“I don’t need luck,” Galfreya said, her gaze going to where the shadow waited impatiently for her by the bowl. “I’ve got her with me, don’t I?”

Grey

There’s a long uncomfortable silence after the red-haired girl leaves, neither cousins nor humans quite sure what’s coming next. I figure the situation’s under control now, and we can just go and get on with the rest of our business, but I’m taking my cues from Jack and he shows no sign of leaving. He winks at me and lights a cigarette, then lifts his eyebrows and offers it to me. I shake my head and look back at where the buffalo war chief is standing.

Minisino seems unrepentant, a tall, formidable figure, even without his army at his back. He has one hand on his hip, the other around the handle of a weighted club that’s stuck in his belt.

“Is it over?” I hear one of the humans ask, pitching her voice low.

You’d think it would be, but something’s still going on. Whatever it is, it’s all under the surface where I can’t access it.

I glance over to see that it was Lizzie’s cousin who spoke, her arm still in a sling. She’s leaning close to Cassie who, in her bright yellow T-shirt and even brighter pink baggy cotton pants, is pretty much the only splash of colour in this place.

I don’t know what Siobhan and the other members from Lizzie’s band are doing out here on the plain with us, what they thought they could possibly do against the buffalo army, but I have to admire them for taking a stand like this. If the red-haired girl hadn’t come through the way she did, it would probably have meant their deaths. You don’t see that kind of commitment much anymore—the realization that the world is everybody’s responsibility, so we’ve all got to do our part, no matter how tough that might be sometimes.

Oh, who am I kidding? Hardly anyone’s ready to stand up and be counted anymore, not cousin or human. But here these humans are, nevertheless. Siobhan with only one arm that’s of any use and the other two: the guitarist and the accordion player. Musicians, not fighters.

I feel like I owe Lizzie an apology. I guess I owe her a lot of things. If I hadn’t been so brusque with her at first, if I’d stayed around and kept watch against the bogans, none of these friends of hers would be here. Hell, I probably wouldn’t be here.