Chapter 1885

She looked towards the wooden bird.

"I was the one who stayed."

The first Scarlet closed her eyes.

Jude turned towards her.

"Scarlet?"

"Don’t."

"Don’t what?"

"Don’t let her finish."

The second Scarlet laughed softly.

"She’s afraid you’ll remember."

"Remember what?"

"Which one of us was born first."

The silver-blue flames suddenly rose higher.

Around the firepit, the other women began to move.

Susan stepped away from Rose. Serena turned towards Layla. Natalie reached for Zoey’s hand. Sophie looked towards the northern path.

But none of them spoke.

They were all staring at the second Scarlet.

Jude noticed that something was wrong with their shadows.

Every woman had a shadow extending behind her, towards the setting sun.

Except the second Scarlet.

Her shadow stretched towards the northern mountain.

And the first Scarlet had no shadow at all.

Jude looked down again.

He could see the wooden planks beneath her feet.

He could see the firelight reflected in her eyes.

But there was no darkness behind her.

"Scarlet," he whispered.

She followed his gaze.

For a moment, she looked almost relieved.

"Now you see it."

"See what?"

"That neither of us should be standing here."

The second Scarlet raised the wooden bird.

"That’s not true."

She turned the bird towards the fire.

Its small carved eyes were closed.

Then they opened.

A thin silver light appeared inside them.

From somewhere beneath the village came a faint wooden creaking sound.

The firepit stones shifted.

Jude stepped back.

A narrow crack appeared between two stones, and the silver thread extending from his key slipped into it.

"Stop!" Scarlet shouted.

But the key had already begun turning again.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The entire firepit rotated.

Not the flames.

Not the stones individually.

The whole structure turned slowly in the ground, revealing a circular wooden surface underneath it.

Jude stared.

The firepit had stood in the centre of the village since they had first built it. They had cooked meals there, gathered around it during cold evenings, told stories, laughed, argued, and celebrated ordinary days.

They had never imagined that it could move.

A small wooden door appeared in the centre.

It was barely large enough for a child.

The second Scarlet approached it.

"Don’t!" Jude shouted.

She stopped.

Then she looked over her shoulder.

"Why?"

"Because we don’t know what’s underneath."

"Of course we do."

"Then tell me."

She smiled sadly.

"Home."

The word passed through the village like a cold wind.

Behind Jude, someone gasped.

He turned.

Layla stood near the shared house, holding one hand against her chest.

Her eyes were fixed on the small door.

"That’s impossible," she whispered.

Jude moved towards her.

"What’s wrong?"

Layla shook her head.

"I’ve seen that door."

"When?"

"I don’t know."

She looked at the others.

"I think I used to know."

Susan approached her carefully.

"Layla?"

Layla did not answer.

Instead, she walked towards the firepit.

The first Scarlet immediately moved in front of her.

"Don’t come closer."

Layla stopped.

"Why?"

"Because it knows you."

"What knows me?"

Scarlet glanced at the little door.

"The room beneath the village."

The second Scarlet smiled.

"Not the room beneath the village."

Her fingers rested on the wooden bird.

"The room beneath the first room."

Jude looked at the key.

The inscription on its handle had changed.

He could now read a new line beneath the familiar symbol.

THE ROOM REMEMBERS ITS FIRST MOTHER.

Jude felt his stomach tighten.

The voice from beneath the northern mountain returned.

"Welcome back, Mother."

This time it was louder.

The sound travelled through the village, over the wooden walkways, up the treehouses, and into the branches above them.

Then another voice answered.

It came from beneath the firepit.

"She has not returned."

The second Scarlet looked down.

The wooden bird trembled in her hands.

"She has."

"No," the voice replied. "She has brought the door."

Jude turned towards the northern mountain.

A faint silver glow had appeared between the trees.

It was moving down the mountainside.

Slowly.

Like a lantern carried by someone walking through the forest.

But there was no one holding it.

"Everyone inside," Jude ordered.

Nobody moved.

He raised his voice.

"Now!"

The women began moving towards the shared house, but before they could reach it, every door in the village opened simultaneously.

The doors of the cabins.

The storehouse.

The animal pens.

The treehouses.

Even the doors of the empty houses that had never been occupied.

They opened with a single, tremendous creak.

Beyond each doorway was the same room.

A small wooden room.

A table.

Two chairs.

A window looking towards an enormous tree.

Jude recognised it immediately.

The room before the first house.

But there was something different this time.

On every table stood a wooden bird.

And beside every bird was a small silver key.

"Close the doors!" Emma shouted.

Rose ran towards the nearest cabin and tried to push its door shut.

The door would not move.

She pulled harder.

The wooden frame began to stretch, as though it were made of soft branches.

"Rose, leave it!"

She stepped away.

The room beyond the doorway changed.

The table disappeared.

The chairs disappeared.

A little boy appeared beside the window.

He had dark hair.

A pale face.

And a small crescent pendant around his wrist.

Sol.

Rose stumbled backwards.

"Jude..."

Every open doorway now contained a different Sol.

Some were standing.

Some were sitting.

One was asleep on the floor.

Another was looking directly at Jude.

And in the doorway of the northernmost cabin, a child stood with his forehead pressed against the wooden frame.

He raised one hand.

Jude recognised the silver thread wrapped around his wrist.

It was the same child whose voice had come from inside the wooden bird.

"Jude," he whispered.

The first Scarlet moved closer to Jude.

"Don’t look at them."

"They’re children."

"Not all of them."

"What does that mean?"

She didn’t answer.

The second Scarlet walked towards the little door in the firepit.

The bird in her hands began making a faint clicking sound.