I turn around, startled, and look up. A few feet above me is a thin balcony that runs along the building. Sitting on it is a tiny girl who is regarding me with half a smile. She swings her legs back and forth, hitting the wall in a rhythmic pattern. “Sorry,” I call up, “do I know you?”

“Why don’t you come up and see?” The girl says. She pats the seat next to her and gives me an exaggerated wink. I can’t help but chuckle.

“There, you see?” The girl says in reaction to my laugh. “Nothing to be scared off.”

Just looking at her I’m guessing she’s right. The girl is the size of the child, although I know by her voice that she’s older. Fourteen, fifteen perhaps. I climb the wall, hoisting myself up on some boxes and scrambling onto the balcony. The girl watches me as I take my seat. She’s got smiling eyes, as my mom would say. Her eyes are partially covered by her short brown hair, which is just a few shades darker than her skin. She’s wearing baggy pants and black vest with a hooded scarf. I think it’s one of the men’s vests, just worn on a much smaller body.

She smiles at me sweetly. “So tell me, are you actually an idiot or do you just like acting stupid?”

I stare at her completely dumbfounded. My mouth even falls open a little.

“Idiot then,” she says and sighs loudly. “I’ll tell you, I’ve had enough of idiotic people in my life.”

“I’m not-I’m not sure,” I stutter through the simple sentence. “I’m not sure what you-“

She holds up her hands to stop me. “This is actually causing me pain.” She has a unique way of speaking. Her sentences go up a little at the end, almost as if she were always asking questions. “Let’s try something a little simpler. Where are you from, kid?”

Little does she know that this question is no simpler. “I’m from another one of the cities,” I tell her, forcing myself not to look away with the lie.

The girl stares at me without blinking. I know I haven’t fooled her. “Which one?” she asks.

“Oh. Verfall,” I say, stating the first city that comes to mind.

“No,” the girl replies.

“Excuse me? That’s where I’m from.” I try to sound indignant.

“Where’s your accent then? You know that real slurry way Verfallians have of talking?”

“I lost it,” I say quickly and look away from her all-knowing stare.

“Well did you look in the last place you had it?” The girl laughs loudly at her own joke. “Now, if I was the betting sort I might put some money down that you’re not from any city at all. I’d say that the way you walk around here like a horse underwater, you’ve never lived in a city a day in your life. So which is? The prairie? The Forsyth? The west?” She looks me up and down as if the answer is written somewhere on my skin.

“I’m from Verfall,” I mutter. “I just don’t have an-”

“The Forsyth, isn’t it?” She interrupts. “You kinda look like a tree. A little too tall, a little too stiff. Prairie farmers are all tanned to leather and you don’t have that crazy in the eyes look the western folk do.”

I’m not sure how to respond. My plan of not telling his girl anything has fallen apart. I’m not even sure why I’m talking to her. I don’t have any time to waste. I open my mouth to tell her I have to go.

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“You see all this, kid?” She gestures towards the square and the people lounging about. “It’s my job to keep an eye on what happens here. Make sure no one is causing trouble that shouldn’t be, eh?” She grins at me. “I meant what I said about you being an idiot. I was watching you run around like you wanted trouble. What were you thinking, asking questions like that?”

“I need to find someone,” I tell her. “I’m looking for-”

“Evan,” she interrupts.

“How did you know about my brother?”

“Your brother? Well I didn’t know that. But trust me, every gods loving person out there knows why you’re here the way you were going on about it.”

“Good,” I retort, annoyed at this girl’s implication. “The more people that know the better. Someone out there will be able to help me.”

“No,” she says, wagging a finger at me. “Someone out there will throw you in a jail cell. It’s a miracle you’re not in one already.”

“Just because I’m from the Forsyth?”

“That and you’re asking about the deepest darkest secrets of the Delphast. Very few people know about that particular train and the cargo it carries.”

My heart leaps in my chest. “You know about the train? Do you know where my brother is? What’s happened to him?”

“Relax,” the girl orders. “It so happens that I know a great deal about the train. In fact,” she leans in and gives me a big, lazy wink, “I’m practically an expert.”

“Tell me! Please.”

“Let’s make a deal, eh? If you tell me how you came to be in my delightful company, I’ll give you some valuable information.” She sticks out her hand and grabs my arm. “I’m Layla by the way.”

I grasp her forearm in return. My fingers easily overlap. “Javin.”

“Yeah, I know. Like I said, it’s amazing you weren’t caught by the guards the way you were going on. People are hung for less.” She lets go of my arm. “So tell me, Javin, what brings you to the Delphast.”

Hesitation seizes me. I know nothing about this girl, this Layla. I should go back into the crowd and keep asking about Evan. Maybe try to get past the guards and into that train tunnel. Something stops me from jumping off this balcony. What if this girl’s not just messing me with? What if she can actually help? What if she really does know something about the train? It’s not like I was having much luck out there. I swallow my reluctance and tell her the whole story. How Evan and I were caught in the forest. How we were treated on the train. What happened when we tried to escape. How I was treated at the farm and then again in the city.

“So you’re an outlaw, eh?” Layla asks when I’m done with my story. “Well then you’ve come to the right place. The Delphast is filled with outlaws, if you know where to look.”

“And?” I ask. “You said you’d tell me valuable information.”

“So I did,” she says, running her hand through her short hair. “Most important thing to know about the Delphast, big number one rule: Nobody helps for no reason. That was your first mistake when you came in here. You thought that someone would help you just because you asked. Fat chance. Everyone’s got an angle. Even me.”

“That’s it? That’s the information? Why are you even talking to me if you’re not going to help!”

“I’m talking to you because it just so happens that your angle and my angle coincide.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, forest boy, I really am going to help you.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re wasting my time.”

“Am I? Then leave.” She starts to inspect the dirt under her nails.

Gods. She’s called my bluff. I can’t leave, not if there is a chance that she isn’t just messing with me, a chance that she can actually get me to Evan. “Fine. How are you going to help me?”

She reaches out for my hand and I let her take it. Her skin is surprisingly soft. I had expected callousness. The pressure on my hand calms me, as if my anger is draining into her body. “I need you to trust me, for what comes next,” she says. Her voice is softer than before, kinder. “You’ll do it?”

I want to scream no! But I don’t. I can’t. “Yes. I’ll trust you.”

“Good.” She winks at me again, her long lashes pressing on her cheeks. She pulls up her black hood over her hair. It casts her entire face in shadow. Her grip tightens on my hand and, with no warning, she launches off the balcony, pulling me with her straight towards the ground.