That her father may be dying. Perhaps being murdered slowly. She thought of Hansel almost constantly, imagining the unbearable guilt she would forever live with if anything happened to him. There hadn’t been any further mention from Odalinde concerning the swan figurine, and apparently father had kept the cabinet breach a secret, but Gretel perceived a difference in Odalinde since that night in the kitchen, a new sort of quietness that implied restraint and plotting. Still though, it was nice to be back at work, and compared to the madness of the weeks during the harvest, Gretel had it easy. All of the workers were gone, having migrated to further corners of the region where various other crops were about to be born, so Gretel’s work mainly consisted of cleaning the Klahr house to the point of sterilization, dividing the newly picked fruit for their various uses, and helping prepare the meals for Mr. and Mrs. Klahr. Petr was staying on for a few weeks more, but apparently would only be making appearances on Fridays, as well as the weekends.
