It had been said, ever since her parents’ disappearance, that Alice had been abandoned by them. Even Alice had started to believe the stories: she was too strange, too fractured and unpredictable, and it had scared them away. It had scared them enough to leave her alone in the cabin and never return.

What if running away was in the Blackwell blood? Suppose, if Alice became any more scared, she ran away too. Just like her parents. Scanning her memories, Lily remembered the look in Alice’s eyes that fateful day.

‘Oh, Lily,’ she had sighed, ‘how I wish I could view this world like you do. To you, everything is simple. Everything can be fixed with a hug and a cup of tea.’ She had frowned, her eyes darkening. ‘But that will not fix me and neither will your words. I am unfixable. From the moment I was made—’ She had stopped, seeming to change her mind about what she was about to reveal. ‘From the moment I was made as I am, my life was destined to be hollow, sorrowful—’

‘Wait,’ Lily had interrupted, ‘this is about your lack of magic?’ Lily had been so surprised. Considering the recent onset of her troubles, she had presumed the issue that had been bothering Alice was new. The absence of magic in Alice’s life was something they spoke of sometimes, even joked about if Alice was in a good mood. ‘But Alice, you know that magic is really, really rare.’ Lily’s brow had furrowed with concern and trepidation. ‘We don’t even know if it exists at all…’ Her voice had trailed off and she had swallowed hard, barely daring to look her friend in the eye.

‘I told you that you wouldn’t understand,’ Alice had growled, standing up suddenly and flattening down her skirts. ‘This world, your world, just isn’t designed for me, Lily. I wish you could see that.’

With that, she had spun on her heels and run full speed back towards the mountain. She had disappeared beyond the horizon before Lily had even had a chance to comprehend what had happened. Pulling herself up slowly, lost in thought, she wandered in the direction Alice had disappeared. Trying to catch her in that kind of mood was pointless. Alice could outrun even the fastest adults in the town when she put her mind to it, and had done so on several occasions. No, Lily had decided that she would walk through the tall grass, stop off at her uncle’s apothecary and discuss things with him first, before attempting another exchange with Alice.

She had intended to visit Alice first thing the next morning, hoping that overnight her temper might have softened and she would be willing to forgive Lily for pushing. However, the apothecary had been overflowing with orders and Lily hadn’t been able to take a single hour off from dawn until dusk to go and visit her friend. She knew Alice wouldn’t be angry anymore, but that didn’t make her any less anxious to go and see her and smooth things over. They never fought and she didn’t intend to start now.