Belladonna

over the whole island, they came to say the Seer's house had been struck by lightning and burned clean to the ground, and should they be waiting to build another. Then this spring they came back to say they had built a new house and it was ready for the Heart Seer and did we have news of when she was coming.
    Glorianna's heart beat fast and hard. "When did this start? How many years ago?"
    Shaela shrugged. "A few."
    "How many?" When both women stared at her uneasily, she set down her cup and struggled for patience. "This started twelve years ago, didn't it? They started asking about the Seer twelve years ago."
    Shaela frowned, but it was thoughtful rather than annoyed. Finally she nodded. "Yes, I think it was a dozen years ago that this started." Brighid gasped.
    Glorianna nodded and said, "That's when Caitlin found Darling's Garden, wasn't it?"
    "But Caitlin's not a Heart Seer," Brighid protested. "Besides, that garden was hidden somewhere on the hill behind our cottage.
    According to stories, the women in Devyn's family had found it a few times in the years since Darling first came to live at Raven's Hill."
    "Caitlin isn't a Heart Seer," Glorianna agreed, "but she is a Landscaper who is a descendant of the Guide who had shaped that garden. That's why it appeared for some of the women in that family. It came to them because they were Landscapers who no longer remembered how to go to it."
    "The garden acts as a separate landscape that can be imposed over another place, like my island?" Lee, asked. "Yes." Glorianna looked at Brighid. "That's why no one else living in Raven's Hill could find it. It only existed on that hill for Caitlin Marie. The rest of the time it was here, on the White Isle. Where it had been created."
    "Looks like we're going to Darling's Harbor," Lee said. "I'll talk to Kenneday when he gets back from staring at the Sentinel Stones, and see if he's sailed to that village."
    "We'll wait until morning." She wanted a few hours to go back to her own garden and make sure there was no sign that the Eater of the World had found Its way into one of her landscapes. And she needed to talk to Nadia.
    Lee looked disapproving, since he knew her well enough to figure out the reason for the delay, but he didn't say anything. Not much he could say since she knew he wouldn't be turning in early either but, instead, would be making notes about the possible landscapes that might be connected to the White Isle or Lighthaven.
    Lee pushed out of his chair, then proceeded to stack cups and dishes on the tray. He lifted the tray and smiled at Shaela.
    "Could I give you a hand with the clearing up?"
    Not subtle, Glorianna thought as she watched Shaela stumble over the veiled order to leave the room, but not as blunt as he might have been.
    "Your brother has a way about him," Brighid said when they were alone.
    "That's one way of putting it," Glorianna replied smiling.

    Brighid didn't return the smile. "I don't know how to say this."
    "You don't belong here."
    Brighid closed her eyes. "I don't belong here. I should ... but I don't."
    When Brighid opened her eyes, Glorianna saw confusion, but there was no confusion in the yearnings that came from Brighid's heart. This heart needed the Light — and more than the Light.
    "Do you need to live in this kind of secluded community?" Glorianna asked.
    Brighid shook her head. "I've felt secluded in one way or another all my life. When I went to Raven's Hill to take care of the children, I had hoped..." Her voice trailed off as sadness tilled her face.
    No, Glorianna thought. For a descendent of the first Guardians of the Light, the toil of the world would have been too hard to bear — especially living in that cottage. But there was a way for Brighid to live in the Light and meet the world.
    "Do you feel well enough to travel with us tomorrow?" Glorianna asked.
    "Well enough."
    "In that case, we'll go to Darling's Harbor to search for Caitlin's garden." Glorianna smiled. "And then I will show you Sanctuary."

Chapter Twenty-three
    "C anyou feel it, Caitlin?" Glorianna asked, stepping up beside the shivering girl. "Can you feel all the knots and tangles in the currents of power unraveling the closer we get to the harbor? Can you sense how those Light and Dark currents feel when they flow unobstructed?"
    "Maybe," Caitlin said, her voice almost too low to hear. "I don't know." Her throat worked, as if she were trying to swallow something unpleasant — or hold something back. "I'm