Ralph and the Pixie

Éha considered Deborah, becoming uncomfortable with the sudden distance between them. ‘What will you do now?’

Deborah lay back and stretched herself out on the ground, staring up at the sky once more, feeling more confused than ever. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know what I want any more.’

It was dusk, and getting chilly out. The two girls huddled together for warmth. ‘We should be getting back,’ said Éha. ‘The others will be worried.’

They found Deborah’s clothes with some difficulty; it was completely dark by the time they returned. The two girls sat together self-consciously at dinner, avoiding the others’ eyes and saying little.

If Theuli was annoyed by the girls’ absence, she didn’t show it. But later, when everyone was going to bed, she took them aside into their bedroom and shut the door. When the girls sat together on Deborah’s bed like guilty children, Theuli sat across from them on the other, and said, ‘Is it there something you wish to tell me?’

Not able to look her in the eye, Deborah flushed scarlet. Seeing this, Theuli asked Éha, who was less reticent, ‘What were the two of you doing? Besides swimming?’

The little Pixie swallowed nervously and looked to Deborah for support.