Just then, Ciaran came through the door carrying a tray of bread rolls. He was smiling, and Hendrix followed him out, laughing with his mouth full of pastry.
“Compliments of the chef,” Ciaran said.
“The who?” Fray asked.
“Hey, chef?” Hendrix called out.
Hudson came out, smiling and maybe a little embarrassed. “Absolutely not a chef,” he said. “Not even a baker. Can just bake a few things. And not that well. Don’t look too closely because they’re not perfect. The old ovens here are awesome, though.”
They looked kinda perfect to Sawyer. Maybe not perfect by bakery standards, a bit uneven or whatever, but they were steaming fresh.
“They’re sweet buns,” he explained.
“Ohh,” Fray said. “Like Tobin’s.”
Everyone laughed and helped himself to a bun, which were delicious. They shut them all up for a minute, anyway. It was the quietest this lot had been in days. Then Sawyer remembered... “We should save some for Otis and Pania.”
“I already have,” Hudson said. “There’s more in the kitchen for them. And Beau; he’s guarding the cave.”
“Nice,” Sawyer said. He liked the two new guys. He didn’t know them well, admittedly. He’d worked on the gardens with them, and they’d chatted a little. They were possibly wary of Sawyer being a human and all, and coming into an established consortium can’t have been easy. But they were unassuming, hard-working, and just nice guys.
And Hudson made a mean sweet bun, if the almost empty tray was any indication.
“While you’re all here,” Ciaran said, “Sawyer and I had a little impromptu meeting with Cern last night.”
Everyone spun to look at him, then at Sawyer. “You what?” Kellan asked.
“Okay, first of all, I apologised for yelling at him on the mountain.”
“You fucking what?” Fray snorted. “I love you, Sawyer. Don’t ever change.”
Sawyer sighed. “It was nothing. And he accepted my apology, so we’re fine. But that’s not what he came here for.”
“He came here?” Tobin asked. “When?”
“When you were all down with the babies.”
Hendrix looked at Ciaran. “When you shot back up to the surface.”
“Yes,” Ciaran said. “I felt Sawyer’s fear.”
Fray shrugged at Sawyer. “We just thought you were about to fall in again.”
Sawyer pulled back the sleeve on his casted arm, showing Fray his middle finger. “No. Cern appeared on the jetty behind me. The man needs a bell.”
Fray, Hendrix, and Dylan laughed.
“Do not say that to Cern,” Ciaran said. “Jesus.”
Kellan was the only grownup, apparently. “What did he want?”
“He wanted news on the hatchlings,” Ciaran explained. “He kinda knew they were due to hatch, or something. He was excited and pleased to hear the good news. But then he said something.”
“Oh no,” Tobin mumbled.
“What was it?” Dylan asked.
“He said there would be an unwanted visitor,” Ciaran replied. “And that it would be best to move the hatchlings to the river by the hut, today, basically.”
