Evergreen Everleigh - The Wattys 2020

Chapter Twenty-Six - Sisterhood of Hurt

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sisterhood of Hurt

We wake to the smell of burn and dark plumes of smoke escaping down the hall and into our bedroom. My eyes adjust slowly to the misty bedroom, yet when I smell hot burn, I move as though I have been electrocuted. 

On instinct, I leap out of bed and run to pull Violet from her crib but Sweet Pea has beaten me to it and is tucking the tiny baby, now seven months old, close to her chest. Turning, I see Juniper is alone in her bed pairing – Aloe is nowhere to be seen. 

Wordlessly, I hold out my arms, scooping her up. She tucks her head into the crook between my neck and shoulder. There are wet tears there. I barely hear myself shushing her as I dash out of the room. Willow and Perennial are already in the hall, moving to the door that will lead to the never-used front of the house.

"We need to go outside," Willow calls, holding out a hand to Aster who has dashed downstairs looking bedraggled. The smoke is much thicker in the hall and through the thickets, I think I can make out Wister running into the kitchen. A cough retches in my chest and burst from me. One follows another uncontrollably and Juniper's small body vibrates with my chesty heaves. Curse my eternally weak chest.

"Aloe," Juniper whispers in my ear, the terrible tremble present in her voice. But I cannot speak and I don't want to open my mouth. When Lady Lavender descends the staircase with Teasel in her arms and Mr. Flurry around prowling at her feet, she looks furious that we are still here.

"Come on, move!" She cries and we all jerk into motion.

"Where's Yarrow?" I shout to Cedar who is pulling open all the doors right down to the monstrously impressive stained-glass doorway. He glances back at me as he ducks through the door, his eyes flickering to Juniper. He gives me a small shake of the head and I know that I should not ask anymore. My very chest seems to cleave at the thought of him remaining in the burning building.

Outside, the sun is barely up and the sky has a rarely-seen pinkish hue to it. In the distance, a low mist hangs over the fields of flowers, where dew hangs to every petal. We group together, huddled outside in the morning's low temperatures. Juniper hugs close to me and I hop on the spot, conscious of my ragged-looking t-shirt and shorts. Though I had grown used to have my legs exposed in dresses or my favoured dungarees, this somehow felt more vulnerable. When another coughing fit finds me, I cannot stop to think about my ridiculous stick-like legs.

Sweet Pea hangs nearby silently cooing to Violet who is fussing at having been woken so early. Cedar stands by me, taking Juniper from me, and giving her a piggyback. I throw him a grateful smile, just as Yarrow and Aloe pass through the doorway. It is clear from first glance that Aloe has been crying. Juniper hops down from Cedar's back and runs to her. I look away from the fierceness of their hug to look to Yarrow. He meets my gaze like a magnet to a northern pull. When he sees my red face, followed by another stream of coughs, he walks to my side and begins patting my back, firmly.

"What happened?" Willow demands of him and Yarrow's eyes snap straight to Lady Lavender and then to Aloe, who looks up at him over Juniper's dark curls. I try to read the look that passes between them, but my eyes have started to stream and I have no choice but to look away.

"Aloe was cooking, and her food caught fire. The curtains over the window by the sink were caught too. But everything is fine now, it's just a matter of airing it," He says and Lady Lavender's shoulders sag in relief. Yet when I look at Aloe, I wonder if there wasn't more to it. Situations involving Aloe are rarely so easily solved. "And painting it when the time comes. Wister is inside now, opening all of the windows. I think the emergency services are still on their way."