I shuffled over to him on my knees, fuming.“She’s only fifteen!”
Alexander backed away, holding up his hands.“Sixteen,” he said weakly.“I proposed on her birthday.”
“Are you insane?”I whispered harshly, knowing we were garnering some looks from a few elders in the cornfield.“Does Ma know?”
Alexander shook his head, his eyes wide.“No.But I think she’s going to look just like you when she finds out,” he squeaked.
I sat back and blew my hair away from my face.Having any resemblance to Ma was discomfiting.“I’m assuming Christabella said yes?”I asked in a calmer tone.
Alexander nodded, unable to keep the grin from his face.
Christabella had never gushed about Alexander before.Her fancies had always darted around like a butterfly, flitting from one boy to the next.I had never seen Alexander act in any particular way around her, but his moon-eyed expression indicated that something had clearly changed between the two of them while I’d been gone.
I took a deep breath and narrowed my eyes.“You haven’t done anything to compromise her, have you?”
Alexander shook his head.“I swear upon my gourds I have not.”
“Hm.”
“Does that mean you approve?”
“Christabella can make her own decisions,” I said, hoping I sounded more blasé than I felt.I was a bit hurt that she hadn’t at least written to me about it.But to be fair, I hadn’t written her much either.
After harvesting the ripened gourds, I trudged off to a rest shelter at the edge of the fields for a break as Alexander moved on to the peas.
“Giselle?Is that you?”
I froze.
A witch woman with wrinkled brown skin and a dark brown shawl approached me, a basket of miniature pumpkins slung over her arm.
“Beatrice,” I said with a nervous laugh, recognizing Rowena’s mother.She had been one of the witches who had fallen ill due to living underground for too many years.She looked sturdier now, back on her feet.“You’re looking well.I thought Rowena had you move aboveground,” I said quickly, hoping to divert the attention away from me.
Beatrice shrugged.She joined me under the shelter and sat on the wooden bench.“I didn’t care for it.The air and the sun were wonderful, but I missed being surrounded by witches.”
“What about your health?”I asked.“Don’t you need to spend more time up there?”
“Oh, sure,” Beatrice said, waving her hand as if the issue were trivial.“Rowena makes me go up with her every week.My youngest Elowyn gets far too excited about it.”Her tone grew concerned.“I hope it’s a passing phase.Our life is down here in the village.”
I merely grunted.Beatrice was certainly old-fashioned, very much like Ma in her opinions about humans.I wondered what Beatrice would think of me bringing not one but two humans down here.She’d likely have a heart attack.
Beatrice dug around her pockets and produced a small satchel.“Peanuts?”she offered.“I roasted them yesterday.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking them.“Say, didn’t Lana go aboveground to travel?”I hoped to prod her into the right direction.
Lana Barclay was the most formidable herbwitch in the village and had even helped Beatrice recover, or so I heard Ma say last summer.The Barclay family had been well respected in the village, known for their superior potions and ointments—that is, up until her sister Seraphina did the unthinkable and eloped with a human man, which in turn sparked the series of events that led to the end of the Non-Magic Age.
“Lana only went because that niece of hers asked her to,” Beatrice said with a sniff.
“There are plenty of other witches finding their fortune aboveground,” I argued.“Rowena.Ferdinand, even.And me.”
The last word was a mistake.Beatrice’s eyes suddenly sharpened.“Indeed.Are you visiting, Giselle?”
There was a note of judgement in her tone, and I felt that I knew why.No doubt Ma had wasted no time bemoaning the fact that her daughter deserted her family for selfish pursuits shortly after I left.My palms grew sweaty.
I dug into the bag and popped a handful of pre-peeled peanuts into my mouth, giving myself some time to formulate a response.They were perfectly roasted, sweet, salty, and nutty.“Yes,” I said after I chewed and swallowed.“I thought I’d pay a visit home since it’s Harvest season.”
This seemed to assuage her.Beatrice beamed.“How lovely.Nasha will be so thrilled.”
