She gave him a glance. Then her eyes were back on Hawk. “It’s a militia of some sort, several hundred, maybe more. Planted right across the roadway and for some ways to either side. I couldn’t be sure. They almost had me. They’ve got some good ears and eyes in that bunch. I don’t know what they’re doing, but they’re set on holding this road. You can tell.”

Hawk nodded. “Then we have to go around.” He glanced at the others. “I don’t like trying this at night, but we have a better chance of not being seen if we do it now. What do you think?”

“I think we do it like you say,” Bear answered for the others, who just nodded. Except for Panther, who spit and walked away in disgust. With Panther, you never knew.

Hawk split them into two groups. He put Fixit at the wheel and Chalk beside him in the AV, with Owl, Candle, River, and Tessa in back. He put Sparrow on the AV’s roof with her Parkhan Spray. He took Panther, Bear, and Cheney with him, and put Catalya on point, her sharp senses their best defense against hidden dangers now that Candle no longer seemed reliable. He was sorry about that loss—sorry for Candle and for them. He had talked with Owl about it, tried to come up with a reason for it, but neither of them could solve the puzzle of the little girl’s problem. In any case, they could not rely on her. They would have to do the best they could with the new girl.

He glanced down at Cheney, and the big dog’s head lifted slightly, the dangerous eyes meeting his own. Cheney would help them if he could.