Puck

Gabe glares at me and Sean, his arms crossed over his chest. I can hear Finn shuffling in the background. Gabe is dressed in pajamas, which irritates me, because even though I didn't deserve it, they obviously didn't spend much time worrying over me.

"Morning," Gabe says gravely.

"Morning," I reply, trying to keep the tension out of my voice. If there is going to be an argument, I want it to happen when Sean isn't around to hear it. Gabe has not moved from the doorway, and the air outside is thick and cold. "Are you going to let us in?" I ask.

Gabe's eyes narrow and dart to Sean, a look that says Sean is not welcome inside this morning. I can't fully understand what Gabe has to be upset about with Sean.

Sean seems to sense my brother's black mood. He says, "That's alright, Puck. I'll see you later?"

I'm about to protest. It's freezing outside and we haven't eaten breakfast and it would be impractical for him to walk all the way to town when our house is warm and stocked with food. But I think, under the circumstances, that it would be better for my brothers and I to be alone. So I nod my head. "Yes."

He squeezes my hand, nods at Gabe, and walks away. When he's out of our view, I push past my brother and march to the kitchen. Finn sits at the table, a cup of tea in his hand. He doesn't look up at me when I sit down.

"Don't you dare lecture me, Gabriel Connolly," I say sharply when my older brother stands across the table and glares at me. "I don't want to hear anything from you."

"Well, who's going to tell you just how mad you are, Kate Connolly?" He fires back. "Do you know how idiotic it was to go out into that storm? You could have frozen! How would we have found you if you were buried beneath the snow?"

"It didn't snow that much," I mutter. I glance at Finn. He looks pained.

"That isn't the point, Puck," Gabe says. He sits down at the table with us, his expression softening only a little. "I thought we were trying to keep the family together. What would Finn and I have done if something had happened to you?"

I feel my anger boiling again. "You're certainly one to talk about keeping the family together! Do you not recall a few weeks ago when you didn't even come home to eat dinner with us? When you didn't even tell us that we were going to be evicted and I had to learn it from Benjamin Malvern? God, Gabe, how can you even look me in the eye and accuse me of jeopardizing our future?"

Gabe's jaw twitches. He's angry, too, but I never want him to forget his behavior. How he nearly abandoned me and Finn when we needed him most.

"And another thing," Gabe says gravely. "What was that little scene at dinner last night?"

I hesitate. Finn is looking at me now. "Sean didn't know we were moving," I say.

"But Puck," Finn says softly, "you denied it when he asked you."

Both of my brothers stare at me, waiting for an explanation. My heart hurts. I don't want to talk anymore. But I can't avoid this conversation anymore. "I denied it because I don't want to go with you," I say.

"Why not?" Gabe asks. Finn lowers his eyes once more. His mouth is in a tight line.

"Thisby is my home. It always has been and it always will be. You might feel like you belong elsewhere . . . but I belong here. I know I do," I say. "I can't go to the mainland with you, Gabe. I wouldn't be able to bear it, the way you wouldn't be able to bear staying here."

Gabe looks at me intently. Even if Finn doesn't understand, I know my older brother will. When he speaks, his voice is low. "I don't want you to stay just because Sean Kendrick wants you to."

My mouth falls open. "It isn't like that! I'm not staying for Sean! I'm staying for me!"

"Puck, do you even know anything about him?" Gabe asks, ignoring my words.

"I know more about him than you do!" I snap, my heart pounding. His implication infuriates me. As if I would ever be the girl who throws her life away because of a boy. Sean said himself that he loves me. But, of course, my brothers would never believe that.

"Where did you go last night?" Gabe asks, keeping his voice low, in case the whole island is listening.

I don't want to tell him. I know what he'll think.

"People are talking, Puck. About you two. Do you think I like hearing that kind of stuff about my baby sister?"

"What are they saying?" I demand.

"Ever since the races, there's been nonstop gossip about you in his bed . . . things like that." Gabe's cheeks turn pink. Finn's do too.

Even though it isn't true, I still feel myself flush. "They're just rumors, Gabe."

"Well, where were you last night?" he asks again.

I'm not about to spill the secrets of my love life to my brothers. But they, of all people, should not be left in the dark on this matter. "His father's house. We . . . we didn't do anything like that . . . I mean . . ." I shut up, because all of us are uncomfortable with this topic. Even though Sean and I have not shared a bed, we did share a couch last night, and the gossip about us is enough to make me want to go to confession.

"There are more important things to discuss," Finn says. His eyes lock on mine. "Are you coming to the mainland or not?"

Sean

Thoughts of Puck overwhelm my mind as I walk Corr along the snowy cliffs. Up here, the snow is not as heavy and there isn't as much of it, so it doesn't put anymore strain on his lame leg. Corr has never really liked snow, but he's restless more than ever, so he puts up with it.

I wonder what Puck and her brothers are talking about. My name might possibly be thrown around, by her brothers in particular. I feel a bit guilty that I didn't bring her directly home last night. But how could I? Certainly they would understand, considering they didn't go after her. I wonder if they're trying to convince her to go with them to the mainland. I wonder if she will be swayed. It makes my heart twist, to think that she would leave. What makes it worse is that I can't even feel reassured. Puck is a wild card. She'll do whatever she wants and no one will tell her otherwise. She's proven that to the whole island.

If she did leave, I wouldn't stop her. I know her soul, and Puck Connolly is not meant to be held back from what she wants. But I like to think that she won't leave. Because she loves Thisby. She loves Dove. She loves me.

This thought makes me smile. I'm still anxious to see her, though. I don't think her brothers are fond of me at the moment.

Corr rubs his nose against the ground, trying to clean the dusting of snow off the grass. I think about him and Dove, and what George Holly said to me the morning of the races. "You'll have a nest of horses outside of your window and Puck Connolly in your bed and I'll buy from you instead of Malvern. That's your future for you." I hadn't given it much thought that day, with my mind too preoccupied, but now as I ponder it, I wonder if it has become more likely. I rub Corr's ear and pat his shoulder. He presses his face against my chest.

If I could glimpse into the future, I would very much like to see George Holly's prediction.


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