Aster nodded. “The room’s really nice. Thank you.”
“You’re so lucky. Everyone wants that room,” said Tonya, struggling to saw apart what looked to be a very dark and flat pancake.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It gets about a thousand degrees up there in the summer.”
Tonya laughed. “You just don’t like it because it makes it harder for you to sneak out at night.”
“That’s enough out of you two,” Ivy said. “Aster, you just say the word and I can bunk you with one of the other girls if you don’t like the arrangement.”
Aster looked at Ruby, who sat gazing stone-faced at her plate. It was almost as if the other girl expected rejection. “No, Miss Ivy. I like it just fine.”
Ruby gave her a grateful glance and everyone else prattled on about gardening, fitting Aster into the chore schedule, and how Cynthia’s pancakes could be sharpened into deadly throwing discs to assassinate an evil world leader.
Aster learned the names of the rest of the Oasis residents. No one went into too much detail about what brought them there, but she could see the sadness, worry, and in some cases cuts and bruises in almost all of their faces. Tonya and Ruby had been at Oasis the longest, and they seemed to have the easiest relationship with Ivy. They spoke a bit about the other girls who had come and gone over the years, most of them moving on after their 18th birthdays.
Some had gone on to better lives, others didn’t fare quite as well. They’d either fallen into abusive relationships or into drugs. “I do what I can for ‘em when they’re here. But some folks just don’t wanna be helped. Some folks can only understand the world when they’re hurting others or being hurt.”
Some of the girls nodded at this while others looked at their laps or played with their food, saying nothing. Aster thought of Oleander and understood.
When Larkspur wandered into the kitchen as they were cleaning up, apparently seeking out some food of his own, everyone came over to pet and coo over him. The spoiled feline flopped onto his side and took in all of the attention with obvious relish while Ruby cut up some chicken to put on a plate for him.
After a quick tour of the rest of the house, Aster retired to her room to change for bed. Thankfully the night time clothes weren’t much different from the heavy cotton gowns she wore back in Ellemire. She wished she could wear them all day. After she was dressed, a knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” she said.
Ruby stepped in and Aster started to leave. “You don’t have to go. Just look over there while I change if you want. I’m not shy.”
Aster pulled back the covers and got into bed. After such a long day, the cool sheets felt like a blessing. “I don’t think I’ll ever get up again.”
“Don’t get too comfortable. You and I have weeds to hoe and veggies to pick in the morning. The summer’s been hell on our tomatoes.”
Aster smiled. What Ruby considered work, Aster considered part of everyday life. This had been the first day in recent memory that she hadn’t at least carried water from the well or harvested some vegetables for supper. She craved some time among the plants. Nanny Lily had her fire and Oleander had her potions, but Aster could make even the even the saddest flowers stand up tall and beautiful with a little bit of coaxing and love. Sometimes, on the way to the market, she would run her hands along the drooping hedges bordering people’s yards, singing life back into them.
It was never much. Her abilities as a witch would not be fully explored until after she had her child and passed on the Old Magic, for it wasn’t until then that she would know what sort of abilities she would even still have. The only ones who didn’t follow this custom were Oleander and Holly. As far as Aster knew, neither of the women had ever been pregnant, and had never been expected to be. Her one attempt to get more information on this from Nanny Lily had resulted in a stern tongue lashing. Dahlia had also been about as talkative on the subject as a brick wall.
“I could do with some gardening,” Aster said, trying to sound casual about it.
“You’ll be right at home here, farm girl. You can turn around now. I’m decent.”
She rolled over to face Ruby, who sat cross-legged on her bed in a pair of flannel pants and a sleeveless black top that clung tightly to her breasts. Aster didn’t know if she would get used to showing the world her body that way. It was almost as if every young girl over here was in the constant act of trying to attract a mate, even if they didn’t realize it. “I’ve spent a lot of time in gardens,” said Aster. “It’s a favorite hobby of mine back home.”
