He was, of course, dutifully listening to Takane’s instructions. He totally wasn’t ignoring everything she was saying in order to try to figure out what the people were doing outside of the window. Definitely.

“I’m going to be gone for about a month,” she said quickly, nervously, as she triple-checked her bags. “Kiraat is in charge. Make sure to listen to him. If people knock on the door, pretend like you’re not home. Keep the curtains closed and try to stay quiet. If you desperately need something then you should know which neighbors are friendly. And please, please don’t get into trouble.”

All four of them obediently nodded, but none of them were really listening. What Umber heard was perfectly clear:

Kiraat is boring, don’t listen to him. You’ve got a month to do whatever you want, especially if it involves leaving the house and having fun.

The last time Takane had left—also after Haris’s death—had taken just as long and made her just as worried. She’d mumbled about “talking to Sarah,” though he wasn’t sure who that was exactly, and came back with money that lasted until last week. Everything had stayed the same the first time she left. Umber assumed the same would happen now and that there wouldn’t be anything worth worrying about.

It was after one more look around the house that Takane left and Umber began to devise his plan. He pretended to heed her instructions for all of five minutes before declaring, “I’m going to go see what those people are doing outside!”

“No,” was Kiraat’s immediate, blunt answer. He did the annoyingly smart thing by stepping in front of the door, effectively blocking any of them from getting past him.

“You can’t tell me what to do! Let me see!”

“No. I’m in charge, which means we’re staying inside.”

Zenas eagerly raised her hand and asked, “Can we go to the garden?” She not-so-subtly winked at Umber. She’d help him!

And, surprisingly, Calli nodded too. “Can we?”

Kiraat looked like he may have first refused, before seeing her innocent look, then sighed. “Fine, but you’ve all got to still be out there when it’s time for dinner.”

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Zenas and Umber cheered in unison and rushed outside. Calli followed slower, taking a book and something to write with outside.

Umber, the one who got there first, was already trying to carefully climb the tree. He knew it would get him over the fence; there were boxes on the other side that he could use to get back over around dinner. Once he was confidently sitting on the high stone fence, and Zenas was on her way to join him, he noticed Calli had settled with just the tree’s shade.

“Are you coming, Calli?” Umber asked. “Ki won’t notice!”

“Yes he will,” she responded simply. “He’ll need my help with dinner. That way he won’t realize you two left.”

Why hadn’t he thought of that? “Thanks, Calli!” Then he used the boxes on the other side to safely get down. Feeling the rush of freedom and defiance, he started wandering the streets even before Zenas caught up to him.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t as much to do as what he thought there would be.

It had probably been a gradual change but, given the fact neither Haris nor Takane let them wander outside for long, he could only see extremes. Every time he snuck out here, he found that Idale got a little quieter—or, this time, a lot quieter. It was in hindsight that he paid attention to the mumbles Takane made on the matter; how it had to do with the five of them unlocking that tree. But back then, all he saw were people packing their things for mysterious reasons, trying to catch up to the half of the town that had already left.

Umber, eager for some kind of adventure, walked up to another young boy. “What are you doing?”

The boy looked at him and Zenas and seemed as excited to talk to them as they were. He was on the verge of saying something before a woman—his mother, probably—called, “Lyron! What do you think you’re doing? Stay away from them—you never know what they could be hiding.”

She pulled the boy away and ushered him off to whatever his father must’ve been. The way she looked at Umber and Zenas was something he was a bit familiar with; it was the look of most of the townspeople, especially since they unlocked the tree. He didn’t get it then. Why weren’t they happy that their town could always be a little pocket of spring, even in the harshest winter?

“I’d advise you two troublemakers to head back home,” she warned—threatened, even. “I don’t know what you’re doing out here and I don’t care. Soon enough we won’t have to be around you and whatever luck you bring with you…”

“But—”

“Go home, to where that man spent so much of his time doing whatever it was! We don’t want you here! You’ve done something none of us can. Clearly there’s something wrong with you. So go home before you get into trouble.”

Umber was suddenly very aware of all the glares on him and Zenas—of everyone outside, and some inside, who had yet to leave. They both realized this wasn’t something that they could or should fight. So they started walking back, until it seemed the stares started to sink in, and they ran the rest of the way and over the fence.

Maybe Takane had a point about wanting them to stay inside.