‘Wait,’ Xander said, touching her wrist. ‘Before you go—what was Nori’s story?’
‘You want to know?’ Mei asked, intrigued.
Xander nodded.
‘Why?’ Luna asked. She arched a suspicious brow. ‘Morbid fascination?’
‘No, just curious to know your stories,’ he said with a shrug.
‘He’s asked after everyone’s,’ Bisma explained to the girls. Nori was the only one left. She obliged Xander, just as she had with the others. ‘Nori was the youngest of eight children; she came to the Forest when she was three. She was lost and just wound up there one night, and the Forest accepted her after trying its best to scare her home.’
‘Didn’t her family wonder where she’d gone?’ Xander asked.
‘We met them in town once,’ Bisma said. ‘Nori said, “Oh, I used to live with them,” and pointed them out. They saw her, too, but weren’t interested. One of the older kids came over and said Nori was better off wherever she was, for their mother had recently run away, and most of the kids were scattering the first chance they got.’
Xander blinked. ‘That’s … something.’
‘That it is,’ Bisma said. She sighed. ‘Well, I’d better get these girls home.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ Xander said. He walked them to the Forest, then she, Luna, and Mei went the rest of the way home.
When they entered the treehouse, it was quiet … empty. Bisma hated it.
She went to her room, feeling restless. She drifted to her table, pulling out a piece of paper to write to her friend.
I’m sorry I haven’t written much lately, I’ve been so terribly busy. The hours in the day fly by and I don’t know where they go. It feels like trying to capture light in my hands, but I cannot get a grasp no matter how I try.
I don’t know if I can do this, be what my sisters need. I feel as though I am failing constantly, and every time I pick myself up and think, yes, perhaps now I can stand, I last but a moment before I lose my footing and fall again.
After writing, Bisma went down for dinner, which the three of them ate in a strained silence, unsure of what to say. Everything felt strange. There was an uncanny energy in the air, coming from the Forest itself.
It would not leave even after they finished eating. Since Mei had done most of the cooking, she went up to her room while Bisma and Luna cleaned up.
‘I saw Haru,’ Bisma said. ‘He said he misses you.’
Luna stopped washing the dishes, catching her breath.
‘Lu, just talk to him,’ Bisma said gently.
‘I can’t.’ Luna’s voice broke.
‘Why?’
‘I told you,’ Luna whispered. ‘I’m afraid.’
‘You can’t live your life in fear, darling,’ Bisma said.
Luna just shook her head, sighing. She finished washing the dishes in silence, then left, leaving Bisma alone.
Bisma released a long breath, listening to it fill the empty house. She checked on the girls, then got ready to head backto Xander’s greenhouse. It had been two weeks since they’d put Deeba to sleep, and they were so close now.
They just needed to keep at it.
At the greenhouse, Xander was already at work. He was as dedicated as she was—even more so. She didn’t understand it.
‘Why are you working so hard?’ she asked, coming to stand beside him as he ground ginger into a paste. ‘They’re my sisters, but why would it matter to you?’
He looked at her as if she was daft. She didn’t understand what she was missing that seemed so obvious to him.
