“Good as can be expected.” I shove the phone in my pocket before she sees it.Not that it’ll make anything any better—now she’ll think I’ve gone mad, yelling to myself.Maybe that would be easier to explain. “What are you doing?”
“Getting fresh air.”
Circus moves into view a few yards behind her, milling about a tree.
“The walks have been good for helping me organize my thoughts.” She crosses over to where I sit, rotting leaves stuck to the soles of her simple shoes. Her plain attire never drew my attention before, but now that I’ve noticed, it’s all I can see. She doesn’t have a single piece of branded clothing—not that that’s an issue—but rather her clothes all look homemade. A simple sky-blue maxi-skirt, pale gray blouse, and knitted cardigan with embroidered forget-me-nots at the hem. Her shoes are ballet flats, but the stitching looks rough and oddly spaced. The soles void of tread.
“Has anyone contacted your family?” I ask as she settles on the step beside me.
Her face pulls taut, eyes grazing my face before she seems to mask the affront with a smile. “I’m sure somebody has.”
“But not you?”
“No. Not me.”
Circus moves closer.
I eye the man and then settle back on Kathy. “Have you covered enough miles to know what’s next, then?”
She shrugs. “I have a few dreams, but they’re only that until I can work out how to achieve them.”
“Like…” The distraction from my own issues is welcome.
“I love to craft things, and I think it’d be nice to have an income from that. But I’ve been advised to find stability first.” She glances to Circus. “So, maybe I need to learn a new skill. Something people will want. Like how to bake. Or make a fancy coffee with the pictures on top.”
“What doyouwant to do?”
Kathy stares at the ground before us for a while before she answers. “I want to teach.”
“Sounds pretty stable to me.”
“It would mean years of training with no way to support myself before that.”
“There’s plenty you could do with minimal skills or experience.”
“But not a lot available in small towns like this one, right?”
I cock my head a little. “You wouldn’t go somewhere bigger? Where there are more options?”
Her gaze drifts left again. “I feel safer here. Somewhere busier would be more terrifying. I’d feel as though people could hide amongst the masses and get to me before I saw them.”
I get the distinct feeling the ‘people’ she mentions aren’t the Devil’s Breed or the men who held us, but I figure it’s best not to push too hard on that. “Well, I think you’d make a great teacher.” I might not have known her long, but it’s not hard to pick aperson’s temperament from a few short interactions. She’s kind and patient, observant and thoughtful.
Observant.I look at Kathy again, but this time, Ireallystudy her. Does she know? Did she see or hear something that night?
“I found out earlier that The Kid told Molly—Fang’s daughter—her name.”
Kathy’s mouth pops open, lips soft as she stares at me in wonder. “That’s fantastic.”
“It’s Anna,” I share.Too chicken to admit what you’ve done, but too guilty to hide the evidence.Give them the clues and let them figure it out for themselves. “She had a big sister, but she passed away.”
“Oh, bless.” Kathy bunches her fists in her skirt atop her legs. “The poor child.”
“I know. Makes sense why she won’t talk, huh?”
“Completely.” She glances to Circus again.
“Do you want him there?” I glare at the man-mountain myself.
