Harriet clicked her tongue. “I didn’t create you,” she muttered at the wooden bead. “But you’re here now, and my girl is far away. I’ll just—just put you someplace safe.”
She picked up the bead, dropped it back into the pochette, and tightly knotted the ribbons at its neck. She pulled her footstool to the far end of the herbarium and climbed up on it to reach for an empty jar resting on a top shelf. She pulled down the jar, lifted its lid, and dropped the pochette with its fragment of maleficia inside.
She pushed the jar as far to the back of the shelf as it would go. When she had climbed down from the footstool, she looked up to assure herself the jar was invisible from the floor.
It was well hidden. She could forget all about it.
For now.
Acknowledgments
My most heartfelt thanks go to Alex Bird Tillson, my friend and colleague, for being the first reader for this book. I’m also indebted to the wonderful novelists Anna Quinn and Erica Bauermeister for their exacting critiques. The feedback from these three gifted writers was invaluable in the development of this novel, and I’ll always be grateful for that, and for their friendship.
Thanks also to Sarah Guan, my patient editor, and to Peter Rubie, my faithful agent and the dedicatee of this book. You were both wonderful throughout.
The team at Orbit/Redhook is terrific, and I appreciate their hard work and enthusiastic support more than I can say. Not every writer is so lucky. The cover art, the promotional efforts under Ellen Wright’s able guidance, and the quick responses to all my concerns—these are gifts to an author, and I accept them with gratitude.
Last, but most important, thank you to my remarkable family. Faithful husband, talented son, wonderful sisters, brother, and brothers-in-law—I turn to you all at the oddest times, and I’m so lucky you’re there when I need you. I love you all.
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