But Kira looked at the water of the river going by on its journey to the sea that had always been and always would be, and wondered if Jason was right, if every time she talked about her family she sounded unhappy.

"We'll be at Dorcastle by evening," the woman said as she walked around the side of the deckhouse. "We owe your friend there for his teaching of our son. It's the first time I've seen him work hard at it." She fumbled out one of the crowns that Kira had paid. "Please. For the lesson."

Kira glanced at Jason. "He doesn't want to be paid. He does it because he likes to. Keep the money."

"If you insist," the woman said. "But we'll put you off anywhere you like at Dorcastle, even if we have to go beyond our dock."

"We'd like off at the first good landing," Kira said, thinking that it would be far too easy for anyone searching for her and Jason to check every barge coming downriver. On foot, they'd be able to take different paths through the city and hide more easily if necessary, plus the barge would be delayed by the time required to get through the locks along the river inside the city.

She wondered what was happening in Danalee, and whether the search had reached Dorcastle yet. Because Kira knew that getting through Dorcastle without being recognized would be the roughest test they had yet encountered.

Chapter 8

The boy waved at Jason as they left. "I hope you get back to Oz soon!"

"Thanks!" Jason said.

Near midnight, this part of the city was very quiet. By the time they reached the areas near the harbor, where sailors frequented bars far into the night, it should be close enough to dawn that even the latest drinkers should be trying to sleep off the excesses of previous hours.

"Where is Oz?" Kira asked as they strode off the unlighted landing and onto a dark street leading down into the city and toward the sea.

"All I remember is that you can get there from Kansas," Jason said.

"Is that really your home on Earth?"

"I wished that more than once, but no." Jason's brow furrowed as he looked around. "This is going to be home, isn't it? I'll have to stay here when the ship leaves. This world, I mean. I guess I hadn't really thought about that."

"Is staying here so bad?" Kira said.

"No. It's not bad at all." He stole a quick glance at her, then away.

Elated to have finally reached Dorcastle, she decided to ignore the glance and whatever it might have meant. "There are a lot of places on Dematr that you haven't seen yet," Kira cautioned. "And you're not going to see much of Dorcastle. I cannot walk around this city in daylight. We need to get through the length of the city before dawn."