Not too far from the match container was a swift-moving but shallow creek. James bent to fill his canteen, then offered it to me. I drank deeply, not realizing how dehydrated I’d become. I passed the canteen back and he drank before refilling it. We kept walking until the beginnings of a thin path made itself known.

Being out here with James now, it almost felt as if we were back in Woodvine, taking a stroll through the park. Neither of us with a care in the world. The minutes passed as we headed further away from the co-op. It was a beautiful sunny day, the temperature moderate. I was comfortable in my unbuttoned lightweight jacket. A surge of hope and a wave of possibilities rolled through me until James abruptly stopped walking and dropped my hand.

My eyes followed his gaze to a crudely made sign hanging from the trunk of a young birch tree. There were no words on it, just three identical ovals. A small angle was drawn over each like an eyebrow.

“What’s it mean?” I asked, peering over his shoulder.

“Each oval represents one day. The mark over the oval means night.”

“Three nights?” I asked.

James nodded. “This board was blank the night I chased you into the woods. So that means the next council meeting is tomorrow.”

“That’s a good thing. Right?”

“Yes, but—” James raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t think I can go through with it.”

I was thrilled he was developing feelings for me. For a split second, I believed everything would work out for us. But how long would it take before he remembered everything? Weeks? Longer? Fall would be here in a few months, bringing much cooler nights than the last two had been. And when winter came, well, I doubted James’s father would survive an outdoor December. My thoughts flew to the Fringer James had watched stagger into town begging for help. There was no way I could live with myself if James’s father met with the same end.

The fastest way to get James and Tobias back inside Judaculla was to paint them in a different light in the eyes of the Elders. James needed to act the part of a champion for Judaculla instead of a defiant teenager. He could do this by bringing me in. I had to convince him to take me to the Elders. Maybe if I showed James what was written in the Bound Book, he’d go through with my plan.

Or maybe if he knew that, he’d be more determined to protect you, nudged an inner voice.

At the moment, distracting James was the best way to postpone a conversation about our going to the council meeting. “Why is this posted out here, so far away from the co-op?”