The Twin They Erased novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Where She Sleeps

"May I keep it?" I asked.

The old woman pushed the clipping across the bar with two fingers.

"It's yours, honey. I'm only sorry I never knew to look for you."

I folded it small and put it in my sock where the money used to go.

Behind me, the barn had gone to its after-hours noise, chairs scraping and the regulars shouting about the last bout.

Eamon stood in the middle of the ring with a rag, wiping the boards.

He glanced up when I came over, and stopped.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"You look like you saw a ghost."

"I think I did," I said, and sat down on the edge of the ring with my feet hanging.

My hands were still bleeding through the first wrap.

He crossed the floor, crouched in front of me and held out his own hands, palms up.

"Give them here."

"Rule two."

"Rule two says nobody touches a fighter outside the ring." He pointed at the rope. "You're sitting on the ring."

I put my hands in his.

He unwound the tape slowly, peeling it from the raw skin, and did not look at my face.

His thumbs were warm and the calluses on them were rough, and I felt each one against the inside of my wrist.

It was a long time since anyone had held my hand.

I had not noticed until then how long.

"You haven't told me your last name," he said.

"Rule three."

"I'm breaking it." He pressed the tape flat. "Where do you sleep, Willa?"

He had my name from the old woman.

I looked at his bent head and the dark hair that needed cutting.

"In the top room of the bell tower," I said. "I've slept there for three years. They lock the door."

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