Folding the Sky

-23-

Jem's eyes were starting to tingle with the beginnings of exhaustion, tears forming within them like water bubbling up from a wellspring. Still, she could not, and would not, give up now.

The excitement, that warm rush of adrenaline that filled her each time she used her power, was more than enough to keep her going, even through the discomfort. The edges of her vision sparkled like water beneath the sunlight, everything shimmering crystal clear before her.

"She's on the shorter side," Zuri said from her spot beside Jem. Zuri sat cross-legged on the warehouse roof, just behind the ledge, her eyes shut and her head tilted back. The others were below, preparing themselves for a trip out into the main street. "Long, dark red hair. Wavy, I guess? Oh! And she wears glasses."

"Okay," Jem said. She rubbed her eyes, scanning the crowd again, her gaze skipping over the tired, finely-lined face of a mill worker drifting home, or scanning the signs that dotted the carts and shops lining the street: Fresh Fruit, shoe shining, Wendell's Handmade Rugs—

Jem stopped. A woman was edging open the door of the rug shop, stepping out onto the street. Her head was ducked, but Jem could see her as clearly as though she were looking through a pair of binoculars. She was stout, and her hair was a deep auburn, tumbling across her shoulders and back in frizzy waves. She lifted her face, and Jem saw the sunlight glinting across a pair of glasses balanced on her freckled nose.

"Zuri," Jem said, reaching back and yanking Zuri to her feet. "Zuri. You said she worked at a rug shop?"

"I—yeah," Zuri said, squinting, as if trying to see whatever it was that Jem's eyes were fixed on. She gave up soon enough. "I did say that."

The adrenaline swelled and suddenly Jem could hardly stand still. "I see her. She just left and she's moving...east, back towards where Chike's folks are. I see her."

Zuri's face was blank for a moment, as if she was still making sense of the word. Then she was beaming, nodding her head, bouncing on her toes like she was readying herself for a sprint. "Then there's no time to waste," she said. "This is happening, and it's happening now."

It was late afternoon, the sun inching once again towards the horizon, by the time they left for inner Sinje again. Once the five of them were over the bridge, they split, just as planned.

"Watch out for feral cats!" Jem shouted to Chike and Kalindi as they turned in the direction of Wendell's Rug Shop—they'd scope it out for any clues as to Vernon's whereabouts while Zuri and the others handled Liesel. Both Kalindi and Chike shook their heads at Jem's remark, but Aldric in the least seemed amused.

Gently, Zuri nudged Jem's shoulder. "Eyes on the prize," she reminded her. "We've gotten this far; we don't want to lose her now."

Jem groaned, but when she looked up again, ring of white glinting in her eyes, the mirth had vanished from her expression. As laid back, go-with-the-flow type of person Jem was, Zuri could still see how badly she wanted this, how badly she needed to find Vernon, to prove something. It wasn't a game to her.

"There's a stall up ahead that sells fabric dyes and ink; she's stopped there," Jem explained, pointing in its direction, her eyes straight ahead. "We'll barricade her in. She'll try to run for the back street across the way, and then—"

Aldric gave a curt nod of his head, flexing his fingers. The temperature of the air around them dipped, just by a degree or two. "Got it."

"There," Zuri said, her eyes lighting on a handmade sign painted with the words Dyes & Ink. Below the sign, she could just make out the auburn-colored top of someone's head. "That's the one, isn't it?"