“Lily?” I say, touching her arm gently.
Shejumps and whips her head around to look at me. “Huh? Oh. Sorry, hon. What did you say?” She’s backing away from the open door as she speaks.
“I asked if Sol’s waiting for me in his room?”
“Yeah, he is.”
“All right. I’ll head back to the cabin with you, then.” I look over my shoulder at Poppy, whose eyes are drooping. “See you later. Good luck with the deer skinning.”
Poppy grumbles and waves to Lily and me as I step out of the shed and we begin to walk away.
Lily lets out a sigh of relief as we put some space between us and the shed. Then she puts that sweet smile back on her face and bumps my shoulder with hers. “You ready?”
“Ready?”
“For your trials? I’m guessing that’s what Sol’s gonna talk to you about.”
“Oh.” I let out a breath. “I think so? I don’t know. I don’t know what to expect, so it’s hard to be ready. But it’ll be good to get started so I’m not waiting.” I cock my head and raise an eyebrow at her. “Maybe I’ll feel more ready if you can give me a hint … ?”
Lily shakes her head. “Can’t do it, hon. We ain’t allowed to talk about it.”
Isigh. “Worth a shot.”
“I wish I could say more. I do. But Sol’s got rules about these for a reason. I know you, though, and I know you’re gonna do great.”
“Thanks.” I fidget with the hem of my shirt as we walk toward the cabin’s back door, passing Violet and Rose, who are carrying the deer carcass to the shed. “It’s just … what happens if I fail?”
“You won’t.”
“But what if I do?”
Lily’s smile turns to a much sterner look. She reaches up to grasp my elbow, giving it a firm squeeze. “You won’t fail, Iris. Don’t even let yourself think of it as a possibility, all right? You gotta finish all three trials. Yougotta. And I know you will.”
I’m sure this is meant to be reassuring, but the seriousness of the way she says it and the tightness of her grip on my arm just serve to make me more nervous. Because the way she says,“You won’t,”feels a lot more like,“You can’t.”And the emphasis on the fact that I have to succeed just makes me more concerned about what happens if I mess up.
But I don’t want to worry Lily, so I just smile and nod and say a quiet, “Thanks,” as we step through the back door.
“Nowgo on,” she says as I kick off my shoes. “When you’re all done, I’ll braid your hair, if you want.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
I give her a little wave before heading down the hall toward Sol’s room.
“Iris! Come on in,” Sol says cheerfully when I knock on his open door. “I hope your day is going well?”
“It’s been all right.” I gesture to the door. “Should I shut this?”
“Yes, please.” He sits down on the edge of his bed and gestures to the wooden chair across from him. “Have a seat. I assume you’ve guessed what I want to speak to you about?”
I close the door and move to sit as instructed. “The trials?”
“Bingo.” He smiles, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’m not going to be giving you your first trial today. I just want to take some time to check in, touch base, that sort of thing. Make sure you feel comfortable and ready for what’s to come.”
“Cool.” I reach up to pull my hair over my shoulder and start running my fingers through the ends.
Sol must notice my restlessness because his tone turns reassuring. “Don’t be nervous, Iris. I promise, I’m not going to challenge you to do anything I don’t feel confident you can handle. Which isn’t to say the trials will be easy. They wouldn’t be trials then,would they? But they’re all designed to help you in the long run. To put all the tools from your Growth Sessions over the past year into practice.” He tilts his head to the side, expression thoughtful, before asking, “Do you want to know how I came up with the idea of these trials?”
“Yeah, actually.”
