“I’m not saying we should give up,” Sparrow said defensively. “I would never suggest that.”
Owl nodded. “I know that. I’m only giving voice to what I’m thinking. I feel emptied out by this, and I need all of you to fill me up again. Do you feel something of that, too?”
They nodded, no one saying anything. In the darkness beyond where they sat, a baby began crying. They could hear its caregiver hushing it softly, and then the crying stopped.
Sparrow brushed at her spiky blond hair. “At least we got rid of that demon,” she said. “At least we don’t have to worry about it lurking out there in the darkness anymore.”
Angel had told the Ghosts what it was they had faced and how brave they had been to stand against it and see it destroyed. It made Owl wonder, thinking of it anew, how evil the world had become in the aftermath of civilization’s destruction. Or perhaps the evil had always been there and just taken different forms. Weren’t there probably always demons in their midst, taking whatever forms suited them? She thought maybe so. Creatures like the demons and once-men didn’t just spring up out of nowhere. If they weren’t there already, the potential to create them certainly was.
“You know, it was Candle who saved us,” Sparrow said suddenly. “She was the one who warned us about Hawk going out alone. She was the one who found Angel and brought her to help us.” She gave the little girl a broad smile. “You’ve got your instincts back again, don’t you? Just like they used to be.”
Candle blushed and nodded. “I don’t know what happened.”
“It doesn’t matter what happened,” Sparrow pressed on. “You’re back to how you were and you can warn us now when we are in danger. That’s a very big thing, little girl.”
Candle suddenly looked uncomfortable.
“Sparrow,” Owl said softly. “Don’t make Candle feel she has to do anything different from what she’s been doing. She’s always tried to warn us. It just didn’t happen for a time. And if it happens again, that’s all right, too.”
“It won’t happen,” Candle declared, determination mirrored in her blue eyes. “I won’t let it.”
“Of course you won’t,” Sparrow agreed. “Everything’s fine now.”
River exchanged a quick glance with Owl, both of them thinking the same thing. Everything wasn’t right and wouldn’t be right again for some time. Certainly not until they reached the promised safehold, a place where they might at last be able to stop thinking about demons and once-men and monsters out of nightmares stalking them across the devastated landscape of their former home. Certainly not until then.
“Has Hawk said anything more about how close we are to where we’re supposed to be going?” River asked.
No one spoke. Then Owl said, “I don’t think he knows yet.”
“He isn’t even himself,” Sparrow offered suddenly. “You didn’t see him out in that storm, when we were fighting that demon. He looked as if he didn’t even know what was happening. I’ve never seen him like that. He just stood there, almost like he was unable to move.”
“I think he was afraid,” Candle said.
“Well, that’s not like Hawk.” Sparrow looked around for confirmation, but the others were quiet. “I mean, he’s always been strong for the rest of us.” She seemed to want to say more, but then just shrugged. “I just think something might be wrong.”
“What’s wrong is that he’s supposed to save several thousand people by finding a safe place for them and he doesn’t even know for sure where it is and there’s demons and once-men chasing him and trying to kill him and we’re all saying there’s something wrong with him when maybe we ought to just stop saying these things!” Candle clenched her fists for emphasis. “I’m just saying, Sparrow,” she finished, mimicking Panther.
Sparrow stared at her for a moment in surprise, then nodded. “You’re right. I’m not helping, am I?”
“Maybe it’s our turn to be strong for Hawk,” Owl suggested. “Maybe we need to let him know we still believe in him. He’s carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders.”
Sparrow stood up abruptly. “Let’s go find him right now. Let’s tell him how we feel.”
River, sitting next to her, took hold of her hand. “Let’s not. He’s with Tessa. Maybe they need to be alone. We can tell him tomorrow.”
Sparrow hesitated and then sat down again. “Okay. Tomorrow for sure, though.”
Their talk quickly turned to other things.
PANTHER WALKED THROUGH the mostly sleeping inhabitants of the camp, searching for Catalya. It took a long time before he found her. She was sitting alone on the bumper of an old truck near the front of the caravan, wrapped in her gray cloak and staring out at the night. She didn’t see him approach—he was sure of it—but she seemed to sense his presence anyway.
“Go to sleep, Panther,” she said without looking at him, her face concealed by the hood of her cloak.
He sat down next to her. “How’d you know it was me?”