One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for girl,
Four for boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for secrets, yet untold.
Wren stumbled down the dark corridor, the sound of Jack’s final declaration echoing through her mind. What would happen to him?
She calculated her options, darting around another corner. Cole and Mary would be of little help, still trapped as they were as William’s prisoners. With luck, Jack would end up with them, which would make rescuing them slightly easier. Wren started to jog, sending little puffs of dirt up where her feet fell. She was going to rescue them. First, she’d have to find Simon. She hoped he’d had a better time of it last night. Maybe he had gone back to the Nest.
She was taking whatever path led upward, hoping that the sloping tunnels would eventually lead her to ground level. Soon the tunnels grew lighter, as dirt-smudged grates near the ceiling let in daylight. She must be getting closer! Wren passed what seemed to be a bird in flight carved roughly onto one of the earthen walls. She recognized it immediately. Auspex had worn the same symbol around his neck. She remembered how Mary had said that their only hope for help lay with the Outsiders now. Vulcan had thought Wren and her friends were Outsiders. Perhaps he knew where she could find the real ones. Wren moved a little farther down the tunnel, stopping to check the grates to see if any were loose. On her fourth try she found one. Wiggling it sent dirt cascading down over her hair, and she jerked her head down to keep it out of her eyes. A few more jostles. Moving it just a little. And then it was out.
Wren eased herself carefully through the hole, looking quickly to see if anyone was around, but she seemed to be in an abandoned part of the city. She replaced the grate, dusted herself off as best she could, and made her way down the street. Boarded-up buildings stared hollowly at her as she moved from shadow to shadow. She felt the uncanny sensation of eyes watching her from somewhere within, and she quickened her pace. There were no gas lamps here. No vendors selling goods. Just echoing, empty streets. On the corners, she saw broken hourglasses and apparatuses that looked like they belonged in the Crooked House, abandoned and rusted with disuse. It seemed that without enough stardust, whole parts of the city had fallen into ruin and disrepair.
Wren wandered for what felt like most of the morning, first turning right, then left, always keeping the House of Never behind her. Her clothes soon grew damp with the ever-present mist of the city, and her tiredness returned. Shivering, she realized that to get back to the Nest, she’d need to think like a Scavenger, and a Scavenger would never wander through the streets on foot.
She spied a thick drainpipe with tiny footholds on either side and began to climb. No problem. You’ve got this. She willed her trembling body to be strong, shoving her anxiety back down into the cramped box of emotions she kept tight reign over. Hand over hand, foot over foot, she scaled the pipe and eventually pulled her shaky self up onto the rooftop. From there, she could see that she was on the far side of the House of Never, opposite from where they’d arrived the night before. In fact, she wasn’t far from the thick wall that ringed the city.
All her street wandering had only taken her farther away from the Nest. Sighing, she decided to continue traveling like a Scavenger, keeping the House of Never fixed on her left and hurrying over the rooftops, stopping only to painstakingly navigate the jumps between buildings.
Finally, a familiar landmark came into view: a glass rotunda she remembered seeing the night before. Below her, she saw signs of movement on the streets—carriages rumbling by and people going about their business. Wren’s relief was almost palpable. Only at the sight of other people did she realize how foreboding the feeling of being watched had been. Her relief was short-lived, however.
“Hey, you,” an angry-sounding voice said, and Wren froze behind a chimney pipe. It didn’t work.
“I said: hey, you,” the voice insisted. “What are you doing in Scavenger territory?”
Wren opened one eye and then the other, peeking around to see a boy in rough clothes and an older girl with silvery-white hair standing on the roof, legs apart and arms folded across their chests confrontationally. Wren recognized the girl’s hair immediately.
“You’re Silver, right?” Wren said, weak with relief. “I’ve been looking for the Nest! Can you take me there? I need to talk to Vulcan.”
It turned out that Wren was closer to the Nest than she’d thought. As the pair of Scavengers led her over rooftops and across buildings, Wren learned that the boy’s name was Rocky. He looked familiar, too, from when they’d all crowded around the dining table back at the Nest. He was Silver’s brother, and they had joined the Scavengers two years ago when their parents disappeared. When Wren asked what had happened to them, Rocky’s voice grew hard.
“Nothin’ but theories,” he said. “The leaders say they prob’ly went outside the Wall when they shouldn’t have.” He picked his way past a line of drying laundry. “Bad things happen outside the wall and all, but I know my ma and pa better. They never would’ve done somethin’ like that.”
