Page 47 of The House of Quiet

Chapter Forty

A Searching River

Cook stumbles out of the kitchen, rubbing her hip. “The children have all gone feral!” she shouts, taking in the hallway full of them.

“I don’t have time for you!” River snaps. She turns back to Dawn. “Do your best to stay calm. You’re the most important one right now; do you understand? You’re going to be in charge down here.”

The girl nods fiercely, taking deep, even breaths. River hands her the keys to the bedrooms, and Dawn sets off to check on Nimbus.

“Those are my keys,” Cook says. “Give them to me!”

River glares at her. “If you’re not going to be of any use, go back to bed.”

“Use for what?” Cook demands.

“Nimbus is upset,” Dawn calls from the far bedroom, peeking out into the hallway from the door. “I think he’s the one who screamed.”

“Stay there and help him calm down,” River says. “Lake, my dove, you’re in with them until we know what’s happening.” She nudges Lake in that direction. Lake manages to walk directly there on her own, which is a relief.

“What’s the matter?” Hawthorn opens his door and leans his head out. His hair’s disheveled, and his robe peeps open to reveal a stark, pale collarbone, making him look strangely fragile. River didn’t unlock his door. Why does he get to have freedom if the rest of them don’t?

“None of your business,” River snaps. “Go back to bed.”

He scowls. “I don’t take orders from you, young lady.”

“I don’t have time for this!” River needs to get upstairs.

“My keys!” Cook demands. “I need to check on the House Wife.”

River can’t deal with her, and she can’t have Cook harassing the young ones and upsetting Dawn. She runs into Nimbus’s room and gets the keys, then throws them at Cook.

Lake wanders out after her. River’s frantic to find out what’s happening with Birdie. She’s never heard Arrow that scared.

By the time River has Lake back in Nimbus’s room, Cook is in the doorway. She looks almost meek. The House Wife stands next to her, hair wild, eyes wilder. A bruise is forming on her forehead, and her elbow and knee are bleeding, soaking almost black through her red dress.

“The noise,” she says, voice cracking. “The noise.”

“I know,” Cook says, wrapping her arms around the House Wife.

“Shh, shh. I know. Can we—can we come in? The calm might help her.” Cook looks to River for permission.

Maybe it’s Dawn’s radiating calm, or maybe it’s just her own desperate wish to be able to turn things over to an adult down here so she can go to Arrow, but River nods.

“Yes. Dawn, none of you go anywhere until I get back.” She won’t let the House Wife treat the kids, not after what happened to Rabbit. But the House Wife doesn’t seem capable of doing much of anything right now.

Cook leads the dazed House Wife in. River dully realizes that this is the chance they’ve all been waiting for.

The perfect opportunity to get into the House Wife’s room and explore without risk of being caught.

She’s not going to tell Arrow, though. Arrow’s brave, but she’s also reckless. This isn’t a night for taking risks.

River runs up the stairs, dreading what she might find there. As soon as she steps out of the stairwell, Arrow crashes into her with a sob.

“Birdie’s dead.”

River’s heart is in her throat. “How?”

“Convulsions. I’ve seen them before. If you can’t stop them, the brain is starved of breath. We didn’t change the future. We didn’t save her. I can’t save anyone.”

River strokes Arrow’s hair, holding the other girl tightly for a few shaky breaths.

“No head wound,” Arrow says. “Not poison, either. We ate and drank the same things. But she can’t—she wouldn’t just die. She couldn’t. She has too much to do. She has to find her sister.” Arrow sounds so young when she says it.

“Let me take care of it.” River guides Arrow back to her bed, noting how tiny the maids’ rooms are, how spare and lonely, and then peers into Birdie’s.

Forest is sitting on the floor, holding Birdie’s limp body, whispering. River can’t make herself set foot in the room, just in case she hears what he’s whispering and it breaks her mind apart even more.

“Forest,” River says so he knows she’s there. He stops. She steps inside the cramped room and crouches in front of them. “Is Birdie dead?”

He shakes his head, but the way he looks up at her with silent horror implies the rest. Not yet, but soon.

“Then she’s sleeping. And if she’s sleeping, I can get to her. And I’ll find out what happened.” River walks back to Arrow’s room and lies down next to her, their bodies wrapped as tightly as they can be.

River closes her eyes. For the first time in years, she’s desperate to dream.