their love. Both of them were miserable; perhaps they should come here and be reminded of what they’d once shared? Not wishing to intrude on this shrine to their unification, Leveret quickly hung the bag on one of the small branches that protruded from the pink flaking bark of the enormous bole. She bowed to the tree and slipped out back onto the Green just as the evening star was blooming.
At home Maizie was feverish in her excitement.
‘You better get down to the bath house now, my girl, else all the hot water will be gone.’
‘Mother, most of the people going tonight live up at the Hall and they’ll be using those bathrooms. There’ll be plenty of hot water in the bath house. It doesn’t start till eight o’clock and that’s practically four hours away.’
‘Alright, but don’t leave it till the last minute, will you? I want to help you get ready and I got to go to the Barn in a while to set out the food. I’ll be back in good time but have your bath whilst I’m gone. Are you feeling excited yet?’
‘I suppose so – but I’m more terrified than excited.’
‘You’ll be fine, Leveret. You’ll look so pretty in your new dress and all the boys’ll be wanting to dance with you.’
‘I doubt that very much,’ muttered Leveret, remembering Jay’s words only two weeks ago at the Moon Fullness. The ugliest girl at Stonewylde, he’d said, with a body like a boy’s. If anyone looked at her this evening it certainly wouldn’t be because she looked so pretty – they’d be gaping at how stupid she looked in such a lovely dress. A sparrow, not a kingfisher. She thought of all the unkind taunts her brothers had made over the years about her unattractive looks, and her recent resolve to enlist help to stop their bullying. She decided to try and broach the subject with her mother now but felt nervous, not wanting to spoil the new harmony by making her mother choose between her children.
‘Mother, I know you’ve always said I’m a tell-tale …’
Maizie eyed her warily and sighed.
‘Let’s not start on all that, Leveret. ‘Tis forgotten now – I know you never meant to tell lies about your brothers.’
‘But Mother, I—’
‘The thing is, my girl, I do understand they’ve tormented you over the years. O’ course I’ve always noticed that. It started when you were only a tiny little thing, but you see, they lost their father and ‘twas a very difficult time for everyone but especially Gefrin and Sweyn. The other four were older but they were only little boys theirselves and they didn’t understand what were going on. Then what with our Yul becoming the new magus and me being out every hour o’ the day and night trying to help organise the community … ‘twere a difficult time for us all. You were lucky – you were too young to understand anything.’
Leveret nodded – she’d heard all this before and knew it was part of her mother’s justification for believing her two youngest sons weren’t really so bad.
‘The thing is, Mother, that over the years they—’
‘Oh I know, Leveret, I know it’s gone on a long time. You don’t need to tell me that. But really, ‘tis normal for brothers to torment a little sister. You ask any girl with a big brother. But they’re older now and I know they’ve become much more kind and responsible. So let’s not dwell—’
‘But it hasn’t stopped! Really, they’re even worse now and they’ve said they’re going to—’
‘Leveret, you know this isn’t true. Please don’t spoil—’
‘Mother it is true! Clip saw what Sweyn did to me at Samhain!’
‘I know what Clip thought he saw – he came and told me. And I took it up with Sweyn and he explained everything. He were angry with you, right enough, for messing about and upsetting me. He did bob your head in the water – he admitted that. But he weren’t trying to drown you! You’ve just got into the habit over the years of making it all out to be much worse than it really is.’
‘Please, Mother, why—’
‘Leveret … this is a special night. Let’s not spoil it with any more o’ this talk. Let’s put it all behind us now. Please?’
Leveret hung her head. This is what always happened every time she tried to tell her mother; nothing had changed at all. She’d just have to find someone else to help her. Maizie went