Blue Willow by Deborah Smith Page B

the doorway. She brought a small brown package to Lily and laid it beside her huddled body. “It’s from Artemas.”
    Lily bolted upright. How did he know exactly when she needed him? It must be mage, just like the blue willows .
    Mama opened the package. “ ‘Dear Lily’ ” she read “ ‘I have a part-time job in the warehouse near the academy. I saw this in a shop and thought of our bear story. Love, Artemas.’ ”
    It was the longest letter he’d ever written. Lily looked at the small stuffed bear Mama took from its wrapping. She reached for it with a burst of welcome and hugged it to her chest. “See how good things show up just when you’re feeling awful?” Mama said softly.
    Lily wrote back to him that night, the bear cuddled inher lap. I wish you would come back . I still miss you . She tore that up, thinking. Do what’s right, not what’s easiest , and wrote instead, I am grown up now. I am learning how to fight. You do that too. Nobody can hurt you and me then, okay? Thank you for the bear. Lily. P.S. It told me to say it loves you a lot .

Five
    The fist landed between James’s shoulder blades as he left Evertide’s gym through a rear door of the locker rooms. It drove the breath from him in a painful burst. He staggered and fell to his knees on the sidewalk. A second blow struck his temple. He sprawled to his side, dazed, dimly aware of puddled rainwater seeping into his khaki trousers and the cold, rough concrete stinging the palms of his hands.
    “You’re not tough enough to start on the varsity squad,” a voice taunted. A different one added, “You screwed me out of my place in the lineup, you shithead.”
    James’s thoughts swam in dizzy confusion, but he recognized the voices. They belonged to junior classmen, a year older than James. But not better on the basketball court. Not taller, or faster. Not more determined. No one was more determined.
    He tried to get up, but a sneakered foot lashed his side, sending shock waves of pain through his rib cage. He gasped for breath. Through half-shut eyes he saw their feet in front of him. His pulse roared in his ears. But then dark, brilliant fury began to clear his mind. Wait , it said. Think .
    They began a round of taunts.
    “You don’t belong here, Colebrook. You and the rest ofyour family aren’t good enough to be at Evertide. Why don’t you go to public school, with the niggers and the wops?”
    “Your father got kicked out of the country club. They couldn’t get him to pay his bills. My father said he’s a cheat. You’re a fucking cheat too.”
    “We heard you’re screwing one of the senior girls, Colebrook. You’re out of your league.”
    “Takes after his old man.”
    “Your mother’s a whore. Can’t keep her legs together. Everybody knows that.”
    Adrenaline ran through James’s muscles like an electric charge. He vaulted upward, catching one of the boys in the stomach with his head. He reveled in the boy’s yell of pain and the way his body tumbled backward.
    Instantly James swung toward the other one and rammed a knee into his groin. The boy doubled over. James slammed his fist upward and felt the victorious crunch against his knuckles. Blood cascaded from the older boy’s nose, and his legs collapsed.
    The other one had gotten to his feet again. He rushed James, who sidestepped him. James caught him by the hair and smashed a fist into his temple. He fell face-forward, groaning.
    James stood over them, feet braced apart, fists raised. Waiting calmly. He knew why Grandmother had sent Artemas away to military school and why Uncle Charles wanted to keep him there. Artemas was a threat—the eldest son of the eldest son, the wise and strong exiled prince, already a better man than either Uncle Charles and Father would ever be. James loved his brother and paid homage to him like a medieval baron in the history books that James consumed with fervent interest.
    Artemas would be this family’s king. But James was