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Elissa halts outside the shed door. Before she can open it, she’ll need to put down the tray. Crouching on the grass, she feels a wet sting of pain beneath her dress, halfway along her right thigh. When she straightens, the feeling disappears, leaving nothing but a warm trickle down her leg. Abruptly, she remembers what’s hidden there. And with that mystery solved, she opens the door.
III
From darkness and shadow, details emerge. Thebodachsits in the corner, tethered by her old chain.
It’s a shame, Elissa thinks, that not allbodachsare kept like this, tied up in the dark where they can’t do any harm. Then she remembers that the pale-faced shape watching her isn’t abodachat all, but the one she calls Elijah. She remembers something else, too: that he stole that name from the brother he killed.
Her eyes flick around the floor, looking for a safe spot. But nowhere in here lies beyond the perimeter of that chain. Retrieving the tray from the grass, she gingerly crosses the threshold.
Elijah looks tired and dishevelled, but his eyes remain bright. Forget Hansel and Gretel; right now, Elissa feels like Red Riding Hood approaching the wolf. ‘I brought you some food,’ she says. ‘I’ll try not to drop it.’
‘Thanks,’ he croaks. Then, ‘Can you bring it closer?’
Elissa hesitates, trying to stabilize her vision.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asks. ‘What did they tell you?’
She shrugs, shakes her head.
Elijah glances at his manacle. His attention wanders to something at his side. ‘It’s funny,’ he says. ‘All this – everything that’s happening. In a way, it’s like the world’s most intense chess game.’
She knows what he means, but she can’t agree. ‘This isn’t a game, Elijah.’
‘I knowthat, silly.’
‘Elijah isn’t even your real name. Is it?’
‘I …’ His shoulders quake. ‘It was a way of remembering him.’
Carefully, Elissa sets down the tray. Again, she feels a tiny pinprick of pain.
That boy, he’s a survivor. He values his life above all else. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep it.
Sweat rolls into her eyes. She blinks it away. ‘You know, I never really figured out if I could trust you.’
‘I can’t blame you for that,’ he says. ‘I wouldn’t trust me either. But nothing I ever told you was untrue.’
She knowsthat’sa lie. It’s so obviously a lie she can hardly believe he said it. When he drags over the tray, she sits down a short distance away, spreading out the folds of her dress.
‘Are you OK?’ he asks as he eats. ‘You seem, I don’t know. A bit weird.’
‘They gave me something. For the pain. It’s made me a little …’ She raises her right arm, flexing and unflexing her swollen fingers. ‘Spaced.’
With her left hand, she reaches under her dress.
Elijah blinks, his eyes fixed on her face.
‘He’s not your papa, is he?’ Elissa says. ‘I thought he was, but he isn’t.’
‘I used to pretend he was. I pretended so well I ended upbelieving it. It’s funny how that happens, don’t you think? How you can make things come true if you think them hard enough.’
Elissa takes a shuddery breath. It feels like a butterfly is beating its wings inside her chest. Under her dress, her index finger touches the knife.
Elijah finishes eating. He carefully puts down his bowl.
‘They took you, didn’t they?’ she says. ‘When you were a boy. Took you and your brother. Just like they took me.’
Again, Elijah glances off to the side, as if he’s searching for something. Perhaps he’s avoiding a bad memory. ‘Yes.’