The streets of Danalee were full of people at this hour of the day, the sun shining down on crowds Kira couldn't help thinking were all watching for any sign of the missing boy and girl so they could collect the reward from Urth, or because they were worried about the daughter's girl. To make it worse, Jason kept staring at passing horse-drawn wagons and carriages as if they were an amazing sight.

An open market in a square offered food and drink at some of the stalls, reminding her of how long it had been since they'd finished the last of the food Izbelle had provided. Despite the need for haste and worry about being recognized, Kira swung by to get enough for Jason and her to make a walking lunch out of.

The crowds got thicker around the entrance to the rail yard. Kira tugged Jason to one side, working down a side street next to the rail yard with a lot fewer people. "If my father was here he'd just imagine a hole in that wall around the rail yard and we'd walk through," Kira told Jason. She hesitated, half-worried and half-hopeful, as she wondered if her Mage skills might someday allow her to do that. It didn't matter, though, because she certainly couldn't do it now.

"How about that door?" Jason said, pointing to a side entrance.

Kira walked up to it, seeing a large padlock on the door. "This is just what we need."

"We don't have a key," Jason said. "Are you going to shoot the lock off?"

"Shoot the lock off?" Kira asked. "I have no idea how hard that would be, but I do know it would make so much noise that we'd have half the city on us before we got the lock open." She dug in one pocket and pulled out a small leather case. "I'll pick the lock."

"You can pick locks?"

"Mother taught me how," Kira said. "Sort of a mother/daughter bonding experience, I guess," she added as she pulled out some picks and went to work.

"Mother/daughter bonding experience?" Jason asked. "Yeah, learning how to pick locks sounds like the sort of thing most mothers and daughters bond over."

"If you're done making bad jokes, I need you to stand so no one can see what I'm doing," Kira said.

He had to stand uncomfortably close to do that, but she couldn't complain, instead doing her best to focus on her work. The lock clicked, she pulled it open, and Jason stepped back as she put away her lock picks. "What's the matter?" Kira asked him. "Why so gloomy? We're doing all right at the moment."

Jason shrugged. "You can do anything. I can't do anything. I'm totally helpless here."

She rubbed her face in exasperation. "You should have figured out by now that I can't do everything. And you are doing things. You're helping."

"How?"

"You…kept people from seeing me pick that lock."