Juliet Marillier - Wildwood Dancing

I took a deep breath. “I think I have to,” I said, blinking back tears. “Without it, we’re all going nowhere.”

“Then talk to Costi. . . . Go tomorrow. . . .” Her eyes closed.

I tried. In the morning I put on my outdoor boots and went down to breakfast, fully intending to make my way to Vârful cu Negur˘a as soon as I’d eaten. What I would say to Costi was not yet clear in my head. My whole body was strung tight; my nerves were jangling.

“Your cup’s rattling, Jena,” said Florica, looking at me closely. “Are you quite well?”

“I’m fine.” I tried for a casual tone. “I thought I might go up to Vârful cu Negur˘a today and visit Costi, since the weather’s improved so much.”

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“Your aunt would like to see you, I’m sure,” Florica said,

“but Master Costin’s not there, Jena. The word is he’s gone off down the valley for a couple of nights.”

“A couple of nights,” I echoed, the tension draining from my body to be replaced by bitter disappointment. It had taken all my courage to decide to go and face him. “When is he expected back, Florica?”

Florica’s eyes sharpened. “Before Full Moon, I expect,” she said. “Why not go up and ask your aunt Bogdana?”

“No, I . . . It’s Costi I need to talk to. Florica, could Petru arrange for someone at Vârful cu Negur˘a to let us know as soon as Costi comes home? Right away?”

“I expect so, Jena. So you won’t be going up today?”

I shook my head. “I’ll go when he’s back home. I just hope it’s soon.”

It suddenly seemed urgent to speak to him before Full Moon, to be able to prove to Tati that happy endings were possible in real life, as in tales. If I sorted out my own problem, I thought, the solution to my sister’s might fall into place, too.

There was no great logic to this. After all, I was the one who had refused to recognize true love when it was no farther away than my own pocket. I knew I needed his help. Hurry up, Costi, I urged him silently. Come home. I need you.

The sun set beyond the colored windows four more times, and inside our chamber the stories went on. Not all were joyful tales; we needed to acknowledge that love was not just kisses, smiles, and fulfillment, but also sacrifice, compromise, and hard 367

work. Tati hung on. My promise to mend things with Costi had awakened a fragile hope in her. She swallowed water obediently, but would not eat. She submitted to sponge baths and let Stela brush and plait her hair. All the same, I saw what a shadow she had become. When the sun rose on the eve of Full Moon and there was still no word of Costi’s return, despair began to creep into my heart.

Tati awoke restless and confused. She kept asking me whether I had talked to Costi yet and what he had said. She would not be calmed. When Iulia tried to begin another story, Tati whispered that she didn’t want to hear any more and closed her eyes. Iulia retreated to her bed with shaking shoulders. When I went over to her, I heard her whispering to herself, “First Mother, then Father, now Tati; I can’t bear it.” I tried to comfort her, murmuring that Father was not dead yet and neither was Tati, that things could change, that she must be brave. It wasn’t much help; the two of us ended up in tears together.

At breakfast, Petru told me that Costi was expected home sometime today. “Stopped for the night down at Judge Rinaldo’s house. The word is he’s riding on up to Vârful cu Negur˘a this morning.”

This morning. There might be time, if I was quick.

“Jena,” said Paula quietly, “just get your bag and go. I know you have your things ready. Go now. We’ll look after Tati.”

“Going up to see Master Costi today?” queried Florica, eyes knowing. “I’ll pack you some provisions. It doesn’t do to get hungry out in the woods.”

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“I’m not sure if I should go.” Instinct pulled me powerfully in the direction of Vârful cu Negur˘a, but common sense made it hard to leave home. How could I possibly go, with my sister so ill and the night of Full Moon almost upon us? If she slipped away from us while I was gone, I could never forgive myself.

“Yes, you should,” said Stela. “That’s what Tati wants.”

“Florica,” I said, “could you pack up exactly what I used to take when Gogu and I went out in summer?”

“It’s hardly the weather for outdoor cooking,” muttered Florica, but she was already gathering a little bag of flour, an egg, some butter, and a twist of salt. She wrapped them neatly in a cloth. “Here you are, then. Go carefully. Put a couple of cloves of garlic in your pocket, Jena. It may be daylight, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing lurking out there. And keep away from the Deadwash.”

Upstairs, I told Tati where I was going and why. She showed a flicker of interest; I had to hope it would be enough to get her through the day. Then I put on my green gown and packed Florica’s provisions in my knapsack, on top of various other items I had ready: a bowl, a spoon, my little frying pan, a flint.

“Wait,” said Paula as I began to fasten the strap around the bag. My younger sisters were standing there in a row, each of them holding something.

“We thought,” said Iulia, “that as this is a bit like a quest, you’d need magical objects to take with you.”

“This was the closest we could get,” Paula added. She held out a small box. I opened it to reveal a quill, a tiny pot of ink, 369

and three miniature squares of parchment. “We’ve each chosen something special; imagine you’re taking us all with you to help.”

Stela gave me a green ribbon, and Iulia her rabbit-skin hat.

On the verge of tears, I stumbled over words of thanks as I put on the hat and packed the other gifts in the bag.

“It’s all right,” Paula said, grinning. “We know you appreciate us, even if you’ve been too busy to say it much recently.”

Tati was too weak to find me a token, but Iulia brought out her sewing scissors and snipped a few hairs from the head of each sister, me included. These she twisted into a little ring.

She tucked the knotted ends in and put it on my finger. “Sisters and friends,” she said. “We know you’re doing this for Tati as well as yourself. We’re all willing you to succeed.”

It was a long walk up to Vârful cu Negur˘a. I did have a plan, but exactly how to act on it was far from clear. I needed to see Costi without the rest of his household knowing. I must get as close to the house as possible, then hope an opportunity would present itself.

Where would he go after a long ride? Would he take his own horse to the stables, or get a groom to do it? If he went off to bathe and rest, I would have to change the plan. There was a secluded spot I thought I might use, down by the orchard; it was close to the stables, but not close enough to be spotted by the grooms and other folk who worked there. I just had to get there before Costi came home.

As I walked briskly through the forest, I had the sense that I was being watched. I’d catch a flash of movement behind a holly bush or a gleam of bright eyes amid the thick needles of a 370

pine, following my progress. It made me feel better. Dr˘agu¸ta’s plans were big ones; she had been shaping our lives since we were little children. It was easy to believe my small quest today was linked to Tati’s ordeal and Sorrow’s; that the folk of the Other Kingdom were watching me and Costi as closely as they were my sister and the young man in the black coat. Something would be decided today, one way or another.

The day was half gone before I reached the outskirts of Vârful cu Negur˘a. My stomach was churning again; in my imagination, Costi looked at me with bitterness and turned his back.