Broken Wish Read online

  “The Blue Mermaid!” Cay cried, glancing at Elva.

  Papa patted his shoulder. “Willem caught it this afternoon. Isn’t it glorious?”

  “It shimmers so,” Mama said. “I thought it was only a legend.”

  “You and the rest of Hanau, my dear lady,” Herr Bauer said brightly. “We joked about it for years but never believed it would actually be caught. And by Willem, the lucky rascal!”

  Elva met Willem’s eyes again, and as the men said good-bye and turned to go back to their work, he mouthed, Walk with me. “May I go with them as far as the gate? I want to study the fish a bit more,” Elva said. Her parents agreed, and soon she found herself walking beside Willem and the wheelbarrow, wondering what to say.

  She kept her eyes trained on her shoes. “I’m happy for you. Imagine catching the Blue Mermaid….”

  “It happened just as you dreamed. Do all of your dreams have the habit of coming true?”

  “It was a coincidence,” she said quietly, but Willem stopped in his tracks.

  “Then why did you look at me with so much fear just now? You shook your head so I wouldn’t say anything in front of the others. If it had been a coincidence, we would have laughed about it.” A long silence passed. “I think you knew for sure I would catch the Blue Mermaid.”

  To Elva’s horror, her eyes filled with tears. Her heart beat a frantic rhythm. Here it was, the moment she would lose Willem forever. No one as wonderful as he was would ever associate with someone like her, a girl with a terrible secret. She waited for him to say as much, to bid her good-bye.

  “Please don’t cry,” he said, his face now etched with distress. “I swear I haven’t told anyone. Though I must admit I don’t know many people who can predict things before they happen.”

  Elva bit her lip. Telling him the truth would be a relief, a way to share a part of herself. And she felt sure he would keep it a secret, even if he didn’t like her anymore because of it. But doing so would mean betraying her family and breaking her vow to Mama.

  She looked up at him, expecting to see fear or judgment on his face, and yet there was only curiosity. “You must think I’m mad,” she whispered.

  “No. Not one bit. Please…tell me.”

  The kindness in his eyes broke through her resolve. She sighed, hugging her arms close to her, despite the warm spring air. “Ever since I was little, I’ve seen things before they happened,” she said softly. “Always in water—my uncle breaking a leg, Papa’s goats escaping, my brother finding an injured rabbit. But as I grew up, I did my best to make the visions stop. I didn’t want anyone to be afraid of me, so I tried not to look. The night of the Easter party, I was careless. I glanced at the river before remembering what might happen if I did.”

  “And it’s all come true? Everything you’ve seen?”

  She nodded, holding her breath.

  “Elva, that’s amazing,” Willem declared. “You saw that I was going to catch the Blue Mermaid, and I did. Imagine if Herr Bauer knew I was always destined to be the one to do it!”

  “No!” Elva cried. “No one can know about this. I’ve kept this secret for so long, and I promised Mama and Papa I wouldn’t tell anyone. They’re worried I’ll be called a witch.”

  “I’d like to see people try,” he said hotly. “What you have is a gift, and it does no harm.”

  She blinked at him. “You think so?”

  “Of course! Ever since the Easter party, I’ve been borrowing Herr Bauer’s fishing rods and sitting out on the river. I never imagined catching the Blue Mermaid before, but I thought I might as well give it a try. You encouraged me, don’t you see? You’re my good luck.”

  Elva could have kissed him right then and there, though they were still within view of the others. She settled for taking his hands in hers, and the warmth in his eyes was almost as good as a kiss. “And you really don’t mind that I’m…odd?” she asked.

  “You are not odd.” Willem squeezed her hands. “You’re beautiful and strong and kind. I like everything about you, Elva Heinrich, and it’s going to take a lot more than that to scare me off. And today, I feel like almost the luckiest man in Hanau.”

  “Almost?”

  “I have a roof over my head and an employer I like, and I have just caught the rarest fish in the history of this town. There is only one more thing I would ask to be truly happy.” Willem ducked his head, his cheeks pink. “I’ll need to speak to your father about it, of course….”