Silver’s voice grew furtive. “More and more people have started disappearing. You’re not supposed to ask questions, but we Scavengers aren’t too good at following rules.” She gave a low laugh. “I know our parents are still alive.” Silver neatly leaped a gap between buildings. “And I think Boggen and his henchmen know they’re still alive as well.”
“Wishful thinking,” Rocky said, his hand resting on a fire escape. “They’re probably dead, like everyone else who was working in the stardust labs during the plague.” He shrugged at Wren. “Long-term side effects of the taint. That’s what all the secrecy is about, y’know. If people found out that the plague was still killing folks, there’d be a full-scale riot.”
“I think Silver’s right,” Wren said carefully. “I’ve heard rumors that Boggen is imprisoning people.”
Silver stopped, whirled around, and eyed Wren suspiciously. “Where did you come from, anyway?”
Wren dodged the question. “I’m looking for the Outsiders. You should, too. They know more about Boggen’s plans.”
Silver grunted, seemingly pacified, and Wren decided not to volunteer any more information. Instead, she followed them silently down the fire escape into the familiar alley that led to the Nest. She added Rocky and Silver’s parents to the list of people who needed rescuing. If they were still alive, that is. But all of this dropped out of her mind when she reached the ground and saw who was in the courtyard outside the Nest.
“Simon!” Wren ran toward him, leaving a puzzled-looking Rocky and Silver staring after her.
Simon stood up from where he had been feeding Coeur and his own falcon, Leo, and grinned at her. “Wren! You’re back!”
Wren felt like hugging Simon tight around the neck, she was that glad to see a friendly face, but Simon had stuck out his hand awkwardly, so she pumped it up and down instead. “You made it out of the House of Never!”
Simon nodded and looked behind her. “Where’s Jack?”
“He’s okay. For now.” Wren eyed Rocky and Silver nervously. “It’s actually a long story.”
“We should go report to Vulcan,” Silver said, elbowing her brother. “Tell him what this one said about Boggen’s plans.”
“I have to finish feeding the falcons,” Simon said.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Wren told the others. As soon as they were out of sight, Wren leaned close to Simon. “Where did you go? What happened to you last night?”
“The falcons were roosting on a building next to the House of Never.” Simon was carefully laying out strips of dried meat for the birds. “They were nearly starving, poor birds, so I brought them back here to feed them.” Once he had arranged the meat to his satisfaction, he looked up at her with interest.
“What about you and Jack?”
Wren sighed heavily, watching Coeur and Leo swoop down to grab the meat in their talons. “Jack is with Boggen,” she finally said, and Simon’s head shot up.
“What?”
Wren explained what had happened. “He sacrificed himself so that I could escape.”
“Sacrificed himself or wanted to reunite with Boggen,” Simon said, and Wren felt a thread of suspicion reverberate inside her.
“I think Jack’s changed. He’s different now.” She willed her words to be true.
“I hope you’re right,” Simon said quietly. They talked over the rest of what had happened, what Wren had learned from Mary and Cole and what Simon had observed of the city. He told her that the neighborhoods appeared to be laid out according to castes.
“They seem to be a pretty divided lot,” he said, methodically laying out more strips of meat. “I think Boggen likes it that way, because if the different groups are suspicious of one another, they can’t unite against him.”
Wren watched Coeur swipe a slice of meat and then soar up to the roof to feed. They needed help, and Wren would rather take help from kids like Vulcan, Rocky, and Silver—kids who had good reason to work against Boggen—than anyone else they had seen on Nod.
“I told the birds to stay close,” Simon was explaining. “Vulcan said it was dangerous for them to leave the city or fly too high. Actually, it’s quite interesting.” His voice grew animated. “Apparently, the Magicians have created a unique design that keeps the entire city shielded from above. I think that’s how the Noddians detected our airship. Remember that big jolt we felt when—”
Wren cut him off. “Forget the architecture of Nod. Tell me about Vulcan. You’ve spent more time with him. Can we trust him and the other Scavengers?”
Simon sat back on his haunches, looking thoughtful. “I think so.” He scratched his head. “We might have to. He knows something’s up. There are no falcons on Nod, for one thing, and we have two.”
Wren nodded, watching Leo follow Coeur up to the roof.
The falcons wheeled overhead, diving down to gather more meat. Wren could tell they felt confined, only allowed to fly up and down the street outside the Nest. Just like all of them. Mary, Cole, Jack, and even Rocky and Silver’s parents. All of them were trapped in this strange city with only Wren and Simon to save them. She looked back at the Nest, squaring her shoulders. Maybe she and Simon wouldn’t have to do this alone after all.
“C’mon,” she said to Simon once the falcons had finished their meal. “It’s time to talk to Vulcan.”