He nodded. “I didn’t think so, but you know them better.”
Branches and leaves crackled, the movement seeming to keep pace with us. Attention drawn, I focused on our surroundings. “Do you hear that?”
“Something’s following us.”
Both of us knew what it must be. The only question was how many … and would they strike before we reached safety? Even if the ones we’d spotted in the village weren’t the best fighters, it didn’t mean they couldn’t attack. They might take the opportunity to target easy prey. If they hit us, it certainly revealed a particular, calculating intelligence. It meant they watched and gauged their assaults according to our behavior. Terrifying thought. Life had been difficult enough when they acted like mindless monsters.
Fade pressed into a flat sprint, and I flew beside him. He had the longer stride, but I was small and quick. I’d seldom had the chance to run like this down below. The sounds grew distant, as—whatever—chose not to leave the shelter of the forest. Instead, I sensed the weight of its hungry eyes, tracing our progress and promising itself, next time.
When we hit the gates, Fade called, “Open up, quickly. It’s clear for now.”
The guard took the time to scan the ground behind us, and then complied. We ducked through the narrow opening, and they slammed the heavy doors. The wood beam fell back into place; ever since the Freaks had tried to breach the entry, it appeared the guards used the reinforcement all the time. I didn’t blame them.
Carefully cut grass and small meticulous gardens and flower beds made it seem like nothing bad could ever happen here. The buildings gleamed with fresh coats of whitewash; everything was under control. Since I’d been in the field, even the people looked cleaner and more wholesome. Girls walked in their long, pretty dresses, hems untouched by dust. Men removed their hats when ladies passed.
It felt like much longer since I’d been here, as if living with Edmund and Momma Oaks belonged to some other me; just as the one who lived down below was someone else, so many versions of the girl I glimpsed in the mirror. I felt grown, enough not to need to attend Mrs. James’s stupid school, but maybe I wasn’t the person I might become yet either. Perhaps that was the point; life, if you did it right, meant learning and changing. If you didn’t, you died—or stopped growing—which amounted to more or less the same thing. So I would slide in and out of different roles until I discovered the one that fit me best.
As I studied it, I realized the town looked somewhat different. Fresh flowers adorned tables set up nearby, pretty white blossoms like the ones I had noticed on the way to the fields. Colored ribbons hung from businesses near the green, and music played, a sweet and cheerful tune. A number of men and women fiddled with their instruments, laughing with the ease of those who didn’t worry about monsters eating them. I glanced at Fade, who shrugged. He didn’t know what was going on either.
“Is there a party?” I asked a guard, remembering Justine’s birthday.
“Kind of,” he answered. “It’s the Cherry Blossom festival. It’s how we celebrate the arrival of spring every year.”
“What does that mean?”
The man scratched his head. “Well, there’s a dance tonight on the green. There will be food and drink. It’s a chance for folks to show they’re grateful that the cold weather is gone for a while.”
“Sounds like fun,” Fade said. “Thanks.”
“What’s a dance?” I didn’t ask until the guard moved off, but Fade wouldn’t mock me.
To my astonishment, he grabbed one of my hands and put his other on my waist. “Follow me.” There, by the front gate, he spun me in a circle, his feet moving in time to the music.
When we stopped, I was breathless and laughing. “How did you know?”
“I used to dance with my mom.”
That sounded like a good memory. For the first time, I wondered if my dam had been a kind girl and if she’d liked the boy who sired me. Occasionally, two Breeders grew close and petitioned for permission to create offspring together. Such cases were monitored closely to be sure there was no unnecessary contact after a successful pregnancy occurred. So there was a faint chance I had been born of affection. My existence might also have sprung from a breeding assigned by the elders. Fade’s parents had chosen each other, I knew, and they’d produced an excellent son.
He was watching my face, trying to decide what I was thinking. Offering a half-smile, I gave him no clue. “Yes?”
“Would you dance with me tonight?”
“I’d love to. But if we’re going to celebrate with the rest of the town,” I decided aloud, “then we should go wash up.”
“I’d like to see you in a dress again … and with your hair down.”
Considering what we’d been through together, his words shouldn’t have made me feel shy. Inexplicably, they did. Perhaps because he meant to spend the evening with Deuce the girl, not Deuce the Huntress, and I didn’t know my feminine side very well. In fact, before Fade and his kisses, I’d have said there was little connection.
Abashed, I went in silence through the town, admiring the decorations on the green. I had no doubt it would be pretty when they finished. A couple of girls from school—Merry and Hannah—waved madly when they spotted Fade and me. I stopped long enough to be polite.
“Is it terrifying out there?” Hannah wanted to know.
“Sometimes.”
We chatted for a time, then they needed to return to work. Fade and I walked on to the Oakses’ place, which smelled of fresh baked bread through the open windows. My stomach growled.
Momma Oaks met us at the front door and grabbed me up in a rib-crushing embrace. Tears shone in her eyes, but since she was smiling, I figured she was happy. Like the first time we turned up, filthy, at her door, she hollered to Edmund to come and see, but this time he greeted me with a hug, and a wrinkle of his nose. Spot washing didn’t do laundry or remedy all hygienic challenges.
“I’ll see about filling the tubs,” he murmured. “How’re those boots working out for you?”
“They’re perfect,” I said truthfully. “I love them.”
Fade copied the salute Longshot often used. “Mine as well, sir. They’re fantastic. I’ve never had anything so nice.”