  Elva’s stomach gave another lurch, but this time it was a pleasant, swooping feeling.

  “I know you’re only sixteen,” he said quickly.

  “Turning seventeen in November,” she pointed out, and he laughed.

  “And I need time, maybe two or three years, to earn money. I want to build a cottage with a dog lying by the fire and curtains at the windows. How would you like that, my dear one?”

  Elva’s cheeks flamed as he looked shyly at her. She kept her eyes down, too overwhelmed with joy to speak. She felt like spinning in giddy circles right where she stood.

  “Don’t answer me now,” Willem said gently. “Just think about it. I won’t ask your papa until I have enough savings to take proper care of you.” He bent his head close to hers but seemed to remember that they weren’t alone and cleared his throat, taking a step away. “I should get back. Herr Bauer wants me to show off the fish to all of the neighboring farms.”

  “I’ll think about what you said,” Elva told him, and he beamed. He kept his eyes on her as he walked away, turning back several times to wave good-bye. When he was just a speck in the distance, Elva placed her hands on her burning face and laughed. Willem knew her secret, and not only did he still care, but he also wanted to marry her! He wanted her to share her life with him. He loved her for exactly who she was, and he would wait patiently for years to have her. Elva pictured sitting with him by the fire at night, in their own home, talking together the way she loved to see Mama and Papa do on cold winter evenings.

  Willem might have caught the Blue Mermaid, but she was the lucky one.

  She twirled as she entered her house and heard Papa’s affectionate laugh. He looked so kind that Elva came close to kiss his whiskered cheek. There was something sweet and almost sad about the way he looked at her.

  “Come in here for a moment,” he said. “Mama and I would like to talk to you.”

  “What is it?” she asked, but he simply led her into the parlor, where Mama sat studying the skirt Elva and Cay had embroidered. “Is anything wrong?”

  “No, darling,” Mama reassured her. “We only wanted to tell you how proud we are of you. You’re everything we hoped you would be, and more. I suppose I still thought of you as my little girl up until the night of the Easter dance. We looked up and suddenly you were a woman.”

  They gazed at her fondly, and Elva felt a rush of love for them both.

  “You and Willem Roth make a handsome couple,” Papa said, clearing his throat. “Bauer says he’s a nice, hardworking boy, and his parents were good people, though penniless. They died of consumption, one after the other. As you can tell,” he added sheepishly, “I’ve taken the liberty of finding out more about him.”

  Elva’s cheeks heated. “Why, Papa?”

  “We’ve noticed for a while now that Willem has taken a special liking to you. I despised him for it at first,” Papa said, and Mama swatted him on the shoulder. “But your mother encouraged me to get to know him better, and I’m glad I did. I don’t think anyone will ever be worthy of you, my Elva, but Willem comes close. He hasn’t spoken to me formally yet, though he has hinted, and seeing you together just now…well, I’d be happy to see you wed him when the time comes,” he added gruffly, and tears sprang to Elva’s eyes once more.

  “Do you know what this means?” Mama asked, looking wide-eyed at Papa. “Three wonderful things have happened. Your mare gave birth to twins, the weather has been perfect for our corn and berries, and soon our Elva will be betrothed.”

  �
�Can this be?” Papa teased. “Has the pattern been broken at last?”

  “I think it must. It has been more than seventeen years, so perhaps…”

  “More than seventeen years?” Elva repeated, the old letters springing to mind. “Since what, Mama?”

  But her mother shook her head. “Never you mind, love. I am happy for you and Willem. But remember what Papa said: We’ll be glad to see you marry him when the time comes,” she added significantly. “You are only sixteen and must not think of marrying for at least two years.”

  “Yes, I know, Mama.”

  “And Willem will need to work for a few more years before he can afford a home.”

  “We know that,” Elva said, some of her joy giving way to exasperation. So much for thinking of her as a woman; in the span of a few breaths, her mother had shown that she still thought of Elva as a careless child. “We’re both happy to wait for two or three more years.”

