Free The Tree Shepherd's Daughter by Gillian Summers Page B

want to make friends with
anyone who treated her like a child, but the herb lady's gentle smile made Keelie ache for Mom's smile. The smile that
said, "No, you can't have it," in a loving but firm way. The
one that said, "I love you enough to say no." That smile.
    She could feel her throat swelling up like it always did
whenever her mother's smiling face appeared in her mind,
aware that she'd never see her smile again except in photographs. Mom would never, ever say no to Keelie again. She
vividly remembered their last fight. She'd wanted to have
her belly button pierced like her friends Laurie and Ashlee.
Keelie ran her hands over her stomach. She could do it now
if she wanted to. Who was going to stop her, the herb lady?
Her dad?
    The minute she got back to L.A., she would get her
belly button pierced. Mom couldn't stop her, and for sure
her father wouldn't stop her. When she came to visit, he
wouldn't notice, either. He was too busy with his trees,
customers, and that dumb cat to notice that Keelie had
done something that she'd always wanted to do. It would
be a sign of her independence. And she'd drink gallons of
coffee, the strongest she could find.
    Keelie absentmindedly accepted the tray with the huge
golden-domed muffin and the cup of hot tea. The herb
lady handed the muffin lady a green cup just like the one
Keelie had seen Father drinking tea out of earlier this
morning.
    Keelie plopped her tray down on a table in the farthest
corner of the deck. She picked up the muffin and touched the bits of fairy winkberry. Probably a cutesy name for
cranberries.

    The herb lady sat down in the chair opposite Keelie.
Keelie glared at her and started to pick apart her muffin.
She took a bite, starving but determined not to scarf it
down in front of this woman.
    "We weren't introduced earlier. I'm Janice. I think you
know my daughter."
    "Where is Raven today?"
    "Tending my shop so that I can do some errands." She
sipped her tea. "I knew who you were the minute you
stepped into my shop. You look just like your dad. You
smiled a little then."
    "Your shop smelled nice," Keelie said.
    "Thank you. You're welcome back any time. I heard
your luggage didn't come in with your flight yesterday.
Don't you hate that?"
    Keelie dropped the muffin back onto the tray. "Yeah,
and what can I do? I'm stuck with these stupid clothes like
I'm stuck being here at this stupid fair."
    Janice folded her arms. "It stinks, doesn't it? Being
ripped away from the school and people you knew and
loved and all of a sudden you're here. I lost my mother
when I was sixteen. She died of cancer. I guess that's why I
turned to herbs. I wanted to heal the world, but I couldn't
forget the awful days in the hospital. No regular medical
school for me."
    Keelie's resolve to be surly thawed a little. "Yeah,
well ...I just want my clothes." She wanted her mother
back, too. She realized that she was mad. She was mad at Mom for dying, she was mad at Dad for showing up in
her life now that Mom was gone, and she was mad at the
world for moving forward when the most important person in the world was no longer here to say no to her.

    "Zeke was so excited that you were coming. He kept
telling everyone. We thought it would be next week,
though. This Faire's almost over, and he thought you'd
come closer to the end."
    Janice didn't give up. Couldn't she tell that Keelie didn't
want to have this conversation? If Janice wasn't leaving,
maybe she could get some information out of her.
    "So the Faire's almost over? What happens then?"
    "Some of the workers are locals, and they do this for
extra cash, for fun. For others, your father for instance, it's
part of a circuit. There are Renaissance Faires all over the
country, at different times of the year. Lots of the artisans
and performers will head to another Faire after this one."
    Surprised, Keelie wondered where they would be
headed. And what about school? She'd been given her final