Rory Power

But that’s the difference with us. Byatt’s never wanted anything she doesn’t have.

The way it happened is that the woods got it first. That’s what I think, anyway. Even before the wilderness reached inside us, it was seeping into the earth.

“I don’t know, Hetty,” she says. “Is it really friendship with you and Byatt?”

I’ve wondered. Of course I have. And I love Byatt more than anything, more than myself, more than the life I had before Raxter. But I know the warmth in my heart when I look at her. How it burns smooth and even, without a spark.

“Yes,” I say. “She’s my sister, Reese. She’s part of me.”