And she walked.
And she walked.
Until eventually she looked up and realized she was lost.
IRIS
ChristmasDay brings in a cold wind from the north. Sol chops wood that morning so we can keep the fireplace burning. We spend the day downstairs, with Violet playing Sol’s guitar and singing Christmas songs while Zinnia and Rose cook dinner and Poppy, Lily, and I play Crazy Eights and Rummy with a set of old, worn-out playing cards.
Sol has Growth Sessions with each of us that evening. That is his gift to us.
“I know the holidays can be difficult,” he says as we sit around the rickety wooden dining table. “Especially for people like you girls, who’ve had loved ones abandon and mistreat you. This can be a time of year when you face setbacks in your progress. It’s easy to get nostalgic, to look back rather than forward. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen. We won’t celebrate material gifts that are ultimately meaningless or families that you didn’t get tochoose. Instead we’ll celebratethisfamily. And the bright futures that all of you have as you get closer to your perfect selves.” He smiles, blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “Sorry. I’ll get off my soapbox so we can eat. One last thing: Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean the garden can’t prosper.”
After dinner, Lily braids my hair while we all watchElfand are called, one by one, back to Sol’s room for our Growth Sessions.
“I love your hair,” she says. “It’s so long and soft. How long’s it been since you’ve cut it?”
I beam up at her. “Thank you. I trim the ends, but it hasn’t been given a real cut in several years.”
“Mine would be a tangled mess if it was this long.” Lily wraps a hair tie around the end of the fishtail braid she’s just completed. “You’re lucky.”
Zinnia comes out of Sol’s room and throws herself onto the couch next to Lily with a dramatic sigh.
“What’s wrong, hon?” Lily asks.
“I asked Sol again if I can go into town. Just to go exploring. But he still says no.”
“Of course he did,” Violet snaps. She keeps strumming her guitar, though she stopped singing when Sol left the room acouple hours ago. “You know y’all ain’t allowed to leave the holler.”
Zinnia crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. “I wouldn’t cause trouble,” she says. “I just want …” But she trails off, as if finding it hard to articulate what exactly it is that she wants.
“Um, sorry,” Rose says, leaning around Lily to look at all of us. “Stupid new girl question—whyaren’t we allowed to leave the hollow?”
“Just you younger girls,” Lily explains. “People might start asking questions about unaccompanied minors, and Sol doesn’t want y’all getting sent back to bad homes or put in foster care. It’s for your own good.”
“Exactly,” Violet says. “Sol doesn’t do anything without a good reason.”
Rose nods, but Zinnia just sighs again.
“Personally, I don’t mind staying in the cabin,” Poppy says. “It’s nice here. Nobody staring or asking questions. I always preferred staying cozy at home with a book.”
“Not me,” Zinnia mutters.
Sol pokes his head out of his bedroom door, just down the hall. “Iris?” he says. “It’s your turn, sweetheart.”
Ihop up from my place on the floor and make my way toward him.
“Love the hair,” he says, looking at the braid. “Let me guess—Lily did that?”
“She did.” I reach up to toy with the soft ends.
“She’s good.” He grins and gestures to his own shaggy blond hair. “Think she can do my hair, too? Give me a braid like that?”
I laugh. “You might need to grow it out just alittlelonger.”
“Darn. Guess I’ll have to settle for second-best hair in the house, then. But come summer, when this mop is long enough to get styled real pretty, I’m coming for your title.”
“Bring it on.”
