Mama and Papa never got a chance to talk to the Blacksands that next morning. Before dawn, they were dead.

Karekare and Ranyel woke us all up that morning by running into our house and collapsing. They were a mess. Bruises and scratches covered their skin. Ranyel was crying and Karekare had her hand to her eye. There was dried blood upon her cheeks.

Mama immediately ran to them. "What's happened?"

"Mama--and Pa--Papa--de-de-dead!" Ranyel wailed.

Karekare was unusually silent. She rocked back and forth with her hand clamped to her eye, looking at nothing and everyone one at the same time.

Papa picked up Bianca, who was half asleep, and motioned to Mama to carry Ranyel. "We're going to the fort. Can you walk, Karekare?"

Karekare was silent.

"Melisande, help her walk."

I grabbed Karekare's free arm and dragged her up as best as I could. She was four years my senior, an aged twelve, and she was much taller.

We walked then, as quickly as we could, to the fort. "Quickly as we could" was not at all quick, because Karekare couldn't walk on her own. She leaned against me, with her matted, dark hair flying around wildly. Ranyel's crying instigated Bianca's, causing her to whimper into Papa's neck.

The fort was too small for us all to fit, even though Bianca and Ranyel were very small. Papa said he would hide in the woods somewhere else. He kissed Bianca before she crawled inside, following Ranyel and Karekare, who had silently followed her younger sister.

I stood uncertainly before my father. He hugged me very tightly, so tightly that I wasn't sure I could breathe. When he let me go, I noticed how sad his eyes looked. Papa looked much older, even though he was only twenty-nine. He ran a hand through his pale hair and tried to smile at me.

"I--I love you, Papa," I said, matching his thin smile.

"Good," he said quietly. "Be a good girl and watch Bianca. I love you, Melisande. So long as there is love in your heart, I will never leave you."

He gave me a kiss, and I crawled down into the darkness. The cold temperature slapped me through my nightdress. As my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, I could make out my sister and friends. Bianca's whimpers were accompanied with shivering now as she huddled near Ranyel. Ranyel's cries had become quieter, but she was still sobbing. Karekare seemed frozen, unmoving.

Mama squished herself in after me, accidentally pushing the back of my head into the muddy walls.

"What if the dirt falls down on us?" Bianca whispered, voicing my fears.

"It won't," Mama replied. "Shush."

We did what she said then. I was slowly being crushed against Bianca and Ranyel as Mama tried to move closer into the darkness. There was a worm crawling near my face, a disgusting nightcrawler inching towards my nose. I shuddered when it touched me and bit my tongue to keep from screaming. I would have batted it away from me, but my arms were stuck flat against me.

The day dawned bright as we sat there, seemingly rejoicing at our disappearance. Birds sang cheekily in the trees, taunting our silence. I could hear through the dirt the wind shrieking through the trees. Somehow, this comforted me, even if the sound was like a requiem for Mr. and Madame Blacksand.

A few minutes (hours? I was not sure how long it had been) later, Bianca had started to wiggle, waking Ranyel and shaking me out of my thoughts. "Mama, I have to pee!"

"You can't," she whispered. "Hold it."

"I can't."

"I don't care," she hissed. "Be quiet, Bianca!"

Bianca bit her lip, but she stopped moving. Just as I was sinking back into my fears, the ground around me became very wet. My skirt absorbed so well that I felt almost as if I had wet myself and not Bianca.

She was about to cry, I realized, and I tried to jerk my stiff arm up to silence her. I never needed to move, though, because at that moment, a man called out, "Over here, boys. I see footprints."

Bianca's eyes widened and her mouth closed. It opened again, and for a moment I thought she might speak and give us all away, but she changed her mind.

Footsteps were very loud over our heads. Part of me thought that if these were the frightening Police, then they sure weren't trained in the forest. If they had been trained here, they'd realize how stupidly loud they were being. Another part of my brain was begging those men to please, please don't notice us below you.

"Wait a second," one of them called. He sounded much younger than the first speaker. "There's a hole over here." He knelt down, blocking what little light the entrance gave.

"That's nothing but a fox hole or similar, Parter," the older man replied.

"I dunno, sir, looks big for a fox hole."

"You wouldn't know, Parter. You was born in Forsythe City," someone else called out. "You never seen a fox hole in your life."

"Shut up, West. Might as well check." Parter reached into the entrance. Mama shoved us all as far into the shadows as she could. His groping hand brushed against the sleeve of Mama's dress. I held my breath with my eyes closed, hoping that because I couldn't see him, Parter wouldn't see me.

I dared open my eyes and saw his hand pause for a long moment. I could imagine him pulling Mama out by the sleeve and then grabbing me and...I didn't know what. Maybe they'd kill us, like the Blacksands, or make us work for them.

Finally, he began to move again, saying, "You're right. It's naught but an old fox hole."

"See? I told you so," the man called West replied. "What was you thinking was down there? That little tan girl what ran away?"

At that moment, Karekare finally took her hand away from her eye and began to scream. She screeched in a voice much higher than usual, with a sound shrill enough to silence the wind above us.

Mama motioned to Ranyel, who silenced Karekare as best she could. I watched dully, my ears aching, as Mama began to climb out of the fort. The men had come back and were talking harshly to Mama.

"Who're you?" Parter asked stupidly.

"Cosette Voren." I could not see Mama, but I knew how she looked: muddy black curls hanging around her face, dark eyes hot with anger, standing like a housewife whose floor had been dirtied.

"We looking for a Cosette Voren, sir?"

"No, Parter, she's just on the list because Master Windkloppel wishes to have her for tea."

"Sorry sir," said Parter. "Madame Voren, is there anyone else in there?" He didn't sound at all professional to me, and I had to work very hard to keep from laughing.

Mama answered very calmly. "There is no one else. Who else would there be?"

A Blacksand that got away, perhaps. We had two girls escape us." The older man seemed to have taken over the interrogation.

"Who are the Blacksands?" Mama asked irritably. "I do not know them."

"Cassia and Varsomething? Wanted for protestations against the great Ilian Ulv and Iliana Kalla. You lived near them."

"I have never heard of them before, sir."

"Well, then, better make this official." The man cleared his throat. "By order of Ilian Ulv, I, Quincy Trails, am hereby arresting you, Cosette Voren, for consorting with a fugitive, one Theo Voren, who is currently in custody. Ilian Ulv thanks you for your willingness in punishment."

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