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Chapter 17
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2021-05-20 16:19:37Red and yellow leaves float down through the air like rubies and gold coins drifting underwater, a pirate’s treasure trove carpeting our front lawn in lustrous Autumn splendor.
I’m sitting on the window seat in my parents’ room, looking out through the misty glass panes. I clutch Funnybunny, my favorite stuffed toy, against my chest, and I begin to sing the song we learned in kindergarten yesterday.
The blackbirds in the tree outside gather on a branch near the window, bobbing up and down, trilling in time with my rolling melody.
My song finishes, and the birds take flight, cawing their goodbyes on the breeze.
There’s a delicious fragrance in the air – a quince and pear pie baking in the oven downstairs, gran’s idea of a healthy lunch. As she says, it’s mostly fruit, after all.
But I’m not hungry yet. There’s something I must do.<
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The silver circle. The ring in mom’s jewelry box. The five princes. Bea. The sea witch. Try as I might, I still can’t quite piece together the mystery I’ve stepped into. Words, tunes, images and ideas swirl through my mind all the way back to the cabin, as I puzzle over the greater meaning – but I’m still as lost as ever. From time to time a bird or a squirrel darts through the leafy labyrinth of branches overhead, scattering the early morning sunlight and bringing me to a standstill. Even now, I feel like there’s someone or something following me, just a few steps behind at all times. I turn around every few minutes to check, but all I see is green, and more green. My parents were surprisingly relaxed about the shattered coffee table. I thought they were just trying not to make a scene in front of my friends, but they didn’t even mention it after Zee and Grace drove off with Jamie (who w
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CRUNCH.Kitty takes a bite of the apple, and then… nothing.She doesn’t faint or vomit or turn purple. She just takes another bite, seeming to savor the apple’s crisp, sweet flesh.“Mmm, just what I felt like,” she says. Her face suddenly creases with concern. “Are you ok Ash? You look sort of… freaked out, or something.”“I’m fine,” I say, breathing a sigh of relief. I guess the apples were ok after all.I notice that Kitty’s wearing nothing but slippers and a very flimsy wine red silk dressing gown, almost perfectly matching the roses curling behind her. It clings provocatively to every curve, showing off her supermodel figure in a way that normal clothes just can’t.I look self consciously down at my own outfit – denim shorts, sandals and a plain white cami.
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“Lame. Lame lame lame lame.”Kitty leans against the hood of the black Jeep parked at the Forest Park entrance.“I don’t have the car keys,” she says. “They’re at the cabin.”No surprise there, after Kitty and I practically ran away from the cabin without warning, Kitty in nothing but a silk nightgown and her slippers.I look back in the direction of the forest. It’s at least a forty-minute walk back to the cabin, and after our grand exit in front of Felix and Alastaire, I’d feel really stupid going back.“Let’s go to my house,” I say. “You can borrow some of my clothes. And we can probably take my mom’s car or something.”“No,” says Kitty firmly. “There’s no time for dealing with the parentals. Let’s just go straight into town. It’s ju
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