“Just to be safe,” Omet said.
The children thanked her.
“Wish you’d stay,” she said as they walked out together. “Gives us a bit of hope, looking at you.” She rubbed at her face, and Susan winced at the rawness of the bald little sandblasted circle she’d made there. “But you couldn’t beg, not with faces like those. And I expect as soon as the sun gets high, they’ll be looking for you again.” She sighed. “If you need us, you know where we’ll be.”
They watched her head down the street, several of the smaller children behind her. Yali turned and waved cheerily at them before they turned the corner.
Max squinted at the sun. “This time let’s follow the sky instead of the streets. We walked east before, so we should head west now.” They set off, moving away from the rising sun.
Despite the early hour, the air was already thick and smelling of garbage. A torn strip of red bunting rolled past on a muggy breeze, looking more brown than scarlet. Nell kicked it as they passed. Susan rolled her shoulder, which throbbed where the slasher had bitten her.
After a while, the blocks began to look familiar. They passed the series of sleepers’ sheds where they’d first seen Espin, but though they looked, none of the children were inside. They made their way along the line of thin-faced houses they’d seen with Liyla.
Ahead, they heard the sounds of an outdoor market. A merchant shouted; a steam engine chugged in the distance and then closer. They walked several blocks before they reached it and then finally turned a corner into a square full of booths and hawkers, flooded with summer light.
Susan looked for the fruit merchant but couldn’t see him among the other stalls. Relieved, she motioned to the edge of the square, and the others followed, picking their way around the market, trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.
“Just a little farther now,” she said. “Once we get past these blocks, we’ll head straight to the woods.”
Then, from behind, a familiar voice hailed them.
“Hallo! You five! Where’d you run to yesterday? Ma was a sight when I told her I’d lost you! She threatened to put me out!”
Criminations! Susan thought as Liyla ran toward them.
“Only joking, of course,” the girl continued. “But she was mad. Ranting and raving! I told her I’d bring you back. Useful; that’s me, right?” She squinted at them. “And look! You stopped it, didn’t you? Still smooth as plums!”
Susan pulled herself as much as possible into the shadow of the nearest house and favored Liyla with a tepid smile.
“We — we couldn’t wait,” she said. “Max remembered where we could get . . .”
“An antidote!” Max supplied helpfully. “Antidote to stop the change. So of course we had to run and get it.”
Liyla nodded in sage agreement. “Wait until I explain it to Ma. She’ll give me breakfast then, I wager!” She grinned at them, and Susan almost felt sorry for her.
“Unfortunately,” Susan said, “we’re not going to be able to come back just now. Maybe later. There are some people we need to see.”
She liked the sound of that. People to see seemed businesslike and forbidding at the same time.
Liyla frowned. “But Ma said —”
Susan glowered at her and decided she needed to ratchet up the forbidding.
“This is official business,” she said severely. “And you don’t want to be getting in the way of that kind of thing.”
This statement had a completely unexpected effect on Liyla. She stopped short and the color drained from her face. Then Susan noticed where she was looking. She followed Liyla’s gaze and felt herself go pale, too.
A red-cloaked soldier, standing beside a market stall, had seen them. He released his dog, and it galloped over, snarling. Kate whirled around and yelped, and the dog crouched down in front of her, a low growl vibrating in its throat. The soldier hurried over, musket up.
“He’ll rip your throat out if I snap my fingers!” the red cloak shouted at them. “All of you! Stay where you are!” They stood as still as they could. When he reached them, he surveyed the group, eyes glinting from their deep sockets. They lit on Liyla, and he gave a curt lift of his head, dismissing her.
Liyla surprised Susan by holding her ground. “They weren’t doing anything wrong, sir,” she said. “I mean, I found them, and they’re not useless. My ma’s taken charge of the whole thing. She’s —”
“Girl,” he cut in, “your mother’s not in charge of anything. You go home and tell her children shouldn’t wander the streets alone. Someone might think they were useless.”
Liyla cringed, and the light hairs on her face seemed to rise. She took a step back, looking uneasily at the soldier and his dog. But the red cloak had turned his full attention to the children.
“You’re wanted in the center of the Domain,” he said.
Max’s hand had been inching toward his back pocket, but the soldier noticed and clicked his tongue at the dog. It pounced, knocking Max to the ground. The soldier leaned over, extracted the knife, and took Omet’s sack from Susan. He pocketed the blade and tossed the food into the road.
“Let’s go,” he said.
The dog growled, spurring Jean and Kate forward. It rounded next on Nell, who jumped to follow them. The soldier prodded Max, and then Susan, with his gun, shoving them toward his wagon.
Turning back as they hurried along, Susan caught one last glimpse of Liyla before she was out of sight. She stood where they’d left her, big eyed and afraid, and, for once, silent.
The wagon sputtered and blew steam on the street across the market square, waiting for them. The soldier shoved Susan and Max into the back of it, then turned and tossed the three others up behind them. The dog bounded up to block the opening, and the soldier climbed into the driver’s seat. The