“Good, because I fucking hate it.” Ruby studied Aster’s face for a minute. “I want to warn you that I kinda have bad dreams at night. Talk in my sleep. Sometimes scream out. It’s one of the reasons I sleep up here. So I don’t disturb the other girls. Sometimes Ivy comes up and talks me through it. She has a way of calming down almost everyone she touches. It’s like magic.”
Aster remembered her ride over here. “I noticed that about her. Don’t worry, though. My mother also sleeps poorly sometimes, but she taught me an easy herbal tonic for it. Maybe I can mix one up for you tomorrow.”
“You make it sound like she’s your best bud. What did you do, just decide to run away this morning or something? You some spoiled rich kid whose daddy didn’t get you a Beemer for her Sweet Sixteen?”
Aster suddenly felt like she was on unsure ground. Ruby’s voice wasn’t angry, but it was challenging nonetheless, and if Aster got one word wrong, it could ruin her time here. “No, that isn’t what I meant. It’s… complicated.”
“All our lives are complicated. You’re not that special here, believe me.”
Aster wished with all her heart that was true, but she found some relief in someone else thinking she was ordinary. “I love my mother. She’s not really the problem. There are so many other things.”
Ruby’s face lit up. “I get it now! Your mom married an abusive drunk prick, right? And he knocked her and you around a few too many times, and you tried to get your mom to leave him, but she’s a co-dependent who doesn’t think anything’s wrong, so you just ran away in the hopes that you could get her to dump the guy?”
Aster gaped, not just because of the sad story, but also because of how easily it fell out of the other girl’s mouth. It sounded like something she’d seen a lot of, and that was very sad indeed. “How did you come up with that?”
“It’s the most common story you’ll hear among the girls here. The first thing you’ll learn during your stay here is that men are assholes. So tell me about these herbs your mom gave you.” She smacked her lips and winked. “Sounds tasty. I’ll try anything once.”
Aster smiled. “I’ll tell you more tomorrow.”
“The suspense is killing me.” She reached over and turned off the lamp. “G’night, Pinkie.”
Aster snorted laughter and the two girls giggled until sleep took them both.
-7-
Early the next morning, while Ruby still lay buried beneath her blankets with only her feet sticking out, Aster slipped into a pair of shorts, a pink cotton shirt, and her favorite floppy hat before heading downstairs for some gardening time. She was not used to having her legs exposed, and she fought a naked anxiety for several minutes, pacing back and forth in the kitchen, before she gave into her need to have her hands in the dirt.
She took a few minutes to eat an apple and drink a glass of milk, and lamented the dull flavor of the food and drink in this world. It was as if someone had coated her tongue with wax. Maybe with her help and a little luck, the bounty from their backyard garden would taste a little more like it was grown from Ellemiren earth.
Dew still covered the grass, reflecting like glitter dust in the early morning sun. She removed her shoes so she could feel the individual blades licking her feet and ankles like little tongues. Having such close contact with the vegetation always quickened her pulse and made her feel more alive, and it was the perfect way to escape the worry always troubling her mind. But when she
saw this garden, her stomach roiled with nausea and dread.
The variety was good—green beans, peas, cucumbers, peppers, squash, tomatoes, and a couple others she couldn’t identify— but the plants themselves were shriveled and sad. Tomato plants that should have been producing succulent orbs any day clung to their cages like starving children, their tiny fruit wrinkled like raisins. Three raised beds held moldering lettuces and insect-bitten herbs. A quick dig into the hard dirt revealed rocks and sand and soil starved of nutrients. But what the plants needed most was a good watering, and she wondered where she might find the nearest well or stream. Then she spotted a water spigot next to the shed, and it was attached to a long hose.
She’d not watered with such a contraption before, but the knob on the spigot turned easily enough, and soon, ice cold water was flowing from the end of the hose. Aster could have jumped with joy. What a marvel this world was! She had to keep herself dancing as she gave each plant a good soaking.
