The Enchanted Greenhouse(108)

“Ooh, I know: the sunflower maze,” Rowan said. “He could have put them in—”

Yarrow shook his head. “We solved it. No shells there.”

“You did?” Rowan said. “Wow, I can’t tell you how many afternoons I spent in there, before Dad hauled me out to do chores. What did you do about the dragons?”

Ambrel’s eyes widened. “Dragons?”

“They like honey,” Yarrow said.

“You have to show me how you—” Rowan said eagerly.

Ambrel squeezed her arm. “Focus, Rowan.”

“Sorry. Later.”

Gravely, Yarrow said, “I’d be happy to show you later.”

“All right then,” Rowan said.

Terlu had a sudden image of her as a child, so excited to set out on a new adventure in Alyssium. She knew how that felt.

Rowan studied her brother for a moment. “You need help, badly enough to actually face me, which means it’s serious.” She seemed to reach a decision. “Let’s rally everyone.”

Without waiting for a response, she trotted down the road.

Ambrel flashed them a smile and joined her wife.

Yarrow squeezed Terlu’s hand for either strength or comfort, but he followed his sister toward the rest of his family and every awkward conversation he’d been so studiously avoiding. Terlu held his hand as firmly as she could without squeezing, so he’d know she wasn’t leaving his side. He wasn’t facing them alone.

* * *

True to her word, Rowan gathered everyone—aunts, uncles, cousins, even the two family friends who had been brought to Belde for their safety. With Dendy’s help, she also corralled all the sentient plants. She insisted that the plants would want to help, and both Yarrow and Terlu had agreed with her. Everyone, people and plants, assembled in the rose greenhouse.

The roses swayed in the breeze from the overhead fans. Above, the snow had begun to fall softly on the glass cupola, but inside it smelled like summer. The aroma of roses filled every breath, and Terlu felt the knots in her shoulders ease as she breathed it in.

They all came, she thought. Maybe they’ll all help.

Yarrow distributed slices of honey cake—when had he made more? He had to be just continuously baking. Only other explanation was that the cat had learned how. All the people were sitting on the edges of flower beds, on upside-down pots, and on chairs that had been brought in from the cottages, while the talking plants were distributed throughout the greenhouse. Dendy was up in the rafters with Lotti. Risa, the ivy, had wound themself around one of the pillars, while Amina, the orchid, lurked beneath the branches of a purple rosebush, and Cyna, the daisy, perched on top of a trellis of white climbing roses.

Standing on an upside-down pot, Rowan whistled for attention.

The people and plants quieted.

The fireweed let out a spark. It fizzled in the air.

“Okay, everyone,” Rowan said. “Hi. This is Terlu. You’ve all met her. She has a request to make—a way we can save the Greenhouse of Belde and stop any more greenhouses from failing. Yarrow might talk too, but probably not. Anyway, listen up. This is important.”

“Uh, thanks,” Terlu said.

Rowan vacated the upside-down pot, and Terlu stepped up onto it, with Yarrow reaching out a hand to steady her. She surveyed the room. Somehow she’d gone from thinking she was alone on the island to addressing a crowd. We’re stronger together. Or we can be. Like a rope, made of threads woven together. Everyone in this room—human and plant—wanted the greenhouses to survive. She believed that to the core of her heart. Clearing her throat, she began.

She described her theory on why the greenhouses were failing （a malfunctioning spell）， what they needed to find （lots of shells collected together）， and what they had to do with them （destroy them）。 It took less than a minute and a half.

And then she stepped down from the pot. She prepared herself for the questions that would follow—how she knew what to do, how she’d cracked the sorcerer’s code, how she’d translated his notebooks and studied his spells.

One of Yarrow’s younger cousins, Percik, asked, “Are you a sorcerer?”

She hadn’t prepared for that one, but she could handle it.

“No, I was a librarian.” He hadn’t flat-out accused her of breaking imperial law, so she could nicely sidestep the issue. She launched into an explanation of how her experience and training with languages, especially extinct languages, had enabled her to—

From the rafters, Lotti shouted stoutly, “She’s as good as a sorcerer!”

Oh, by the sea. Terlu felt her breath lodge in her throat.

The orchid, Amina, chimed in. “She woke all of us.”

“Yes, we are grateful to her,” the ivy, Risa, said.

“Sheee taught us to heal the glaaass,” Dendy said. “And sheee has been working tooo understand the spells thaaat created the greeeenhouses, in ooorder to save them. You can truuust her word. If sheee says this is necessary, then it’s what must beee done.”

What am I going to do? What am I going to say? Panic spiraled up into her throat, and she felt herself begin to shake. She sucked in air. I should have told the talking plants not to talk so much. When she’d had the idea to ask for help, she hadn’t considered that her friends would leak her secret to everyone all at once. How could she know if she could trust all of Yarrow’s relatives? One of them could be just like the patron who’d reported her.