The Sisters of Nowhere

s i x t e e n : b a r n s t a l l

The next week was as strange as the first, but Wyatt was growing accustomed to the unexpected.

He didn't see much of Hal and never got the chance to ask what'd happened at the clearing. Wyatt rarely even went into the house, except to get a peach from the kitchen for breakfast. Sometimes, as he was working into the evening polishing Hal's car or fertilizing the tomatoes, he'd spot a shadow watching him from the window that he could only assume was Hal.

During every spare moment, he worked on the rose bush. He wanted nothing more than to smell the sweet scent of roses rather than the constant stench of tomatoes at night.

The vines were dead, but the green roots showed promise. It'd take work, but Wyatt was confident that it would thrive with enough elbow grease.

He spent most of his time at the Penny's, working there during the day, and eating with them at night.

Wyatt somehow fit in with their family in a way he'd never fit in anywhere before. Even in his own family, he was just an accessory that was used for good grades and being dragged to social events. He'd been somewhat popular at Brambleby, but had never belonged anywhere.

He kept a sharp eye on Marigold, but if he didn't know the things he did, he would've never suspected anything. He was beginning to think that she'd come to her senses and forgotten about whatever it was that happened at the clearing.

His hopes were dashed when none other than Birdie Penny found him in the barn early in the morning before the rest of the girls were awake.

At first, Wyatt thought the opening of the barn door was Oscar coming to check on him or give him another project so he said, "The cows took a crap in their water trough again."

"That sounds like a problem I wouldn't want to deal with," Birdie replied.

Wyatt blanched in embarrassment at the sound of her voice. He could hear his father's harsh reprimand, Not in front of a lady, Wyatt.

She came around the corner and stood awkwardly part ways in the stall.

"Oh, uh, sorry," Wyatt said. "I thought it was your father."

"I don't have a beard," she replied.

Wyatt could feel heat creeping to his cheeks. "Right. Yeah, of course. Sorry, I didn't mean--"

"I was joking. Sorry. "

"Oh. Sorry," he apologized.

Birdie looked everywhere but at him. "Sorry."

"Sorry."

They stood in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time until Birdie exhaled and muttered, "I'm not good at this."

Wyatt could tell she was talking to herself and not at him.

She folded her arms. "I just wanted to ask you...does Marigold seem to be acting weird to you?"

Wyatt immediately disliked this situation even less than he had at the start of it. Wyatt was not good at lying. Withholding information, sure. But not outright lying.

"Not to me," he replied, because that much was true. If he hadn't seen her in the clearing that day, Marigold would have seemed completely normal to him indeed.

Birdie tapped her chin meditatively and began pacing around the stall, lost in thought.

"She keeps disappearing," she said.

Wyatt tensed. Did she mean literally disappearing? Had the events in the clearing done something to her physical form? He wouldn't put it past Nowhere.

But then she continued, "She says she's going to get a new auto part or to the shop. And she's been volunteering to run Mama's errands, which never happens. If it was a boy, she would've told us about it by now."

Oh. That kind of disappearing.

Wyatt wished he could be anywhere but here. Of all things, he did not want to discuss the topic of boys, especially considering he was one himself. "Maybe she's just busy."

Birdie rolled her eyes as if it was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. "Marigold is always busy, which is why she has a schedule. A schedule that she's never broken until now."

Birdie suddenly gasped, which made Wyatt flinch. Birdie had never talked to him out of her own admission and he wasn't sure he was comfortable with it. She was like a different person than the one that always glared at him--animated, chatty, and strange.

"Maybe she's selling moonshine to the ghosts again!"

"What do you mean again? What does that mean?"

"It's a good business to be in." Birdie shrugged.

Wyatt decided not to ask questions.

"And you're sure you don't know anything?" she asked.

Wyatt shook his head but Birdie was unconvinced. She eyed him with such intensity that Wyatt began to squirm.

"Are you a politician?" she asked.

"No."

"Then answer me straight."

Wyatt bit the inside of his cheek. Why have you done this to me, Marigold? "I don't know anything."

Birdie's eyes narrowed. She said, "If you're lying, I'll make sure the cows put their crap right inside those fancy shoes of yours."

Wyatt gulped.

He had to say something if he wanted to throw her off his scent. So he gave one of his practiced winning smiles and said, "I wouldn't lie to you, Bernadette."

She scowled. "Don't call me that. And don't make promises you've already broken."

He gave a sigh as soon as she left.

Of all the things he'd experienced in Nowhere-- having a mysterious uncle that stayed in his bedroom all day, sleeping in an eerie greenhouse, the countless amounts of ghosts--Bernadette Penny was the most terrifying.

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Hey everyone! Wyatt's gonna get in trouble XD They were so close to being friends, too XD

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