“Look,” said Meredith, “just down there.”
Juniper took her cigarettes from her pocket. “There used to be a moat. Daddy had it filled in when his first wife died. We’re not supposed to swim in the pool either.” She smiled as Meredith’s face became a study in anxiety. “Don’t look so worried, little Merry. No one’s going to be cross when I teach you to swim. Daddy doesn’t leave his tower, not anymore, so he’s not to know whether we use the pool or not. Besides, when the day’s as warm as this it’s a crime not to have a swim.”
Warm, perfect, blue.
Juniper struck the match hard. With a long, drawing breath, she leaned a hand back against the sloping roof and squinted at the clear, blue sky. The ceiling of her dome. And words came into her head, not her own.
I, an old turtle,
Will wing me to some wither’d bough; and there
My mate, that’s never to be found again,
Lament till I am lost.
Ridiculous, of course. Utterly ridiculous. The man was not her mate; he was no one for her to lament till she was lost. And yet the words had come.
“Did you like Mr. Cavill?”
Juniper’s heart kicked; she burned with instant heat. She’d been discovered! Meredith had intuited the secret workings of her mind. She thumbed her damp dress strap back onto her shoulder, was stalling, returning the matches to her pocket when Meredith said, “I do.”
And by the pinkness on her cheeks, Juniper perceived that Meredith liked her teacher very much indeed. She was torn between relief that her own thoughts were still private and a wild, crushing envy that her feelings should be shared. She looked at Meredith and the latter sensation passed as fast as it had flared. She strove for nonchalance. “Why? What do you like about him?”
Meredith didn’t answer at first. Juniper smoked and stared at the spot where the man had breached the Milderhurst dome.
“He’s very clever,” she said at last. “And handsome. And he’s kind, even to people who aren’t easy to be with. He has a simple brother, a great big fellow who acts like a baby, cries easily, and shouts sometimes in the street, but you should see how patient and gentle Mr. Cavill is with him. If you saw them together, you’d say he was having the best time of his life, and not in that overdone way that people have when they know they’re being watched. He’s the best teacher I’ve ever had. He gave me a journal as a present, a real one with a leather cover. He says that if I work hard I could stay at school longer, maybe even go to a grammar school or university, write properly one day: stories or poems, or articles for the newspaper”—there was a pause as she drew breath, then—“nobody ever thought I was good at anything before.”
Juniper leaned to bump shoulders with the skinny sapling beside her. “Well, that’s just madness, Merry,” she said. “Mr. Cavill is right, of course, you’re good at a great many things. I’ve only known you a matter of days and I can see that much—”
She coughed against the back of her hand, unable to continue. She’d been overcome by an unfamiliar feeling as she’d listened to Meredith describe her teacher’s attributes, his kindnesses, as the girl spoke nervously of her own aspirations. A heat had started to build in her chest, growing until it could no longer be contained then spreading like treacle beneath her skin. When it reached her eyes it had grown points and threatened to turn to tears. She felt tender and protective and vulnerable, and as she saw the beginnings of a hopeful smile stir on the edges of the young girl’s mouth, she couldn’t help wrapping her arms around Merry and squeezing hard. The girl tensed beneath the embrace, gripping the shingles tight.
Juniper sat back. “What is it? Are you all right?”
“Just a little frightened of heights, is all.”
“Why—you didn’t say a word!”
Meredith shrugged, focused on her bare feet. “I’m frightened of a lot of things.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
“Well, I suppose that’s pretty normal.”
Meredith turned her head abruptly. “Do you ever feel frightened?”
“Sure. Who doesn’t?”
“What of?”
Juniper dipped her head, drew hard on her cigarette. “I don’t know.”
“Not ghosts and scary things in the castle?”
“No.”
“Not heights?”
