The Wind and the Horizon (Book 2 in the Starborn Series)

Chapter Twenty-Six

May's heart threatened to hammer its way out of her chest.

In the first light of morning, it was impossible to tell who was standing there, blocking the shelter's exit.

"Can we help you?" Em demanded but did not rise.

Once May's eyes adjusted, she saw the intruder was a boy, only fourteen or fifteen-years old. He didn't speak. He didn't smile. He simply looked between the two women huddled in the corner and, without acknowledging it, dropped a tightly folded piece of paper on the ground and left. The sound of a bike being righted from the ground and peddling off was the last they heard from him.

"Who was that?" May asked, hushed but panicked.

"I have no idea." Em's head was cocked, listening.

May crept forward, stiff body aching in protest, and reached for what the boy had dropped.

"No," Em pulled her back. "Leave it. Just wait."

Too nervous to argue, May did as she was told. In motionless silence, they waited. They waited for what felt to May like forever.

Em nodded. "Okay, I think we're good."

This time when May reached for the paper, Em didn't stop her. Instead, she peered over the shelter's half-wall, scanning the picnic area around them. A couple runners plodded along a trail skirting the grove. Otherwise they were alone.

Licking her dry lips, May shot Em an anxious look and unfolded the paper.

We'll meet you there.

"That's Priva's handwriting." Em crouched back down beside May. She studied the note with a frown. "Meet us where?"

May searched her memory; Priva had told her where they were going, that day in the woods when she opened up about her family's history of exploration. The memory was fuzzy now.

"Priva told me once," she groaned, closing her eyes and trying to remember where Priva had pointed on the map. "We were going to get there by train. Ugh, it was a city, had a short name... I think it started with a y?"

"York?"

"Yes!"

Em looked surprised but didn't say anything.

"What's wrong?" May asked, fresh panic making her heartbeat quicken. "What's in York?"

"Connor's sister." Em answered. "Or at least, that's where she used to live."

It was May's turn to be surprised; this was the first she'd heard of Connor having a sibling.

Em recommended they get a move on before it got much later. It was still early enough that the streets were quiet, but they kept to sleepy side streets and alleys until they eventually found the train station. When they arrived, May donned both Em's wig and hat before heading into the station alone.

"You just missed the morning train, sweetheart," the smiling, grey-haired woman at the wicket told her. "But there's one heading that way around 5:30 if you're willing to wait."

May glanced around the station. Morning commuters and travellers milled about, but she didn't spot any familiar faces - friendly or otherwise. "I'll take two tickets, please."

A few minutes later, May sat alone at the cafe across the street. She was too anxious to eat but forced herself anyway. Em, she knew, was perched on the roof of the building, keeping an eye out from a safe distance.

One day I'm going to look back on all of this and think it was really exciting, she thought. She figured if she told herself that enough, she might start to believe it.