“Really?” My fingers tighten into fists almost without my bidding them to first as the news sinks in. “That means this whole fucking day’s just been another bust for us.” I fight the urge to shove the door open hard as I can so it smacks into the wall outside like the dark part of me wants it to, just to find an outlet for my frustration. The proprietor of this particular shop was polite enough answering our questions, even if we did walk in while they were in the middle of what looked like a particularly difficult piece. I really don’t want to reward that with belligerence, even if it ain’t directed at them personally.

“I’m sorry.” The young dragonhalf wizard’s face seems to darken a shade or too across her cheeks and nose as she averts her gaze while following me out, and now I feel bad. I didn’t mean to take it out on her, either. Tulen’s a sweet kid, in the hours I’ve gotten to know her I’ve become surprisingly fond of her, she’s just so refreshingly honest and open.

So I take a deep breath and settle myself inside as I turn back to wait for Dumoli to join us outside, the halfling, Darwyn, trailing him at a more sedate pace I could almost mistake for boredom if I didn’t recognise the way she immediately starts casting about in all directions. I seen Brung do something similar enough times I’m getting to recognise that she’s a watchful one like him, even if she seems to have a very different temperament to go with it.

“No, I’m sorry, luv. I didn’t mean to bite your head off like that, I’m just …” I let out a heavy sigh, and it almost drags me down to my knees when I let it out. “Been a real frustrating last few days for us, so I’m just snapping at you cuz you’re the messenger. I really shouldn’t be doing that.”

Tulen looks down at me for a long moment, considering now, then she smiles and despite all the sharp teeth it’s like the sun coming out on a cloudy day. She steps forward with a raising hand but then checks herself even though it took me too much by surprise for me to react enough to step back, instead laying her free hand across her belly and snapping off a gentle bow. “You’re forgiven of course, Mistress Frostforge. It’s entirely understandable under the circumstances.”

I have to blink at that, trying not to frown too deep now as I crane up at her. Damn it, why’d they have to make her so tall? “Well yeah, but … c’mon, we’re s’posed to be all mates here, so … look, I told you once already, now I’m gonna insist. It’s just Thel. Relax. You ain’t on parade here or anything like that.”

“Oh, okay … sorry.” She grimaces for a beat, but then it’s gone just as quick and she smiles again. “Thel. Cool. Tulen.” She gives another little bow as she says her name, but it feels more like a simple sincere gesture than decorum.

“Yeah, I know.” I can’t help grinning back at that, keeping it rueful to mask my own amusement but I don’t think I succeed. Then that tall Fir Bolg seems to step out of nowhere from the side of the shop and gives me a jolt on her own, and scrambling to recover from that’s the push I need to focus back on the job. “Anyway, guess that means we’re done.”

Yeslee focuses on me instantly, slowing her step as she approaches and letting the stave of her unstrung bow rest across her shoulder now. Those strange, piercing violet eyes are still looking right through me, and I finally come to the conclusion I really don’t like being regarded like that, even if it’s unintended. “Kesla found something?”

“Yeah, she …” I have to pause, take a breath, she’s still got me a little rattled. “According to Tulen here, they located the tattooist. Gael relayed the info over, so we got a destination.”

“So that’s it, then, we’re done with this?” Dumoli lets his hammer settle between his feet, leaning into the handle a little. “Can’t say I’m particularly disappointed, this has been something of a ball-ache.”

Gotta admit, Du always knows just what to say to cheer me up, I can’t help grinning at that. “It has been a bit. Yeah, looks like that’s that.”

“Long way?” Yeslee’s looking around now, something like the way Darwyn’s been doing, but with her it seems more like just the way she is rather than the way she was trained. “We’re pretty far along now.”

“No rush.” I look to the sky now, judging the time from the sun. It’s well into the afternoon now, but looks like there’s still enough day left. “They’re gonna be there for a while, apparently. And I’m hungry. We been at this a while, I need some food.”

“Gods yeah, you’re right there.” Darwyn agrees, a cocked little smile quirking her mouth now. “There’s a good place close by, and it’s quiet.”

Looking to Yeslee, I find her observing the halfling now, and while her face is no more readable now than it’s been over the course of this whole day, I think I can tell what she’s thinking now. Gods knows she’s looked at me enough, Du as well, and I get the feeling she’s someone who’s very slow to trust. Even now, after all we been through since we were thrown together yesterday, she ain’t sure she can really trust her yet, and I can’t say I blame her. I’m still having enough trouble with that myself and they saved my life, along with my friends’.

