Bisma looked around. Everything else was the same: the trees, the position of the moon in the sky, the little rabbit hutch, the big red maple tree. She stepped closer to where the creek ought to have been, touching the land.
It seemed like the creek had simply run dry. The soil was cracked, parched.
Strange.
The Forest must have had a reason for it, Bisma told herself, as she continued home. The Forest always knew what it was doing; she had nothing to worry about. Even so, unease needled the back of her mind.
Back home, Bisma ate dinner with the girls, a soothing chicken and corn soup with crackers. Nori made quick work of her dinner, then went directly to dessert, eating the pumpkin cake Haru had sent for Luna.
‘Nori, isn’t that Luna’s?’ Bisma asked.
‘Baji, she said I could have it!’ Nori said, crumbs falling from her mouth.
‘I don’t want it,’ Luna said.
Bisma looked at Luna, but Luna avoided her gaze.
Why was Luna acting weird?That night, after they had played games and gotten ready for bed, Bisma stopped by Luna’s room on the way to her own.
‘Why don’t you come to town with me tomorrow?’ Bisma asked gently. ‘You can get a batch of gingersnaps for us to eat with tea.’
Luna was sitting on her bed, brushing her dark honey hair, not looking at Bisma. ‘Take Azalea,’ she said.
‘Lu, what’s going on?’ Bisma frowned. ‘You never miss an opportunity to go to town or to go to the bakery.’
Luna set the hairbrush down and promptly burst into tears.
Shock poured over Bisma; she hesitated, then rushed to Luna’s side.
‘What is it?’ she asked, wrapping Luna into a hug. Luna clutched Bisma tight, her tears falling onto Bisma’s shoulder. Confusion coursed through Bisma.
‘I’m just so scared,’ Luna managed to say through shuddering breaths.
‘Scared?’ Bisma repeated. The volatile emotions of fifteen-year-olds were quite something to grapple with. ‘Of what?’
‘I almost died,’ Luna replied.
‘But you’re alright,’ Bisma said, not entirely understanding. ‘You’re safe. Nothing is going to happen to you, I promise.’
‘I know,’ Luna said, pulling back to wipe her face with the edge of her sweater sleeve. Her eyes were red. ‘I trust you, Baji, I do. But no matter how hard I try to be brave, I still feel scared. It feels like something iswronginside me, as ifIam wrong. And what if he sees? What if heseesthat there is something wrong with me?’
Her eyes welled with tears again. She did not need to specify whohewas.
‘First of all, there is nothing wrong with you,’ Bisma said, holding Luna’s face in her hands. ‘You’re perfect! You always have been.’ She wiped Luna’s cheeks. ‘Secondly, you needn’t worry about Haru. He likes you, Luna.’
Luna shook her head, bottom lip trembling. ‘You don’t understand.’
Bisma didn’t, not really. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Luna pulled her blanket up, getting into bed.
‘Goodnight, Baji,’ she said, her voice quiet.
Unsure what to do, Bisma stood. With a sigh, she stroked Luna’s hair. ‘Goodnight, Lu.’
As she left, guilt knifed through Bisma—but it morphed quickly into rage as she went to her own room.
She would find out who was behind the poisonings, and she would make them pay. She swore it.
Even if it was Eleanora Chapman.
