I knew it was. They would take the farm and my dream of being married there. They would run my family out of Eastcliff, and Sayla away from her suitor, and my mother would be right about Eeus’s curse. This would all have been for nothing.
Besides, Kit was bound and determined to see his mission through, and he couldn’t do it alone. But even the two of us made for a pitiful resistance. It would take more than that, which made me wonder.
“Rosie, can I tell you something?” I glanced over at where she had scooped Ember off the floor and was swinging the kitten in her arms.
“Of course,” she said.
I’d wanted to tell her this before, almost from the start. I was no good at keeping secrets. No good at lying. And Rosie had proven herself trustworthy about my relationship with Kit. Perhaps I could trust her with an even greater truth.
It took a handful of seconds to arrange my thoughts, and another several to gather the nerve for what could be a staggering confession. I meant to explain it all deliberately, but instead it seemed to spill out of me, long past ready to be told.
“I brought Kit here,” I began. “Not the other way around. Well, he brought me, but only because he knew the way. It was my idea.”
Rosie stopped swinging Ember and grew very still. “Okay…?”
That wasn’t it, and she knew it. I drew as deep a breath as my lungs would allow and started again, this time from the very beginning.
“After my father died, we didn’t burn him. We buried him, then Merrick stole his body and brought it here to sacrifice toEeus. I never wanted to join the Bone Men. I still don’t. I only came to get my father’s body and take it home. But that wasn’t possible, so I stayed because of Kit. He came back…”
Only then did I pause, because the rest of that statement was the most damning of all, but it had to be said. I swallowed. “He came back to destroy this place.”
Rosie’s face went ashen, but she didn’t back away. “What do you mean?”
I smoothed my hands down my apron when I realized they were trembling. She could take this to Levitt. She could betray us. Then again, Levitt hadn’t been willing to act on Isla’s accusations, so he might treat Rosie’s the same, but it didn’t seem prudent to leave such a thing to chance.
Was it chance? Or faith?
“He’s planning to take Merrick’s position.” As I said it, my voice cracked. “He intends to become the next Shroud Warden and convince Levitt… to stop.”
“Stop what?” Rosie asked, barely a whisper.
“Everything.”
Quiet ruled the tiny cottage. I wadded my apron in my fists, holding my breath and waiting, waiting for Rosie to say something.
She let Ember down, and I worried she might run. If she tried to leave, would I go after her? Chase her down in the street, and drag her back here, and… what? There was no unsaying it. She knew now, and if she thought Kit and I were traitors, she could ruin us both. We’d only just discussed what to do if he were arrested, or worse. I didn’t imagine then that I could be the one to cause it by being honest with a friend.
With her hands empty, Rosie stepped forward and grabbed my wrists. She fixed her brown eyes on mine.
“How can I help?”
Such relief washed over me I thought I might cry. I threw myself at her and bundled her up in a crushing hug. “Thank you. So much. I can’t wait to tell Kit?—”
“Penny.” Rosie pulled free, and her face was stern. “I’m serious. What can I do? This isn’t something you undertake without a plan, or plenty of hands helping to move things along. I can convince my parents, but we’ll need more.”
I nodded while blinking fast, spurring my mind to think. “Like who? I don’t know many people here…”
Rosie bobbed her head. “Then that’s what I’ll do. I knoweveryonein Ashpoint. Good and bad. And I already have an idea to get the word out.”
“How?”
She indicated the bread dough resting on the counter and grinned. “Free samples.”
9
Kit
“Do you like sunflowers?”
