“What did she say?” asked Holly, squinting up at me peevishly from the tablet. Her glamour was in her body, I realized, in the way she moved and spoke. When she was just sitting there, in a sweatshirt, she looked like a skinny kid.

“She asked where we were,” I said.

“The sooner we all split up, the less likely they are to find us,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they know you and I are together and, who knows, they might have figured out about the band. I say we go to the concert tonight and then go our separate ways.”

I thought about this and began to panic.

“Where will you go?”

“Manfred said I could stay with him for a while. I’ve fallen for him big time.”

“When did you have time to fall for Manfred?”

“Remember that little gap between when he went swimming and when we all got on the bus?”

“Yeah.”

“Then.”

“Wow.”

“You wanted to start a new life,” Holly said, waving her hand.

Harvest got back on the bus just then. He sat down near the front and turned toward me.

“Hey, Rox,” he said.

I walked over to him, my palms skimming the rough tops of the seats. “What?” I asked. Harvest patted the seat beside him. I sat down, feeling the warmth of his body on my arm. He opened a paper bag. It was full of candy.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked,” he said. I looked through the selection and took out a Snickers bar.

“A classic,” he said. This was the most he had said to me since the night he’d talked about himself until dawn and then insulted me. I wanted to ask him why he suddenly seemed to like me, but my shyness made me mute. I figured it had something to do with Joy. And, yes, when she walked onto the bus with Troy trailing behind her, her eyes fell on the two of us in a way that made it seem she wasn’t so happy. Manfred got back on, slender in his navy blue uniform, peering along the seats, counting his passengers. Dougie was sulking in the back. He’d been in a foul mood ever since Holly quietly moved on to Manfred.

“The little angel is sleeping?” asked Manfred. I nodded. “Better check her,” he said. Suddenly alarmed, I got up and walked over to E’s berth, climbed up, and looked at her. She was on her back, eyes closed, her breaths coming slow and regular.