Thing is, Darwyn’s easy to like. Sure, she’s definitely a little complicated, it was clear she really didn’t want to be here in the first place, but since we split into two groups to do this and she’s been away from Art of Shadows she’s mellowed considerably. She’s been smiling a lot since, and I’ll admit I’m getting used to seeing it, even getting to like it. It’s very cute.

“Sure.” I brush the hair out of my eyes now, turning to look up the street, then back down again. It’s busy out here, but everyone seems to be minding their own business well enough. “No harm in taking a break, it’s been a long day.”

Yeslee keeps on frowning, and for a few moments I think she might argue with me, but instead she simply lets a slow sigh go as she sets her jaw, and I wonder if maybe she’s counting to ten. Kesla didn’t expressly put me in charge of this little group when we split but I get the impression some of the others are defaulting to me anyway, which surprised me at first, but I get it. It’s interesting – when our own trio formed, even though Du’s a good seventy years my senior he often seems content to follow my decisions, Brung too. It’s taken me a long time to get used to it, but now I’m just making the unconscious assumption that it extends to the others too. But not with Yeslee … she’s clearly very much her own person, and she’s chafing right now.

From what I seen of the Creeping Bam, they’re a lot like us. They’re more like a family than a band of professionals, there’s no strict hierarchy there, just like-minded friends all gathered together in common cause. So while Kesla’s the nominal leader of the group, it’s more like she’s just the parent in the group, what they call the Mum Friend, and while she makes the decisions and they tend to follow ‘em it’s never from a place of subordination, they just trust she knows best. With Kesla and Yeslee, on the other hand, I think it’s something closer to a partnership, because their personalities are so powerfully individual there’s no way one would defer to the other, and it’s pure friendship that keeps the pair on an even keel. I heard some o’ the others, like Art and the tengu cleric, Krakka, call Kesla boss, and while it’s clearly more of a nickname they do mean it, ‘least a little, but when Yeslee calls her boss it feels more like they’re sharing a private joke. Me, we only just met, I got no reason to suspect she’s gonna show me the same kinda restrained respect.

So maybe it’s best if I try to smooth any feathers I might’ve ruffled first. “It’s cool, if you’d rather we just got right back then I’m sure we can try and pick something up quick to eat on the way.”

There’s the slightest rise of her eyebrows at that, I can’t even be sure I really saw it. “No, you’re right. If Kesla says we have time then we have time.” She waves a vague hand past me. “Lead on.”

I watch her for a moment longer, trying to work out if she’s being as dismissive as her words and gesture could suggest, but I reckon she’s just being herself. So I nod, then turn back to Darwyn, who I realise has been watching this brief conversation and the whole other, much longer one we clearly didn’t have with a cool, analytical curiosity. Thankfully she’s got enough decorum to smile it off as she meets my eyes, catching my drift before I open my mouth.

“Great.” She looks up now, and I realise she’s searching the rooftops around us for any subtle sign of our unseen hobgoblin companion. Finally her eyes narrow a fraction and she gives a subtle nod, then taps her thumb to her chest before snapping off a few cryptic little hand signals. Then she turns back to me and it’s like nothing’s changed. “Ain’t far, just follow me.”

Turning back to Yeslee, I find she’s looking up at the rooftops now, or rather one particular spot on the left, pretty much where Darwyn was looking during that silent communication. Turning to follow her gaze, all I can see it crooked slate on the steeply sloping roof above and some particularly ragged old rusty guttering, no sign of any actual watcher at all. But I don’t doubt she spotted the hob as easily as the intriguing young halfling.

Tulen’s looking up too when I look to her, but she’s frowning deeply, and I get the feeling she’s a little lost. So I swing by her as I start following Darwyn. “You hungry too?”

“Hmm?” The dragonhalf blinks in slightly startled surprise, but she’s together enough to fall into step alongside me as we start heading back up the street the opposite way to where we were heading before. “Oh! Yes, I am, actually. Very.”

“Then we’re good. C’mon.”

