'They exist?' Slowhand said.
'Oh yes.'
'Care to tell me why Munch has brought it here?'
'Holiday by the sea?' Kali said. 'No, seriously, I haven't a clue.'
She yawned.
'Time for bed, eh?' Slowhand said. 'Just you and me and a seductively crackling fire?'
'You and me, maybe, but no fire, crackling or otherwise. This stage of the game, we can't risk them spotting us.'
Slowhand sighed. There she went again, treating him like an idiot. 'Actually, I already knew that. No matter,' he added, winking, 'instead we can get up close and personal, share some body heat.'
Kali stared at him. 'There's another possibility,' she said. 'In the Drakengrats, when bad weather hits and they can't get off the mountains, the high shepherds slice open the stomach of one of their flock and crawl inside for the night, using the intestines for warmth…'
Slowhand looked shocked. 'You wouldn't — not Horse?'
'Who said anything about Horse?'
There was a moment's silence.
'I'll get some blankets from the saddlebags,' Killiam said.
'Yes, you do that.'
Minutes later, they had bedded down for the night, blankets a few feet apart. Lying in the azure darkness, each sipping on a bottle of flummox, Kali stared up at the night sky and its coming eclipse while Slowhand kept an uneasy eye on Horse, watching as the beast's tongue lashed out into the shadows surrounding the camp, snapping back every now and then with something dark, furry and squealing in its grip. The thing didn't seem to be interested in him any more, and so he turned his attention to Kali. The expression in her eyes as she stared at the stars troubled him.
'Hooper, how long have I known you?' he asked.
'Too pitsing long.'
'I'm serious. I've known you long enough to know when something's bothering you. What is it?'
'What do you think, Slowhand? I lost two of my oldest friends.'
'I know that. But I know there's something else.' He paused. 'The old man told you something in the World's Ridge Mountains, didn't he? Something about you, about the things you can do?'
Kali hesitated, and then told him about the old man's parting words, about how and in what circumstances he had found her, inside the sealed site.
Slowhand stared.
'How in the hells could it have been sealed?' he said. And after a delay, added, 'Who are you, Hooper?'
'Slowhand, I wish I knew.'
The archer saw Kali's expression grow reflective, and changed tack slightly in the hope he could cheer her up. 'There's one thing I don't get. You came out of nowhere, an orphan with no family at all — so, why Kali Hooper? Where did you get the name?'
The question seemed to have the desired effect, and Kali smiled.
'Until I was about five, everybody just called me half-pint, but when I started to grow it didn't seem appropriate any more, so someone suggested I take Red's name instead. He wanted to call me after his mum, Dora. Dora Deadnettle, can you believe it? Needless to say, I vetoed that.'
'Wise move.'
'A-ha. So they suggested a number of other names but none of them worked, and I went back to being half- pint. Then, one night, Pete Two-Ties started staring at the beers and writing their names down, playing with the letters he got…'
'The letters?'
'The letters. And out of all of them, Pete found that one beer, in particular, worked.'
'Which was?'
Kali took a swig of flummox. 'Orki Hop Ale.'
Slowhand couldn't help himself. He spat his flummox out.
'Wait a minute. Are you telling me that's all your name is — an anagram?'
'That's right. I'm named after a beer. Got a problem with that?'
Slowhand shook his head, swallowing hard. 'No, no, no… no. Absolutely appropriate, really.'
'I thought so.'
Slowhand concentrated, mouthed letters. 'Could have been worse, given what Two-Ties had to work with. Kira Pohole…'
'I don't think so.'
'Erika Phool.'
'No…'
'Karlie Pooh.'
'All right, Slowhand, that's enough!'
They drank some more.
'Now it's my turn. You never told me — what is it between you and the Final Faith? Why the vendetta?'
Slowhand's expression darkened, and he stared off into the night. 'That question's in a whole different league, Hooper.'
Kali shifted onto her side, cradling her head in her palm. 'I know. And if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But I think you need to share with someone, Slowhand, and after what we've been through in the past few days…'
Slowhand sighed, and his eyes flickered as if viewing some distant memory. 'I have a sister,' he admitted, eventually. 'A twin sister.'
Kali had to admit she was gobsmacked. Somehow she had never thought of Slowhand as being, well, human. Not in the way of his having family, at least. She'd never really imagined him being a child, growing up — always seen him as he was now, having arrived in the world fully formed, grinning, winking and stroking back his hair. That there had been a sister that he had grown with was a double revelation to her.
'I never knew.'
'There's no reason why you should have. Jenna was… taken before we met.'
'Jenna,' Kali said. 'Hold on. What do you mean — taken?'
'The Final Faith,' Slowhand said. 'In their early days, and maybe still now — to build up their numbers — they had an indoctrination programme… actually, more like forced assimilation. Jenna was working in Freiport when the Faith's recruiters paid her a visit.'
'She went willingly?'
Slowhand shook his head, took a long swig from his flummox. 'Jenna didn't have a religious bone in her body. Before that day.'
'What are you saying? That they brainwashed her?'
Slowhand stared at her. 'You've experienced Querilous Fitch's manipulations first-hand. Yes, I believe they turned her, somehow — her and others.'
Kali swallowed. 'But why Jenna? And where is she now?'
'Jenna was a battlefield tactician for the Freiport Independents — I guess they had a use for her talents. As for where she is, I don't know — but not for want of looking. She could be garrisoned somewhere remote, maybe even a member of the Order of Dawn. But I'll find her, Hooper — if I have to tear the Final Faith apart, eventually I'll find her.'
'I know,' Kali said.
Slowhand lapsed into silence after that, and after a few minutes turned in his bedroll, settling himself down for sleep.
Kali lay there staring at him for a moment, deciding.
Maybe it was the flummox, but more likely it was the fact that Slowhand had just revealed a side of himself that she'd never suspected before.
She stroked his cheek.
