The Glass Castle (21 page)

The garden was badly overgrown.

Where Avery expected to see her father’s straw-covered rows, instead, withered stalks stood bent against the winter weather. He never would have allowed his garden to fall to ruin if he had been home. His carrier pigeons were nowhere to be found.

The realization made her skin go cold and then hot and then cold again.

I risked my life and maybe Henry’s life, too, to come home to squatters!

My father is not here and has not been here for a long time!

With a sickening feeling, Avery realized she was no closer to finding her family and had nowhere to go. It wasn’t as if she could return to the castle. She had traded everything for this moment, and she had chosen the wrong hand.

And then a thought struck her that she could no longer ignore.

Maybe I am an orphan.

She thought again of the old woman’s words in the woods—

“Didn’t want to mess with digging another grave.”

Maybe the grave had been for her father or Henry.
Or both.

Something compelled her to go inside. It made no sense, but she could not ignore the feeling.

She knew even before she lifted the handle on the back door that what she was doing was dangerous and stupid, but she had to do it. She needed to see her home one more time, to breathe its familiar scent and linger in its familiar places. She might never be back again.

Seeing her home might help her understand if her father had ever returned after she and Henry were snatched from the woods.

She could hear the men in the kitchen as she quietly closed the back door behind her.

Everything became dark, but she knew the way.

Carefully, she inched along the hall and up the steps. Avoiding her bedroom because of Drooling Man, she sneaked into her father’s room where he had built a beautiful bed as a wedding gift for her mother. This was the place where she had curled beside her mother while listening to the best stories about the castle.

The bed was too large and too fancy for their simple, tiny home, but it was stunning—the nicest thing they owned. The blankets were rumpled, and Avery suspected one of the dodgy men downstairs was helping himself to a place to sleep each night.

Nothing in the room gave Avery any reason to believe her father had come home after she and Henry had been taken from the woods.

She saw her father’s writing desk, and an idea came to her.

I’ll leave a message, and if he returns before I do, he’ll know where to go.

She took a step toward the desk as the sound of footsteps approached in the hall.

She squatted beside the bed.

Slow, deliberate steps sounded in the room, followed by a thud on the mattress.

Crouching, she waited for snoring to come, and then she inched around the mattress and out the bedroom door.

More voices from the kitchen. More laughter.

No time to leave a note.

Breathless and scared, she went back down the stairs and out the back door.

She wanted to cry, but she knew if she started she would never stop. And the star on her wrist left a bounty on her head. She needed shelter, food, and sleep. She would need strength to decide what to do next. And besides the men who had invaded her childhood home, what other evil might lurk in the woods?

Is the old woman looking for me now?

The last place she wanted to wind up was in the Forbidden City.

Avery tightened her grip on the dagger and studied the ground, trying to come up with any option other than heading back across the field. But without help, there was no way she could challenge the half-dozen men in the kitchen and the one in her bedroom.

Where will I go? she prayed. Please help me.

She made her way back to the front of the house to leave the way she had come when the front door swung open and she whirled in surprise. One of the men was coming out, and the others were rising from the kitchen table behind him.

“A spy!” the man shouted. “Grab her!”

With the pillowcase still tucked under her arm and the dagger in her hand, Avery hiked up the hem of her cape and lit out across the field.

“After her!”

“She’s fast! Get the rifle!”

Avery zigzagged in the darkness, trying to forget her pain and fatigue, hoping she could put enough distance between herself and the men to give her time to untie the horse and leap aboard before they overtook her.

Their voices seemed to fade as she ran, but she couldn’t resist peeking back to make sure. Big mistake. Avery didn’t know what tripped her, but suddenly she was flat on her face, and the sound of the men’s heavy boots grew louder.

She scrambled up and was off again, but her speed and terror spooked the horse, and he skittered and stutter-stepped, circling away from her as she untied him. She cooed, “Whoa, boy, easy, easy,” trying to leap astride him.

If only I knew his name!

The men were nearly upon her, but they were gasping and wheezing.

“Come ’ere, you little rapscallion! We’ll ’ave you for dessert!”

But now she was aboard the horse and snapped the reins, shouting, “Let’s go!” and she bolted away. At the explosive report of a rifle shot, the steed lurched and nearly threw her, but Avery held tightly as the stallion darted through the thick trees.

She didn’t slow him until she was certain the men had given up on the chase. Avery patted the horse and murmured in his ear, “I’m going to call you Refuge. You saved my life, old boy.”

She led Refuge through familiar territory until she came to the castle made of fruitwood. Avery tied him and was about to enter the elaborate tree house when she heard short, anxious breaths like her own while traveling over the hills.

Avery had no more energy to fight.

If someone discovered her now, she would accept her fate, even welcome it.

Holding her breath in the darkness, she edged toward the play castle when something rushed her, nearly knocking her over, making Refuge whinny.

“Bronte?” she whispered, dropping to her knees to scratch the dog’s ears and bury her face in the matted fur. Her pet was the closest thing to family she had seen since she had been carted out of these very woods.

And now they were both strays.

This dog was all she had.