Tulen’s smile is hesitant, but she warms up quickly, and I find myself responding in kind, I’m really getting to like her. Sure, she towers over me, but she’s also naïve almost to a fault, and she’s genuinely effervescent, but not to such a level that she could be irritating, though I suspect she’s spent a good deal of her youth learning how to keep herself from becoming too much. From what little I seen of their interactions, even Yeslee seems happy enough to tolerate her, which is impressive enough in itself, although it might be down to that fact she feels responsible for her safety while she’s here with the rest of us …

After we take a turn at the next corner, we’re heading downhill again, back in the direction of the harbour, and I can smell it in the air again, the subtle whiff of salt that takes me back to my youth, when I ran to Hedesh after what happened at home. Those first few years on the streets, fighting to survive, but really more after I met Mulden. Learning to become something more than a desperate little thief in that old converted stable down by the docks, where the smell was everywhere. Granted, it ain’t exactly the same, it’s sharper here, a little more putrid, but then Untermer’s a bit dirtier than Hedesh, ’least as far as cities go. But there’s a kinship all the same, and it makes me a little nostalgic.

“I understand you and your companions have been together for a while?” Tulen’s snaps me out of my reverie a little more forcefully than I might like, but I don’t snap at her about it. Instead I simply look up at her sidelong, noting the curiosity, but also a little sheepishness. Like she ain’t really sure she should be asking me this stuff.

It takes me a moment to decide whether to answer or not. “Yeah, a few years now for the three of us. I met Du a fair few years before that, though, when I first came up here out of Abharet. Over a decade now, ain’t it?”

Dumoli’s fallen into step on Tulen’s other side, and he takes her by surprise when he replies. “That’s about right, yeah. You had a lot more blonde in your hair back then, I remember. Funny how that works, I never seen anything like it.”

My hand goes to my hair before I can help it, and as I yank it back down to my side again I give him a sharp glare from around Tulen’s midsection. He just grins right back. “You leave my hair alone, Mister Can’t-Decide-If-I’m-Goin’-Grey-Or-Not. Far as I’m concerned you’re in the same boat with that.”

That makes him laugh, and I can’t help smiling too. “Aye, well … you were very young back then, at least for a dwarf. I mean, you’d grown up hard, but … you were still finding your way. From what I knew about your past you’d come a fair way, but –”

“Yeah, well if it hadn’t been for the fact you’d known Mulden back in the day I might’ve just told you to go screw. Trust is a pretty precious commodity where I came from.”

“Yeah, well the old man wanted me to keep you out of trouble, so I don’t think I’ve been very successful in keeping that particular promise.” He says it in a rueful tone, but he can’t keep the smile from his face. “You’ve been a grand companion, though. I’ll give you that. The wee man too. I like to think he keeps us honest.”

My snort’s out before I can stop it, I’m barely able to keep myself from bursting out laughing. “That’s a hilarious way to look at it, considering the way he got stuck with us in the first place.”

“Well I don’t think either of us could argue he’s better off than he would’ve been if we left him where we found him.”

“Oh, you mean a rotting head on a spike to warn all the other goblins in the area not to get ideas above their station?” I give him a particularly nasty grin at that. “Yeah, reckon I agree with that one.”

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“Gods, really?” Tulen exclaims, a little breathy, surprising us both. She looking down at each of us in turn with wide eyes.

All I can do is shrug. “We don’t like that kinda thing. Not if it ain’t deserved. And Brung sure didn’t deserve that. So we … hmm …” I come up short thinking about how to put it given we’re basically admitting to breaking a convicted enemy o’ the state out of imprisonment while he was waiting on his execution.

“We handled it.” Du beats me to it, and I gotta admit it’s tactfully put. “Of course then we had to hustle out of Tabaphic in quite the rush, but –”

“Oh my.” Tulen’s eyes seem to grow wider, and she almost stumbles, but she maintains her balance impressively well, clearing her throat as she continues. “Pardon me.”

“It’s cool.” I try to reassure her again, trying a different tack. “We’re good, we ain’t got any bounties on our heads or anything like that. We keep our noses clean, so they can’t say anything.”

“We simply can’t show our faces in the capital again anytime soon, that’s all.” Du mutters, and I glare daggers at him for it.

“So … was it just your friend, then?” Darwyn puts in now, surprising us too as we realise she’s fallen back a little so she can listen in on our conversation. “When you staged this daring breakout, I mean.”

“Oh … oh, no.” Dumoli looks to me now and it’s clear he’s asking me if I mind him letting some of the details out. I try hard not to roll my eyes as I nod my reluctant approval. “No, there were perhaps a dozen of them still alive, and when we freed them from the pen they started fighting alongside us. It became …” He winces subtly. “A little hairy after that.”

