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She settles onto a bench like a balloon floating to earth, deflated. "Yes," she says, as if remembering something. "I was there."
"What happened that day by the sea?"
Nell's eyes, full of pain, find mine as if they hold the answers. She closes hers tightly. "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water," she says. "Jack fell down and broke his crown, and . . ." She stops, frustrated. "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, and . . ."
She says it faster. "JackandJillwentupthehilltofetchapailof water Jackfell down and brokeh is crownand ... and . . ."
I can't bear it. ". . . Jill came tumbling after . . . ," I finish for her.
She opens her eyes again. They are teary with the cold."Yes. Yes. But I didn't tumble after."
"What are you saying? I don't understand."
"We went up the hill ... up the hill..." She rocks. "To fetch a pail of water. From the water. It came up from the water. She made it come."
"Circe?" I whisper. "She is a house of sweets waiting to devour us."
The odd Mrs. Sommers has been walking nearby, tearing at her eyebrows when no one watches her. She hovers closer and closer to us, trying to hear.
"What did Circe want from you? What was she looking for?"
"A way in." Nell giggles in such a way that a chill races up my spine. Her eyes glance left and right, like those of a child with a naughty secret. "She wanted in. She did. She did. She said she'd make us her new Order. Queens. Queens with a crown. Jack fell down and broke his crown . . ."
"Miss Hawkins, look at me, please. Can you tell me what happened?"
She seems so sad, so far away. "I could not take her in after all. I could not enter. Not wholly. Only here." She points to her head. "I could see things. Tell her things. But it wasn't enough. She wanted in. She tired of us. She . . ." Mrs. Sommers moves closer. Nell turns on her suddenly, screaming till the woman, undone, races away. My heart beats wildly, unsettled by Nell's outburst.
"She's looking for the one who can bring the magic back to its full glory. The one with the power to take her in, to take her to the Temple. That is what she has always wanted," she whispers."No, no, no, no!" she shouts to the air.
"Miss Hawkins," I ask, trying to lead her back to the subject at hand."Was it Miss McCleethy? Was she there? Is she Circe? You can tell me."
Nell bends my head to hers till our foreheads touch, her tiny hand surprisingly strong on the back of my neck. The skin of her palm
is rough as burlap. "Don't let her in, Lady Hope." Is that an answer? Nell continues in hushed tones. "The creatures will do anything to control you. Make you see things. Hear things. You must keep them out."
I want free of that tiny hand that frightens me with its hidden strength. But I am afraid to move."Miss Hawkins, please, do you know where I can find the Temple?"
"You must follow the true path." Here we are again. "There are hundreds of paths. I don't know which one you mean."
"It is where you least expect it. It hides in plain sight. You must look and you will see it, see it, see, sea, it came up from the sea, from the sea." Her eyes widen. "I saw you! I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!"
I'm losing her again. "What happened to the other girls, Nell?"
She starts to whimper like a wounded animal. "It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault!"
"Miss Hawkins . . . Nell, it is all right. I've seen them, in my visions. I've seen your friends. . . ."
She snarls at me then, with such a fury I am afraid she might kill me. "They are not my friends! Not my friends at all!"
"But they are trying to help."
She backs away from me, screaming. "What have you done? What have you done?"
Alarmed, a nurse leaves her post by the door, making straight for us.
"Miss Hawkins, please--I didn't mean--"
"Shhh! They're listening at keyholes! They will hear us!" Nell says, running back and forth, arms folded over her chest.
