They wove crowns and garlands and then abandoned them to race to the courtyard and play with the shiny rocks. The girls hopped across the stones, arms windmilling, squeals sharp and happy.
Erica followed with slower steps. When Katie slipped and caught herself with a palm, Erica reached out and steadied her, thumb circling her small wrist without thinking.
“Thank ye,” Katie said, cheeks hot with the thrill of almost falling. “Da says ye watch where ye put yer feet.”
“He is right,” Erica said.
“He is always right,” Bettie said, with the confidence of a child who had not yet seen him fail.
Erica smiled and did not argue, even though every bone in her body urged her to say,Nae about everything.
They took a break on the warm bench near the wall, and at that moment, Leah came with a jug and cups. She poured and stood a little away, watching them the way maids would watch when they wanted to make sure all was well without intruding.
Erica held a cup for each girl and then drank from her own, slow and careful, the cool liquid sliding down easily.
“What dress will ye wear for the cèilidh?” Bettie asked, studying her face as if the answer were a secret worth gold.
“The blue one,” Katie said. “Then ye will match us.”
“Nay, wear the green one,” Bettie said. “Because ye look like the yard in spring.”
Erica pressed her lips together. “I will decide later.”
“Now,” Bettie said. “We should decide now.”
“Later,” Erica said, gentle but firm.
They groaned in unison.
Erica could not help it; she laughed again.
Laughter came easily whenever they were near. It also left fast. Each time it left, something in her chest would twist. She found herself counting their breaths as they bent over a patch of clover. She pictured their small feet on the steps.
She thought of the way they always looked at the door when Alex entered a room, how their backs straightened and their hands stilled.
She had learned their patterns without meaning to. She could find one by sound alone now. She could braid hair without a mirror. She knew Bettie’s habit of tucking her lip between her teeth when she read. She knew Katie hummed under her breath while she drew.
The thought came sharp and sudden.
What would they do if she left?Would they stand at the top of the stairs and watch the door and wait for no one? Would they ask for her and be told she was gone?Would they forget her quickly, the way children did?
A part of her prayed for the last option because it was easier on all of them.
“Are ye all right? Ye went quiet,” Bettie noted.
“I am thinking about the order of the flowers,” Erica lied.
“We should put the red flowers near the white ones,” Katie said. “Ye said that once.”
“I did,” Erica said, grateful for the easy rescue. “Let us do that now.”
They set to it again.
Some time later, the nurse called them in to wash and eat. In the small foyer near the kitchen, the girls scrubbed their hands in a basin, while Erica stood with Leah and wiped dirt from her own fingers.
Leah leaned in, voice low. “I see ye have done more work around the garden beds. Ye really are making it hard for folks nae to like ye.”
“If only that was why I was doing it,” Erica said. “I just enjoy spending time with the lasses.”
