The last of the snow melted away, making the streams ripple with life and turning the vegetation lush. The farm was emerging from winter too, and they spent an entire week cleaning in order to welcome the warmer half of the year. All the feather beds and mattresses were washed and hung outside to dry. The rag rugs were beaten and the floors scrubbed. The windows were washed so the sun could seep into the small rooms and chase out the shadows from the corners. Warmth settled into everyone's chests, thawing the frost still lingering from the long winter nights. And Manon's legs seemed filled with dance as she ran around the farm with Plagg in tow. Marinette found herself humming as she knelt on the floor scrubbing the wooden planks, and even Lila seemed in a kinder mood.

News of the witches who had been burned at the stake in the Clermont area had contributed to a feeling of exhilaration in the whole community, and stories spread from house to house, to be told and retold in the candlelight. Tales about evil women journeying to Guyana mountain for the witches' sabbath, and cavorting with the devil were embroidered with more details every time the stories were told. The maids and farmhands with whom they shared their living quarters competed to describe the devilish goings on at these gatherings: dinners served in reverse order, upside-down candles, flying cows and goats, and children who were lured away by witches to serve Satan. Marinette would look on indulgently as Manon listened, wide-eyed. She could not deny that the stories were exciting, but she secretly wondered how much was true. They reminded Marinette of the fairy tales her grandmother used to tell her when she was a child. But she did not intervene. People needed stories to endure the hardships of life, and Manon's eager expression gave her joy. Who was she to take away her happiness? Manon would learn soon enough the difference between fairy tales and real life, and the longer she could stay in the fairy-tale world, the better.

Lila had been unusually kind towards Manon over the past few days. She had stroked the girl's dark hair, offered her sweets, and asked if she might pet Plagg. Marinette could not put her finger on why it should be so, but this made her uneasy. Perhaps it was because she knew her sister too well. Lila never did anything out of the goodness of her heart. But the child welcomed any kindness shown to her and, beaming with delight, she had shown her mother the sweets she had received from her mistress. So Marinette tried to push all anxious thoughts to the back of her mind. Especially because on this particular day they had more work to do than usual. Lila's Aunt Rossi was coming to visit, which meant the spring cleaning they had already begun must now be hurried along so that everything would be ready by the time she arrived.

Marinette had been so busy scrubbing and cleaning, she had not seen Manon all day. In the afternoon she began to worry about her daughter. She called the girl's name as she walked about the farm, looking in the servants' quarters, the barn, and the other buildings belonging to the vicarage, but Manon was nowhere in sight. Her stomach clenched with fear, and she called louder and louder. She asked everyone she saw, but no one had seen the girl.

The door to the house flew open.

« What is the trouble, Marinette? » asked Adrien as he came running out with his hair standing on end. He was tucking his white shirt into his trousers.

Distraught, Marinette ran over to him as she scanned the farm area, hoping to see her daughter's fair plaits.

« I cannot find Manon, and I have looked everywhere! »

« Calm yourself, Marinette, » said Adrien, placing his hands on her shoulders.

She felt the warmth from his hands through her dress, and she could not stop herself from collapsing in his arms. She stood like that for several seconds before tearing herself away and wiping her tears on her sleeve.

« I have to find her. She is so little, and she is the dearest and most precious thing I have. »

« We will find her, Marinette, » said Adrien, and he strode resolutely towards the stable.

« I have already looked there, » said Marinette in despair.

« I saw Jose in there. And he, more than anyone else, knows everything that goes on here at the farm. »

He opened the stable door and went inside. Marinette lifted her skirts and ran after him. In the dim light of the stable, she heard the murmuring voices of the two men, though the only word she could make out was 'Lila'. Her heart began pounding. She forced herself to wait while Adrien and Josse finished their conversation, but when she saw Adrien's face, she knew that her fears were justified.

« Josse saw Lila take Manon into the woods some time ago. »

« The woods? What would they be doing there? Lila never goes into the woods. And why would she take Manon? »

She could hear how shrill her voice sounded, and Adrien hushed her.

« Now is not the time for hysterics. We must find the girl. I saw Lila in the library. I will go and speak to her. »

Adrien dashed inside the house. Feeling at a loss, Marinette waited outside. Memories from her childhood washed over her. Everything she had ever held dear her sister had taken from her, with their father's blessing. The doll her mother had given her was found in the mire of the privy with its hair cut off and the eyelashes torn away. The puppy the farmhand had given her simply disappeared, but she knew in her heart that Lila was somehow involved. There was something rotten inside her sister. She could not bear for anyone to have anything she herself did not possess. She had always been that way.

And now Lila had no child, while Marinette had the dearest of little girls. A girl whom Lila's husband looked at with love in his eyes, as if she were his own. Marinette had known that this did not bode well, but what could she do? She lived at the mercy of her sister, and there was nowhere else she and her daughter could go. Not after the words she had spoken, which caused many to regard her with hatred and contempt. Lila had been their only salvation. And now it may have cost Marinette her daughter.

Adrien came running back, his expression dark.

« They went to the lake, » he said.

Marinette had no thought for what must have played out inside the vicarage. Her only concern was that Manon was at the lake, and she did not know how to swim.

With her heart pounding, and murmuring prayers to God, she raced after Adrien as he ran into the woods and headed for the lake. If the Lord had any mercy at all, He would allow them to find Manon alive. If not, she might as well perish in the dark waters along with her child.