I do, he says. Guess I shouldn’t of bin so impatient. Is Emmi okay?

She’s fine, I says. Stil annoyin.

I touch his cheekbone. His birthmoon tat oo jest like mine.

Did they hurt you? I says.

No, he says. I mean, not … nobody laid a finger on me. I never bin fed so wel in my life.

Suddenly, it’s like he properly notices me. What happened to yer hair? he says.

I’d fergot al about my hair bein shaved so short. I run a hand over it. It feels longer, softer. Must of grown some since I left Hopetown. But I won’t tel him about the Cage. Or anythin else. Not now. It’s a long story, I says. I’l tel you later.

It suits you. There’s a pause. Then he says, You look dif erent.

I know, I says. My hair.

No, he says. It’s more’n that. It’s … you. You’ve changed, Saba.

The day the Tonton rode into Silverlake, everythin changed, I says.

Guess we’l jest hafta git to know each other al over agin.

Guess we wil , I says.

It’s bin two hours or so since we left Freedom Fields. Now that Lugh’s able to ride, we’re coverin more ground.

Meetin point’s jest ahead, says Ike in a low voice.

We’re comin up to the Wrecker tire dump where Emmi an Tommo’s gonna be waitin with Hermes. It’s a big one. A hunnerd foot ahead, the piles loom high in the darkness by the side of the trail. Ike holds up a hand an we stop.

He does a high pitched squeak like a bat. It’s the signal to let Emmi know it’s us. When she hears it, she’l do one back. That’s what we agreed.

There ain’t no answer.

A shiver runs through me.

Where are they? Lugh whispers.

Ike signals agin. Nuthin.

C’mon, Emmi, Ash mut ers.

Ike does the bat squeak once more.

This time, there’s a soft whinny. A horse.

Somebody steps out from between two hil s of tires. It’s Tommo. He’s leadin Hermes.

But there ain’t no sign of Emmi.

My heart clutches.

We ride to meet Tommo. I’m the first to jump down an run over to him. The rest of ’em’s right behind me.

Where is she? What happened? I grab Tommo’s arms.

The look on his face tel s me what I already know. She didn’t make it this far. You can tel he’s bin cryin.

You left together, says Ike. I saw you of safe. What happened?

Tel us, Tommo, I says. Go on.

Emmi made me turn back, he says. She wanted to wait. See Lugh. I couldn’t make her go.

Gawdammit, I says. Why cain’t she ever do what she’s told?

So we see Lugh an then Emmi says let’s go, says Tommo. But there’s too much noise an Hermes … he gits skeered an he … takes of .

He bolted, I says. An Emmi fel of .

Tommo nods. He wipes his eyes with his sleeve. I went back, he says, but the men …

Men from Freedom Fields? I says.

They took her, he says. I wanted to fol ow an git her back, but Ike, you said—

I said no mat er what happens, keep on goin til you git to the meetin point, says Ike. An that’s what you did, son.

He pul s Tommo in an gives him a hug.

I’m sorry, says Tommo. Sorry.

It’s okay, I says. You did the right thing.

Emmi’s a good fighter, he says. She kicked the men. She yel ed an punched ’em.

Relief floods through me. I look at th’others. She’s alive, I says.

You mean she was alive then, says Lugh. If that bastard hurts her, I swear—

I don’t think he wil , says Jack. More likely he’l use her to bargain with.

I don’t think he wil , says Jack. More likely he’l use her to bargain with.

Bargain fer what? I says.

Yer guess is as good as mine, he says. He looks up at the moon. Time’s movin on. They’l be after us by now an they’l fol ow our trail easy enough. We ain’t bin hidin our tracks.

I want Emmi back, says Lugh.

We al do, says Jack.

So we’l meet ’em, I says. We’l meet Vicar Pinch an the Tonton. We’l git Emmi back.

But we decide the where an the when, says Jack. We find somewhere to take a stand.

What’s a stand? says Tommo.

It’s when you meet yer enemy on yer own terms, son, says Ike. Not let him hunt you down like a beast.

I don’t like the odds, says Ash. At Freedom Fields, at least they wasn’t expectin us.

What else can we do? says Lugh. We cain’t jest march up to him an demand that he hands Emmi over. This way, at least we got a chance.

You think so? she says.

There’s silence. We’re al thinkin the same thing. That this is a di erent order to anythin we’ve bin through so far. My stummick’s squeezed tight.

No point pretendin it’s gonna be easy, says Jack.

It ain’t possible, says Ash.

It ain’t impossible, he says. Nuthin’s impossible.

Without thinkin, I glance up at the sky. As if Nero might be flyin across the moon at this very moment. But there ain’t no black crow comin to save us.

I say we do it, I says. I say we take a stand.

Where? says Lugh.

Pine Top Hil , says Jack. Due north of here.

If you got a take a stand, says Ike, you could do a lot worse.

You can see anybody comin at you from a long way o . There’s a good slope on it fer the last hunnerd foot, says Jack. An if I remember rightly, it’s loose rock. Bad ground fer horses. They won’t be able to charge at us uphil .

We wanna be set up there wel before they show, says Ash.

What’re we waitin fer? says Lugh. Let’s go.

We ride due north through the night.

Jack pushes us hard. He don’t let us stop til we come across a lit le trickle of a stream. We al slide down to water the horses an ourselves.

We’re nearly there, he says.

Lugh shivers. He rubs his arms an hugs hisself. Th’only clothes he’s got on is his britches an boots.

You should of said you was cold, says Jack.

He reaches over his head an reefs of his shirt. He tosses it to Lugh.

Sorry it ain’t cleaner, he says. I’m a bit behind with my laundry.

I cain’t take yer only shirt, says Lugh.

Go on, says Jack.

But now you’l be cold, says Lugh.

Oh I’m warm blooded. Jack grins. Anyways, Saba likes to look at my bare chest.

Lugh looks at me. Frowns. Is that a fact? he says.

I feel myself go bright red. It is not a fact, I says. You stinker, Jack.

They al laugh. Al essept Lugh that is. He’s stil frownin as he pul s Jack’s shirt over his head.

I glare at Jack an he winks at me. I go even redder.

See? he says. She cain’t help herself.

I could kick him fer makin me look foolish. But I could kiss him fer liftin the gloom a lit le bit.

Considerin what might lie ahead, that’s a good thing.

We reach Pine Top Hil as the sun’s startin to break out in the east. It’s gonna be another hot one. You can almost hear the tired earth sighin as it faces the day.

There it is, says Ike.

A dusty plain of red earth stretches out in front of us. Straight ahead, a round hil rises up from the plain. There’s a lit le wood of scrubby pine trees on top an some big rocks that’l give us good cover. An, jest like Jack said, a steep slope of loose rock an slippery shale.