“We managed to get four of ‘em out alive in the end.” I sigh, a little crestfallen now as I’m forced to remember that particularly unpleasant little engagement. “The rest died hard, though. Made it hurt taking ‘em down. Reckon they did their dead families proud, an’ their ancestors. Whoever else it might’ve mattered to, I dunno. Brung never talks about his beliefs.”

“Minerva …” Tulen breathes, but it doesn’t seem like shock this time, in truth I read it more as relief than anything else. She lets a sigh go, fingers delicately pressed to her chest. “Well that was … most fortunate, then. What happened to the others then, if I might ask?”

“We got ‘em all out the city, into the forests and the hills. Then … well, the others didn’t feel much like spending any more time round … civilised folk, I guess you’d say. So they took their leave soon as it was safe. But Brung was different. He had as much reason to hate them as had mistreated him as what little kin he had left, but … I dunno. Guess he saw something different in us.”

“It’s not like he had any reason to stick anymore, either.” Du sighs “He didn’t have anything left after that. At least we were offering him a chance to claw something back from the world. Mostly though, I think he simply thought he owed us.”

“Well, I guess he’s right, really.” Darwyn shrugs when I snap my gaze to her, a little taken aback by the bluntness of her words. “Given what he was looking at, he does owe you his life. I’ve known a few goblins in my life, they make amazing thieves, but I gotta tell you, they’re awful principled deep down. I mean sure, they don’t really give any more fucks about nicking stuff from folk who can afford it than most of the rest of us, but you do something serious like that for ‘em, they remember it. It proper counts to them. Honour’s a big deal for goblins, much as for orcs.”

“She has a point there.” Yeslee mutters behind us, which really surprises me, it’s all I can do to keep myself from stopping on the spot, and I’m clearly not alone. She just stares back at us from the rear of the group, almost like she’s daring us to argue, and doesn’t elaborate.

Turning back, I take a deep breath as I decide to take back control of the conversation. “Yeah, well he’s been good for us since. We’d been a quartet for a while before that, then we lost two good friends in the Western Wilds on a pretty nasty little job gone real bad, so when we got to Tabaphic we were all outta sorts. We needed him, I guess. And he’s been good for us since.”

The others seem to get that’s it on the subject, falling into a contemplative silence as we walk on, and I look round to see Dumoli in particular is very thoughtful indeed. I remember at the time he was genuinely unsure if we were making the right call, even given our old convictions he thought it might backfire in the worst way on us, but he want along with me all the same. Instead there was ultimately more payoff than fallout, even if we have to tread more carefully now than we used to. Still, it’s not like we ever did a whole lot of business in the capital anyway, and the kinda people who’d take issue with Brung’s existence in the first case ain’t folk we wanna be dealing with in the first place.

Looking back over my shoulder, I find Yeslee’s watching both of us with particular intensity now, and while I couldn’t begin to translate what that expression, such as it is, actually means, I can tell it means something. I still don’t know what to make of her, of course – I’d never met a Fir Bolg in my life before yesterday, barely even knew about them outside of fairy stories from my childhood about the Tuatha de Danann, and I always suspected a lot of that was bollocks anyway. She’s not at all what I would’ve expected, something a good deal more intense and intimidating, incredibly striking, perhaps even beautiful but in a pretty severe way, most especially her rich dark hair and disconcerting eyes. And I’m well aware now of just how dangerous she is now I’ve seen what she can do with that bow.

If I hadn’t already been informed that she’s from Tektehr I easily would’ve worked it out on my own, her accent makes it clear as day. Given what I know about that country, I suspect she’s been through some severe hardships of her own in her time, and I wonder if hearing about Brung’s experiences, even without the details, may have touched any nerves with her. Nobody I ever met from the far North who came down of their own accord ever wants to go back again, no matter how great a shock this place deals to their system once they arrived. Won’t pay to ask, though. I doubt she’s any more forthcoming about herself than she is about anything else.

Turning another corner onto one of the wider streets heading down to the docks now, I catch sight of the harbour now, the great jumble of ships and boats moored down there and a few more moving in and out. Then there’s the water, spreading out beyond it, the vast unbroken blue stretching to the horizon and that lighter blue above it, above everything. Maybe the smell grows a little stronger now, or maybe I’m simply imagining it with the sea in sight now, but suddenly the tang of salt is right in my nose and altogether it sets my heart racing a little. Nostalgia, I dunno … it stirs me all the same to experience it. It’s almost enough of a distraction …

But I still catch sight of the movement from the corner of my eye, and while it shouldn’t sound any alarms for me in these busy, bustling streets right now I’m given pause all the same … I dunno, something just tells me to pay attention to it, deep down. It’s enough to make me clench my fists without thinking, tighten my jaw a little as I feel that little tickle of … nerves, I guess, just itching up between my shoulder-blades, to the back of my neck. My pace slows, but just a touch, I fall out of step with Tulen slowly as I start to turn, keeping it subtle as the warning starts screaming at me now.

