The whole manor had been cleaned in time for Flür National Day. Every nook and cranny of the place had been scrubbed to a shine, not a speck of dust to be seen.
Now that the housekeeping had been taken care of, it was time to decorate for New Year’s. We would cut down a few boughs of mistletoe—a plant said to ward off evil—from our garden, then hang them up around the house.
Some families got their mistletoe from the forest, while others grew it on their own land. With such magnificent gardens at our disposal, of course we’d planted some ourselves!
“I hope our mistletoe is coming along nicely this year.”
“Not to worry—I assure you it’s more bountiful than ever.”
The Demon King—I mean, uh, Bellis was showing me to our mistletoe grove...or mistletoe plot, technically. If we harvested from the same trees every year, they’d all end up bare; thus, to allow us a more systematic approach to our trimming, he’d made sure to plant a surplus. Our gardener was one smart cookie!
The mistletoe plot was located behind the cottage—right near my private garden. Each of the trees was sporting such lush foliage that I didn’t doubt Bellis when he said the mistletoe was growing even better than last year.
“They look so good that it’s almost a shame to cut them down!”
“It’ll look even better next year. Promise.”
So hurry up and get it over with, I sensed him silently pressuring me.
“Don’t mind if I do, then! Let’s see... We need one for the entrance hall and another for the parlor. Oh, and we can’t forget the cottage.”
“How about this one for the entryway?”
Once he knew exactly where I’d be hanging the mistletoe, Bellis helped me look for good candidates. Hefty boughs or little sprigs, this or that—he picked out what he thought would work best, then had his apprentice gardeners set up a ladder and cut them down.
“Watch out for falling branches.”
“Will do!” I said.
“Okay!” came the kids’ reply a moment after mine.
When Violet had heard the grown-ups talking about the mistletoe, she had gotten it in her head that it was going to be a fun activity.
“I wanna see the miswatoe come down!” she had insisted.
“Only if you promise to stay out of Bellis’s way. Can you do that for me?”
“Yeah! I’ll have Quin with me.”
“Oh, then there shouldn’t be a problem.”
We all had an enormous amount of faith in Quince.
“Go for that one there. And be careful.”
“All right, we’ve got the rope in place!”
“There, it’s cut!”
“Let’s get this thing down!”
The gardeners cut down one of the most handsome boughs of mistletoe, then lowered it to the ground in an impressive display of teamwork.
“Wow, it looks great!”
“I think this one would go best in the entrance hall.”
“Good thinking! Take it away, then.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As soon as we’d decided on where to hang them, the freshly cut boughs were carried straight to their new homes.
Since the sprigs kept coming down one after another, the garden was a flurry of activity with servants scrambling to and fro. Mimosa and I decided to help out by tying some of the mistletoe with string, but in our haste to contribute, we forgot to keep an eye on the little ones.
Just then, I heard a couple of voices from behind us.
“Let’s stop here, Miss Lettie.”
“No, higher! I can’t reach!”
“I can’t lift you that high.”
Uh, excuse me? What are you two doing?!
I whipped around in surprise, and what did I see but Violet clinging to one of the trees!
Quince is lifting her up by the waist as high as he can, so she probably fancies herself a little climber...but if anything, she looks like a tree-hugging critter! Where did the sudden interest in tree-climbing come from, anyway?
“Hey, Lettie? You’re bothering poor Quince. What are you doing?”
“I’m gonna get a miswatoe bow!”
“You what...?”
She probably wanted to imitate what the adults were doing, but her plan was a little too ambitious.
“But you don’t know how to climb a tree, silly! And I bet Quince’s arms are getting tired by now.”
“Oh no! Put me down, Quin.”
“Oh—sure.”
Playing the Quince card was an instant solution to any Lettie-related problem; that convinced her to come down from the tree. The boy looked visibly relieved.
Sorry, little buddy. She must have been heavy, huh?
“And? Why did you decide to go tree-climbing in the first place?”
“I wanted miswatoe in my room too!”
“Oh, did you now?”
We generally only hung mistletoe in the big rooms like the entrance hall and parlor. I hadn’t been planning to put any in her room, but it was hard to say no to those puppy eyes.
“We’ll cut you down a smaller one, then,” offered Bellis.
“Yaaay!”
“I want one too,” said Daisy.
“Fine.”
“Yippee!”
True to his word, Bellis chopped down a couple mini-sized boughs to go in Violet’s and Daisy’s rooms.
“Do you think you can carry this to your room, Miss Lettie?” he asked, crouching down to her eye level.
“Hmm...”
“Consider it your job.”
“I have a job?”
“That’s right.”
“Okay! I’ll try!”
“You can ask Daisy and Quince to help you out.”
“Awright!”
Once she’d accepted the task, Bellis tied the mistletoe with some string to make it easier to carry. Violet did her best to lift it, her face turning red from the effort. Is it a little too heavy for her?
But man, Bellis was good. Busting out the word “job” as a motivator? He sure knew how to handle little kids!
“Hup! Hup!”
The trip back to the manor wasn’t much distance for an adult to cover, but it was a lot harder on a small child—and one hauling a big bundle, at that.
“A-Are you okay?”
“Here, I’ll help you.”
“Thanks.”
“No, Lettie and I can do it! You watch, Quin!”
“Whatever you say.”
Violet and Daisy struggled to carry the heavy mistletoe bough, but seemed to be having fun all the while. Quince watched them with a smile that looked half-amused, half-anxious. Us adults kept an eye on the trio as they waddled off in the direction of the mansion.
✦ ✦ ✦
“But really now! Climbing a tree and trying to break off some mistletoe? Just who does that girl take after?”
“I think you know the answer to that one, Madam.”
The rest of the servants seemed to be in full agreement with Bellis’s retort—and I had nothing I could say in my defense.