Tawney kept walking most of the morning. By lunch her legs were sore, and she was shivering. She sat down beneath a tree and broke off a piece of bread to nibble on. Then she withdrew her arms into her brother’s large shirt, and holding them close to her body, kept going.

It was mid-afternoon when she decided to settle down. She’d come upon a lightning-struck tree. She scratched below it an arrow pointing home. Then she attempted climbing.

Tawney managed to get up on the first branch of a nearby tree. Carefully she stood, throwing her arms around the tree’s truck as best she could. Then she put a hand on the next branch. She tried swinging her leg up onto the branch. Her leg caught it for a moment, then she slipped and fell.

Falling felt like it was sucking the air out of Tawney’s lungs. It made her feel weightless, but at the same time too heavy. Even if she’d wanted to cry out she couldn’t have. Then she hit the ground, and her knees buckled. Her foot rapped against the stone she’d used to boost herself up onto the first branch.

Tawney lay there a while, her breath coming in short gasps. She heard a crow somewhere, then a howl. Still she didn’t make any move except to curl into a tight ball. Tawney was never sure when or how she got to sleep.

When she woke, however, she felt like she’d been the one struck by lightning, not the tree she’d used as her marker. Tawney lay there awhile more. Then her spine prickled, and she looked around slightly.

For a few moments, she saw a boy crouched in the shadows of the trees, staring at her. Then their eyes met, and he was gone. Listening, Tawney heard the crow again, this time twice in rapid succession.

Curiosity roused, Tawney stood and limped after him, barely bothering to pick up her bag, which had landed next to her on the ground when she fell. She didn’t know what she had been planning when she went after the boy, as she’d quickly lost him, but Tawney continued still in the direction he’d gone.

She’d only been going a few minute when her breath started coming in short gasps again. Her lungs ached. Her foot, which she was afraid to look at, still felt like a dog was biting it, which hurt more than the rest of her sore body.

Tawney wasn’t sure how long she went or why she’d bother to keep going, when she saw the cottage. She thought at first it was a mirage of some sort. However, this mirage didn’t go away, not like the boy. So she pushed on.

A wolf howled right behind her. And then a sharp stick jabbed into her backside. A husky voice spoke from behind her, “You’re suppose to be dead, or close to it. Is this another one of you towns-people’s silly tricks?”

To be continued…

Tawney had trouble getting to sleep that night, and she woke around three in the morning. She knew she should still be tired, but she couldn’t sleep. She slipped out of bed and started preparing a bath. It was still at least three hours until anyone else woke up, and she had to make herself busy somehow.

After she’d bathed, she put on her old winter suit and then pulled her brother’s on over it. It was loose, but she knew it would probably be warmer than hers.

After that, Tawney started working on her brother’s new suit. She needed something to do with her hands, and she was at least as good with cloth and wool as her mother. Soon she was in a rhythm — she was almost able to do this in her sleep once she got going. By the time the rest of her family stirred, she was half done with it.

“Tawney. . .  Maybe you should leave for the meeting-house before your mother wakes up,” Tawney’s father said, surprising Tawney a bit.

Tawney nodded and put away the knitting. She sighed. It was possible that after seven-thirty, when she was to set off into the woods, she would never see her family again. Her father gave her a small smile, “Just survive for as long as you can. Who knows, you may be more like your brother than you think. Now hurry, I’d hate to think what’ll happen if your Mother tries talking to you now.”

Tawny nodded and then left. She wasn’t the first one up. She saw some of the other candidates moving through the streets as well. She didn’t stop to talk to anyone, but hurried on. The morning air was cold, and by the time she got to the meeting-house, she was slightly shivery. It was looking to be a cold day, not a good sign for her.

She reached the meeting building third. The only other people there were Erik, the visitor, and the boy for age fourteen. Eric smiled and put his arm on her shoulder. “So. This is all very exciting. When I heard about a fabled forest village. . . I thought it would interesting, but nothing like this! So, how do you feel about it all?”

Tawney felt for a second like telling him she wished he’d never been born. However, she bit her tongue and said, “Well, I’m not quite sure. I really think my twin brother would have been a much better choice. However, I think I’ll do well enough. Say, how long are you planning on staying?” The part about doing well enough was a bit of a lie. But she would do well enough for her village to know she’d done her best.

Eric grinned, “I don’t know. This place is so pleasant, I might stay for a month, or for a year. See, I’d much like to learn about the forest, learn all the precious things that live in it. See, I’m not much of a merchant, and I figure my best bet is to come out with something new, fresh and exciting!”

Tawney swallowed. “Well, how are we supposed to know what the day before you leave is, if we’re not allowed to return to even the outskirts of the village for three seconds, just to check?”

