“Oh. I’m sorry, Flo. It smells great.” Mucum almost kicked himself. Her only thought had been of him all this time.

Flo instantly cheered up. “Yas! It be made of dulberries, but the taste is not dull at all!” She crinkled her nose at her own joke.

At that moment Mucum felt his heart cleave in half as if an ax had sliced through it. He remembered the dulberry patch growing deep in the hollow roots beneath the diving station. How could he have thought Rootshooters grew in the soil? This girl was flesh and blood. “Good on yer, Flo! What ’ave I done to deserve this?”

“Why, yow be an honorable boy. That be plenty! Don’t give up hope yet! Boi the way, don’t bite too sudden on that pie; thar be something sharp and useful hidden inside! Warghhh!”

Every time Mucum thought the Rootshooters were not quite all there, they proved him wrong. To survive down in the depths of the tree required brains. Flo had brought him everything he needed. Food, and a weapon for when the right moment came. Maybe he wouldn’t die after all.

“Give us a kiss, then!”

Mucum was shocked. A kiss? “Err … Flo, not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of in prison here.”

“That be no problem for a big boy loike yow! Now come ’ere!”

At work, no one told Mucum what to do. Even Jobby Jones phrased his commands in a way that suggested Mucum might be doing them all a favor. But when it came to girls, Mucum was out of his league. He hadn’t had the courage at the Rootshooter party. It was now or never. He reached up the bars and strained, lifting his whole body off the floor. He pushed his mouth between the bars, feeling like a fool.

“Yuck!” said Shiv. “That’s disgusting!”

But before their lips could touch, there was a sudden slam far off in the building and footsteps coming closer.

“Aww!” said Flo, pulling away. “Never yow mind! We be savin’ that kissy for later.”

Mucum did mind. Life definitely wasn’t fair! He dropped back to the floor, aware of the danger.

“Oi’ll be back in a few hours, Oi promise! Yow must get thee and the girl out before the night is done and then we shall meet up,” Flo whispered.

“Wait, girl!” Mucum hissed. “How am I gonna —?”

There was no answer, only a tug on the rope. Flo’s face rose up and away, vanishing as if she had been no more than a moony vision.