“My name is Jonesy,” he said. “Well, that’s what they call me anyway. Just give a holler if you need us for anything. We’ll always be right around the bend.”

“Okay,” Newt replied, knowing he could never fully trust a few Cranks holding pipes. But he didn’t want them as enemies, either. That was for sure. “Thanks, again. Seriously. Thanks.”

Neither the man nor his friends responded, so Newt set off for the outskirts of the Palace again, feeling their eyes on his back as he walked. We’ll always be right around the bend, the stranger known as Jonesy had said.

Maybe that was the best news yet for Newt since arriving at the Crank Palace.

Or maybe it was the worst. One of those two, for certain.

He walked a little faster.

Chapter Ten

No one else bothered him or talked to him as he made his way back to the pathetic little cabin in which they’d slept the night before. He barely saw anyone at all, even in the peripherals. When he swung by the shack of Terry and Maria, they were sitting in ragged chairs just outside the front door. Maria had been bandaged on her arms and legs with something that looked like a bedsheet torn into strips. Terry gave Newt a half-hearted wave but then stared at the ground; Maria had her eyes closed. The message was clear: you’re not invited.

When Newt finally reached his own little hut, he saw Dante—composed, quiet, playing with a rock—sitting by himself on the grass-patchy dirt, the door closed behind him. A terrifying thrill of panic leaped in Newt’s nerves, knowing for certain that Keisha would never leave the kid alone like this. Newt sprinted for the door, ripped it open, saw with a sinking heart that it was empty. Even his backpack was gone. His journal. His Launcher. Keisha’s things. All of it. Gone.

He lost his balance, felt like he might faint. Leaning against the edge of the doorframe, he forced himself to breathe. Where in the hell had she gone? No, idiot, he told himself. Someone took her, took your things. He sucked in a lungful of air, then turned to Dante. Although he’d never heard the boy speak, he asked him the question anyway.

“Dante, do you know where your mum is? Your mom? Where’d she go?”

No answer, but the kid looked up at him with the saddest look of hope in his eyes. Probably just hearing the word mom had stirred something on the inside. Newt tried to shake some reason into his head, felt like the world was literally splitting apart around him, an earthquake, the big one, shaking the whole planet just to make things perfectly apocalyptic.

He made a quick run around the hut to see if she lingered somewhere close. Maybe she’d found a better home for them. Or was looking for one.