Eric smiled. “Well, I’m sure you’ll figure something out. I have faith you’ll come back in time to see me off.”

Tawney thought, but dared not say, Easy for you to say.

Soon the others had arrived, and Eric questioned each on their feelings. Tawney sat in a corner, not wanting to talk to others. When Arnold arrived, he laid out the choices of equipment.

Tawney got to choose first. She took the backpack that had the fish and bread. After they all made their choices, they went out onto the small stage which they’d used at the choosing. Arnold announced each one of them, and Tawney waited impatiently for her turn.

Soon she was the last on the stage. “Hem, and for age thirteen Tawney,” Arnold continued after the boy from age fourteen had left. “Accompanied by bread and fish. Though the youngest, should never be called the weakest.”

Tawney half wanted to laugh at those words. She was by far the weakest, but no one could change the words of the ceremony. So instead she smiled at the town, then walked off the stage, and started into the woods.

To be continued…

When she and her family arrived home, Tawney’s brother was quick to disappear. Tawney had been thinking over things on the way home, and she had decided that she wasn’t going cry anymore.

Instead she went to her chest to pick out the warmest clothes she had. Though they were a little tattered, and a bit small, they were the best she had. She laid the clothes on top of her chest and then stood.

Her father’s hand closed over her shoulder and squeezed gently. “Have you decided on what you’ll pick?” He said. Tawney knew that he was just as sad as her mother, who sat weaving out her brother’s new tunic for the coming winter, but she knew that he knew that he would have to be strong for his family.

“The food.” Her father nodded, and she continued. “I’ll have until nightfall to find shelter, and I can gather sticks for a fire and stuff as I go. But I’ve always been bad about missing mealtimes. The bread and the fish will at least make me a good lunch.”

Her father nodded, then hugged her, hard. “That’s my daughter, good with her mind, even when her body fails her.” Tawney hugged back. She’d learned a lot from her father, like how to be composed, even when worst came to worst. Her mother had always had trouble with her emotions, but Tawney’s father had held firm, a staff for his family to lean on.

“Thanks, Dad. A lot. For everything.” Tawney let go and sprinted out the door and into the woods. It was easy for her to find her brother, all she had to do was go to the stream. When she got there he was completely submerged. She sat in the shadow of her favorite tree and waited.

As soon as he surfaced, she called out, “Don’t drown yourself.” He swiftly twisted around, a surprised look on his face. It had been an old joke between them for her to say, ‘Don’t drown yourself’ or something to that effect when she came out to here. The first time she’d come to fetch him from the stream, he’d been under water. She’d thought he was drowning and had screamed, and then started yelling ‘don’t drown’ over and over again. He had surfaced and calmed her down, and then they had both laughed about it.

“Sis! I. . . uh. . . I wasn’t expecting you.” He dragged himself out of the water. He had always used it as a safe haven, since he was the best swimmer in the family, and possibly the village. That was how Tawney had known exactly where he would be.

Tawney looked at the water. She’d never been above her knees in the stuff, and now she wondered if maybe she should have learned. Maybe she should have learned a lot of things that she hadn’t.

“Hey sis, I was thinking, maybe you should wear my old winter suit. It might be better. It won’t be small on you, so it’ll be better than your tattered thing, and my new suit will be done soon anyway. And even if it isn’t, I’ll handle the cold.”

Tawney looked at him. “I really thought it would be you. I guess everyone did. But it’s alright, between us, it’s better for the family that I go. You’re too much help to Dad. If you’d gone, it’d have been a lot harder for us. So, just promise me you’ll take care of Mom and Dad.”

“Okay sis, just promise me one thing. If you make it through, tell me every detail. And I mean every detail. I want to live it through you, if I can. Some how, some way.”

To be continued…

“For age thirteen, Tawney Firestone.” Tawney’s mouth dropped, and her chest tightened for a second. Beside her, her much taller twin brother’s hands clenched. Whether more out of anger for not getting chosen for the test, or anger for his sister’s now nearly certain death, Tawney wasn’t sure.

The room was silent, void of the applause that had accompanied the other choices. Tawney’s mother leaned heavily on her father, who was pale white.

Tawney couldn’t believe it. After all her brother’s long preparations, after all his certainty that he’d be chosen, almost everyone in the town had come to believe it, too. After all, compared to his frail sister, what other choice could there be?

Even Tawney, who’d always been ready to face reality mentally, if not physically, couldn’t help crying.

Even Arnold, the chooser, who should know best of all that there was a fifty/fifty chance for it to be Tawney looked surprised. Even his voice, normally powerful, sounded deflated as he called again. “Tawney Firestone, please step forward.”

(more…)