Turncoats

ARA

Ara glanced out the window. The sun was well into the sky at this point and the business of the town was in full swing. Carts passed by pulled by donkeys and horses, while people bustled in and out of shops and down the streets. Where was he? Every morning since he had delivered her letter, Major Hale usually stopped by on his usual route through the town, but this morning, he was late. She took a deep breath. In the two months he had been visiting her, he hadn't once missed a visit. Was something wrong?

"How much is this?" Ara most loyal customer, the little old woman who lived along the outskirts of town, was peeking out from behind a shelf.

Ara left her counter to take a look at the sad, half dead plant the woman had picked out. "Are you sure you want a dead one? I have living plants too, you know."

The old woman shook her head and gave Ara a nearly toothless smile. "I can bring it back to life. Leave the live plants for those who can't."

Ara raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond. She was familiar enough with the woman's so-called witchcraft to know that they were just natural remedies, but to say so would ruin a legend for the town's children and cost the old woman her reputation, which Ara knew she enjoyed. She inspected the plant in the woman's hands. It was a yarrow plant. She looked up to the woman's face. "For you, it's free."

"You're a kind girl." The old woman studied her plant intently, before waddling towards the door.

Ara followed her and opened the door for her. "Come back soon. I'll have a new shipment in by next week. You can get a live plant next time." She swallowed, thinking of Ebo. She had spied as he had asked her to, but she felt incredibly guilty betraying Major Hale. Because of this, she made sure all of her intelligence was extremely vague to the point where it was almost useless. Ebo had never complained about it, so it must have worked. Ara hadn't been told much about the inner workings of the spy ring, but every time Ebo talked about it, she couldn't help but think it felt more a game for Captain Mathers to play, rather than an army mission. They had sent a poor girl to Jephra, and from what she had heard, another was stuck in a tavern full of Rangers by herself with her young daughter. It wasn't Captain Mathers who was in danger, but everyone else, and in the end, he would get the credit for any information gleamed from his spies.

"Are you okay, miss?"

Ara blinked a few times, suddenly remembering the old woman she had left on her stairs. "Yes, yes. I'm fine."

The old woman waggled a finger in her direction. "You been spending too much time around those plants in there. They're messing with you."

Ara shook her head. If only it was the plants. "I'll clean the shop out today. Maybe that'll make it better."

The old woman nodded approvingly. "Next time I'll bring you something you can use for protection."

"Thank you." Ara glanced at the plant in her hands. "You should be getting home before that plant's completely dead."

The old woman slowly stepped down Ara's porch steps. "I'll come back next week." Ara nodded and raised a hand in farewell as the woman shuffled down the street. She was about to go inside when a brightly colored uniform pushed its way through the dirty clothes of the townspeople. Major Hale weaved through the crowd. Ara felt the smile on her face fade as a man appeared from behind him. He was wearing the green sash of the rebel army. Why was he with Major Hale? Did he know about Ara's spying?

"Ara!" Major Hale raised a hand in greeting. "How are you today? I hope you don't mind that I brought someone else along."

She shook her head, but glanced at the man wearily. His face was guarded by the overhand of his cap, but he couldn't hide the curls of orange hair escaping from underneath the hat.