The Springborn

SABELLA

JUNE 3, 1886

LATE MORNING

“ H ow did it happen? Were the doors unlocked?” I face Calder in the narrow, white-walled dressing room adjoining Yonaz’s bedroom. Over his shoulder, I watch Sparrow spoon a freshly-made herbal tonic into Yonaz’s mouth. The patient grimaces but swallows.

Calder rakes his fingers through his hair. “Fabian said they all snuck out during the night to look for whippoorwills. The boys have a bit of an obsession with the birds—my fault, I confess. But they know better than to go outside the walls unaccompanied by an adult. They’ve been told a hundred times. A thousand.”

He looks so plagued with guilt that I feel compelled to comfort him. “Little boys will have their adventures. You cannot blame yourself for that. Did they see the person who took Rhys?”

“Fabian described her. I have no doubt it was Delphine.”

“Delphine? I don’t understand. She’s one of our guardians. Why would she steal children?”

He shakes his head. “I understand no more than you. I have a suspicion she can’t come inside the farm’s walls, though. Both abductions happened in the woods outside the property.”

“Those poor boys. She must have been lying in wait for the chance to snatch one of them.”

“Her hiding place must be nearby.” His face pales and he curses under his breath. “Robbie and Cleona are looking farther afield for Branna by now, where they’ll never find her.”

“Can you send them word somehow?”

He shakes his head. “I haven’t the slightest idea how that could be done. For all I know, Delphine could have already captured them, too.”

“We must go, then, and try to find Rhys and Branna ourselves.”

The smallest shadow of a smile coaxes the corners of his mouth upward. “I should have expected you to say that, but I do like it when you surprise me,” Calder says. “We’d have to leave Sparrow here to look after Yonaz and the other boys. Could she handle them?”

“I have every confidence that she could. She’s become a most remarkable young woman.”

“She takes after her mother,” Calder says. His countenance grows more serious. “We must avoid getting into any altercations with Delphine. Yonaz has always said she’s powerful beyond words. It would be best if we could reclaim our friends when she’s not paying attention.”

“I agree.”

“Good.” When his gaze fixes above my forehead, I remember that I carry fully grown antlers.

“Must you stare? They’re just antlers. We have to stay focused on our mission, Calder.”

He lowers his gaze as his cheeks turn pink. “Sorry. I forgot myself for a moment. I haven’t slept much lately.”

Now that I recall their presence, the weight of the antlers, although slight, makes my head ache. I consider asking him to saw them off, but to do so suddenly seems as personal as asking him to kiss me—and that is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

I look past him to Sparrow. She dabs Yonaz’s forehead with a damp cloth and whispers reassurances to him. Calder may want to avoid confronting Delphine, but we may have to. Rescuing Branna and Rhys is important, but I must also ensure that my daughter will remain safe from harm.

“Tell Sparrow the plan,” I say. “I’ll fetch my shoes and meet you downstairs.”

If not speaking the whole truth is the same as lying, I am guilty, for I neglect to tell Calder that when I reach my room, I will use the saw I brought from home to remove the antlers from my head. It would be foolish to leave the farm with them in place, a glaring sign to anyone we might meet that I am no ordinary girl.