like an offering.

Evie dropped to her knees, just beyond the edge of the thickened blood on the wooden floorboards, and began to pour bleach over it, scrubbing it away.

Within minutes, the bird was gone, and the area was impeccable once more. If Marin focused very hard on the grain of the wooden floor, she thought she could see a slight variation in color where the blood had been.

Or maybe it was the light.

Either way, the girls had done a good job.

They were quick, efficient. Practiced.

She’s used to it.

She’s used to it.

The implication was that Wren was used to whatever had just transpired there. That she was used to cleaning up the aftermath. Disposing of the body. Washing bloodstains off floorboards.

“We’ll be in the library,” Thea said, and just like that, the girls were gone through the door, refusing to take part in whatever reckoning was rising between Evie and Marin.

For a heartbeat, Marin wanted to run too.

She wanted to forget what she had just seen. Forget the mandible and the teeth she discovered at the shore. Forget the monster in the woods that had been feasting on the baby deer. She wanted to forget that the last time she

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