The walls of Middleton were visible from a fair distance, as it sat on a small hill, surrounded by farmland. They camped within sight of the walls on Fivenight, and Summer listened as Tom explained his plan.

  “I don't want to take the wagons into the city. In the morning, we'll work our way around to the east, and rejoin the main road south of town. We'll need to find somewhere to park the wagons, and I don't want to take any of the elves with me when I go into town. Hopefully, I can be in and out in a few hours, and then we can get moving again farther south.”

  “What do you need in Middleton, Tom?” Summer asked.

  “Well, fresh food is always good, and maybe another tent, but the main thing is cold-weather clothing for Sheema, Brallik, Rillik, and Arven. We never got the chance to get better equipped in Oak Mill. Sheema's got almost nothing to wear besides the dress you loaned her, for example. Also, I want to know what they have heard about the demons, and about the elves.”

  Summer regarded the red dress with some amusement. On her, it was scandalously short, meant to be worn over another piece, but on Sheema, it was floor length. It was also barely able to contain the elf's curves. They'll need to let that out when they can visit a tailor. She turned back to Tom.

  “I can help you with some of that, if you like.”

  “Thank you, I'd appreciate it. I spent some time in Middleton a month ago, but you probably know the town better than I do.”

  Summer frowned. “You spent time in Middleton? Would the guards recognize you?”

  Tom stared at her blankly for a moment. “Um, they might? I was out to make friends and look for work.”

  “Did you change names?”

  “...No.”

  Summer shook her head. “I think you'd better not set foot in the town, Tom. You might be a wanted man yourself. Think about it: the city might have gotten messages to be on the lookout for you, the elves, and demons.”

  Tom sighed. “Yeah, you're probably right. I didn't think it through.”

  “But, you had the sense to talk over your plans with us before charging off in there,” Summer consoled him. It spoke well of him; he was clearly the leader of the group, but he listened to advice. Many young men would have assumed they knew what they were doing and gotten in trouble.

  “Well, there's that, I suppose.” He rubbed his jaw, thinking.

  In a few more years, he's going to be a formidable man. I should make a note to watch for news about him. She thought back over recent events. Scratch that, he's formidable now. If it weren't for Kervan, Diavla and Varga...

  “The three of you need to go into town, but we can press on to Southby before we get more provisions.”

  “Well, my offer to help stands.” Briefly, she considered disguising Tom, then discarded the notion. She didn't know how good an actor he was, and his sheer bulk made him stand out. “Perhaps we could do some shopping for you, and then bring the supplies out. Obviously we can't get everything, but maybe some fresh bread and a dress or two if there are any ready-made.”

  Tom looked relieved. “That would be terrific, if you wouldn't mind.”

  “If I'm too busy, I'll send Piper out with what she can carry.” She watched to see whether Tom picked up that she was sending him subtext. He frowned at her briefly, looking puzzled, but said nothing. So, not oblivious, but doesn't really know how to handle clandestine conversation yet.

  After extensive translation—that Eubexa was certainly earning her keep—Kevin agreed bring supplies back out of town as well. The rest of the evening passed comfortably enough, though the elves were still shivering.

  Summer liked her beauty rest, but Daring was a light sleeper. When the watch changed at midnight, Daring waited a few minutes, slipped away from the sleeping Kervan, dressed, came out to do her necessary, and stopped near Tom Walker on the way back.

  “Hello,” he said quietly, with a nod.

  “I have a request,” she told him. “Well, two, actually. I didn't want to ask in front of the others.”

  Tom arched an eyebrow, and got a small smile. “Do tell.”

  She took a breath. “I would like you to take Piper with you on your journey, if I can convince her to go.”

  Tom leaned back just a bit. “I thought she mentioned something about her mother coming back?”

  Daring checked the direction of the wagon where Piper slept, looking for signs of movement, or a small blue eye peeking out from under the cover. Seeing nothing, she lowered her voice further and stepped closer.

