“I get that,” Greer said. “I just don’t get why. I mean, what could happen to a person that’d be so bad they’d throw their whole life away over it?”
Greer waited for an answer, but I didn’t say anything. I kept my head down, watching the asphalt beneath my feet. I saw Mom in that alleyway. I saw the house. I saw you and Dad. Glassy chimes jangled in my head.
“Card.”
We’d come to the bridge that spanned Black River Falls. The girl was standing out in the middle of it, leaning against the stone guardrail. She’d taken off the baseball cap, and her hair rippled in the spray-filled breeze. She didn’t move as we came onto the bridge, didn’t acknowledge us. I handed Greer the note. He took it over to her and then rejoined me. The girl stood looking down at the falls for a long time before she tore open the envelope with one swift motion. Inside was a plain white card, square, folded in the middle, like an invitation. It whipped back and forth in the wind as she read.
“Or maybe she’s some kind of international spy and her bosses sent her here to—”
“Shhhh.”
It was a small card, but the girl took a long time reading it. She would come to the end, look up, start again. When she was done, she refolded it and placed it back in the envelope. Greer started to walk toward her, but I held up my hand to stop him.
She leaned against the guardrail and carefully ripped the envelope in two. She placed one piece on top of the other and tore them again. There was a whistle in the trees, and then a starling flew across the water. The girl held the scraps over the guardrail and let them drop into the falls.
12
AS SOON AS Greer and I got back to camp, there was a shriek and Astrid came running toward us.
“Greer! Cardinal! Hi!”
Behind her, everyone else had congregated in the space between the four cabins. They were scrubbed clean and wearing their going-to-town finest. Even the boys. Strips of colored paper had been strung into chains that hung from trees and rooftops like a Christmas garland.
“We, uh, we didn’t think you-all would be back so soon!”
“Well, here we are,” Greer said. “What’s going on, Astrid?”
“Where’s the girl?”
“She’s trailing along behind us,” I said. “She’ll be here in a minute.”
“Oh, okay. Well, we all thought that since Cash and Shan and the green-haired girl—”
“Wait,” Greer said. “Cash and Shan?”
“Oh!” Astrid said. “They’re the kids from this morning. We gave them names till you find their real ones.”
Astrid gestured behind her, and the Joseph’s Point kids—Cash and Shan now—stood between Ren’s and Makela’s groups. They still looked a little shell-shocked, but they were clean and in fresh clothes.
“Anyway,” Astrid continued, “since the two of them and that girl with green hair all joined us at the same time, we thought we should have a welcome party! Eliot was supposed to ask if we could this morning. He said he couldn’t find you, but I think he chickened out and was lying about it.”
“I did not chicken out!”
“You did too, Eliot!”
“Guys,” Greer said. “I don’t know if—”
“Wait! Before you say anything, we got our chores done early. And there’s going to be a cake! Well, kind of. And presents! Kind of. We’re going to have a dance party! Is it okay? Say it’s okay!”
Greer and I exchanged a look.
“Listen,” I said, lowering my voice. “This is all really great, but I don’t think she’s going to be in the mood for a dance party right now. Maybe we should—”
“Why wouldn’t I be in the mood for a dance party?”
We all turned. The girl was standing at the top of the trail, hands in her pockets, the late-day sunlight washing over her. The tension that had hardened her shoulders and made her hands into fists had dropped away all at once. She barely even resembled the person we’d seen on the bridge just minutes before.
“Well, I just thought, you know, since—”
She marched right past Greer and me. “Don’t listen to them, Astrid. I’d love a party!”
“Oh—yay!” Astrid grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the rest of the kids. “I’ll introduce you to everybody! Oh! Wait! Did you find out your name?”
“We didn’t. Not yet.”
“No problem!” Astrid chirped. “Pick a letter!”
“Pick a letter?” The girl looked back at us. Greer nodded encouragingly. “Uh . . . H?”
“Perfect! Wait right here!”
Astrid sprinted back to the others. “Guys! She picked H!”
The kids held a conference, and then Astrid came racing back.
“We have options!” she said. “Hester, Helen, Hailee, or Hermione.”
“Wow. Those are some really good choices. Um . . .”
Benny appeared by Astrid’s side and tugged at her skirt. She bent down, and he whispered something in her ear.
“Oh. Okay. Sure. I’ll tell her.” Astrid stood back up. “Benny says he also likes Hannah.”
The green-haired girl smiled at Benny. “You know what? I think I do too.”