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The very next morning, everyone was seated around the breakfast table, and as always, the aromas of Cora and Jeppe’s freshly baked breads, savory curry, fresh brewed coffee, and tea filled the air.
Anna Wolton reached for the coffee carafe sitting in the center of the table to refill her cup. Rays of the sun, shining through the bank of leaded glass windows in the breakfast room, caught the steam rising from the pot as she poured. “We received a message from your father yesterday evening,” she said, setting it back down.
“Oh, what did he say?” Elinora asked.
“They are making good progress, but there’s so much that needs to be done yet. Your aunt Camille, Penelope, and I will be traveling to the city to join your fathers for a spell; they are very busy and need all the help they can get.”
“That’s very good news,” Tillie said with delight. Getting to the circus training grounds was going to be much easier than she thought.
Lina was sitting at the far end of the table. She looked up quickly, trying to keep from crying, then she turned away.
Jamie frowned, saddened to see her so upset. “How long will you be gone?” he asked his mother quietly.
“A week or two at the most,” she replied.
Abigail was also at the table. “Albert and I, and all the others will be here to take care of things, don’t you worry,” she reassured everyone.
“When do you leave?” Graham inquired.
“Emil and Simon will take us by carriage to Waterbridge Station early tomorrow morning,” his mother replied.
Lina’s face darkened. “Why do you have to go?” she suddenly snapped at her mother. “And why do you have to get so involved?” Everyone turned to look at her. She furrowed her brows and turned away again.
“Madelina,” Penelope said with a sigh. “I promise we won’t be gone for long.”
“Two weeks? Why are you leaving me here alone with them. You and father are just so helpful to everyone, aren’t you? But what about me?” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she spoke.
“I didn’t think you’d mind so much. You’ll be in good hands here with Abigail and the others, and perhaps you can visit Belladonna again.”
Tillie looked at Lina. For the first time in a long while, they made eye contact; Tillie felt a surge of emotion and found herself wanting to protect Lina. But before she could say anything, Lina stood up, turned, and fled out of the breakfast room to her bedroom without another word.
Elinora sighed and looked down, unsure what to say. Tillie had a worried look in her eyes.
“Don’t worry, dear,” Abigail said to Penelope. “We will take good care of her. Simon made sure he picked up extra supplies for her last time he was in Waterbridge so she can continue painting while you are away, and I am sure Emil would be happy to take her to visit her friend if she wishes.”
“Thank you,” she replied quietly. “I’d better go check on her,” she said excusing herself.
The others rose from the table and began to exit the room, but Anna, who remained seated, called Tillie over to her. She walked over without protest. “Tillie, this has gone on far too long—you must make peace with Lina.”
“But she doesn’t want my help, she doesn’t like me,” Tillie objected. But only half-heartedly.
“Why on earth do you keep saying that?” she asked, taking her hand. “I know for a fact she considered you her best friend—and she was yours. And I think it’s still the case. You’re both just too stubborn to be the first one to start the conversation, aren’t you?”
Tillie sighed and nodded.
Anna gave her a sideways glance. “Talk to her, Tillie,” she said.
She nodded again. “I will,” she replied quietly.
“Good.” Anna squeezed her hand, then let go.
Tillie left the room to catch up with the others, who were already outside on the terrace waiting to tell Mister and the council about their plans to visit the training grounds. She opened the sitting room door, but then hesitated. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you. I want to change my shoes,” she said unconvincingly.
“All right,” Elinora replied, looking at her feet quizzically.
“What’s wrong with those shoes?” Jamie asked.
“Oh, never mind. I’ll be there in a bit,” she said then quickly disappeared.
Once upstairs, instead of going to her room, she turned the other way and headed down the hall to the guest wing. She had been so deeply affected by Lina’s emotional reaction to the news of the trip that it surprised her. But she realized that her mother, Jamie, and Henry had all been right. Although Lina’s behavior toward her still confused her, Tillie was beginning to realize that maybe she had been so blinded by her own assumptions that she had never bothered to find out what the actual problem was, let alone admit to her own behavior toward Lina. But today she felt different. Resolved that she would not let Lina push her away this time, no matter how mad she might be, she walked to her room and knocked firmly on her door.
“I told you, I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Mother,” Lina’s voice came from inside.
Tillie opened the door and peered in.
Lina was sitting on her bed and turned around when she heard the door open. Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw that it was Tillie standing there. “What do you want?” she asked.
“Why do you always have to do that?”
“Do what? Why are you in here! Why aren’t you outside with the others? I know you’d much rather be with them.” She turned her back, trying to retain an aggressive attitude, but it failed, and she began to cry.
“Lina,” Tillie said softly, entering the room. It was filled with books and art supplies. Paintbrushes and used tubes of paint were scattered on a cloth on a little side table. Three easels were propped up in various places around the spacious room. Two held paintings of the gardens at Kellandale, and the third, a portrait of a wolfhound. Tillie smiled when she saw it.
