IRIS
“Finally, I get you alone.”
I look up and see Rose, black hair in a messy bun, lips perfectly painted, and dressed in a pair of oversized overalls, walking through the open doors of the shed. She gives me a sly smile.
“Hey,” I say, turning away from her and continuing my task.
Sol had sent me in here to arrange the seed packets. It’s pointless, tedious work. There are plenty of other things that need to get done. But I can’t help wondering if he knows what Lily told me yesterday. If he’s trying to remind me of the consequences of refusing my trial.
If he is, it’s working.
I keep looking in the corners, half expecting to find ropes or chains used to keep a stubborn girl locked away.
I imagine Marigold here, arguing as Lily begs her to reconsider.
I wonder what her final trial was, what she rejected.
I wonder how long she was exiled to this dark, dirty shed before making her ill-fated escape.
I hear the doors close and feel Rose walk over and lean against the shelf beside me, her arm brushing against mine. “Hey, so, I’m trying to do the cute flirty thing. If you could lean into that? I’d appreciate it.”
“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I’m just … I’m busy.”
I can’t turn toward her. Can’t look her in the eye.
I only have a couple of days to decide. Her fate.
My fate. It all hinges on what I do with that knife beneath my mattress.
I don’t deserve to look at her. I definitely can’t flirt with her.
She deserves someone who wouldn’t even hesitate to refuse.
Who would choose her without a second thought.
I’m not that strong, though.
Even now, part of me keeps coming back to the idea that Rose is a weed in our garden. That she’s here to tempt me away from my brighter future, to keep me from blooming. That she’s dangerous and insidious. It would be so much easier if I fully believed that.
Beside me, Rose stiffens and steps away. “Oh, okay. Sorry. I just thought …”
Bile rises in my throat. She should not be apologizing to me. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t told Sol everything. None of it would have happened if I’d just kept my promises to him in the first place. Then he’d never be able to accuse her of being a bad influence on me.
There’s a long, awkward silence, in which I keep my head turned away from her and Rose doesn’t leave. Finally, when the tension grows too thick, Rose cuts through it with a simple question.
“Iris, are you okay?’
“Fine.”
“No, don’t do that.” She puts a hand on my shoulder and urges me to turn around. “Talk to me.”
I keep my eyes on the ground, only to have Rose tuck a finger beneath my chin and tilt my face up to meet her gaze.
She’s beautiful, as always. Even in the near-dark of the closed shed, she looks like that lost princess.
Her large eyes search mine, and I have to fight the urge to look away again, afraid that she can see the truth of my thoughts through that intense stare.
“Talk to me,” she says again, voice quieter this time.
And I want to. I want to so badly. But talking to Rose before is part of what put us in this situation.
I gulp down air as my lungs ache, the water flowing in again. “Rose,” I rasp. “Listen, I—”
The shed door swings open, and two figures stand silhouetted by the afternoon light.
“There you are, Rose,” Lily says. “Come on. We need you in the garden.”
Rose sighs, her hand falling away from my chin. “Yeah. Okay.” She turns and begins to follow Lily out. She looks back at me over her shoulder, mouthing, “We’ll talk later,” before slipping out of the shed.
And leaving me alone with the other, more angular figure in the doorway.
Violet.
She stares at me, arms folded over her chest, body still and rigid. I feel my own spine straighten in return. Violet says nothing. Only glares for a moment before raising a hand to gesture for me to follow her.
I trudge forward, because not following her will only be worse.
Violet leads me out of the shed, but instead of going toward the cabin, she begins walking deeper into the hollow. I glance over toward the garden, where I can see Rose, Lily, and Zinnia pulling weeds, before turning back to Violet.
“Where are we going?”
“Were you gonna tell her?”
I stop, startled by the question. Violet takes a few more steps before turning to look at me, icy eyes somehow colder than I’ve seen them before.
“Tell her?” I ask.
“About your trial.”
“You know what my trial is?”
“I know it’s got something to do with her,” Violet says. “I’ve been warning Sol for weeks about what a threat she is and how oblivious you are. It was only a matter of time before he’d make you deal with it.”
I have no idea what to say to that. I just gape at her. After a moment, Violet turns back around and keeps walking into the trees.
“Come on.”
I start moving again, but I’m shaking. Has Sol asked her to bring me somewhere? Have I already failed somehow? I’m supposed to have two and a half more days.
“Where are we going?” I ask again.
“Lily says you were asking about Marigold,” she says. “Asking where she’s at. So I figured I’d show you.”
She leads us farther from the cabin, to a remote part of the hollow covered with trees and nestled between the tall, rounded hills. Eventually, she comes to a stop and points straight ahead.
“There.”
Cautiously, I step around her, scanning the area for … something. I don’t actually know what I expect to see. I see nothing, though.
Violet’s hands slam into my back, sending me toppling forward. I hit my knees, catching myself with my hands. On the ground in front of me is a large, smooth rock, roughly the size of a dinner plate, that I now realize looks like it’s been deliberately placed.
“There she is,” Violet says. “You’re right on top of her.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper as a bone-deep chill starts in my chest and spreads throughout my body. I dig my fingers into the dirt, knowing for certain now that Marigold—the only girl to ever refuse her trials—is dead.
“Does Sol know?” I ask. “That … that you … ?”
“Of course he does,” Violet answers from behind me.
“But I’m not the one who did it. When Lily messed up and accidentally let Marigold out, she started running.
Lily went after her, but I wasn’t sure she’d be fast enough.
So I grabbed the gun. I let off a warning shot, but Lily thought I was actually aiming, so she tackled Marigold.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget the crack of her head on the rock. ”
It’s not cold, but I’m shivering. “Lily? Lily killed her?”
“She didn’t mean to,” Violet says. “But sometimes accidents are good things.”
“And Sol?”
“He was real grateful for it. She couldn’t live in the shed forever, and we couldn’t trust her after that.
If she got to town, she’d talk about us.
Probably tell lies. Get the cops out here.
But he didn’t know what to do with her. Lily solved that problem whether she meant to or not. We protected him.”
She sounds so proud when she says it. Like Sol’s gratitude is more than enough to make up for the horrific accident.
“I’ll do anything to protect his garden,” Violet says.
“That includes you, Iris. Unless you betray us. You turn on us—you decide not to do your trials—and I’ll make sure you never get out of this holler.
There won’t be a warning shot next time, and there’s plenty of room right here next to Marigold. ”
I hear the snapping of twigs behind me, and I know Violet has walked away, back toward the cabin. She leaves me alone with Marigold, her words hanging over me like a black shroud.
“What should I do?” I ask the dead girl buried beneath me. But, of course, she has no answer.
I think I know, though. I think I know what I have to do. As painful as the answer is, as scared as I am, I think I have my decision.
And now I need a plan.