Ann shushes her. “I d-d-don’t think we sh-should…”
“Can’t you see they’ve gone? Or something has happened to them. When Gemma took the magic out of the Temple, perhaps that was the end of them.”
“Then why hasn’t Pip…” I let the words die on my tongue.
“Because she’s not one of them,” Felicity snaps.
When we come to the Borderlands, we step carefully through the thorn wall. Its snares are easier to escape this time, and we make it through without so much as a scratch.
Woo-oot! Woo-oot!
The call resonates in the blue-tinged forest. Bessie Timmons and Mae Sutter, sticks in hand, pop out from behind the trees, eliciting a yelp from Felicity.
“You needn’t do that. It’s only us,” Felicity says.
“Can’t be too careful,” Bessie says.
“I don’t care for how familiar they are,” Felicity whispers to me. “Or how vulgar.”
Pippa waves to us from the castle’s tower. “Don’t go away—I’m coming down!”
“Pip!” Felicity leads the charge to the castle’s doors. Mercy opens them up and welcomes us inside. The castle seems a bit tidier than it was before. Some care has been taken. The floors swept, the fire lit. It is almost cozy. Even the vines do not seem quite so intimidating, their deadly nightshade flowers a pretty purple against the crumbling stone.
Pippa races into the room. “I saw you at the bramble wall! I counted the seconds until you reached us—two hundred thirty-two, to be exact!”
Pippa’s dress is in tatters again, but the rest of her is still lovely. The magic seems to have lasted for her, which is curious, for when I have gifted Fee and Ann, it hasn’t lasted longer than a few hours at best.
“You’re absolutely radiant,” Fee says, embracing her.
Pippa slides me a sly glance. “Yes! It must have been the joy of being reunited with my friends again, for I feel a different girl altogether. Oh, Gemma, will you help me with the kindling?”
“Of course,” I say, ignoring Fee’s curious stare.
Pip leads me behind the tapestry and into the old chapel.
“How are you?” I ask.
Her lips tremble. “How should I be? I am doomed to live here forever. To be this age forever while my friends grow older and forget about me.”
“We shan’t forget about you, Pip,” I say, but it feels like a false balm.
Pippa puts her hand on my arm. “Gemma, it gave me hope to feel the magic once again. But now, it’s slipping away.” She gestures to her tattered dress. “Can you give me more? Something to keep my spirit bright while I try to make my peace with my fate? Please?”
“I—I can’t do this forever,” I say haltingly, afraid of what will happen, whichever course I take.
“I didn’t ask you to do it forever.” Pippa pulls a shriveled berry from a bowl and eats it, making a face. “And anyway, you were the one who offered. Please, Gemma. It means the world to me. If I must endure this place…”
She wipes away tears, and I feel the perfect louse of a friend. For all my talk of changing things, why do I hesitate with Pippa? If I could change her lot, wouldn’t that prove it’s a new world, a new hope, with no limits?
“Give me your hands,” I say, and Pippa embraces me.
“I’ll not forget it,” she says, kissing my cheek. Then her brow furrows. “Can’t you give me more this time, so that I might make it last?”
“I can’t control how long it lasts,” I explain. “I’m only just trying to understand it.”
We hold hands, and once again, that thread connects us. I feel what she feels. I see her in a fine ball gown, dancing happily with her friends, twirling beneath Fee’s arm, laughing all the while. Underneath, there’s something else, though. Something unsettling, and I break the contact.
“There you are,” I say, hoping she can’t hear the nerves in it.
Pippa stretches her arms over her head and licks her lips, which are already getting pink. The change comes over her more quickly this time, and it’s richer. Her eyes shine. “Am I beautiful?”
“You are the most beautiful girl of all,” I say, and it is the truth.
“Oh, Gemma, thank you!” She embraces me again like a grateful child, and I melt under her charm.
“You’re welcome, Pip.”
Pippa flounces into the main hall, her eyes shining. “Darlings!”
Bessie rises as if Pip were her beloved sovereign. “Miss Pip. You look grand.”