Chapter One: The Rabbit's Snare
The wooden gate creaked open as Serena Finch slipped out of her family’s cottage with an iron bowl of kitchen scraps nestled against her hip. It was a chilly mid-March dawn. She rubbed her arms, her spotted frock doing little to dull the cold bite in the air. Gravel crunched under her boots as she fetched the full bucket of corn and grains.
Emptying the scraps into the bucket, she set the bowl on the dew-kissed ground and squinted at the horizon. The rising sun reached across the land, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange. Feeding the family’s hens had grown to be her favorite part of the day, and she often paused to ponder the warmth of the dawning day and what it might yet bring. A frown flashed across her face as she thought about her father, but she quickly set it aside to focus on her task.
She had just turned eighteen the month before. As the oldest remaining child in the Finch family household, she took her responsibilities seriously. She began each day by feeding the flock, often before her mother could even ask. Now she flicked her wrist, chicken feed peppering the yard before her.
The hens rustled awake, sauntering sleepily to their breakfast. With the nests now vacant, Serena carefully slipped the previous day’s eggs into the hem of her frock, humming along with the cooing doves.
When Serena stepped back into the kitchen, Mary greeted her daughter with a kiss on the cheek as she placed the fresh eggs into a basket on the counter. Noticing the other ingredients Mary had taken out, Serena stepped up to the counter, brushing shoulders with her mother.
“Let me try again today,” Serena said, determined to finally master her mother’s special bread recipe. “I still haven’t gotten it perfect.”
“It tasted fine last time,” Mary said with a chuckle, passing a brown sack of flour to her daughter. “The key is to knead it well.”
Serena nodded as she carefully dumped flour into a large bowl. She glanced toward the hall that led to their bedrooms and narrowed her eyes. “It’s too quiet. Are the boys still asleep?”
“No, they’re getting ready,” Mary said. “They both have tests today. After breakfast, we’re going to review their notes. At this rate, it will take divine intervention to keep Daniel in school another two years.”
Serena tried to hide her smirk as she began forming a dough with water and eggs. She was grateful to have completed her advanced lessons the previous year with her brother Cameron’s class. Graduating early had given her the opportunity to help her mother more at home since her father and elder brother had left. She closed her eyes and pictured their faces as she mixed the dough with her bare hands. They both had black hair and chiseled jaws with creases etched across their foreheads from stubbornness.
Cameron left first. She and Cameron were always close. Even as they grew older, they would play hide and seek together in the woods around Durmak. He was a natural hunter; he could quickly find Serena even in the trickiest places. One morning long ago, Serena had decided to go out and hide deep in the woods, nearly all the way to Ewiajoy, the next town over. She thought it would take him till noon to find her, but within an hour he had tracked her down.
"You shouldn't be out here, Rena," he had said. "It's dangerous."
"What makes it dangerous?" It wasn't often that he showed concern.
"They say the king's soldiers pass this way," Cameron said.
Serena shuddered. Though they had never seen any soldiers, their village feared them. The reputation of King Rexton's army hung in the corners of their imaginations, a shadowy fear from far off lands. "How’d you find me?"
"I always find you, Serena. You’re far from home, so I knew you’d keep the road in sight." Just as Cameron gestured toward the road, a small troop of soldiers marched by. The two of them crept up to the edge of the trees to get a closer look. Serena was frightened by their fierce appearance; the look in their eyes was ruthless and cold. But she saw that Cameron was in awe of them.
After that day, Cameron began to ask their father about Rexton and his soldiers. Their father was always short, making it clear he thought no good of them. That did nothing for Cameron's curiosity. As soon as he turned seventeen, he started talking about enlisting in the king’s army. Though their father, John, wanted him to apprentice at the forge, Cameron argued that he wanted to forge his own path. Finally, the summer after he turned eighteen, he packed his rucksack and left. The sound of her mother’s sobs rang through the back of her mind; the walls of the cottage had never been as thin as they were that night.
“I miss Cameron,” Serena said. “Papa, too.”
Mary froze midway through pouring oats into a pot of hot water. She nodded and sighed. “As do I.”
“Any word from Papa lately?” Serena asked, glancing sidelong at her mother.
Mary plopped the brown sack on the counter haphazardly, sending dry oats trickling across the counter. “No,” she said, grinding her teeth. “I’m afraid not.”
It had been five months since John left in search of supplies for the forge. Despite Mary’s objections, he left as the harshest days of winter descended. Now the first blooms of spring had arrived, and John had yet to write or return home.
Mary wiped stray oats from the counter with her hand, brushing them off into the bag. Then she began mixing the oatmeal with a wooden spoon.
They had expected him to return in just a few weeks. At first, Mary would tell the children, “Any day now.” But after two months with no letters, she stopped saying it. They were all scared of asking the question aloud, scared of what they might have to imagine or accept. But Serena couldn't push her fears down anymore. “You don’t think something happened to Papa, do you?” Serena asked, bracing herself for her mother's answer. She remembered how the stern look on Papa’s face always melted away when he saw her and wished he’d come traipsing through the door.
Mary stiffened, watery oatmeal dripping off the wooden spoon onto the floor as she stared at her daughter. Before she could answer, they were interrupted by a lanky boy racing through the kitchen, bumping into them as he avoided the younger boy at his heels. “Watch it,” Mary said, glancing over her shoulder. Daniel dangled something over Samuel’s head and cackled.
“Sorry, Ma! He took my lucky rabbit’s foot,” Samuel said. His voice cracked as he jumped, trying in vain to reach the small object. He was small in stature, still waiting for a growth spurt that would catch him up to his tormentor.
“Look at you, hopping like a bunny,” Daniel said with a grin. “Give it back, Daniel,” Samuel said.
“What’s so lucky about this smelly old thing?” the older boy asked, dodging his brother’s flailing arms. “Maybe I could use some luck, too.”
Samuel’s feet landed hard on the stone floor; his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Papa gave it to me,” he said.
“Daniel, that’s enough,” Mary scolded. She whipped around to face her sons, wiping her hands on the front of her apron. “Hand it over now.”
“Yes, Ma,” Daniel said, avoiding her eyes. Dropping his arm, he reluctantly held out the rabbit’s foot, and Samuel snatched it greedily, petting the matted gray fur with his fingers.
Mary turned back to the counter and aggressively scooped oatmeal into bowls. “Breakfast is ready,” she said without looking up.
Daniel and Samuel shuffled toward her, each grabbing a bowl off the counter and taking it to the dining table. “Thanks, Ma,” they said in unison.
“Dough’s wrapped and resting,” Serena said, beaming at her mother. “I’ll go prepare the pit.”
“I started the fire for you,” Daniel said with his mouth full.
Serena wrinkled her nose. “Thanks.”
“It’s the least you could do since you’ve wasted so much time this morning,” Mary said.
“I’m sorry, Ma.”
Mary sighed. “And now you won’t have time to check the snares before school. Suppose we’ll just have to have plain bread for lunch.”
“I can check them, Mama,” Serena offered, finishing off her breakfast.
“By yourself? Do you know where they are?” Mary asked, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.
“Of course,” Serena said, pushing back her chair. She stooped to kiss her mother on the cheek. “I used to go with Cameron all the time. I’ll be fine. I know the woods.”
Hope you enjoyed the first few pages of A Sparrow Among Stars! This is only a small taste... You can read more of Serena's story in A Sparrow Among Stars, coming August 19 to Amazon and Barnes and Noble! ARC applications coming soon!
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