‘Thank you,’ she was saying. ‘You did wonderfully.’
‘No, thank you,’ said Jack, something small clutched in his hands. ‘Good luck repairing your roof.’
The husband stepped aside to allow Jack through the garden gate.
‘All done?’ I asked as Jack approached.
He nodded, but did not elaborate.
‘Well … goodbye,’ I said awkwardly, waving a little.
The husband waved, but the wife simply eyed me beadily.
As Jack and I turned away, I felt his hands on the small of my back, urging me onwards.
When we were out of earshot of the husband and wife, he muttered to me, ‘Strange woman.’
I raised my eyebrows, ‘How so?’
He pulled something out of his pocket. ‘She paid me five gold pieces,’ he said. ‘For a thirty-second job.’
I gaped at the money in Jack’s hand. ‘Jack! That’s great!’
‘Walk faster, before she changes her mind.’ Jack picked up the pace.
I laughed, before I remembered what the husband had said.
‘Her husband was telling me why there was so much destruction.’
‘The Realm?’ Jack guessed successfully.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘How did you know?’
‘She told me when I was inside,’ said Jack, steering me around a corner. ‘They took an entire family because they had a Human son.’
I nodded. ‘Right, that’s what her husband said too. I told him I had never heard of a Human being born to Mage parents before.’
Jack glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, trying to read my expression. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes,’ I said. I wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not. ‘It just makes me wonder how many families are out there, with Human children.’
‘Well, by the sounds of things it’s not as uncommon as we thought.’
‘But wouldn’t we hear about these kinds of things?’ I asked.
‘Think about it,’ said Jack. ‘You kept Helena a secret, right? How many other families are keeping the same secret?’
‘If Mages are giving birth to Humans, that’s … well … that’s serious,’ I said with raised eyebrows.
‘Exactly. That is why The Realm is hunting them down. They’re scared,’ said Jack.
‘Scared of what though?’ I wondered aloud. ‘They’re not just taking Humans, they’re taking the parents too.’
‘Maybe they are tying to find what causes the lack of Power.’
‘You don’t think it’s random?’
‘It must have something to do with genetics,’ said Jack.
‘But I come from a long line of Mages,’ I countered, ‘-and I am a Mage. So why is my sister Powerless?’
‘Beats me,’ Jack sighed. ‘Look, you shouldn’t worry about other people so much. Just focus on your own family, okay?’
I pressed my lips together, rather frustrated, but nodded anyway. My mind reeled with horrible thoughts. Jack thought being Human was genetic and that The Realm was trying to find the cause of it. Did that mean my family was being tested at this very moment, while The Realm tried to find the cause of Human children being born to Mage parents?
With Jack’s earnings we ate a rather nice lunch at the Athol Hills tavern and had plenty of coin to spare. Jack was very kind and let me order half a roasted chicken all to myself, which I ate greedily. I saved the bones for Hawthorne who would enjoy crunching on them. After lunch, we proceeded back to the surrounding trees, where we found Hawthorne perched in a tree, trying to paw at a beehive unsuccessfully. We had another few hours of walking ahead of us for the day, but we were making good time overall. At this rate we would be at Concord City in five days time and if Hawthorn could manage Jack’s weight, perhaps even four days.
Jack and I did not talk much as we marched up hills, trooped across fields and wound our way through forests. Jack was much fitter than me, so the exercise did not seem to bother him. Myself on the other hand, I had a stitch in my side and I was constantly out of breath. I tried my hardest not to complain, but it was proving difficult.
As the sun set, my pace had slowed considerably.
‘My feet really hurt,’ I told Jack for the hundredth time. ‘It feels as though my legs are about to fall off.’
‘Just another five minutes,’ Jack kept saying. ‘Not far now.’
‘Why can’t we stop here?’ I sighed, picking up a long stick and trailing it through the dirt. ‘Look, there’s a grassy spot. We can rest there.’
‘No, not there,’ he said.
‘Why?’ I said, rather annoyed. ‘I’m tired, Jack.’
‘Do you want to get to Concord City or not?’ Jack replied.
This pulled me up short. I stopped walking and glared furiously at Jack.
It took him a moment to notice that I was no longer in step with him. He looked around and faltered for a moment.
‘What?’ he said.
‘Do you want to get to Concord City or not?’ I mimicked, ‘Are you serious, Jack?’
He didn’t reply.
‘I want to be in Concord City more than you can imagine,’ I said. ‘How can you even ask that?’