  “That's an urchin's fantasy. Her mother abandoned her. The poor girl keeps staying away from people who could help her, because she wants to be there and available when her mother returns.”

  “What happened to her mother? Do you know?”

  “She ran off with a performing troupe. Apparently, Jenna didn't want to risk getting rejected by them because she had a child along. No warning, no note, nothing but some coin which didn't last long. I can't take the child in myself, though I've been tempted.”

  “What about Middleton? You said you know people here.”

  Daring grimaced. “None I would trust with a young girl. I'd try to find someone, but I really can't stay here long, I have to get back.”

  “You didn't talk her into traveling with us before asking her to come here,” he observed.

  She nodded. “The most important thing was to get her out of Oak Mill immediately. I don't think you realize the turmoil that town will be in, for years to come. The people there will be soul-sick. They had to slaughter hundreds of their friends and family, and they know some escaped. They'll be paranoid about everyone, wondering who might be possessed. A child with no protection, in that environment...”

  Tom nodded slowly. “I see. The stories about slaying demons never seem to talk about the mess they leave behind, do they?”

  “No, they don't.”

  Tom stared into the night for a few moments, clearly thinking it over. “My first camp follower, I suppose...” He snorted. “Well, she certainly makes herself useful. If she has no home in the world, she can come with us, as far as I'm concerned. I'll be keeping an eye out for a more stable home for her, though. I don't promise to bring her all the way to the Southern Sea.”

  “You're getting as far from here as you can, as quickly as you can. I want the same for Piper, for as far as you can take her.”

  Tom sighed. “It will be up to you to convince her, but all right.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What was the second thing you wanted?”

  Daring smiled and approached him slowly. “A kiss or three?” Tom didn't retreat, so she kept moving closer. “I've been wondering how it would feel to kiss you. I'd like to see if you can satisfy my...curiosity.”

  He leaned in, and their lips met.

  I like being Daring.

  ° ? ? ? °

  Sixday morning, they broke camp, and soon turned off of the main road. The group stayed together for the moment. The dirt roads between farms were a bit of a maze, and Tom actually had Arven bundle up in a cloak and run ahead along paths to make sure they didn't end in someone's barn before they committed the oxen and wagons to the turns. Not many people used these roads unless they lived along them or knew them intimately, so there were few signs.

  It ended up taking a couple of hours to work their way slowly around the city without ever getting within shouting distance of the walls, but eventually they managed to shift to the south and rejoin the main road, at which point it was simply a matter of finding a convenient place for the elves to spend half a day without being approached or interrogated. A farmer readily agreed to let them use his fallow field in privacy in exchange for some coin.

  Now that they knew where Tom and the elves would be waiting, Summer, Kevin and Piper said their goodbyes. Sheema certainly knew how to leave Kevin hungry for more; that elf knew exactly how to use her face and body to play the poor young man. He looked liable to float after her like a kite if she pulled his string.

  Kervan took her aside for a moment. “Thank you...You are fun,” he said in passable Western.

  “Thank you,” she answered, one of the few Elvish phrases she had picked up. “I had fun. I hope you get home safely.” She could just barely hear Eubexa muttering a translation on the other side of the camp. Gods, I would love elven hearing. It would be so useful.

  Piper made the rounds and said goodbye to each elf and Tom Walker individually. Generally, they all seemed fond of her. Even young Rillik was only hostile in the “girls are icky” way, rather than the “I want to murder all humans” way he sometimes sported.

  Finally, she shook hands with Tom. Both of them smiled, remembering how they had done a bit more than that the night before. “Tom Walker, you are a hero to everyone in the surface world, whether they know it or not. Thank you, for everything,” she finished with a meaningful glance at Piper.

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  “I shall always remember you fondly.” He leaned closer, and whispered in her ear so faintly that she barely heard him. It was possible even the elves didn't. “Both Summer and Daring.” He stepped back with a wink.

