Briar searched her memories for anything her mother might have told her about fairies, even if the stories were mere legend and tale. But her thoughts came up empty. All she could remember was her mother’s singleness of purpose, to protect her family as best she could. To keep Briar out of the mills as long as she could. To be grateful for all they had, the sun, the rain, the forest. She gave Briar a childhood.
Next Briar thought of Ethel. Her desperate attempts to create a new life, no matter how hard she had to work. She was brave in the same way Mam was. Briar drew courage from the women who set the example in her life. Protecting the home. Not exactly what Frances Willard taught, but that’s what Briar was doing.
She might see Mam and Da soon, if Isodora had her way. Briar would be able to tell them all about Pansy and the boys. Oh, how pleased Mam would be to know her children were growing so well. How responsible Pansy was becoming. How much fun the boys were to have around.
A loud snore broke the silence. Briar froze. The boys were sleeping. Was it a natural sleep or did Isodora do something to them? With renewed purpose, she ducked down onto her knees and crept forward to the row before her frame. A little foot stuck out into the aisle. If she could just grab it. And pull. As long as he didn’t cry out. There. She had Jack.
Isodora was still preoccupied with the frame. Maybe she couldn’t get the spindle off, either.
Jack stirred, and Briar held her breath. He blinked, then opened his mouth, but Briar quickly placed her finger to her lips to indicate silence. He nodded then mouthed: Benny.
Briar indicated Jack should sneak out the door, but he shook his head. “Benny.” This time he whispered it. Briar knew not to push him, or he would speak it out loud and Isodora would hear. Instead, she nodded, and peeked around the corner.
She couldn’t see Benny. He must be farther up the row. There was no way for her to crawl over to him without risking being seen. She scooted back to regroup. Jack pointed and waved his arms like he was trying to communicate. Benny might have understood, but she certainly didn’t. Oh, wait. He was telling her to go around the opposite way. Sure. It might work. She could hide behind Annie’s frame and pull Benny to her that way. But she had to be quick, before Isodora noticed Jack was missing.
She mouthed, Wait by the door.
He agreed to that, and the two backtracked silently to the door where Briar left Jack to go get Benny. She prayed Jack would stay put. If there was trouble he could open the door and run. Hide somewhere on the mill grounds until it was all over. The boys were so good at tucking themselves into tight spaces.
Briar crept around the row of frames from the other direction. A mass of thread and roving had been spilled into the aisle. Obviously, the boys had been playing around frame number four. Briar would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious. She imagined Isodora trying to make the boys sit still while they waited, but the boys having none of that. They’d pulled off all the bobbins and Isodora had let them unwind the cops. Thread lay like a cobweb pinned from frame to frame, around the spindles, and the fairy was poised like a deadly spider waiting for Briar.
With no time to think, Briar began crawling her way to Benny. He was curled up in a ball, sound asleep in the dim candlelight, and had rolled halfway under one of the frames. Her heart beat so loudly she was surprised Isodora couldn’t hear it. If only Briar could get to Benny, wake him up, and make him run, he and Jack would be safe. He was too close to Isodora for Briar to hope she could crawl all that distance and not be caught. As long as she got him moving before Isodora captured her, the boys had a chance.
Briar knew the moment she crawled into Isodora’s line of sight. There was the clang-clang-clang of a tool falling through the metal frame and a flurry of activity. Briar lunged for Benny.
Chapter Forty-Five
“Benny! Wake up!” Briar yelled as she ran.
Too late. Isodora got to him first and locked him in her arms. A deep sleeper, he lolled against her unaware.
“Thank you for coming so promptly, Briar. You were so slow at deciding about the spindle the first time we met, I hoped these creatures would provide some added incentive.”
Benny stirred, trying to turn and cuddle up against Isodora. She stiffened, pushing him away from her. He blinked his eyes open, and yawned as he woke up, groggy, but compliant. She made him stand, keeping her arm around his waist.
“Let him go, I’m here. You don’t need the boys.”
Benny looked up when Briar spoke. He started to smile, but another yawn broke in.
“Oh, but I do.” She patted Benny’s head, and looked around. “Where did the other one go?” Isodora muttered under her breath as she scanned the darkened spinning room. She took some of the thicker roving strands and tied Benny to the spinning frame.