With Bronte at her heels, Avery stepped across the threshold and climbed to the highest point before stretching out on the floor, her head on the dog’s back. Exhausted, lonely, and hungry, she once would have been terrified that the shadows in the woods would come alive once her eyes closed.

But not tonight.

The warmth of her furry companion brought her some comfort, and she fell fast asleep in the castle her father had built, sheltered by huge familiar trees, missing those she loved more than ever.

Snap!

Avery awoke to the sound of someone just outside her tree castle.

Crunch.

The sounds were loud and too distinct for an animal.

It took a second for her to realize light shone through the windows of the play castle and morning had arrived. The hunger pains that twisted her stomach confirmed the fact.

Easing the dagger from her pillowcase, Avery moved quietly to the watchtower window and looked down on a young man pacing, staring at his boots.

She couldn’t defend herself against a strong young man like this, but whoever he was, he easily could have entered the play castle if he wanted to. The fact that he waited meant maybe he didn’t intend to hurt her.

He turned to take another pace, and Avery caught sight of his face. Though she had never spoken to him, she knew instantly who he was.

Chapter 32

The Return

“Edward?” Avery called out.

The young man looked up with an impish grin, his cheeks red from the cold.

Avery quickly descended the stairs, Bronte on her heels. She had a sudden urge to hug him but refrained. She hardly knew him, though his name had been on the tip of her tongue since the night he disappeared.

“What are you doing here? Are you okay? How did you get here?”

Edward held up a hand. “I could ask you the same, but there will be no questions until we eat.”

Eat!
The word was music to her ears.

Dizzy from hunger, Avery looked around for any sign of food but did not find anything.

“Follow me.”

Avery slipped the jeweled dagger into the pocket of her dress and followed Edward deeper into the woods. They stopped at a tiny clearing in the thickets where Avery and Henry used to play together.

Avery gasped.

In the center of the clearing was a short, round table, presumably created out of tree stumps, and covered in elaborate tablecloths that had belonged to her mother. A tall, unlit candle stood sentinel to the plates of food.

She didn’t ask for an explanation. She didn’t request permission. She sat and ate eagerly. The stale bread and cold mushroom soup were not her usual breakfast, but today they were as good as anything she had tasted in the castle.

“Thank you!” she managed around a mouthful. “Did I look that hungry?”

Edward laughed. “Trust me, I remember how starved I was my first night here.”

Avery swallowed. “Your first night
here
? In my woods?” That sounded ridiculous, even to her.

Edward shook his head. “Not exactly. You always talked about how wonderful your home was, so when I left the castle, I went in search of it. Hope you’re not mad.”

When did I tell Edward about my home?

Avery set her food down.

“You
chose
to leave? You weren’t forced?”

Edward nodded.

“You weren’t sent to the Forbidden City?”

He laughed. “If I had been sent to the Forbidden City, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you. You don’t leave the Forbidden City.”

“Edward! Everyone is worried sick about you, and Ilsa hasn’t been herself—”

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked with a chuckle. But when Avery didn’t laugh, he cleared his throat and averted his gaze.

“Why did you leave?” she asked, taking a sip of lukewarm coffee.

“Same reason you did, I suspect.”

Avery bristled. “And you’re staying at my house?”

“Well, not anymore. I distracted the men from following you, and now they aren’t happy with me. I’ll go back tonight and beg their forgiveness. I do the cooking, so they’ll accept my apology.” He smiled. “And I’m hoping you’ll come with me. They’ll eventually warm to the idea of a girl being part of our effort.”

“Who are
they
?”

Edward kicked at a rock. “It’s better I not tell you yet, but I’m safe and happy. And I’m hoping you will be, too. Tell me why you are here.”

“I left the castle because I thought my father was home. Now I have nowhere to go.”

Edward looked embarrassed. “That’s it? You didn’t leave to join the effort?”

Avery shook her head. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” Fat white snowflakes began dusting the ground and collecting in their hair. “What am I going to do?” she continued. “Winters here can be brutal, leaving people to hunker down for weeks. No way I can survive in my play castle for long.”

Edward extended his hand, and she let him help her up. When she stood, he didn’t let go. “There is another option,” he said. “Join me.”

“Where? How would we survive?”

“We’d have each other,” he said, quickly looking away. “We could start our own home, and then, if we’re discovered or if a battle breaks out as it’s rumored to happen, we could survive it together. I’m confident I could protect you.”

Avery had a sudden image of the country brides with their daisy-chain crowns.

She yanked her hand away. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

Edward’s face flushed, and he pawed at the ground with the toe of his boot.

“Marriages of convenience are made all the time,” he said. “You have nowhere to go, and I’m offering you safety.”

“You don’t even know me,” she continued. “We’ve never even talked before.”

“I used to watch you. Not in a weird way. It was my job to guard the vents. I saw you and Kate explore the castle. I heard you talk about your past and your plans. I watched you in the library. I know your mother’s stories. Who do you think notified Tuck every time you got in trouble?” He looked her in the eyes. “I was almost always near you. It was my job. Did you not know?”