  “And as for your…issue with water.” Mama hesitated, and Papa froze, looking shocked that she had brought up the subject. “You’ve done well to hide it all these years, and I would normally advise complete honesty with one’s husband, but I don’t think you need to tell Willem about it. It will have no bearing on your marriage.”

  Elva bit the inside of her cheek, wondering what they would say if she told them that Willem already knew and didn’t care. He would be her husband, wouldn’t he? And it would be her life to share with him alone, just as it was her secret to reveal or keep.

  “Go on the way you always have,” Mama instructed her. “Willem doesn’t need to know.”

  “Well, then!” Papa said hastily. “I’m glad that’s been settled. Now, moving on to the matter of where they will live, I’m happy to give them some land. I’ve chosen the perfect spot.”

  “Oskar, you don’t mean that area in the south fields?” Mama asked, surprised. “Didn’t we agree that it’s too hilly to build a house? And it’s so bare. Elva likes trees.”

  “Elva will like this plot,” Papa assured her. “Besides, Willem can always plant some trees. I have seedlings in mind for him already, and the type of lumber for the new cottage, too.”

  Elva sat listening to them discuss her future as though she wasn’t even there, as if they could plan every detail of her life…and hide the ones they did not approve of. She had thought of her ability as something shameful because it scared them, but now she realized it was as Willem said: Her visions did no harm to anyone. In fact, they were helpful and had even encouraged him to try catching the Blue Mermaid. What if, all this time, she could have been using her powers to quell her family’s bad luck?

  Perhaps it was time she made her own decisions.

  Perhaps it was time to use her ability instead of pretending she didn’t have it. Mama and Papa wouldn’t have to know, and she might even see a glimpse of her future with Willem. Her breath caught at the thought of looking straight into her basin instead of closing her eyes. But it was long past time to access the power she had been given.

  And now, Elva thought, I will decide to do it for myself.

  Later that night, when everyone had gone to bed, Elva set her basin on the floor. She knelt beside it, wiping her clammy hands on her nightgown, and tried to find her determination again. The visions are mine to do with as I like, she told herself. Of course she was nervous. Of course it felt wrong, because she had been taught to think that way. She hadn’t dared to look into a glass of water for ten years, and now she was about to call forth her visions on purpose.

  Elva took a few deep breaths, then looked right into the water. She saw her reflection: a round, lightly freckled face, with the wide blue eyes and dimples she shared with Mama and Cay. She tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear, feeling self-conscious, as though someone might be watching her clumsy attempt. She fidgeted, imagining what might happen if Mama came in and saw what she was up to. Why wasn’t anything happening?

  The vision of Willem catching the Blue Mermaid had come so easily, without her even trying. Perhaps that was the trick; perhaps she was trying too hard. She exhaled and allowed her eyes to unfocus slightly, and as soon as she did so, an image materialized in the water.

  It was the bundle of letters written by Mama and Mathilda, bound by a pale blue ribbon. Mathilda’s handwriting stood out sharp and elegant against the clean white paper. And then there was a burst of light, in which a hot white symbol blazed into Elva’s eyes. She thought it looked like a willow tree, but before she could study it, a new vision appeared.

  This time, she saw Cay curled up on the window seat with an enormous book. “Look,” he said, his voice as clear as though he was in the room with her, “a story about wishing wells.”

  The tree symbol blazed again, and then Elva saw herself crouching on the grass by a gray stone well, surrounded by trees. The forest? She leaned closer to the basin of water, trying to see what it was that had captured her attention in the vision, but before she could, the willow tree symbol blinded her once more and the image changed.

  She saw her parents’ fields and orchard beneath an angry night sky that swirled with clouds. It was so realistic Elva could feel the bone-chilling wind raking through her hair and smell the impending rain. A fiery spark of light erupted in the heavens, and the trees shook with the fury of the storm. Rain poured down as branches snapped, crops were torn up, and the barn became a whirling wreckage of splintered wood, flung all over the devastated farmland.

  “No,” Elva whispered, riveted by the awful scene. “This can’t be.”