Yeah, it was just in the corner of my eye, but somehow that split-second flash of whatever it was turned out to be enough to spring my memory. I seen that before, that shadow, that figure, whatever … a few days ago, on the other side of the Square. Fast, furtive, secretive. I know that shadow …

At the last I whip my head sideways, eyes tracking fast, hoping to catch … whatever it is, if I can. And it works, I catch a glimpse, somebody moving into a side-street now, fast, knowing they been spotted now, a tall, slender figure, wearing a long black coat and broad-brimmed hat, wide collar turned up despite the warmth still in the air. Lithe movements, like a forest cat, something predatory but wary enough to not want to be seen. Fear of detection, then, but a purpose under it too. Because it’s clear enough they’re here for us.

If I thought I was just imagining it the other day, I know I wasn’t now. That’s the same person I saw before we were attacked, right there in the middle of the street, and now I suspect I might know who that is underneath all that cover too. Even if I can’t make out a face in that brief glance, what I do see is too conclusive for me to doubt any more. Reckon this is that lass the boy was talking about, the one hired ‘em all. Vandryss.

Thinking fast now, I wipe the frown from my face the best I can before I pick up my pace again while turning back to the path we’re following. Taking a deep breath, I force my fingers loose as I can, fighting the urge to flex them now but well aware my hands are shaking some from the anticipation, adrenaline rushing through me now. Don’t let her see it, please Thorin, let her miss my reaction. I let the breath go slow, looking dead ahead now.

Even so, I feel Yeslee float up behind me now, and I slow a touch so she can catch up with me easier, falling behind Tulen again. Thankfully if the young wizard registers it she doesn’t acknowledge it, so when the Fir Bolg steps around onto my other side with two easy strides of her long legs the whole group just keeps moving smooth, like nothing happened.

“You saw them too, I take it?” Yeslee asks me after a few moments, barely breathing it so I only just catch it, but that was the point. She’s still strolling along at a leisurely pace, ostensibly to account for my comparatively stumpy legs, her bow still unstrung as it’s laid across her shoulder. She seems as coolly indifferent as ever, you’d never know she’s on the alert now.

“I did indeed.” I mutter, low as I can, trusting her impressive hearing to pick up on it. “Reckon it’s that odd one, the one they’re all talking about. Vandryss?”

“The fancy one?” The subtlest lilt in her voice there, tells me she might just be a little bit surprised by the idea. “You’re sure about that?”

“No, not by a long shot. But I got a feeling about it. They’re definitely a she, an’ what I saw was enough to suggest it. And I seen ‘em before, from that first time we met these … arseholes. So even if it ain’t her, it’s still them.” I give her a pointed look as I say it.

“Yeah, I’d go along with that.” She’s silent for a long time, and I wonder if she’s contemplating just tearing off after our new shadow, if she’s still there. The hand gripping her bow tightens a little for a moment, and while there’s no discernible popping in her knuckles I can just about make out the subtle creak of her fingers round the wood of the stave. Then she lets a little sigh go and looks to me again. “All right then, since you’re supposed to be in charge, what’s your call?”

I can’t help turning my head all the way to give her a proper look at that, even though my instincts start screaming at me that this is a bad idea if I wanna keep our covert observation quiet. Yeslee’s just watching me sidelong, quiet and cool and unreadable again, but there doesn’t seem to be any actual judgement in her expression, such as it is. It almost seems to me like she really is happy to defer to me right now. I’m not sure if I like that idea …

“Well …” I falter now as I think through the possibilities. I know Yeslee’s raring to go, in truth I wanna chase her down too, but I suspect that could turn out to be a costly mistake, especially right now. But I also know this is likely the precursor to something worse, and just carrying on with our day in feigned ignorance seems as likely to lead to an attack as if we hadn’t caught it after all. But if we were to head back to join the others now … I mean, that’s just leading them straight back to the others, and we can’t have that either. “Shit. This is a problem any way I look at it.”

Yeslee’s silent for a moment, looking round without moving her head, then lets a low growl go. “Same here. All right …” She licks her lips, which is a very strange thing for her to do, I realise. “Hmmm … so then, in your opinion, which of these shit options seems the least shit?”

