Fanny scowled at her.
“But then one day it called out to me. It was on the move, looking to be free. And the best part?” She laughed. “I didn’t know the girl would be this one.” She jerked her chin in Briar’s direction. “How fitting to find a girl named Briar Rose to exact my revenge.” She looked at Fanny as if for agreement. “I couldn’t have planned it better.”
Fanny deepened her scowl.
“Fanny, please,” Henry said. He bent close to Briar. “She can’t breathe. What can we do? There must be something.”
“Dearies, I’m so sorry. I-I’ve done all I know to do.”
Isodora crossed her arms. “I won. Power lies in one’s foundations. The fairies know this. If you could stand on the land of the Old Country you might be able to save her, but this land doesn’t know me. It can’t touch my curse.”
“What do you mean?” For the first time Henry turned his full attention to Isodora.
Briar made a noise, trying to talk. Get her out. In her final moments she didn’t want this awful stranger standing over her and gloating. She wanted Henry to sing the farewell reel. To release her. Da sang it for her mam, Briar sang it for her da, now it was her turn to let the notes carry her away.
He put a steadying hand on her arm as if to reassure her.
“Is that what you meant when you said I needed to be grounded?” Henry asked Fanny. “Is that the only reason the kiss didn’t work?”
Fanny nodded. “She loves you, even if she doesn’t realize it herself yet.”
Briar’s eyes were wide. She did realize it. Ever since Henry came home. Too late, though. And now she couldn’t speak the words. Couldn’t even breathe them.
But Henry turned back to her with his big grin. He squeezed her hand. “I have something for you.”
He leaped up and began searching the room. Pansy was peeking in the doorway, watching it all. “Pansy,” Henry said, “where is my bag? I left it here.”
“Under the bed. I cleaned up.” She stepped into the cottage and inched along the wall, like Jack had done earlier.
Quickly, Henry reached under the bed and pulled out his pack. “I never did give you my gift. Now’s as good a time as any.”
“Oh isn’t this a sweet picture?” mocked Isodora. “A final romantic gesture.”
Henry whispered in Pansy’s ear. Her eyes opened wide, and she nodded. Then Henry pulled back the sheet covering Briar and reached under to scoop her up.
“Really, Henry,” chastised Fanny. “She can see your gift fine lying down. Let the girl be.”
But Henry ignored her, first lifting Briar up, and then positioning her so she leaned against his shoulder as he gripped her waist. Her useless legs dragged on the floor like marionette limbs.
“Now, Pansy,” Henry said. His voice was urgent.
Pansy reached into the pack and fiddled with something inside. Then quick as a hummingbird she pulled out a small sack and dumped its contents over the floor. Dirt.
Before anyone else moved, Henry stood on the dirt and kissed Briar with all the strength and passion that the first desperate kiss had lacked.
“No!” Isodora darted forward and shoved the two off the floor and onto the bed.
Briar gasped as she fell, and pulled in enough air to feed her blood. She felt the oxygen push past the poison and enter her lungs. As she breathed out, her mind began to clear.
“You brought me dirt?” she whispered. Henry was still a strange boy who said and did strange things.
He nodded, holding her protectively in his arms. “From Ireland. So you could stand on soil from the Old Country, like your mam wanted for you.” His face reddened. “And I mixed it with soil from my family’s Old Country. So we could join our histories and have a new beginning based on the old foundations.”
Tears welled up in Briar’s eyes. Sweet, sentimental Henry was helping her fulfill her mother’s dying wish. His gesture was better than singing the reel. It was as unique as he was and came from his heart.
But would it heal her? She tentatively took another breath. The embers burning in her lungs weren’t as sharp as before. She carefully breathed out, bracing for the pain.
“No!” screeched Isodora again. She kicked at the dirt, spreading it around Pansy’s recently swept floor. “It’s too late. She’s too far gone.”
Henry wouldn’t look away from Briar. “Is it too late?” he asked quietly. “Breathe with me.”
Chapter Forty-One
Briar locked eyes with Henry and breathed. He held her close in his arms, and everyone else in the room was blocked from her vision. It was just her and sweet, sweet Henry. Eyes locked with hers. With each breath she took, his smile grew wider and wider until he was grinning so wide there was no more room for his smile to grow. It took Briar several tentative breaths to not be afraid of the possible pain.
“It worked.” Henry threw his head back and laughed.
Pansy jumped up and down, clapping joyously.