What would you do if you only had one day left to live?
It was a question often asked at the boardinghouse in the middle of the night when room-mates couldn’t sleep. Mim had gotten serious and said she’d hop on a train and go home. Ethel’s answer made much more sense now. She’d said she’d hold a baby to remind herself that life goes on. Briar couldn’t remember what she’d said. It was probably something grandiose like take the children to the ocean and pretend they could see Ireland off in the distance. But now that the reality was in front of her, she realized she just wanted to be. Be still. Be present.
She’d made her peace with God long ago and wasn’t scared of what happened after she died. It was the dying part she was nervous about.
“Briar, do you want me to do your hair for church?” Pansy asked. She’d gotten out of bed and had started to pack up the bedroll.
Briar blinked away her tears and smiled wide at Pansy, putting all sad thoughts behind a facade. She shook her head. “I’ll not be going today.”
“But you always go,” Jack said. He yawned as he climbed onto the bed.
“Who’s going to keep us from getting in trouble?” Benny asked as he stretched himself awake. “We don’t listen to Pansy.”
Not pausing from her rolling, Pansy stuck out her tongue at the boys.
Briar touched Jack’s hair, wincing as she raised her arm. “You are old enough to stop yourselves from getting into trouble,” Briar said. “Behave, and look out for each other.”
Briar blinked the sleep from her eyes. She took some experimental breaths. She had a few more hours, she guessed. Her lungs were tight, but the air still eked in. Her face was likely pale, and she hoped the children wouldn’t be scared. Fanny should send them away for the night. Perhaps Mrs. Prince could take them in until Briar passed. It was selfish for Briar to want to keep everyone snuggled close to her.
The children were back and had gathered around her bed with big grins. Briar wondered if they’d found another stray animal to bring home. What time was it anyway? She smiled at them.
“They can’t fit inside the house, so they made a ring around the yard. Everyone’s holding hands and praying for you.” Benny bounced on his toes as he spoke.
“Who?”
“The whole valley.”
“And Miss Ethel and Miss Mim,” said Jack, blushing. He had a little boy’s crush on Mim ever since she slipped him those first sweets when they came to town to see where Briar lived.
Mr. and Mrs. Prince came into the cottage with apologetic, worried looks. “How are you, Briar?” Mrs. Prince said quietly.
They must feel as guilty as Henry. How to let them know how genuinely she was touched by their concern? “It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered. Now she knew why Mrs. Prince didn’t want Briar at the farm. It wasn’t because she didn’t like spinner girls. She was merely trying to protect them.
Briar’s attention was drawn to Henry hovering near the door, with Ethel and Mim. They might have news of Maribelle. If Briar were to go to her maker tonight, she’d like to go knowing Maribelle was on the mend.
The Princes expressed their well-wishes while Fanny organized all the food they’d brought: biscuits and eggs and onions and garlic. And what was that? A cake. Fanny met Briar’s gaze. Someone had baked her a birthday cake for tomorrow.
Would she be alive to eat it? She looked at Henry with Jack and Benny climbing all over him. If Briar died from the spindle wound, Henry would be free. And she knew he would take care of the children. Not from guilt, but because he loved her family as much as she did.
The Princes excused themselves, opening up space for Ethel and Mim to move in. Ethel sat on Briar’s bed. “Miss you back at the house. If you stay away too long I’ll take on airs as a lady lounging about with a bed all to herself.” She followed Briar’s gaze. Grinning, she raised her eyebrows. “It’s good to have Henry back, isn’t it?”
Briar smiled. It was strange to feel so ill and so happy at the same time. “What have you decided? Are you staying?”
Ethel took a deep breath. “My mother-in-law sent me a letter that he’s trying to get help. She thinks he’s serious this time.”
“You don’t?” Briar asked, reading the skeptical expression on Ethel’s face.
Ethel looked down at her hands. “His mom doesn’t know how many times I’ve heard that. But for now I’ll stay in town. He could have gone into work and claimed my wages, but he didn’t. If he comes back I’ll leave and go even farther away, but Mim said she’d move with me.”