“It looks just like Henry. I can tell you must practice every day; your paintings are incredible.” She sighed. “Please talk to me, Lina. I know you’re very sad about Henry being gone. I am, too. But I know there’s more to your sadness. And I want to know why we are like this,” Tillie said, motioning back and forth to herself and Lina.
Lina turned to look at her, her eyes still puffy. She bit her lip. “What does it matter? My mother is leaving me here with all of you, and I know you hate me. Please, just leave me alone.”
“But I don’t hate you. In fact, it’s just the opposite—you hate me!” Tillie said, her voice strained.
“What?” Lina gasped. But she let Tillie continue.
“You have a new best friend and could care less about me anymore. You used to my best friend...and Elinora’s, too. But once your family moved away and you made new friends, everything changed. You seemed to be much more interested in all the sparkly things, and you didn’t want anything to do with me at all.”
Lina frowned. “First of all, do you have any idea what my new friends are like? They’re more interested in sparkly things and being impressive, just as you’ve said. But I’m not like that, and it’s been very hard trying to keep up with all of that nonsense. I’ve had to spend a lot of time with Bella because she lives nearby, though sometimes I wonder if she is truly a friend. It was very difficult to move away. You’ve never had to deal with that, and it’s all made me feel like I don’t belong anywhere anymore.”
Tillie’s mouth fell open. She was surprised by how protective of Lina she suddenly felt. Her voice softened considerably. “You belong here. You always have...you know that.”
Lina shook her head. “That’s not what it feels like,” she said, her lower lip quivering. “You have and Elinora, and you both have Graham and Jamie, and Henry—you all have someone you can trust. I don’t. I did have that feeling with Henry for a time at least, but now he’s gone.”
Tillie came and sat down next to her. “So that’s the reason you’ve been angry with me.”
Lina huffed. “Tillie, I’m not angry. Don’t you understand?” Lina’s tears came faster and harder. “I did push you away—but not because I hated you. Not at all. I was anxious and felt alone. It made me sad and jealous knowing you and Elinora have each other no matter what, and when I got upset, it seemed like you didn’t care at all. I know I didn’t handle it well, but then you seemed so eager to believe I thought all those terrible things about you that you quickly accepted being my enemy.” She looked up, then continued.
“Maybe I was silly to feel so hurt, but when you didn’t even seem to notice why, I guess it did make me angry, and everything got jumbled up. I’m really sorry that’s how things went.”
Tillie’s shoulders slumped. “I had no idea. I think I was hurt, too. But I’ve really missed you, just so you know. Terribly, to be honest. I also know you love Henry, and that he loves you back. I’m sorry, too, Lina.” She wiped away a tear falling down her cheek. “I don’t know why I couldn’t bring myself to ask you what was wrong.”
“Well, none of that matters now. We’ve figured it out,” Lina said with a smile.
“We have, haven’t we,” Tillie replied.
Lina smiled and wiped her eyes.
“Silly how long it took. So, are we friends?”
“We’re best friends,” Lina replied, her smile widening. She nudged Tillie with her elbow, and at last they put their quarrel to rest.
Tillie reached out and they hugged tightly. Then she paused a moment. “Speaking of Henry, I need to ask. Were you able to talk to him? I mean, not talk, but...”
Lina nodded. “Yes. I could understand him. I know he was happy here. And I know he didn’t want us fight. He encouraged me to talk to you, but silly me, I never listened. I also knew he was very sad for some reason, though I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t know if anyone else could communicate with him like I could—he seemed to keep it a secret.”
“We can understand him, too,” Tillie replied. “And he tried to tell me the same thing.”
Lina’s eyes widened as Tillie shared with her everything they had discovered. “I didn’t realize how sad Henry was. He hid that well. So, the forest really is haunted,” she said, thinking back on her experience.
“Haunted isn’t the word I would use to describe it. It’s more...magical. More than we even knew. Graham didn’t believe us at all at first; he was the last to discover Henry could communicate the way he does.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Lina snickered.
Tillie laughed with her. “But I have to tell you. We know where Henry is now, or at least where he is headed.”
Lina looked up. “What? How?”
“It’s a bit complicated, but let’s just say we made a discovery recently. We know he left to find his way back—to a circus where he came from, to find his family. When we visited Lovii’s yesterday in Waterbridge, she helped confirm everything we suspected—now we even know exactly which circus it is.”
“Tillie, what on earth are you waiting for? Why haven’t you gone after him already!”
Tillie snorted. “I forgot how much alike we really are. I’ve been wanting to go after him since the day he left, it just took a while to convince everyone else. But now we will go as soon as possible. And I want you to come with us.”
Lina looked up, her face brightening.
“I’m heading to the forest to meet the others right now to make plans, in fact. You want to help Henry, too, right? Come with me...he needs our help,” Tillie pleaded. Lina hesitated briefly. “Lina, it’s not haunted; I promise. Not in the slightest—I wish you’d trust me.”
Lina reached for her hand and squeezed it, sighing deeply. “I do trust you, Tillie.”