Page 5 of The Poison Season

While his sisters teased each other and their father tried to quiet them, Jaren’s mind was filled with a strange, mournful song he couldn’t place. He had no musical ability to speak of, so it wasn’t likely he’d made it up himself. And his mother, though she’d loved to sing, wouldn’t have chosen something so sorrowful.

“Yoo-hoo,” Story called, waving a hand in front of Jaren’s face. “Where did you go?”

He realized his spoon was dangling in front of him, forgotten. “Sorry.”

“You’re clearly exhausted,” their father said. “Get some rest. Your sisters and I will take over your chores for the rest of the day.”

Jaren nodded and mumbled an apology. But, though he did feel exhausted in every fiber of his body, he lay awake for hours, trying to tease out the melody of the strange song in his head.

Chapter Three

Several days later, Sage and Leelo were sent to visit Isola. Her mother, Rosalie, had complained to Fiona and Ketty that Isola had been acting strangely all winter, sullen and tired for no good reason.

“Maybe she’s ill,” Sage suggested as they made their way to Isola’s cottage. “She did look terrible when we saw her last.”

“Or perhaps being a Watcher was too hard on her. Winter duty is exhausting.”

Leelo had once asked her mother why they didn’t start their year as Watchers in the spring or summer, giving them more time to learn before the lake froze.

Because the winter is long and takes a toll on even the more experienced Watchers, her mother had explained.Going through it all at once is too much, so we split it up, make it a little easier.Everyone, no matter their size or physical ability, was required to spend a year on duty, guarding the island. Leelo was still recovering from the night she’d spent in the woods, followed immediately by an entire day patrolling the shore.

Sage was about to respond when they heard a commotion from inside Isola’s house.

“I don’t want him to go!” she screamed. “You can’t make him!”

The shrill desperation in Isola’s voice made Leelo’s skin crawl. “We should leave,” she whispered, turning back to the trail.

But Sage shook her head and pulled Leelo along after her. “And miss this? I don’t think so.”

“Sage,” Leelo hissed, but they were already crouched behind a tree, listening.

A moment later, the door to Isola’s house burst open. A young man, half-undressed, was being shoved over the threshold by Isola’s mother, who was beating at his head with a wooden spoon.

“Fool!” Rosalie yelled. “The ice is gone! Tell me if it was worth it when the lake takes you!”

The young man raised his arms over his head to protect himself, the muscles of his torso rippling with the movement. Leelo and Sage stared slack-jawed as Isola ran out of the house after her mother, clad in nothing but her shift.

“Please, Mother!” the girl wailed, but the young man was already tugging his shirt over his head and running through the woods toward the lake.

Rosalie snatched at her daughter’s sleeve. “Stop this nonsense, Isola! You know he can’t stay. What were you thinking?”

But Isola pulled free and ran after him, stumbling barefoot in the mud. “Pieter! Come back!”

Pieter.Now Leelo recognized him, though he’d been only a little older than Tate the last time she’d seen him. His father was a painter, and his mother sometimes bought Ketty’s wool to make the warm felted boots they wore in winter. But beyond that, Leelo couldn’t remember much about the boy, other than that he was incantu. What was he doing back on Endla?

“Come on,” Sage said, yanking Leelo behind her.

Rosalie was following her daughter at a rapid clip, but she didn’t run. She had to know Pieter would only make it so far. “Get your family,” she called to Leelo and Sage over her shoulder. “There’s going to be a drowning.”

Leelo gasped, but Sage’s expression was strangely intent as they ran back to the house. WhathadIsola been thinking? Leelo knew she would want to see Tate after he left, but she would never allow him to risk his life by coming back to Endla. And Pieter wasn’t family, just a former friend who had somehow become something more.

When they reached the house, the girls pulled off their muddy boots before going inside. Sage paused to warm her hands by the stove for a moment as she hollered for her mother. “Hurry up!” she shouted. “There’s going to be a drowning!”

Leelo’s stomach twisted at the echoed phrase. She had always been too sensitive, according to Aunt Ketty. Whenever a lamb was slaughtered for their summer festival, Leelo didn’t have the heart to eat it. It wasn’t the sight of blood that made her vision tunnel and her knees grow weak; it was the thought of anything enduring that much fear and pain. And while she knew a drowning wasn’t a slaughter, exactly, that Pieter had chosen his own fate, he was nevertheless going to suffer greatly.

Ketty came in from the yard, where she’d been chopping firewood. She had the same auburn hair and hazel eyes as Leelo’s mother and Sage, while Leelo had her father’s silvery blond hair and blue eyes. Tate didn’t look like any of them. Her mother said he resembled their grandfather, who had died before Leelo was born.

“A drowning?” Ketty asked, hanging her apron on a hook near the door. “Are you sure?”

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