The Ballad of the Canaries

Chapter 1 - Isabel Silver

I was singing, which I found ironic. I hated singing in public, in front of other people. But when I was alone, I would pipe out songs like the yellow birds that you could sometimes see flitting between the trees. The worst part was when someone would just step in, like Blake Scarlet did to me now as I was singing in the Meadow. "You can't scare me like that!" I said, cutting my song off short. "Who said I was scaring you?" I roll my eyes at her and she sticks her tongue at me. 

"I shouldn't have to expect you to sneak up on me when I'm enjoying the Meadow." I retort.

"Well, if you sung quietly like you do at the Hob maybe you could hear. And if you sung like that at the Hob, maybe we could afford a meal." Blake Scarlet scoffed, fidgeting with the feathery ends of her short-cropped hair. I glared at her. It wasn't my fault The Covey didn't have much money. There were so many of us did it even really matter if I sung anymore? And Blake Scarlet knew I hated singing in public. The whole Covey did, it wasn't like I made an effort to hide it. "That's lower than a snake's belly." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"We both know I meant nothing by it," She responds, looking at me carefully, as if she's unsure as to whether I'm being serious or not. Sometimes it really is hard to tell when we're joking around and when we cross the line and offend each other. That's the only time Blake Scarlet and I would fight; when we accidentally said something mean but as a joke. Everyone else in The Covey, not so much. I didn't really get along with any of them. "Isabel Silver? Blake Scarlet?" Ma said, rushing into the Meadow. "What? What is it? Is everything alright?" Blake Scarlet said, jumping to her feet. Ma just nodded, then shook her head. No further explanation was needed. Who knew what could be going on. This was District 12, where nothing was ever safe. When we got back to the house, Ma snuck us through the back door, and we were instantly met with the torrents of conversation. I could barely make out snippets and I didn't even know what was going on. "Hush!" Maude Ivory said. She was the oldest member of The Covey right now. She couldn't sing as well anymore, but she still helped all of us and made sure we never missed a performance. Of course, everyone fell silent. We all respected her a great deal, and she certainly deserved it. "Let the girl in. She says she's one of us, and even if she's not, Tam Amber was a lost soul too." This causes more conversation to ensue, but it ends as quickly as it began when Lucy Jade steps forward to open the door. "H-Hello? Is this The Covey? You're lovely singers, I saw you preform at The Hob a few nights ago." A girl says, stepping carefully into the house. She instantly looks out of place. All of The Covey looks similar, with all of us being related. But this girl has fox red hair and rosy brown eyes. "I don't mean to invade your space—"

"Who are you?" A voice interjects. 

"I told you, I'm Rose Crimson Clade. My grandfather took care of me for my entire life because my mother died and no one knew who my father was. And now he's passed away and all I could find in his old stuff was stuff about The Covey and the mayor's family."

"Clade? As in Clerk Carmine Clade? Or Billy Taupe Clade?" Maude Ivory said, stepping firmly towards the girl.

"Billy Taupe Clade, ma'am." Rose Crimson says in a shaky voice. Those three words practically cause an outroar. 

"He basically led to Lucy Gray's death!"

"He's the reason we're still starving!"

"He's been a problem for years!" 

I almost stuff my fingers in my ears to block out the conversation. 

"Just because Billy Taupe was an idiot doesn't mean we shouldn't give Ms. Rose Crimson a chance. She's Covey too, related to Clerk Carmine." Maude Ivory said, raising her voice over the rest of The Covey. Lucy Jade steps forward with her hand extended and a smile. "Welcome to The Covey, Rose Crimson." Rose Crimson smiles, and looks around at everyone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that Billy Taupe wasn't a welcome part of The Covey. He never really elaborated on his time here. I'm only her because I managed to track down his brother Clerk Carmine. You're my only family left." She continued, looking mostly at Maude Ivory as she spoke. 

"Well, you're always welcome here, Rose Crimson." Barbara Bronze said, stepping forward. She was my sister, and often we'd call her Beebee or Barb for short. It wasn't hard to tell why her name was Bronze, because her hair was a beautiful dark color, a shade that I would only ever describe as dark bronze. Rose Crimson shot Barb a grateful smile. "I know right now is an awful time to show up, with the reaping being tomorrow and all." Her eyes flicked around the room, as the atmosphere obviously tensed. There were a lot of us here in The Covey at risk of being reaped. Me, Blake, and Barb for one. Then my cousins. I had a ton of cousins, and The Covey cabin had clearly been expanded over the years to make room for them all. 14 cousins, not including Rose Crimson or two of Maude Ivory's grandchildren that had moved away from The Covey. Honestly, I didn't know much about Oliver Pine's branch of the family. Maude Ivory didn't like to talk about it. Neither did his twin sister, Ma. The only things I had heard was that he lived somewhere in The Seam, with two daughters. I could have walked past those girls, or talked to them in The Hob, and we would have never known that we were cousins. Like how we hadn't known Rose Crimson was a part of The Covey until a few moments ago. 

"None of us will get reaped, right?" A younger voice peeped up. 

"We can't know for sure until tomorrow, but we can hope." Clare Sapphire said soothingly. Her words were not comforting though. I could be reaped. Beebee or Blake could be reaped. Any of my numerous cousins could be reaped. Even if some random people I had never seen before, it still would never be right. But I couldn't stand the thought of loosing someone I loved to something as diabolical as The Hunger Games.