February, and at the end of the night they brought it out and everyone cheered.
They talked over the War Plan one last time and went to bed early. People questioned Thaddeus on how he was going to fly when flight was impossible. Thaddeus shrugged his shoulders, said he didnât care, that he just had to try.
I miss you both, said Thaddeus that night into his pillow.
He thought about the man and the woman at the edge of town. His head was spinning.
I love you both, he said into the pillow.
And then he fell asleep.
Â
FEBRUARY WOKE ONE MORNING AT THE same time that the girl who smelled of honey and smoke was getting up from the bed. He decided to follow her. He crawled on his hands and knees across the floor and looked into the next room where the desk was. The girl who smelled of honey and smoke was sitting there writing something. She was folding sheets of paper and tying them with blue ribbon and reaching her arm through a hole in the floor. February stood up and walked to the desk. The girl heard him. She turned around.
Go ahead, he said, you can write whatever you want, he said. I donât care anymore.
I will, she said. You took away a manâs wife and daughter for no reason. Youâre cruel. Iâm going to show them happiness, she said, wondering if he knew about the underground children, the notes she had given them.
Iâm sorry, said February. Iâm sorry for everything.
February turned and walked back to the bedroom. Just before he entered, a sharp pain ran from the bottom of his foot to his hip. He fell back on the ground and twisted his foot up near his chest. He saw three dead bees crushed into his heel.
Later that same day the
Â
girl who smelled of honey and smoke sat at the desk and lit fires in the town. She had Bianca start at one house and work in a descending circle, burning it all down. She then collected the papers in a stack, tied it with ribbon, and placed it in a box she titled Light Box.
Â
Bianca began at the edge
Â
of town and worked in a descending circle, dipping and tilting her lantern into piles of brush that the War Effort had placed the day before the death of Caldor Clemens. On a parchment it looked like this:
The last home she set fire to before escaping down one of the tunnels was her own. When she ran inside, her chest hurt from breathing so hard and her blue dress was covered with ash. She looked out the window and saw the plains burning and the blacksmith ship sailing away in the distance. She walked around the house, lighting the walls with a growing flame as the children and townsfolk yelled beneath her.
Come on, Bianca, they said. Come now before you burn to death. Their fists pounded the soles of her feet.
She slid a floorboard to the side and saw all their dirty little faces underneath.
In you go now, said one of the smallest children from deep below.
As she climbed down she thought she heard her father scream her name.
Â
Six Reports from the Priests
1. We can see Bianca in the distance.
2. She runs from brush pile to brush pile dipping her lantern and sparking flames that are spreading throughout the town.
3. Sheâs wearing a blue dress and yellow socks, and drawings of kites on her hands and arms glow in the light of the fire. She is a streak of color with long black hair.
4. There are seven of us here in the woods. We have no place to go without the direction of our Creator and with the fire reaching the first line of birch trees. We fear for our lives.
5. The snow turns to pools of water around our toes. Thereâs a loud creaking sound that echoes through the woods.
6. The last thing we see is the blacksmith ship moving through the town. It divides shops in two. Splinters of flaming wood spin through the air.
The Girl Who Smelled of Honey and Smoke
I write in huge letters
FLIGHT RETURNED
TO TOWN
and fold it into a little square and go back to bed with February.
When I wake in the middle of the night, I have
They talked over the War Plan one last time and went to bed early. People questioned Thaddeus on how he was going to fly when flight was impossible. Thaddeus shrugged his shoulders, said he didnât care, that he just had to try.
I miss you both, said Thaddeus that night into his pillow.
He thought about the man and the woman at the edge of town. His head was spinning.
I love you both, he said into the pillow.
And then he fell asleep.
Â
FEBRUARY WOKE ONE MORNING AT THE same time that the girl who smelled of honey and smoke was getting up from the bed. He decided to follow her. He crawled on his hands and knees across the floor and looked into the next room where the desk was. The girl who smelled of honey and smoke was sitting there writing something. She was folding sheets of paper and tying them with blue ribbon and reaching her arm through a hole in the floor. February stood up and walked to the desk. The girl heard him. She turned around.
Go ahead, he said, you can write whatever you want, he said. I donât care anymore.
I will, she said. You took away a manâs wife and daughter for no reason. Youâre cruel. Iâm going to show them happiness, she said, wondering if he knew about the underground children, the notes she had given them.
Iâm sorry, said February. Iâm sorry for everything.
February turned and walked back to the bedroom. Just before he entered, a sharp pain ran from the bottom of his foot to his hip. He fell back on the ground and twisted his foot up near his chest. He saw three dead bees crushed into his heel.
Later that same day the
Â
girl who smelled of honey and smoke sat at the desk and lit fires in the town. She had Bianca start at one house and work in a descending circle, burning it all down. She then collected the papers in a stack, tied it with ribbon, and placed it in a box she titled Light Box.
Â
Bianca began at the edge
Â
of town and worked in a descending circle, dipping and tilting her lantern into piles of brush that the War Effort had placed the day before the death of Caldor Clemens. On a parchment it looked like this:
The last home she set fire to before escaping down one of the tunnels was her own. When she ran inside, her chest hurt from breathing so hard and her blue dress was covered with ash. She looked out the window and saw the plains burning and the blacksmith ship sailing away in the distance. She walked around the house, lighting the walls with a growing flame as the children and townsfolk yelled beneath her.
Come on, Bianca, they said. Come now before you burn to death. Their fists pounded the soles of her feet.
She slid a floorboard to the side and saw all their dirty little faces underneath.
In you go now, said one of the smallest children from deep below.
As she climbed down she thought she heard her father scream her name.
Â
Six Reports from the Priests
1. We can see Bianca in the distance.
2. She runs from brush pile to brush pile dipping her lantern and sparking flames that are spreading throughout the town.
3. Sheâs wearing a blue dress and yellow socks, and drawings of kites on her hands and arms glow in the light of the fire. She is a streak of color with long black hair.
4. There are seven of us here in the woods. We have no place to go without the direction of our Creator and with the fire reaching the first line of birch trees. We fear for our lives.
5. The snow turns to pools of water around our toes. Thereâs a loud creaking sound that echoes through the woods.
6. The last thing we see is the blacksmith ship moving through the town. It divides shops in two. Splinters of flaming wood spin through the air.
The Girl Who Smelled of Honey and Smoke
I write in huge letters
FLIGHT RETURNED
TO TOWN
and fold it into a little square and go back to bed with February.
When I wake in the middle of the night, I have
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