Izza sat against the wall south of the newsstand, hands cupped in her lap. Once in a while she glanced up and down the road with the unfixed, vaguely hopeful expression she wore when begging. Traffic was light, but she got a sliver or two of soul before Cat bought a paper and sat down beside her, cross-legged, paging to the funnies.

“We don’t have these where I’m from,” Cat said. “Surprises a lot of folks when they visit Alt Coulumb. You’d think, big city, big papers, but it ain’t necessarily so.” Her accent slipped into a drawl at the last, as if she were quoting something.

“You’re spoiling my act.”

“You’re not here for the act, kid.” Cat turned the page. “I like this one.”

Izza looked. “It’s not funny.”

“No, it is. It’s funny because their dog, see, it’s really big, so it eats more than the rest of the family.”

“That’s not funny.”

Cat chuckled. “Guess not.” She set down the comics and picked up another section. “Looks like Zolin’s out the next couple of games for giving Kasadoc a concussion. Unnecessary violence, which what that means in a game of ullamal I do not know. Also the Oxulhat police seem to have found three kilos’ worth of dreamdust in her luggage. Doesn’t look good for the Sea Lords. Gods, I love sports. All the excitement of real news, only it doesn’t matter so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Getting a grip on current events. What are you doing here?”

“Begging.”

“On this sleepy street? Houses that way, apartments that way, residential for three blocks on both sides. And this part of town isn’t exactly high-rent. Most of the folks who live here leave for work before sunrise. Not a choice spot.”

“I remember a month ago,” Izza said, but Cat interrupted her.

“When I was flat on my back unconscious. Good times.”

“When you couldn’t find your way around this island to save your life.”

“I can learn, you know. Give a girl some credit.”

“You’re not here for the paper.”

“Well,” she said. “You’re not here to beg.”

“You warned me to stay away from Margot last night.”

“And you stormed out and didn’t come back to the warehouse afterward. I had to venture out to scrounge up my own supper.” She laughed. “I figured I struck a chord. Which meant you were as likely to be here as anywhere else.”

“I spoke to him,” Izza said. “He recognized me. He asked about the Blue Lady. I told him the truth.”

Cat nodded, that nod people gave when they had something to say but didn’t want to say it yet. “And?”