“We will not be waking you in my kitchen anyway, believe you me, Ceridwen. The whole Crow’s Nest will want to come bid farewell to you, since you are a veritable Pollyanna, and I will not have all those people trample through here. I might already be in trouble with food inspectors because this one here decided that the circus was in town and it was time to play clown.”
Ceridwen’s snort was both entirely out of character and exactly what Deryn needed. Her sister’s normally stern and serious eyes were anything but.
“I take it Hamuel and Hamantha were not warmly received?” Ceridwen bit her lip, and Deryn desperately tried to maintain a straight face. Victoria threw her hands in the air.
“Ceridwen Abigail Crowhart, I expected better of you! And on the matter of expectations, are you here about the damn bush?”
Rhiannon set her elbow on the table and propped her cheek on her hand.
“I am almost certain I will regret asking, but what bush, or perhaps whose bush?”
Ceridwen did not manage to answer as Victoria was clearly on a roll.
“I actually wish it were about someone’s bush. But how can I even begin to get anyone into my house when the view is entirely unobstructed? Anyone and their dog can look into my bedroom and see everything! So I’m talking about the damn bush that your sister…” Victoria pointed with another—where did she keep getting them from?—massive wooden spoon at Ceridwen. “Was supposed to plant in front of my house!”
“It’s almost winter, Victoria.”
Ceridwen’s feeble attempt at finding a good excuse was swept away with a wave of the wooden utensil.
“That woman keeps looking into my windows and telling everyone my business, Ceridwen Crowhart. You said you would help me plant bushes. I want those bushes to go in to give her something to look at!”
Ceridwen, clearly barely holding her laughter in, tried for reasonable.
“Her? I thought you wanted the plants for a relaxed gardening experience and asked me which bushes would need less time to care for. But now you’re threatening people with hydrangeas?”
The moment Ceridwen’s words left her mouth, Deryn knew she couldn’t risk looking at her. She couldn’t. If their eyes met, it would all be over for everyone.
Rhiannon apparently considered no such thing because she did look at Ceridwen, and after a second, they both burst out laughing, Deryn joining her sisters in giggles, holding her stomach.
Victoria, however, did not share the hilarity.
“I see how it is. All three of you better get your skinny behinds out of my place of business before I do something drastic, like make you eat Hamuel and Hamantha. Go on, getout of here. And find Ms. Heartthrob someplace to work on her ‘content’ before I lose my hospitality license.”
Rhiannon tried the “Hey, what did I do?” excuse, but was just as unceremoniously pushed out the back door. The alley behind the Tavern was quiet, the waves playfully chasing each other a few yards away. Deryn inhaled, drowning away whatever was still caught in her chest. She tasted salt on her lips and chose to believe it was the ocean and not her tears. If her sisters saw her, they both ignored the inexplicable emotion, and Deryn found that to be both a blessing and an insult. Really? Was she not worth a question? A concern? But then, what would she say if Rhiannon or Ceridwen did ask?
Instead, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and walked to the pier. Behind her, she heard whispered words but chose to simply move. Undoubtedly, her sisters were deciding how to proceed. Deryn didn’t care. She needed to walk. On. Forward. Anywhere, really.
When her feet hit the old boards of the Ferry Pier, the echo of a second pair of steps came closer. The scent of apple and something earthy, ethereal and yet subtle, engulfed her.
“Ceri… I’m okay.”
“Of course you are. I didn’t say anything.”
They stood in silence for a moment, until Deryn felt like the weight of it would suffocate her if she said nothing, but her sister beat her to the punch.
“Are you staying because of me? Because I can see you being driven out of your mind—granted, that is a short drive—while remaining on Dragons.”
Deryn closed her eyes. She thought back to her list, the one she made the night of the fire… The night at1326… The night she was desperate for air, for breath, for freedom… Then she simply confessed.
“Yes.”
“Why, Deryn? I’m okay. Rhiannon is here and is choosing the island and the town as her home?—”
“So I’m not needed, then?”
Ceridwen started, then opened her mouth, reconsidered, and silence reigned again between them. When Ceridwen broke it, it felt like years, eons, had passed. The last rays of sun were playing hide-and-seek in the ocean foam.
“I will always need you. And despite what your mind is telling you, you always have a place here.”
