JACK trotted down the path toward the woods, away from William’s house. His belly was full of hare. It should’ve made him happy, but it didn’t.
The wind brought a familiar scent of lemon. Jack stopped at a large oak and leaned against it, his back to the bark. Above him, branches rustled. A moment later, George climbed down, holding a small spyglass in his hand. He wore a white shirt, a pale brown vest, brown pants, and dark brown boots. A short rapier hung from his waist. His hair was pale blond and cut longish. His eyes were big and blue, and he looked like a girl.
“How did you know where I was?” George asked.
“You put lemon juice in your hair again.”
“The juice makes it lighter.” George leaned against the maple to Jack’s left. “How did it go?”
“William and Cerise are leaving tomorrow,” Jack said. “Mirror mission, and he doesn’t know when he’s coming back. William said he’ll talk to Declan when he comes back. He says to stay out of trouble until he comes back.”
“Not going to happen,” George said.
“Yeah.”
“So what are we going to do?” George asked.
“I can’t stay at the house. I’ll do something or say something, and they’ll ship me off. With William away, nobody will tell them no.”
“Rose wouldn’t do that,” George said.
Jack glanced at him. “She’s mad, George. Really mad. I’m going to get my bag tonight and go into the woods. I’ll wait it out until William comes back.”
“Jack, you have to think ahead.” George shook his head. “What happens if you disappear?”
Jack shrugged. He would be in the woods, that’s what would happen.
“Declan and Rose will think that you ran away. They’ll search for you. They won’t find you, because you’re good at hiding, so more people will get involved. Rumors will spread: Lord Camarine, the Marshal of the Southern Provinces, has lost his changeling brother-in-law. Obviously, he can’t control him, because the beast took off into the wild. Lock your children, or he’ll break into your house and devour them at night. Maybe we should hunt him down with torches.” George shook his head again. “They will send you to Hawk’s after that for sure. No, we need an actual plan.”
“Well, I don’t have one,” Jack growled.
George peered through the trees. “You said William and Cerise are leaving tomorrow. Who does the wyvern belong to? I got stuck at fencing, and when I made it here, the wyvern had landed already.”
“Kaldar. He has a mission in the Democracy of California. He came to ask them for help, but they’re leaving on their own thing tomorrow, so he’s taking Gaston with him instead.”
George thought about it. “When?”
“Tomorrow evening. He has to give the wyvern time to rest before the long trip.” What did that have anything to do with it?
“That’s a large cabin,” George said.
“So?”
“If they’re flying to California, they’ll pack it full of supplies, right?”
Jack looked at the wyvern. It was a large cabin. Large enough to hide in, especially if it was packed with crates and bags.
“Let me talk to Gaston. We can’t pull it off without him. If it goes well, we pack tonight,” George said. “We’ll tell Declan and Rose we have an overnight camp for school. By the time they realize we’re gone, we’ll be in California.”
“Gaston won’t help,” Jack said.
“Let me worry about that.”
Jack stared at his brother. “If we go, it will be the same thing as if I ran away. The search and the torches.”
“We’ll tell Lark where we’re going, and she will tell Declan and Rose when the time comes. They won’t be happy, but Kaldar is on a Mirror mission, and Declan and Rose won’t jeopardize it. Besides, it’s clear across the continent. Did you see the pile of stuff on Declan’s desk? It’s not like he can just take off and leave the Southern Provinces to be overrun by criminals. Lark will tell them that Kaldar will take care of us.” George smiled. “There will be hell to pay when we get home, but they can’t send you off while you are in California. This will work.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“We’ll think of something else. Now we have to go home and quietly pack. Tomorrow, we have to go to school, like normal, and be very well behaved.”
They started down the forest path.
George’s leather boots creaked as he walked. He needed to oil them or something, Jack reflected.
If George came with him, they would both be in trouble.
“You don’t have to do this,” Jack said. “I can do this by myself.”
“You remember when you beat up Thad Mosser?”
Thad was a mean Edger kid. He had it in for George, but it was years ago, back when they lived in the Edge. Besides, it only took one fight and some stitches to get it settled. “Yeah.”
“We leave tomorrow evening,” George said.
They didn’t talk any more until they got home.
THE cabin was cramped. Jack stirred in his small space, squished between the wall of the cabin and the wall of wicker trunks Gaston had stuffed into the cabin. Across from him, George leaned against the cabin wall. His eyes were closed.
They had been flying for most of the night. At first, Kaldar and Gaston talked. Something about some thieves from the Edge stealing a magic thing from West Egypt and trying to sell it to the Hand. Things didn’t go well because they broke a fountain, and one of the Hand’s people had been blown to bits. Kaldar had found something called a crack pipe, whatever the hell that might be, and taken it to the cops in the Broken. They found a fingerprint on the pipe, and it belonged to someone named Alex Callahan, who was checked into a “rehab” in the Broken’s California.
“How much did that nugget of information cost you?” Gaston had asked.