“Aye,” he sighed. “She went to the cow barn ’bout ten minutes ago. Looked mighty upset.”

“So she should,” Starling muttered. “She’s in big trouble.”

“Is that so?” Old Skylark mumbled, disappearing back into the coolness of his dimly lit house.

The girl hesitated, looking across the green at the cow barn, then she jutted her chin and marched toward it. Twelve followed a couple of paces behind, unease rising in her with every step.

“Poppy! I know you’re in here!” Starling called, throwing open the door a minute later. A snuffling sound from the hayloft confirmed it. Poppy’s dark head poked over the ledge, gazing down with red-rimmed eyes.

“I . . . I already said sorry,” she hiccuped. “I’ll fix Staggy, I will!”

“You can’t and you know it,” Starling said with sudden despair. “You broke his antlers off. He’s ruined.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Poppy whispered. “I’m sorry.”

The younger girl’s face was blotchy, filled with regret. For an instant, it seemed Starling would soften, her fingers twisting behind her back, as she gazed up at her little sister. Then anger resurged and she scowled again.

“I told you not to play with him! You’re always so clumsy. Why are you so stupid?” The last word came out as a shout and Poppy began to sob again. Then, lightning-fast, she darted down the ladder, past Starling and out into the bright, blazing heat of the afternoon.

“You can’t run away from me forever!” Starling shouted after her, as the small figure fled across the green. “Ma wants to talk to you!”

Muttering angrily, she stomped back to the house.

Twelve followed the other girl closely now, hungry for another glimpse of her ma. Starling circled around the house to where her mother was still stirring the soap, now adding handfuls of lavender.

“She won’t come,” Starling snapped without preamble. “She ran away again.”

“Goodness, I wonder why,” her ma said, pushing her hair back from her face.

The sarcasm was not lost on Starling. “You and Da always take her side!”

Twelve ignored Starling and stared at her ma, drinking in the beloved features. Longing, as fierce as she’d ever felt it, rose in her. She moved closer, until she could have reached out a hand and touched the familiar dark hair.

“That simply isn’t true,” her ma said calmly, taking a deep breath of the sharply fragrant air. She caught Starling’s scowl and sighed. “Bring that over and sit with me.” She nodded to another stool in the shade of the house.

Moodily, Starling obeyed even though the heat of the flames was almost unbearable and set her blood throbbing.

“Look at me,” her ma said. The command in her voice was impossible to disobey. “You remember Redfern? Your da took you there once when you were little.”

Starling nodded.