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Haydia Ingland had moved to Everwood when Arabella was seven. Haydia was the only daughter of a wealthy banker. Her mother had died when she was two. Her father overcompensated by giving her everything she wanted and therefore Haydia was a little spoiled. She and Arabella were the only first-graders in the one-room school house, so they became fast friends.
One day, when Arabella was ten, she went to visit Braylen. Haydia tagged along reluctantly. They stopped in front of the tall gate to Braylen’s estate. Haydia tipped her head back to look up at it. Henry opened the gate and let them in. Braylen came running over to meet them.
“Aira! I’m almost done with my new potion. Come see!”
“Ok,” Arabella agreed. She gestured to Haydia. “Bray, this is my friend Haydia. Haydia, Braylen.”
“Hello,” Haydia said coolly.
“Hi!” Braylen responded happily, oblivious to her aloofness.
Arabella wondered if Haydia was jealous because she didn’t want to share Arabella as a friend, or if she was envious of Braylen’s massive estate. Haydia was used to having the best of everything. Arabella followed Braylen back to a big bucket in his backyard. Inside was a green liquid.
“What is it?” Arabella asked, peering inside. Haydia wrinkled her nose. The liquid did smell kind of funny.
“It turns ants into bunnies!” Braylen explained excitedly. Haydia gave Arabella a look that clearly said, Is this boy for real?
Arabella sighed. She’d hoped her two best friends (aside from Corinna, of course) would like each other. “How does it work?” Arabella asked, choosing to ignore Haydia’s expression.
“I just take a little bit in the dropper and drip it on top of an ant.” He gestured to the jar of ants next to him. He unscrewed the lid. Haydia took a small step back, as though the ants were going to spring out at her.
Braylen drew a dropper full of the green liquid from the bucket. He held it over the jar and let a single drop splash down on the ants. The three watched the ants expectantly. After a few moments, they all leaned back. Nothing was happening. Braylen looked dejected. “I must have gotten something wrong,” he muttered to himself.
Haydia gave Arabella a look like, See? I told you so. Arabella gritted her teeth. She slung an arm around Bray’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Bray. You’ll figure it out.”
He looked uplifted by Arabella’s words. Just then, a popping, cracking noise came from behind them. The glass jar was expanding. Arabella wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but the ants looked a little furry. “Hurry, dump them out!”
Braylen shook the ants out on the ground at their feet. The ants quadrupled in size. They definitely were furry. Haydia let out a yelp and stepped back. Braylen was grinning wildly. “This is amazing!” he said excitedly. “Look at them!”
As Arabella watched, the ants got even bigger. Now they were the size of kittens. They had white fur, but they still looked like ants. Arabella swallowed nervously. Her eyes flickered to Bray, who was hopping around the edge of the ant cluster. “Uh, Bray?” she ventured.
Bray stopped hopping at her tone. “What, Aira?”
“I don’t think they’re going to turn into bunnies,” she said. “They’re pretty big.”
“What do you mean? They’re nice and furry. Just give them a minute.” Bray stared determinedly at the ants, as if he could will them into bunnies.
Arabella glanced at Haydia, who looked horrified. She seemed to be frozen in place.
“Maybe we could shoo them into the woods,” Arabella suggested. The McGavern estate was bordered by the Whimsical Woods, as was Arabella’s house.
“But what will happen to them?” Braylen worried.
Just then, a scream split the air. Arabella turned to see Haydia staring in horror at the furry ants, which were now even bigger. The ants froze at her scream. Haydia turned and began running toward the front gate. She tripped and went sprawling in the grass, letting out a panicked sob. The furry ants waddled curiously toward her. Haydia raised herself up on her elbows, saw the ants and her eyes rolled back in her head. She slumped to the ground.
Arabella gasped. “Haydia!” she called as she ran over to her side. Braylen shooed the ants away from Haydia. Her face was pale and streaked with tears. Arabella cradled Haydia’s head on her lap. “Haydia? Can you hear me?”
Haydia’s eyes fluttered open. “What’s going on?” she asked, confused. Arabella tried to block her view of the ants.
“We’re visiting my friend Braylen,” Arabella said. “You fainted.”
Haydia sat up slowly. “That’s funny,” she remarked. “I’ve never fainted before.” Arabella helped Haydia to her feet, keeping her back to the ants.
Arabella looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened. The furry ants were now hopping around like bunnies. They kind of looked like sheep, with their black faces and white fur. Well, from a distance, anyway. Braylen was running around frantically, trying to keep them corralled.
One of the ants escaped and hopped over to Arabella and Haydia. Time seemed to stop as Haydia looked down. Arabella tensed. Haydia let out a bloodcurdling scream. She snatched her arm away from Arabella and began to run full speed toward the gate, screaming for Henry to let her out.
In the silence that followed, Arabella looked down at the furry ant. It seemed confused. She gingerly reached down to touch it. Its fur was very soft. She was a little wary of the mandibles in the front, but the ant relaxed as she petted it. Braylen jogged over, his face breaking into a smile. “Well, this isn’t so bad,” he said, reaching out to touch the ant, too.
“What are you going to do with them?” Arabella asked. “Won’t your father be mad?”
Braylen paled. “Would your father let you keep them? You said he heals animals.”
Arabella looked at the ants doubtfully. “How am I going to get them there? Maybe we should just let them go in the woods.”
“But they’re bunts! What if something tries to eat them?”
A laugh welled up in Arabella’s chest. “Bunts? Bunny-ants?”
Braylen laughed too. “Yeah. Not too bad off the top of my head, huh?”
“All right. I’ll go ask Papa.” Arabella went back to the gate, where she’d left her horse, Oliver.
“Thanks, Aira!” Braylen called.
And so the Highland farm came to have the only bunts in town. Or for all Arabella knew, all of Alacarcany.
***
Arabella tried to talk to Haydia the next day in school, but she ignored her. Haydia made friends with some older girls in the class and only spoke to Arabella from that point on to insult her. Arabella assumed she was embarrassed about fainting because of the bunts. Haydia only said she didn’t hang out with freaks, like Braylen, and Arabella by extension.
As they got older, Haydia competed with Arabella for everything. School choir solos (which Arabella always won), school awards, grades, the attention of boys. It was as if she were trying desperately to erase a past in which she and Arabella had ever been friends. Arabella and her sisters had stuck together in school after Haydia snubbed her. She missed her friendship with Haydia, but had adjusted to its absence over time.
But now Haydia had Noah.
Arabella urged Gus to go faster. He responded, and the grass began to blur beneath his hooves. She released a deep breath. She leaned forward as Gus leapt over a low stone wall, her hair flying out behind her. She felt the vibration as they landed on the other side. The tension began to leech from her body. Horseback riding always calmed her, and the concentration required for jumping drove everything from her mind.