  Oh, I really have to find out where he is in five years or so...That is a fine piece of man. Just needs a little more seasoning, then...yum, yum. Aloud, she only said, “Do send word if you are able. I would quite enjoy a letter from you.” She turned to her companions. “Kevin? Piper? Ready?”

  “Yes, ma'am,” Kevin said. Piper just nodded eagerly.

  “Well, then, let's be off!” she declared, keeping the smile on her face until Kevin and Piper were ahead of her.

  Ma'am? You do realize that Sheema could be well over twice my age, don't you?! I'm not that old!

  'Ma'am!' Seriously?

  ° ? ? ? °

  Before they got to the gate, Summer asked them both to let her do the talking, and they agreed. There was a line to enter the city, and they waited patiently. Summer carefully observed the people around them, trying to guess their stories and gauge the overall mood. There was a noticeable tension, but that could easily be the annoyance of a long line. Finally, they reached the front.

  “State your names.”

  “Summer Daring. This is Kevin Daly, and Piper Jennaschild.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Oak Mill.”

  The guard frowned and blew his whistle once. Summer took a breath and waited. In a matter of moments, two more guards showed up. The guard pointed and said, “These three to the Temple.”

  Summer pulled out her Amulet of Protection from Demons. “We all have—”

  “Temple. Now.”

  Summer let it drop. “Understood.”

  The two guards walked on either side of them, and steered them towards the Middleton Temple. It was a walk of a few minutes, and Summer eyed the people they passed on the street. There was definitely more tension and worry than usual. The news has been made public, I see.

  They climbed the steps of the Temple and stopped just shy of the threshold. One of their guards blew a short blast on his whistle, and in a matter of moments, a pair of Priests came to the entrance. “Please, come inside the Temple. Tell us if you have any difficulties.”

  The Priests backed up slowly. Summer, Kevin and Piper looked at each other, then followed, crossing the threshold along with one of the guards. “Very good. They're clear, Guardsman.”

  “Thank you, Priest.”

  “You've checked the Temple wards?” Summer demanded before the Priests could leave.

  The one who had spoken raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Daily, since we got the news. I take it you know already.”

  In answer, Summer again showed her Amulet, and the other two did likewise.

  “How did you get those?”

  “Oak Mill Temple. I have a friend who is a Priestess there.”

  “Hmm.” The Priest stepped closer and touched her amulet with one finger, closed his eyes, and after a moment, nodded. He knelt and repeated the process with Piper's amulet. He did the same to Kevin's, then frowned. “This one isn't charged.”

  “What?” Kevin asked in surprise.

  “Just a moment.” The priest stayed still, and took a few deep breaths, murmuring something. “There. It's not filled, but at least it's active now. You can pay for a complete filling, but it will be a long wait. Everyone in the Temple is filling amulets as quickly as we can, and we're only treating the most grievous of wounds at the moment because we can't spare the soul strength for more.”

  “Thank you, Priest,” Kevin said, looking puzzled.

  The Priest addressed them all. “If you're willing to part with those, I believe some people will pay a high price for them. If you're not willing, I strongly suggest you keep your amulets out of sight under your clothes unless required to show them.”

  “Thank you.” Summer noted that Piper had hidden hers before the man had even finished speaking, and suppressed a smile. Summer and Kevin hid theirs, and they stepped back out of the Temple and into Middleton proper.

  The guards had already left. I suppose they asked the most important question, and everything else is set aside for now. Summer looked at each of them. “Let's get the clothing first, shall we?” Neither objected, so off they went to the crafter's quarter.

  Middleton was large enough to boast two tailoring shops as well as other places that would sell used clothing. It took about an hour of shopping to spend four gold. Piper looked stunned when Summer bought three sets of clothing for her, one of them significantly nicer, but all better than the near-rags she was wearing. Summer could tell that the girl was full of questions, but keeping silent, probably out of fear of making Summer realize her “mistake” and taking the clothes back.