Afterward, she dabbled a tiny bit of her special magic on each plant the way a painter would stipple a highlight onto a still life. She had to be careful not to do too much, or she would risk drawing too much attention to herself. Still, she smiled as she imagined how the girls would react upon seeing a fertile paradise of produce in their backyard. Perhaps she could do it for them as a going away gift.
After grabbing a hoe from the little tool shed, she cleared weeds and loosened the rows of dirt. It was hard work, but it was made a little easier with the soil moistened. And she was a fast worker. She had to be. Working under Oleander’s oppressive supervision since birth had drilled it into her.
An hour later, the sun was shining full and a mountain of weeds lay at her feet. She took a few minutes to wipe some sweat from her brow and take a drink from the garden hose.
“Jeez. You sure know how to make a girl look bad.”
Aster turned around to see Ruby standing in her pajamas, her hair a frazzled mess of spikes, nursing a hot drink. “If you like, I can put it all back.” She grinned.
“Don’t you dare. I’ll just move all that stuff to the compost pile so it looks like I at least did something.” She took a few steps closer to the garden and put her hands on her hips. “You know, the plants look better already. I was sure those tomatoes were goners. Do you have some sort of magical green thumb or what?”
“Something like that.”
Ruby grabbed the wheelbarrow from beside the shed and started moving handfuls of weeds into it. “If we get done early, I think I can talk Ivy into letting me take you around the town a little bit. The main drag is just a short walk up the street.”
Aster perked up at the idea of a walk. Anything that didn’t involve a ride in another demon carriage. “That sounds wonderful.”
“Well don’t get too excited. You’ll soon find this place is a ghost town.”
Aster immediately thought of some of the witches back home who called on the spirits of the dead. She’d never participated but had always been curious. “Really? Do you actually get to converse with ghosts?”
Ruby frowned for a second. “Who? Oh… you thought I meant real ghosts?” She burst out laughing. “We have to work on your lexicon.”
They were just hauling the last load of weeds to the compost pile when Ivy came outside to inspect their project. Her face went slack with shock. “My gods! You girls are like the Wonder Twins out here. This garden never looked so good.”
Ruby shook her head. “Work and me get along about as good as Team Edward and Team Jacob. The newbie did all the heavy lifting.”
Ivy gave Aster a knowing glance. “Beautiful job. Just make sure you’re not working too hard, understand?”
Aster, who knew the true meaning behind that statement, nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I guess I got a little carried away.”
Ruby snorted. “You don’t see me complaining. Hey, can we take a walk down the street? Show Aster the sights in our quaint little village?”
“I suppose. Just don’t let me hear about you smoking, Miss Ruby. I got eyes downtown, and they report back regularly.”
Mischief danced across Ruby’s face. “You’re not talking about Missus Crenshaw down at the ice cream place, are you? She’s blind as a bat. C’mon, Aster. Let’s get cleaned up and go before she changes her mind.”
A half-hour later, the two girls met on the porch. Aster had grown tired of baring her legs and settled on a light ankle-length skirt with a matching short-sleeved shirt of the softest Ellemiren cotton. Ruby, however, was the complete opposite. Her skirt was a pleated heavy fabric of dark green and black checks. She topped it with a short black shirt with ANARCHY—another word with which Aster was unfamiliar—splattered across the front in red, like blood. Completing the look were heavy black boots laced up to her calves and black and white striped stockings that went up past her knees. The outfit made no sense at all to Aster, and yet it seemed to work at the same time. None of the other girls dressed like Ruby, and that was probably how she intended it.
Soon they were strolling toward the center of Miller’s Glenn, where Ruby said “it all went down.” Aster wondered if that meant the town was at the bottom of the hill, or if it was more of this world’s strange slang.
Most of the houses on either side of the street were just as tall and grand looking as the Oasis house, but many were shabby with peeling paint and weed-infested lawns. A few residents sat out on their porches to enjoy the cool morning before the heat moved in. They eyed the girls with narrowed eyes as they passed by. “Why are they looking at us like that?” Aster asked.
“They know who I am. That’s reason enough. And they don’t know you, so that’s two strikes against us.”
