The fire was a warm sort of purple edged with scarlet, a halo of light against the shadows that crept in around them. With Madge’s help, Ally lowered herself to the ground beside the blaze, the heat lapping comfortingly against her skin. She was shivering as though her bones had been infused with ice, her [...]

“Takia!” Ally raced across the bridge to Claire’s house, where Takia’s mother said she had gone. The warm, early autumn breeze brushed her cheeks. Her heart was soaring and she couldn’t keep a grin off of her face. Her long brown hair bounced behind her, unbraided. She hadn’t bothered braiding it this morning. She hadn’t [...]

The gargoyle was made of wood--woven roots and branches that had sprouted from the enchanted ground of the Tanglewood long ago. They formed into the body of a creature with wings, four clawed feet, a long thrashing tail, and a twisted, boar-like face. Crouching on one of the lower branches, it glowered down at Ally [...]

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” Ally and Takia were kneading bread dough at the counter in Ally’s house. Now that they were seventeen, they had grown much better at cooking since their failed birthday cake all those years ago. Since Mrs. Lichen worked in the dressmaker’s shop that day, she [...]

Madge and Ally didn’t talk much after the sunflower field. Ally wondered if she had hurt Madge’s feelings, and now the girl was bitter towards her. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  She didn’t mean to. Ally felt twisted and strange inside. She wanted to apologize for being rude, but she had no idea [...]