I nearly scoffed aloud at that. They had chased after me with weapons drawn, terrified me, and left me to believe that if I did not give up this package in my arms, something terrible would happen. I doubted that had anything to do with my safety.
“Naturally, we will report her if we see her,” someone said. “But the Zikaris family kept to themselves. I doubt any of us even know this girl.”
“She will be carrying something wrapped in twine, perhaps inside a brown leather shoulder bag,” Rusakov said. “Her clothes will be dirty from hiding. I am confident that you will recognize her … and can promise you a fine reward for turning her in.”
Turn me in? Hardly the words someone would use if their only wish was to see to my safety and care. None of the people here should know me, even from the few times I’d been to the markets. I knew how to blend in with the shadows, how to not be noticed. I was more comfortable that way.
A different girl spoke now. “With your permission, sir, the hour is creeping closer to midnight. We beg you to allow us our traditions.”
“Your foolish Lithuanian stories,” Rusakov said. “They’ll be gone soon enough.” After a heavy sigh, he added, “But you may carry on for tonight, as long as you do not get in our way. We will remain in the area to continue searching.”
Slowly, the people who had been laughing and singing minutes ago began moving about among the trees. I was sure all of them wanted to get as far from the officers as possible, but nobody wanted to be the first to leave the area. Maybe they figured they were safer here, together in one group, for it seemed impossible that the officers would attack so many people at once. But for all I knew, they would.
I looked around me and silently groaned. I was hiding in a thick patch of ferns. Of all nights and of all places to hide, I had made the worst possible choice.
“Perhaps the fern blossom is here,” a girl said, her voice coming closer to where I was, more quickly than I could figure out what to do about it. “Perhaps … oh!”
I knew she’d seen me and I turned to look up at her, then silently shook my head, pleading with her not to turn me in. She had every reason to do it, including a reward that would probably be a great help to her family. If the officers discovered that she had allowed me to stay in hiding, my punishment would also become hers.
She stared down at me, then her eyes darted away as she decided what to do. I recognized this girl. Her name was Violeta and she sold pastries on market day from her father’s bakery.
“What is it, Violeta?” a friend called to her. “What have you found?”
“Yes,” Officer Rusakov called, his tone dripping with suspicion. “What have you found?”
Time seemed to freeze while Violeta made her decision. No matter what choice she made, there would be rewards for it … or consequences. Officer Rusakov would be here soon, and it would be so easy for her to point me out, so easy to gain the favor of the soldiers by doing them a favor now.
His heavier footsteps crunched over the twigs and old autumn leaves as he came closer, and my heart crashed against my chest. It was possible I was in the last few minutes of my life.
Almost instantly, Violeta pasted a smile across her face and leaned over. “It’s a fern blossom, I’m sure of it. Everyone come see!”
My eyes nearly leapt from my head with horror. It wasn’t enough for her to turn me in alone; she wanted half the village to help her do it?
Excitedly, she motioned to her friends, who came running over beside her, enough of them hoping to see the magical blossom that they seemed to have forgotten about Officer Rusakov.
One by one, they gathered around the ferns where I was hiding, and one by one, they saw me, their eyes widening as they realized what Violeta had truly discovered.
I did not dare look at any of them, though I wished I could. It would be harder for them to report me if they saw my face. I only crouched there, wondering which of them would betray my hiding place, which of them would be the first to call out that they had found me and demand their reward.
I cringed when I heard the first person draw a breath to speak. She called out, “It is indeed a fern blossom, Violeta. Do you feel its magic yet?”
I peered up at her, just barely. She hadn’t turned me in at all.
A girl beside Violeta asked, “Can you understand the language of the birds yet?”
Violeta glanced behind her toward Officer Rusakov, then back at me, saying, “There are no birds out this late. Perhaps tomorrow, I will.”
The group pushed in tighter around the fern, and a boy said, “Violeta, surely you know all secrets.”
Her eye fell on me again. “I’m afraid the greatest secrets are still a mystery to me. There is at least one thing about which I have many questions.”
Then a third person asked, “And what of the third promise of finding the fern blossom? Can you read our thoughts?”
I finally looked up, and Violeta’s gaze locked on mine. She nodded. “Yes, I can. I know the thoughts of everyone in this circle, and perhaps you all have been touched by the magic, too, for I am sure you know everything I am thinking.”
Perhaps they did, for the group moved in even tighter around the fern, so many of them that unless the officers forced them apart, I would not be seen. They were protecting me. I almost couldn’t believe it, but in some unspoken pact, they were keeping themselves close enough together to shut out the moonlight and bury me in their shadows.
“There are no fern blossoms!” Officer Rusakov shouted from somewhere outside the group. “You illiterate peasants don’t know how foolish you are!” Anger was thick in his voice as he issued orders to the other officers still searching in the area. “We’ll search the village, and if we find any of you have taken this girl into your home, you’ll pay dearly for it.”