The passage was narrow, with rough wooden walls that seemed to have grown rather than been built. Silver roots ran along the ceiling. Small drops of water fell from them, disappearing before they touched the floor.
The voices grew louder.
"Jude!"
"Over here!"
"Help us!"
Jude moved faster.
At the end of the passage was a small chamber.
A circular pool occupied its centre.
The water was perfectly still.
Around it stood twelve wooden chairs.
Each chair had a name carved into its back.
Jude recognised all twelve names.
Susan. Rose. Serena. Layla. Natalie. Zoey. Lucy. Stella. Emma. Grace. Sophie. Scarlet.
But there was a thirteenth chair.
Its back was blank.
And beside it stood a fourteenth chair, turned away from the pool.
Jude approached.
"Where are they?"
Sol pointed towards the water.
"Look."
Jude leaned over the pool.
The reflection showed the village.
The central firepit.
The shared house.
The gardens.
The wooden walkways.
And all twelve wives.
