"We do have to avoid them," Kira said. "We have to remain hidden from the people on the Urth ship. I can't tell you why, but it's not because we've done anything wrong, I swear. The people from Urth want to do something wrong. My mother knows why we're hiding, and it has nothing to do with being young and…"

"Being young is no crime," the woman said, smiling at her. "Your word is all I need. I'll set something up."

"We have money—"

"Not a word of that! Your money is no good here. So, you need a way north, quiet and unseen, and I'm guessing some food?"

Kira smiled again. "Yes. We haven't had a decent meal for a while."

The woman nodded, smiled in return, then left by an inner door.

"I'm glad she left the lantern," Jason said, looking around. "This place is a little creepy."

"It's a storeroom," Kira said. "Those are herbs hanging above us, and I think these are flour barrels we're sitting on." She heard a rustle of movement. "And there are mice, of course."

"Alien mice?" Jason jerked his feet up, then suddenly started laughing quietly.

"What's so funny?" Kira asked.

"Alien mice!"

"What does that—"

The woman returned, bearing a covered tray that she sat down on a crate. "Eat your fill, then wait. It'll be a little while, but we'll get you on a coach."

"Thank you," Kira said. "We need to—"

"Don't tell me! It's the daughter's work. That's all I need to know. That and who you are."

A platter under the cover held two small roasted chickens, a pile of potatoes and carrots, and two large mugs of watered wine. Kira thought she had never had a better meal.

Even Jason didn't complain about the food, wolfing down the chicken. "This planet has the best food I ever tasted," he said after draining his mug. "Hey, what that woman said reminded me of something I've been wondering. All of the accounts we've heard on Earth say that Mari, your mom, died at Dorcastle but your father brought her back somehow. Most people think that means her heart stopped or something and he revived her within a minute or two. Is that what happened?"

"I don't know," Kira said, sighing contentedly with a full stomach. "Mother always insists that she didn't die. The healers who were there say she did. She stopped breathing, her heart stopped, she had lost a lot of blood and had an awful wound in her chest. Then father took her hand and he…he healed her."

"How?" Jason asked, peering at Kira through the dim light.