Pait sat across one of the kitchen tables from Tash and Ori, absolutely baffled. Tash hadn’t shut up about Ori all the while he’d been gone, worried sick about him, and now that he was back she acted like her one goal in life was to annoy the shit out of him. And he sat there and took it.

Tash would put a finger in her mouth and then stick it in his ear, and when he yelled until his face turned red she would cackle. Every time Ori tried to take a bite of his dinner (roast and potatoes soaked in gravy, in celebration of the successful train robbery), Tash would jab him in his very ticklish ribs, making him nearly jerk out of his chair. He swore and snapped and tickled her back, but never did what Pait expected, which was just get up and leave.

If this was what having siblings was like, maybe Pait was glad she’d never had family. The kids who worked for Madam Agatha sure never treated each other like this—then again, maybe they’d all been too hungry and tired to have the energy.

Pait let their squabbling fade out, and instead listened to the pattering of rain on the leaves outside, feeling strangely separate from all the people crammed together in the kitchen. Normally half the folks would be sitting on the landing outside, but with the rain they’d all had to squeeze in together. She looked around but knew better than to expect Daivad to tolerate this crowd for even a second.

But it was when Odelia showed up, slightly damp, to give both Ori and Tash big hugs, and gentle kisses on their foreheads before sitting down to ask Ori all about the train robbery that Pait seemed to separate not only from the others in the room, but even from herself.

She finished her food without really tasting it and was in the process of getting up to return her dishes when she realized the room had gone mostly quiet—quiet except for one worried voice coming from somewhere within the crowd.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Anyone?” It sounded like an out-of-breath Edgar, which explained why she couldn’t see the speaker even though most of the people here were seated. “He’s big, light skinned, blonde hair—from Duxon. Can anyone claim to have seen him since we returned from foraging? Named Aleaza, or Aza?”

“Missing?” someone from the crowd asked.

“Not sure,” Edgar’s voice replied, but the concern in his tone was obvious. “I always count heads when we come back to camp, but in the chaos today…” He hesitated, then in a slightly lighter tone added, “Just getting to it some hours late now and haven’t found his to count yet. If anyone lays eyes, let him know I’m after him, yeah?”

There was a general consensus from the room, and Edgar hurried back into the rain to keep looking.

Odelia placed a weathered hand each on Tash’s and Ori’s forearms, protective, before whispering a quick prayer to the Dark Mother.

Pait touched her own forearm, wrapped in a bandage that she didn’t need, to hide those letters marring her skin. If she hadn’t returned from foraging, how long before someone would have noticed? She wasn’t part of the Duxon group—she wasn’t Edgar’s head to count.

She’d hope Daivad would notice, but he’d all but dismissed her earlier when she’d tried to tell him what—

Sparks shot over Pait’s skin, setting her heart pounding. When she’d tried to tell him what she’d seen in the forest. While foraging.

Her eyes darted in the direction of the door Edgar had just left through.

But she wasn’t sure what she’d seen. If she’d seen anything at all. Maybe Julius’ reaction had just freaked her out and her brain concocted that nonsense to make sense of his behavior. Maybe when he’d said “Hungry” it was just because he was, well, hungry. Maybe Aleaza wasn’t missing at all, he was safe at home and Edgar was worried for nothing.

Or maybe he wasn’t.

Pait snatched up her dishes as she stood, and hurried off to find Daivad.