Page 16 of The Starling and the Hatter

Maddox

As I stared into the flames, I berated myself for the hundredth time this evening. Who was I to intrude on Elise’s life? She’d already rejected the idea of staying with us when I’d mentioned it in passing, but as these few days had passed and the weather cooled, my concern had multiplied. Elise was too skinny. She was too young and unfamiliar with this town and these people. She didn’t know yet who to trust and who to steer clear of, and no matter how many times I told myself that she wasn’t my business, the protectiveness I felt would not go away.

Movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I was surprised to see Elise herself walking toward me. “You’re back sooner than I expected,” I commented, keeping my seat even though I wished to jump up and greet her. My hope had been that she would stay with my family for a long time and get comfortable with them, maybe even confide in them.

“I offered to bring this to you.” She held out a bundle, which no doubt held food.

I took it and she turned to go.

“Elise,” I called. Perhaps we were not friends, but she had always been friendly.

“What?” she asked without turning around.

“Is everything all right? Did my family do something to—”

She spun to face me. “They invited me to live with them,” she said, her incredulity on full display. “Who does that? Who looks at a girl they don’t know—a festival rat—and invites her into their home?”

I shrugged, unable to explain what had convinced us all that Elise needed help—our help.

“It seems like a terrible lapse in judgment on their part,” she pointed out, her eyes narrowed and suspicious. “Don’t they worry about your sisters? Aren’t they afraid I’ll steal from them? I’m desperate, poor, and have nothing to lose.”

“You need a place to go,” I said, knowing it did nothing to answer all the questions she’d just brought up.

Her shoulders pulled back and she looked down at me. “I’m fine on my own.”

Saints, she was pretty, with her stubborn chin sticking out and the way the fire made her eyes spark. But stubbornness only got a person so far. “With no home? No shelter?” I challenged. “You just said yourself that you are desperate. Winter is coming, Elise. This valley is high enough that we’ll be snowed in for three months.” Did she know that? Did she realize how precarious her situation was? “And during those three months, where will you be?”

Her lips pressed together and the muscles in her forehead twitched as she thought. “I’ll go with the others. I’ll get out of the mountains and stay near the shore,” she threw out, but it felt like something someone says when they want to have an answer but they don’t.

I shook my head, trying to be gentle but needing her to understand. “Even if you were to get out of the mountains, the cold nights and the wild animals make living without shelter extremely dangerous, especially if you’re on your own,” I pointed out. “Once the festivals are done, you won’t have a source of income. We just want you to have options.”

She chewed on her lip as her eyes darted about, no doubt searching for a way to provide for herself. Finally, she gave a frustrated shake of her head and said, “I’ll think about it.”

It was a start. “And you should,” I encouraged. “I know you don’t know us, and you have every right to be worried. But I’m scared for you if you try to go alone.”

A wave of fear splashed over her face for just a moment, then it was gone, replaced by stubbornness and tenacity.

She looked toward the dark woods, though what she looked for there in the darkness, I couldn’t guess. Finally she turned back to me. “Your family was very kind.”

I nodded.

“Good night, Maddox.”

“Good night.”

As she walked away, I resisted the urge to go after her, to ensure she found a place to sleep that was safe from the elements, animals, and humans alike. But her continued resistance made it clear that pestering her and insisting I was right was not going to win her over. She had to come to that decision on her own.

I just hoped she did it soon.

Elise

Maddox had said he was scared for me, but why? Were we friends? What made a young man that I just met care enough about me to convince his family to offer me a home? People didn’t do that. They weren’t that good. Maybe it wasn’t his idea. Maybe Didi and Twyla really had convinced their parents to find them a playmate in the form of a lonely performer.

Sleep did not come easily. The night sounds seemed more sinister and the air colder than they had before. Of course, it likely was colder, but I was certain that my imaginings didn’t help either. I couldn’t help thinking about what it would be like to live in a house. One without wheels. One with space to move about and a fire inside. What would it be like to have reliable meals? And kind people?

That thought was almost too much to contemplate. And as the daydreams kept coming, they started to include what it might be like to be in such close proximity to Maddox. Maddox was kind and handsome. He was the sort of boy I hoped one day would take an interest in me. And if I were to spend time with them, maybe someday he would see me as more than just a waif in need of rescuing.

I slapped my hands over my eyes and shook my head, letting out a groan. I could not afford to be ridiculous right now! And imagining romantic scenarios where the kindest boy I’d ever met suddenly fell in love with me was the most ridiculous thing I could conceive of. I could not allow such fanciful thoughts to influence my decision. But what about his family and the kindness they offered? Was I kidding myself to think it was real? Imagining the impossible? When I’d spent the past three years being unwanted, could I really expect a family of strangers to take me in and treat me better than my own brothers had?