  After a while, Piper sort of deflated and lost the air of suppressed excitement. But, when Summer spent two more gold on simple boots, including two pairs of smaller ones, she looked stunned all over again. What was she thinking, that all the smaller clothes were meant for Rillik, not her? And even now, she doesn't quite dare hope...

  Kevin gathered up all the bags, making sure he could carry everything by himself, and Summer waved him back. “Hold, Kevin. I need to have a talk with Piper before you leave. Can you wait here a few minutes?”

  “Of course!” The young man sat on a low stone wall with a smile.

  Summer took Piper's hand and walked her to a vendor selling meat sticks, and bought one for the girl. “Here. You're too skinny. Eat that while we talk.” The blonde child didn't hesitate, tearing off big bites with her teeth and chewing quickly, while staring up at her with what looked like fierce curiosity and no little worry.

  She led her to an out of the way spot and got down on one knee, eliciting more surprise. She cleared her throat. “Piper, we need to talk about Jenna.”

  Piper froze for a moment, then resumed chewing a bit more forcefully. “Ma is coming back,” she declared, as if delivering the judgment of the gods.

  “I think you're right,” Summer lied smoothly. Piper blinked. “I think she is coming back. But...it's been a long time, and she might have traveled pretty far by now. Even if she's on her way back to Oak Mill this minute, it might be a very long time before she arrives. Now, I do have people on the lookout for her back in town, and I absolutely will not let her leave without you again if she shows up.”

  “When she shows up,” Piper corrected.

  “When she shows up, you're right. What I'm saying is, it might be faster if you went to meet Jenna partway. That way you could get back together sooner. She doesn't know how wonderfully you've grown, and how very clever you have gotten. I want you to see her again as soon as possible.”

  “But, I don't know where she is,” Piper pointed out sensibly.

  “True, but there are clues you can follow. I haven't brought this up before, because I didn't feel you were old enough to make a journey, but I think, if you travel with Mr. Walker and the elves, that you'll be all right.”

  “But what if he's going in the wrong direction?” she protested. Then she frowned. “What clues?” Gotcha.

  “Well, for starters, performing troupes and traveling shows like big cities. They do come to towns like Oak Mill, but I've seen performances far more often in cities than in towns. So, you will have better luck if you look in big cities.

  “Second, when traveling shows meet in the same town, they share news and stories. So, even if you don't find Jenna right away, you have a good chance of hearing news about her, and which way she went. If you do hear, and Mr. Walker isn't going in the right direction, you'll look nice enough in your new clothes that I bet you could get hired to help with a caravan that was going towards where Jenna is.

  “Third, there are a lot of cities to the south, and many of them are much warmer than it is here in Baria. Traveling shows like that too. If you could travel wherever you wanted, wouldn't you like to be somewhere warm during winters?”

  Piper nodded.

  “So, if you travel with Mr. Walker, he's going through big cities on his way south. It's the perfect opportunity to look for Jenna. You're old enough now, and he's going the right way, and he's a very nice man and big and strong. He'll make a good protector while you travel with him. He's also very clever and so are the elves. Some of them might have even more ideas about how to find Jenna.”

  “But...what if she didn't go south? What if she's far to the north, and is on her way back to Oak Mill?”

  “You know how I know lots of people in Oak Mill?” Piper nodded again. “Well, I know people in lots of places. Particularly to the north. I will start sending messages to all of them to be on the lookout for Jenna. It won't cost me much because I'll already be writing to many of them and I'll just write a little more in my letters.”

  “But what if she comes back and I'm really far away?”

  “If Jenna shows up in Oak Mill, I promise you, I will pay to use the Signal Stone and send messages to lots of cities in the south until one of them reaches you. You just need to ask at the Signal Tower in each town you visit whether you have any messages from Summer Daring.”

  She pretended to think hard a moment, then added, “If you could write me letters sometimes and tell me where you are, it would be much less expensive for my message to find you. Even I can't afford to send messages to every Signal Tower in the world, so that would be a big help. Would you do that for me?”