  The Farmers’ Almanac had predicted a dry season, but even if Papa hadn’t taught her how to read it, Elva thought she would still sense something unnatural and deeply wrong about this storm. There was so much rain, it looked like the river had crept up and swallowed all of Hanau. Lightning cracked the sky again, illuminating the ruined barn, and Elva felt certain that such damage would have killed some of the animals inside. It was the type of disaster that would strip Mama and Papa of almost everything they had worked for over the past decade.

  Elva fell back, dizzy and panting, and the trance was broken. Her body trembled with cold and nausea. She closed her eyes to get the room to stop spinning, and behind her lids she could still see the strange tree symbol, burning like a white-hot brand. After a moment, she got shakily to her feet, averting her gaze from the basin of water as she paced beside her bed.

  “What will I do?” she asked in despair. “What can I do?”

  She knew from experience that her visions always came to pass, which meant there was no doubt this storm would come. What a terrible disaster…almost like a punishment. Or a curse, Elva thought, stopping in her tracks. Just that afternoon, Mama had been so happy and hopeful that the odd pattern of bad luck that had pursued them had been broken.

  Elva stared out at the calm night sky. Over the years, she’d had the sense that Mama was holding her breath, waiting to see what would happen to even out any good fortune. Perhaps this awful storm was it. And if so, it would be Elva’s duty to warn them—except then they would know that she had gone against their wishes and broken her promise to bury her powers.

  She groaned, frustrated. Even now, when she could help her parents prepare for the worst, she was worried about having disobeyed them.

  Her mind raced as she sank onto her bed.

  If she told Freida, it would only frighten her, and the girl couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. Telling Rayner was out of the question, because he would go straight to Papa, and she didn’t want to burden Cay with this knowledge. As for Willem, who loved her, such an evil vision might even change his mind. Predicting the Blue Mermaid had been one thing, but seeing such a catastrophe was quite another.

  There was no one she could confide in. No one who could help.

  She rested her head on her knees, thinking hard. And in the whirl of her frantic thoughts came a single image: Mama’s secret letters tied up with blue ribbon, each paper marked with a flowing signature. Your friend, Mathilda
.

  Elva lifted her face.

  Mathilda might just be the rumored witch of the North Woods, the woman hated and feared by all of Hanau, including Papa himself. And yet Mama had secretly kept her letters all of these years. If anyone knew anything about being different, it would be Mathilda.

  “Yes,” Elva whispered.

  Mathilda had once cared about Mama, and though it had ended long ago, she might just be willing to help the daughter of her former friend. It was worth a try to venture into the North Woods and find her, if she really was the witch. If she turned Elva away, Elva would be no worse off than she was right now.

  And if she didn’t turn her away, together they might figure out what to do about this awful storm…and stop it from happening.

  After breakfast the next morning, Elva attacked her chores with an energy that impressed even Rayner. “What has gotten into you?” he asked, wiping his forehead. “You’ve cleaned out more stalls in an hour than I have all week.”

  “I want to finish early so I can go stitch my skirt,” Elva lied, and as expected, the mention of sewing bored him at once. He went to get water for the horses as she continued raking out the stables and putting in fresh, clean straw. Her hands were stinging on the pitchfork by the time she finished, and she took a moment to help Cay, who was struggling under the weight of a large bucket of feed. Together they distributed the food, then led the horses back in and brushed their coats as the animals fed. “When we’re done, I have to go on an errand for Freida,” she told Cay, with a jolt of guilt, knowing she was using his fondness of Freida to her advantage. “It’s something to do with her young man, and she doesn’t want her mother to know. So don’t tell Mama, all right?”

  “I won’t,” he said agreeably.

  “Just tell her I’ve gone to sketch by the river.”

  Within half an hour, Elva was walking toward the Main with a basket over her arm, her sketchbook on clear display in case anyone saw her. She might have laughed at the amount of thought it had taken to make this short trip across Hanau if she didn’t know how furious Mama would be about her search for the witch. She hadn’t slept much after that vision of the storm and had stayed up all night thinking about why Mama and Mathilda’s friendship had ended.