Circe laughed. 揥hat is it with old folks? My grandma used to tell me the same thing. First off, who抯 intentionally leaving the house with dirty drawers? And second, if I get in a car accident, the state of my drawers is probably the least of my worries, right??
揈xactly,?I said, laughing along with her. I pushed my glasses up. 揃ut I抦 guessing that抯 not what you抮e talking about here.?
揘ot really,?she said. 揥hat she meant was that we have this power over the plants but I can抰 bring the garden or the apothecary with me when I go places. So my mom taught me to use this.?She tapped the side of the briefcase. 揝he made this for me. It lets me keep everything I need close by. I can find sage and mugwort almost anywhere, but bloodroot? Blue flag? Lobelia? I can抰 just run to the store for those, and finding them in the wild is almost impossible. Our garden is unique in that it can sustain plants that, normally, would never even grow on the same continent much less the same plot. I keep a little of everything in these containers. I only need the smallest fraction of the plant to grow a new one no matter where I am.?She plucked out a narrow jar as big around as a pencil, maybe an inch long. She pulled out the tiny cork and took my hand in hers, turning my palm up. She gently tapped the butt end of the jar and a fleck no bigger than a single flake of pepper fell into my hand.
揗ake it grow, Briseis.?
I squinted at the flake. 揑抳e never棓 I stopped short. In the turret at the top of the house I抎 inadvertently made a plant come back from what I assumed was just dust in the bottom of its planter. It had seemed impossible, and I thought the dirt and dust in the container had been hiding a leaf or root I抎 overlooked. 揟his is almost nothing.?
揑t is everything,?Circe said gently. She pushed my fingers closed around the speck of plant matter. 揈verything you need is right there in that tiny piece. Try it. I think you can do it.?
I focused on the speck, took in a shaky breath.
Circe put her hands on my shoulders. 揘o need to be nervous or scared.?
揑抦 not. I just棓
揧ou抳e just been hiding this gift your whole life except from the people you trust most梱our parents. And your friends might have seen bits and pieces, but it scared them a little so you hid it away.?
I stared into her face and saw care and concern梑ut there was also a familiar sadness. She knew exactly what I抎 had to deal with even if I hadn抰 shared all of it with her yet.
揂nd now you抮e here and I抦 telling you that you don抰 have to be afraid, but you抮e not a hundred percent sure you can trust me.?
揇o our abilities cover being psychic, too??
揘ot that I抦 aware of,?she said gently. She touched my closed hand. 揑 know what it抯 like. And you can decide for yourself if you trust me, but right now, all you have to do is make it grow.?
I steadied myself and took off my glasses, setting them on the counter. I concentrated on the fragment of plant in my hand and breathed deep. The familiar tingling started in my shoulder, then flowed down to my forearm. As the warmth entered my wrist and settled in my palm, I slowly opened my hand and the speck shifted, doubling in size and sprouting roots like whiskers. A stem pushed its way through my fingers, and small waxy green leaves unfurled alongside fleshy red berries.
揑t抯 yew,?I said. 揗e and one of the girls in my third grade class ate some of these.?
Circe winced. 揝he lived??
揧eah. She was jacked up for a long time, though.?
揑 bet.?She stroked the leaves of the small plant that I held in my hand, fully grown from a single speck. The plant twisted toward her and then back to me. 揟he seeds are deadly if you ingest enough of them. How many did she eat??
揝ix.?
Circe shook her head. 揟wo or three more and she would have been dead.?
My stomach sank thinking about it.
揃ut if someone had known how,?Circe continued, 搕hey could have used the stems, leaves, berries, and seeds of that same plant to raise her from the grave.?
I leveled my eyes with Circe抯， waiting for her to say she was joking. Instead, she glanced around the room and smiled.
揟his work is unique, and there is so much more to it than the business of guarding the Heart. Running this shop used to be one of the greatest joys of my life. It allowed me to stay connected to my past and still serve my community, to provide them something they couldn抰 get anywhere else.?
揟hat抯 what everyone抯 been saying,?I said, setting the yew plant on the counter. 揇r. Grant抯 father came up here talking about alchemy, a woman in town who抯 a root worker, even Marie梩hey all made it seem like there was another sort of community in Rhinebeck.?
揟his place is like a beacon,?Circe said. 揚eople are drawn here because of the plants, because of the poison. Most of them have no idea the Heart even exists. If they do, they don抰 have any real interest in it. They know they could never wield its power. But yes, there is a community here whose interests are spread across all kinds of belief systems and practices, but they all require the things we provide here. The Colchis family抯 knowledge of plants and poisons is encyclopedic.?She scanned the shelves and pulled down a jar of dried marigold. 揇o you know what this is??