“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” he jested, whipping the hood of her jacket up over her head. “It’s probably good to stay covered. You stick out like a sore snout!”
“You won’t get away that easily!” A voice came shouting from the direction that Cecilia had come.
“Looks like someone’s been up to mischief,” said Luke. “Wait, where’s Koof?”
“Those bird-faces, the Corvus…”
Luke grabbed Cecilia’s arm and ducked back down behind the pump, taking her with him. He threw something over his shoulder into the clearing in front of their hiding spot.
“Shhh,” he gestured. “It’s a decoy. Just watch, it usually works a charm.”
They waited while Marvin’s eyes caught up with where the decoy had landed. He spotted it and rushed over to it, instantly distracted by its shininess. Marvin kicked it about a bit, the object glinting in the dim light. It was just a bit of tinfoil but Marvin gazed upon it as though it was treasure.
“That’s it, Marv, take the bait,” whispered Luke.
Marvin played with the tinfoil for a bit then flew off back off down the orange line. He’d obviously forgotten what he was there for.
“Yes!” exclaimed Luke. “Thank me later! Lucky for us, Marv is a tad forgetful when it comes to shiny things but I guess you’d know something about that, being a wanderer and all.”
“I’m NOT a wanderer!” said Cecilia firmly.
“Yes, you are,” responded Luke.
“I am not!”
“OK, were you found?”
“Yes.”
“Were you lost and wandering around searching for ‘the light’?” he said, making rabbit fingers in the air.
“Sort of… I guess so.”
“Well then, if you’ve been off wandering around in the dark for a while and you’re finding it a teeny-weeny bit difficult to remember your tail from your whiskers, you are a wanderer. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know!”
“Oh, were you a wanderer too then?” said Cecilia hopefully.
“No, not me! Jasper,” said Luke.
“Oh, Jasper, yes. Kuffi mentioned him once or twice.”
She smiled into Luke’s silvery eyes “This is all a bit confusing for me at the moment.”
“I’ll say, but I’m sure you’ll catch on. Jasper did in the end,” said Luke, tailing off with a disturbed look in his eyes. He was listening out. And almost as if he had summoned it, a shrieking caw came from the Corvus Community, the sound hurtling towards them along the tunnels. Cackling, crackling. “Warning caws,” said Luke, standing poised for a second. Then he shouted for her to “get down!”, covering her over with his hoody, which opened out into some sort of cloak. He held them down, flat against the ground. A howl began sweeping up the dirt as a bat-face man flew out of the darkness and pressed himself flat against the wall like a piece of windswept paper. A few dwellers who were making their way down towards them from Market Square scuttled along the tunnel, clinging to the pockmarks in the walls and pressing themselves hard up against it. A huge gust swept over Luke and Cecilia; she felt it pressing her chest into the ground as though a heavy ball of air was rolling over her. As it passed she could see it was some sort of air bubble, toppling and ruffling everything in its path—and then it was gone, as quick as it came. Luke burst into fits of excitement, jumping up.
“Woweeeeee, did you feel that!” he said, gesticulating wildly. He punched the air and spinning around he jabbed Cecilia in the ribs. “It’s almost competition time! Unreal, isn’t it?”
Cecilia was flustered. “What was that exactly?”
“It was Zephira: the wind of sighs. When she passes over she signals the start of the Ride or Sigh competition!” he said, tidying the mess of red hair under his hood. “Gee, Cecilia, wasn’t it wicked? I’ve never actually felt it before!”
Cecilia took a moment to take it all in. She felt overcome with emotion. Happiness and sadness lingered around her like a cloud. It was quite a delicate sensation, like watching a film that makes you laugh one moment and brings you to tears the next.
“Where does it come from?” she asked.
“No one knows really, it just sort of rolls around. Could be ages before we feel it again.”
People were just beginning to pick themselves up and peel themselves off the walls, dusting each other off, smiling and talking excitedly.
“What happens now?” asked Cecilia.
“Well, we wait until the sighs start to get colourful!”
Cecilia wasn’t sure what that meant.
“You’ll see,” he said, picking up on her ignorance. “Guess you’re back to square one without Koof. What will you do now?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t had a chance to think about it yet,” she replied.
“Well, you could come with me. You’d be able to meet Jasper! We both dwell in the same cubby; he might even help you sort out what you’re going to do, now you’re all alone.”
“Really?” she said.
“Yes, but it’ll cost you!” he said slowly, as though he were calculating something.
“I’ve got buttons; how many do you want?” said Cecilia, searching her pockets.
“No. Buttons won’t be enough. I want the other thing. The big round thing you had in your pocket, back at the market earlier,” he said very seriously.
Cecilia winced. “The marble that you tried to steal, you mean? No way, it was a gift!”
“Fine.” Luke began to stroll away, seemingly carefree. “Good luck out there, I’m sure you’ll be OK. Let me know if you want to grab some grub sometime.”
Cecilia stood defiant as she watched him begin to walk away. It dawned on her that she was lost and alone in a strange place. Without Kuffi she couldn’t even get back to where she started. She felt helpless and before she even knew what she was doing she had relented. What use was a marble to her anyway? She caught up with him.
“OK. You win. But you have to help me get Kuffi back as well, or at least help me find him.”
“You have got to be kidding me. Are you actually