  “But...that's expensive...”

  “That's all right, Tom Walker owes me some money, so you can tell him I want him to pay for it for me. Will you do that for me? It would...mean a lot to me, to hear that you're doing well, and how the hunt for Jenna is going, of course.”

  Piper looked uncertain. “I don't know...”

  “This is a really good chance, Piper. Who knows how long it will take before the next strong person I can trust is willing to take you along? You don't want to just sit and wait, when you can speed up finding her. If you don't go now, I don't know when you'll next get a chance. And that's more time you're waiting, instead of finding her.

  “Piper, you're a good kid. You're smart, and clever, and quick, and you can make yourself useful. I think...” Summer was startled to find her eyes misting. She blinked and cleared her throat. “I think you've had enough bad luck, and deserve to have some good luck for a change. I think Tom Walker showing up now might even be a sign from the gods. Maybe, even the gods think that it's time for good things to happen to Piper Jennaschild, and this is their way of helping you reunite with your mother.”

  “You think so?”

  “I do,” Summer said firmly. “So, what is the plan?” she prompted.

  Piper thought and recited it back. “I go with Mr. Walker and the elves. Every time we get to a city, I ask at the Signal Tower whether there are any messages from you. I ask people where the shows are, and then go ask the actors whether they have seen Ma. I send you letters sometimes so you know where I am, in case Ma comes back to Oak Mill or you find her somewhere, so you know which Signal Towers to send to.”

  “And, if you actually find her in person, make sure to let me know so I can call off the search! That makes sense, right?” Summer added. Piper smiled and nodded. “All right. We both know the plan, and we know what to do.” She paused, and put her hand on the child's head a moment. “I really hope you find her quickly, Piper.”

  “Me too.” The girl's brow furrowed. “Miss Summer, why are you being nice to me?”

  Summer had to wipe her eyes for a moment. “Well, I have my reasons. This might not make sense to you yet, but maybe when you're older, you'll understand.

  “There are lots of bad people in the world, and lots of good people. Lots of bad things happen, and lots of good things happen. And sometimes, a good person does a bad thing.

  “Now, when that happens, a good person should fix the bad thing they did, or make amends,” she instructed the child. She closed her eyes a moment and took a breath. “But sometimes, there's no way to fix it, and a good person feels bad.

  “Then, maybe the good person tries to do other good things, even if they aren't for the person who got...hurt. It's sort of asking the help of the gods to make amends. You do good things where you can, and maybe someone else does the good things you can't.”

  Piper stared at her. “Miss Summer, did you...do a bad thing?”

  Summer cleared her throat, thinking of how she had had to kill Steven Miller when the possessed man tried to burn down the Wandering Ax. She thought of other people she'd killed, in cases where matters were not so clear cut. “Well, I've done a lot of bad things, Piper. Sometimes I fix what I broke, and sometimes I can't. So sometimes, I just...try to be nice when I don't have to.”

  Piper stared at her for a long moment, then surprised Summer with a hug. “I think you're a good person, Miss Summer. Thank you.”

  Summer bit her lip and fiercely blinked back tears as she returned the hug. “Thank you, Piper. I try.” She cleared her throat again, and pulled back once her eyes were not betraying her any more. “Well. I have work to do, and you have an adventure to go on. So, what do you say we get a bit of food for the elves and then send you and Kevin on your way?”

  Piper nodded, and Summer went through the motions for the rest: waiting for Kevin to run off, meet his friends and tell them he was following his...heart, then buying bread and a few other sundries, and finally seeing Piper and Kevin off as they left through the city gate.

  She watched them go with a smile on her face until they were out of view. Once they were gone, her face fell, and she had to wipe her eyes again. “Shit.” She turned on her heel and marched off in the opposite direction, wondering what this new ache was, and whether it would ever fade, or just join the others that lived in her soul. She pushed it aside and determinedly got on with her business in town.

  Good luck, Piper.