Page 5 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

Soft thuds echoed around me as I swung my feet, heels colliding with the side of the house.

The white paint on the house was pristine except for a chipped line surrounding my ledge.

My hand fiddled with my ring, twisting the gold band around my finger as a cold breeze moved my hair away from my face.

Once the party was over, I undid all of Marie’s work, letting my hair flow free after I changed into a nightgown. The silence was broken as my stomach grumbled.

The last guest went home a few hours ago.

The smell of old tea and pastries still wafted up to me.

After everyone left, my mother rounded on me.

Screaming about obligations and what I owed the family.

The moment she was done, I fled up here.

While the sun was still up, I had spent the time reading the old novels Josi used to read years ago.

The pages had yellowed, and the covers had tears along the edges.

I leaned back on my hands, staring up at the twinkling stars.

They were beautiful stories of great romances.

My mind was always drawn toward adventures.

Women doing what they wanted, accomplishing great, world-changing things.

I’d spent my entire life in Donnaway. What was outside my small world.

A huff left me as I closed my eyes. Reading the novels helped, but I wanted to see the world. Not be tied down here.

When we were children, Josi and I spent hours exploring the hedges, looking for any sign of the faeries we had read about. Even caught up in our stories, we stayed near the house. I wished we tried harder. Went further.

As we got older, we lost our makeshift adventures.

We started helping with the farm. As our father got older, it was harder for him to dig around the weeds.

So, Josi and I started making our own competitions to see who could pick the most before lunch was ready.

Our clothes tore faster than our mother could repair them.

Maybe that’s why our mother clung so hard to the way life was now.

No more having to clean up after us. No more having to work the land ourselves.

Adrian already hired people to look after everything for us.

A low whistling started from somewhere below me.

I sat back up, leaning over the edge. My brows furrowed as I tried to find it.

A few people were still out working, cleaning up the mess from this afternoon.

None of them seemed to be paying me any mind, though.

They were focused as they brought tables and chairs into the house.

A couple were picking up trash off the grass.

I jumped as a loud ping sounded from next to me.

A small rock was sitting on the tiles next to me.

My head jerked as I looked up. Crows liked to hang out around the rooftops.

It would’ve been possible that one of them dropped a rock they thought was shiny.

Except there were none anywhere near me.

Several sat on the neighboring house. Their dark eyes stared at me as they cawed at each other.

Something shimmered in the sky above me once again.

My eyes squinted as I tried to make sense of it.

I yelped as it got closer, throwing my hands up just before it could hit my face. My skin stung where the second rock bounced off. My gaze snapped back to the ground below me. That rock had come sailing up to me.

Little had changed. Watering cans were carried out as people tended to the trampled grass.

One person walked along the hedges with a large set of clippers.

They sliced through any part that stood out from the uniform shape.

Several branches dangled half broken. My gaze followed as they walked the length of the hedges.

I got stuck on the passage that Adrian dragged me through earlier.

There had been a soft breeze when I first sat up here. Now, the air was still. It felt like the world was holding its breath as I stared at the shaking branches. The rest of the hedges stood still, reflecting the nonexistent wind. Yet, this section was shaking like it was the middle of a storm.

“What the…” I muttered, trying to lean closer.

Reaching out from the walkway, a small hand waved up at me.

A jolt ran through me as I scrambled back from the ledge.

I could feel the tiles tear at my legs in my haste.

My breath came out in pants as I stood. None of the people walking around seemed to notice it.

Each one was too focused on their nightly chores.

I let out a curse. One of the children must’ve gotten lost in there.

I couldn’t believe none of the parents noticed.

I started screaming, waving my hands. No one looked up. Reaching down, I grabbed the rock before throwing it at one of the chairs that were still out. Still, no one looked at me. Of course, everyone chose now to ignore me.

Running back to the rope, I wrapped my legs around it to slide down.

Children loved playing in the hedges. There were all types of hidden passages for them to find.

They could easily spend the entire party within those branches and be the happiest kids there.

No one had ever been left behind, though, even when a brave child would try to make their way through the twisting paths.

Someone was supposed to go in and check for any kids.

Climbing through the window, I raced over to the door.

The rest of the house seemed quiet. There were a few groans as the old house settled.

No footsteps, though. Not even a hushed voice.

The door let out a soft squeak as I opened it.

The house was consumed by darkness as I waited for my eyes to adjust.

As I could finally make out shapes in front of me, I worked my way through the house, avoiding the boards I knew would squeal under my weight.

I held my breath as I passed by Marie’s door.

I paused at the candlelight flickering through the crack underneath the door.

I should ask for help. My mother would have been the perfect person to ask.

She would’ve been able to recognize any of the children that showed up.

Going to her was the last thing I would do right now. The thought of waking her filled my stomach with dread. After I got the kid in the house, then I would go to her.

If it was a child out there, they would have been there for hours already. It was cold. They were certainly hungry. The last thing they needed was to hear screams coming after them.

I held my breath as one of the steps squeaked underneath me. My blood pounded in my ears. I was afraid everyone could hear my racing heartbeat as I crept through the dark house to the front door.

The front door was on the opposite side of our property from where I saw the hand waving at me. The stone steps chilled my feet as I walked down them. The grass was wet as I moved to the side of the house, keeping to the shadows. I should’ve taken a moment to grab at least a pair of slippers.

Everyone was using the back door, so most of their backs were turned to me as I rounded the corner to the back of the house.

All that was left was to cut across the lawn to get to the nearest path into the hedge.

The hand didn’t come out of a direct path, so I was just hoping I could find them once I was inside the maze. Taking a deep breath, I ran.

“Hey!” someone yelled from behind me.

I paused, breath caught in my throat. The hedges were so close. If I stretched my hand out, I could touch the leaves. If I kept going, I should have been able to make it before they caught me.

“What are you doing?” My heart squeezed in my chest as they called out again.

It felt like I had been standing there for too long. I needed to decide. This wasn’t life or death for me. It could be for that child. Nights here got freezing cold, and no one else knew they were there.

“You’re cutting too much. Keep goin’ like that and it’ll leave a patch,” they continued.

My entire body sagged with my breath of relief. That was all I needed to run the last steps into the hedge.

I was no stranger to the passages throughout the shrubbery. Aside from it being the hiding spot for me and Adrian, it was one of my few cures for boredom. There were only so many times I could read the same fairytale.

I would spend hours memorizing the twists and turns that would lead to every secret opening, the center clearing, and every exit.

There was something different about it now.

It was completely silent. The conversations had cut off the moment I stepped through the branches.

Caws from the crows quieted. There wasn’t even the rustling of branches. All I could hear was my pounding heart.

“Hello?” I whispered after the first couple of turns. “I promise you won’t be in trouble,” I offered, not that I would have believed it if the roles were reversed.

Leaves rustled within one of the walls. Somewhere close, a child was laughing.

Of course they would think this was funny.

That’s better than panicking, at least. It meant I, hopefully, wouldn’t have to drag them out.

I glanced behind me. I had only passed through a few of the many turns, which meant we were still too far from the clearing for the child to be hiding there.

No, they had to be in one of the smaller clearings that were inside the thick walls.

Taking a deep breath, I started shoving my way through the hedge wall.

This used to be much easier when I was younger. Being small made it easy to squeeze between the branches. Now, most of the branches caught and tore up my dress. I let out a hiss as several scratched my arms and legs. With a stumble, I fell into the small opening.