Chapter 1

The old truck rattled, kicking up dust on the dry dirt road, and I knew Mama Maeve was here.

She always came around when Pa had some scheme cooking.

This time, the scheme had a name, Lily.

Pa, Jedediah, stood on the porch, his stained shirt clinging to his sweaty back, a greedy glint in his eyes.

He spat tobacco juice near my bare foot.

"Get inside, Annie, and don't be underfoot."

I slipped back into the dim, stuffy house, the air thick with the smell of stale beer and Pa's temper.

From the cracked window, I watched Mama Maeve help a woman out of the truck.

This was Lily.

She was beautiful, not like anyone in our rundown town, with hair like spun gold and eyes that seemed to catch the light in a strange way.

Mama Maeve, her face a roadmap of hard living and shrewd deals, gave Pa a knowing smirk.

"She's a special one, Jed. A real Dreamweaver, they say."

Pa grunted, his eyes fixed on Lily like she was a prize hog.

"She better be. I ain't paying you for nothing, Maeve."

"Oh, she'll weave you your fortune, alright," Mama Maeve said, her voice low and gravelly. "Just gotta know how to ask."

Lily stood quiet, her hands clasped, looking small beside Pa's bulk.

He grabbed her arm, not gently.

"You hear that, girl? You're gonna make me rich."

His voice was rough, like stones grinding together.

Lily didn't flinch, just looked at him with those unnervingly calm eyes.

"I understand," she said, her voice soft, a whisper.

Pa shoved her towards the house.

"Good. Get inside. We'll see what you're made of."

He turned back to Mama Maeve, pulling out a wad of crumpled bills. "This is for your trouble."

Mama Maeve counted it quick. "Pleasure doing business, Jed. You know where to find me if you need anything else."

She winked, a sly, knowing look that made my skin crawl, then climbed back into her truck and rumbled away.

Pa came inside, dragging Lily behind him.

The air in the small room felt even tighter now.

He pushed her onto a rickety chair.

"Alright, Dreamweaver," he sneered, his face close to hers, his breath stinking of cheap whiskey. "Start weaving. I want gold. Lots of it."

Lily looked down at her hands. "It doesn't work like that, not so fast."

Pa slammed his fist on the table, making the few chipped plates jump.

"Don't you give me excuses! You weave, or you'll wish you were never born."

His face was red, veins bulging in his neck.

I cringed in the corner, wishing I could disappear.

This was how it always started with Pa, the threats, then the fists.

Lily, though, she just looked up at him, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes.

"I will do as you ask," she said, her voice still quiet, but with an edge I hadn't heard before. "But it takes time. And certain... conditions."

Pa leaned back, a cruel smile spreading across his face.

"Oh, I'll give you conditions, alright."