Peter peered round, but there was still no sign of Cooper or Becky. One girl, a Returnee, and broad as a bear with both ears poking through her fine hair, sat in the circle staring at the door. Peter hadn’t seen her before now, but perhaps she was waiting for Cooper too. For all he knew, she’d been out in the woods last night with the rest of them. Peter glanced down at her boots, noticing the thick wedge of mud and dead pine needles crusted into the tread, and wrapped his fingers over the lip of the chair. If Cooper planned on coming, he didn’t have much time left. He started to look around the hall for a clock, when he realized the girl was looking at him. Like Cooper, her eyes were two dark pools from her journey to death and back again. And she was looking at him strangely. He was sure of it. Peter shuffled round in his seat, troubled by some of the things Cooper might have been saying about him, and pretended to take interest in the stalls. But her gaze only followed him. He sat forward, willing Teddy to come back, when the girl sat upright, her eyes notably brighter now that someone she knew had arrived.

Tokala walked in. He mingled. He shook hands with the sheriff. He patted the back of the girl’s chair as if to check in with her and stood watching the door. Peter sank down into his chair. Was Cooper coming or not? Or was something else about to happen? He supposed he should try talking to Tokala about it. But now he’d seen him in the woods with the others, he wasn’t his to talk to any more.

Peter looked back towards the stands where a woman in pigtails with a smile wider than a canoe was standing, and wondered if now might be time to go talk to the nice people at the credit ratings stand, when Teddy came back.

“Don’t let Dad catch you dozing off,” he said, sneaking in at Peter’s side. “There’s an exam after.”

“You’re kidding.”

Teddy dropped a donut on Peter’s lap and pointed at it. “Donut!”

“Thanks.”

“Course I’m kidding, and don’t tell Dad I told you this because he bet me anything I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut, but you should stick around. They might have some giveaways at the end.”

“Might?”

Teddy clutched Peter’s knee and wiggled his eyebrows up and down to indicate that might meant most definitely.

“What kind of giveaways?” said Peter looking back towards the door. There was still no sign of Cooper.

“I can’t say.”

“OK.”

“But televisions! Lots of them.”

The sheriff checked the street one last time just in case someone else was on their way.

“That’s tel-e-visions, Peter.”

“Yes. I heard you.”