Page 50 of The Starling and the Hatter

“Maddox mentioned you ran into an old friend in Murrwood,” Kat said as we lay across her bed on Tuesday evening.

Sharp nerves rose up inside me. I supposed this conversation was inevitable, and truth be told, I wanted to have it. “Yes, I did.”

“So then…” She rolled to her side so that she could see me. “Why haven’t you told me about him yet? You’ve been here for days, listening to me talk until I’m blue in the face about George, but you didn’t think I’d want to hear about this friend you ran into who is a man?”

I looked over at her, trying to smile at her obvious excitement, but instead my eyes were stinging with the promise of tears.

“Oh dear,” she said, sitting up. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head.

“When Maddox told me, I wondered why it hadn’t come up. I thought maybe you just wanted to keep it to yourself, but clearly something is very wrong. Who was he?”

Her concern was gratifying, and I sniffed back my emotions. “We grew up together, our families attending a lot of the same festivals.”

“All right,” she said, as though waiting for me to tell her what my tears were about. “So will he be staying south?”

“No, he’s trying something new.”

“But he’s not here?”

I shook my head, not bothering to explain it, because I didn’t understand it.

“And do you like him? As more than a friend?” She gave me a stern look. “I’ll know if you don’t tell me the truth.”

I smiled and nodded. “We spent a lot of time together, and it was so wonderful being with him,” I confessed in a whisper. “He made me laugh. He told me how beautiful I was. He admired my singing. He made me feel…seen.”

Her brow furrowed, like she was dissatisfied. “So then, why are you unhappy?”

I let out a sigh. “Because he’s not here. He skipped Dressle and went straight to Stormbrook.”

Her chin pulled back. “Why would he do that?”

I raised my hands in an annoyed shrug. “I have no idea. It would have made more sense for him to come here first.”

“That is strange. There won’t be any crowds in Stormbrook until next week.”

“See? It doesn’t make sense. It’s like he can’t just follow the established route; he has to make it up as he goes. He’s adventurous, which I love, but I also hate it because it means he left me.”

“Clearly you wished to spend more time with him.”

“Of course I did, but he didn’t even say goodbye.”

“Not a word?” she asked.

“Well…” Did I dare share Robert’s invitation? What if she laughed at it? What if she called the notion ridiculous?

Then again, what if she didn’t? The idea of finding a way to follow Robert had been tapping at the edges of my consciousness for days, but I was too afraid to truly consider it.

She sat up straight. “What? What did he say?”

“He didn’t tell me goodbye, but he did send someone with a message.”

She clasped her hands together. “And what did it say?”

“It was a riddle, but it seemed to be…inviting me to follow after him.” I heard my own uncertainty.

She pressed a hand to her heart. “That’s so sweet. He must really have feelings for you if he’s inviting you to follow him.”