Aster understood. “They don’t like you? How come?”
“Everybody around here has a story about the Hill family. If it isn’t about my crackhead mom, it’s about my idiot brother usually. But I’m not exactly a saint either, I guess.”
“How so?”
Ruby laughed and gestured toward her outfit. “Look at me. Shouldn’t that be enough?”
“Maybe, but in my family we’re regularly judged by appearances. It isn’t right.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes, and Aster thought the subject was closed. Then Ruby said, “Okay, it’s not like I’m that bad. But I’ve been in trouble with the police.”
“Yeah? For what?”
“Fighting in school, mostly. I don’t take shit from the bullies. Did a few weeks in juvie for putting a rock through the school quarterback’s prized 1969 Mustang, after he threw a full cup of Coke at me while driving by. He also called me Cuntbreath, which really pissed me off.”
“Didn’t he get in trouble too?”
“You kidding? The Miller’s Glenn Vikings were the division champs that year. Football owns this hellhole.”
Aster shook her head. “That’s horrible.”
“The worst was when I got busted for breaking and entering. Into my own house.” She burst out laughing, her raucous giggles echoing down the quiet street. “So very lame. I lost my key and was trying to climb in through a window when a neighbor saw me and called the cops.”
Aster laughed as well. “That’s pretty bad, all right.”
Ruby let out a couple more giggles and sighed. “Okay, so I’m not the worst juvenile delinquent or anything, but I’m still damaged goods emotionally. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m alone the rest of my life after chasing away everyone who’s tried to care about me. Hell, my brother didn’t even want the responsibility of raising me after mom got sent up.”
Aster stopped and so did Ruby. “You’re being too hard on yourself. It’s not your fault what your mother did, and I’m sure it hurt your brother a lot too.”
Ruby stared at the ground, kicking pebbles down the sidewalk. “Onyx is a good guy. I guess I can’t blame him. Mom didn’t really give him the tools to be a parent, but he tried. Eventually the state decided the Xbox was doing more work keeping an eye on me than he was, and they wanted
to put me in foster care. But Ivy stepped up, and here we are now.”
“So I guess it all worked out, right? It seems like a good place.”
“It’s a great place.” She met Aster’s eyes and grinned. “It’s an even better place now.”
They started walking again.
“I had a baby sister once. Born when Mom was hitting the pipe hot and heavy. She died of SIDS when she was still a newborn. Or so Mom said. Onyx and I always wondered about that, though.”
Aster thought of a dead baby, possibly a murdered baby, and shuddered. It was a subject that hit too close to home. “Gods, that is terrible.”
“Gods? Mighty pagan of you.” Then she looked over at Aster and frowned. “Do we need to sit down? You look a little pale.”
“I’m okay.”
“If you say so. I mean, I guess it is pretty bad. But it was a long time ago. I hardly remember any of it. Anyway, we’ll see Onyx at the Quick Lube this morning. Maybe he’ll let me bum a few smokes, and you can finally not be such a wuss and have one.”
All the slang and unfamiliar terms were hitting Aster like a blizzard, and she struggled to decipher all of it. “What’s a Quick Lube?”
“Wow, you really are Amish, aren’t you? There are these things called cars, you see? And these cars need oil to work correctly, you see? Onyx runs a place where they do that. You see?”
Even though it was clear Ruby was mocking her, Aster was grateful for the explanation. “I see.”
The town was waking up around them as shop owners flipped their OPEN signs and put out their street wares. With its brick storefronts and little striped awnings, the street was quaint and friendly looking and not completely unlike Ellemire. She spied an ice cream parlor called Double Dips, an art gallery, a few cafes with outdoor seating where a couple lonely souls sat eating breakfast under umbrellas. On the corner, a team of men were rolling a red and white cart into place that, according to its sign, sold something called “hamburgers.”
Several cars drove up and down the street, but slowly as if to take in the day rather than outrun it. The reek of their engines still got to her, but it was fainter than it had been the night before. “I like it here.”
The Stargazers Page 6