That sets me proper frowning, I can’t help it. I’m itching to look over my shoulder, to check if we’re still being tracked so clearly, but I manage to fight it. Maybe it’s just that chill still running up my spine, the subtle burning in the back of my head, but it’s a safe enough assumption that we are. Instead I let my next breath go in a hiss through my teeth and don’t turn to her this time, I just step an inch or two closer into her side. “Hold that thought. You got a lead on her? Whoever it actually is?”

“Maybe.” That growl’s still in her voice now, her eyes narrowing. Is it the thought of the chase itself, or just that we’re being tailed? “There’s somebody back there, I’m aware enough of that. I don’t like it … they don’t smell right.”

Okay … I really don’t know what to make of that, it just worries me. “Uh huh … yeah, well keep an eye out, or whatever. I’ll be back.”

She doesn’t answer me, but she still gives me a look sidelong through her narrowed eyes, and I hear that subtle creak of her hand on the bow again. She wants to string it now, make herself read for whatever’s coming. Wants to take the initiative in this, instead of waiting like an idiot. I feel exactly the same right now …

Instead I pick up my pace again, passing Tulen and Du so I can catch up with Darwyn at the front. She turns as I arrive, and I adjust my pace now to match her own as she strides along as purposefully as her little legs can manage. She’s setting a surprisingly brisk pace, actually.

“There you are. I was just debating what to do, Zul told me there’s somebody shadowing us now –”

“Where is he now?”

“He?” Her brows shoot up. “You know who it is? Who is it, then?”

“What?” For a moment I’m stumped until I realise what she means. “Oh … no, not that. It’s a she, I’m pretty sure. Fact reckon it might be that weird one, that the boy told us about.”

“Oh, you mean … what was it? Ventriss?”

“Vandryss.” I hiss it as quietly as I can.

“Whatever … you’re sure?”

“No, but I suspect it. Look … never mind that. I’m asking after your boy, anyway. The hob, Zuldrad? Where’s he at?”

Darwyn blinks, then nods. “Oh! Okay, I gotcha … yeah, he’s over there.” She points a very casual finger towards one of the rooftops on the left, but when I follow it I still can’t see anything besides slate and guttering.

“Yeah, I don’t –”

“Course you don’t, that’s the point.” There’s a little bit of laughter in her voice now, and her smile’s pretty sly.

I try not to give her too hard a glare in return, in truth I’m having trouble keeping myself from smiling too, she’s got me there. Gods know, she can probably do that too, I just get the impression it’s not really her thing. “Whatever. Can you find out if she’s alone, if maybe there’s more of ‘em?”

“Sure.” Darwyn snaps off another quick series of indecipherable hand-signals, then after a few moments of craning in the direction she pointed out she nods and signs what I imagine is a simple affirmation. “Half a dozen of ‘em, he reckons. No more’n that. They’re shadowing … her, not us. Reckon she’s on point, just tracking us, we don’t reckon they’re an actual threat right now.” She sighs, looking a little more wary now. “Course they don’t need to right now, do they?”

“How d’you mean?”

“Well, I mean they got a wizard on their side, right? She can just …” She snaps her fingers. “That, and then we’re outnumbered again, same as before.”

“Maybe …” I start to smile now, I can’t help it. “Maybe not. Listen, tell him to keep doing what he’s doing, and let you know if anything changes. In the meantime, don’t do anything else. We’re gonna go get food, carry on like none of this is happening.”

“But what if –”

“With a bit o’ luck, we can turn the tables on these fuckers. Meantime I’m still hungry, and I know the others are too. We gotta do shit, I don’t wanna do it on an empty stomach. In the meantime, we’re gonna put ‘em to sleep.” I lean in for a moment, give her a little nundge with my elbow, careful not to be too forceful given her size in case I knock her off her feet. “You good?”

“I dunno, guess we’ll see.” She shrugs. “What are you gonna do?”

“Pass on the plan, then just play along.” I shrug. “Right now it’s all I got.”

“Okay.” She still seems a little sceptical, but after a moment a slow smile starts to return to her face. “Tell the truth, I kinda like it.” She looks away and starts signalling to her unseen friend again.

Indulging my own little smile, I start to fall back again, wanting to fill Yeslee in on the new plan. Figure I’ll need to fill the rest in too, maybe get Tulen to send another message to the other group. Just might be we can turn the tables on ‘em now …