“Yes, uh huh, yep,” Chicken Little said. He hung his head forward, as if he had no strength in his neck. “Yep. Got it. Can I talk to Darlene? You can make the calls.”

He paused.

“Hi,” he said. “Look after her? Keep her busy? Maybe if she works in the workshop?”

Another pause.

“Thanks. You’re the best. Bye.”

He paused, then brought the phone down and found the button to hang up.

“Problem with Lookout?” I asked.

“Not a big thing,” he said. “Was worried she’d freak out without the ability to stay in contact with everyone, so Darlene’s going to keep her company and keep her busy.”

“Makes sense,” I said. “I know she has a few things she’s working on.”

“When I said I wanted to talk before, it’s kind of this. Um. If that’s okay?”

“Sure,” I said.

He reached up to his mask and undid clasps. He lowered the round mask to his lap. His face had bent bars molded to run along his face to his cheekbone and forehead, with parts jutting out where it connected to the mask. He looked just a bit older than I’d been imagining him, his forehead creased in worry. He folded his hands over his mask, and I shifted position to better face him, both of my hands at one of my knees.

Tattletale glanced back at the back seat of the car, noting the unmasking, but didn’t say anything.

“She’s a little… um, much,” Chicken Little said.

“She can be,” I said.

“And I say that when I hang out with the Heartbroken and a lot of them are much. Different kinds.”

“Yep,” I said.

“It’s like… when I’m on the phone, there’s never a chance to hang up. So I have to interrupt and hang up, and then I feel like the bad guy. Or I ask for Darlene and I worry I’m being a manipulative bad guy.”

“She doesn’t see you as the bad guy, if that helps.”

“I know. I mean, I know but I don’t feel, you know?”

“I feel you. Yeah, absolutely.”

“And if I want to spend a while doing my own thing then she’s there, looking over my shoulder or sending me a message or saying hi. And I like her but—”

“You resent her at the same time?”

“No,” Chicken Little said. “But I see where I might be starting to or I might, soon, when the fun of everything being new with our team wears off. And I don’t want to be that person who pushes her away too hard. I don’t want to be that kind of person.”