She stops suddenly. A warm glow fills her face, and her eyes focus on something in the distance. I turn to see what she's looking at. Kayla is walking down an aisle toward us, twirling a ribbon on a stick over her head. Allys follows close behind. They stop at one of those animal cookie carts and watch the vendor create a sparkling animal cookie. Even from this distance, I can see the wonder filling Kayla's face.

"She's your North Star, isn't she?"

Jenna nods, her eyes still fixed on Kayla. "The first time I looked into her eyes, Locke, I saw the universe. I saw it like I've never seen it before." She turns to me and smiles. "I saw and heard and knew at last the How and Why of all things, past."

It's the Millay poem I quoted for her a few days ago. "I saw why this world goes on," she says. "I saw all the hope of the future, even when this world is one big mess. Looking into Kayla's eyes made me hope for a better future. Maybe hope is all that's ever kept the world going."

"That's a lot to see in one little girl's eyes," I say.

"Yes," she answers. "It is."

And then, while Jenna is still dreamily focused on Kayla, something catches my eye. I turn my head slightly, and through the crowds, past the carts, past the hanging baskets and flapping canvas stalls, I see Kara. She is watching. Her mask is gone, and she is staring at Jenna.

And in an instant, I know. Her words from two nights ago flash through my head. She deserves to suffer, the same way we suffered.

That's where she's been the last week.

Practicing. Gaining control over every movement of her face. Gaining perfect control so she reveals nothing, not even to me, because I might give it away. In another instant, her performance for Jafari flashes through me--the timing, the pauses, all rehearsed and perfectly orchestrated. But Jafari was an ordinary human. He couldn't read and dissect a face the way we can, and Kara is smart enough to know that Jenna has the same ability. Her performance for Jenna required even greater skill. When the time is right. Watching. I need to know.

Hurting Jenna wasn't enough. Even killing Jenna wouldn't be enough for Kara. But making her suffer ... that's what she's watching for. She's looking for Jenna's greatest weakness.

Chapter 71

Every turn, every push forward, every effort to pull Kara aside, every moment from bazaar to house is filled with others getting in my way. Finally, as we are getting out of the truck, I can't stand it any longer.

"Kara, can I talk to you? Alone?"

Miesha and Allys turn to look at me.

Jenna stops. "Can it wait, Locke? I want to show Kara the greenhouse. Now. Just in case she should want to go there." With Kayla between us she talks in code, but we all get what the just in case is. I still don't know why it's so urgent to go right now. Maybe she's heard something, but what I need is much more urgent.

"We can talk later, Locke," Kara says. "I'd like to see the greenhouse."

I widen my eyes, hoping she will get the message. Kara. She looks away.

Jenna kisses the top of Kayla's head and pats her bottom. "I'll be right in, angel. Go on and put your shirt away." Kayla runs to the house, and Dot, Allys, and Miesha follow her.

We walk down the slope, across the bridge, and over to the greenhouse. Kara's mask is back in place, but as we walk, her eyes sweep the landscape, always in motion, always soaking up details like she's wary of traps--or maybe she's constructing them. When we reach the greenhouse, Jenna tells her there's a hiding place below. She pulls on the latch beneath the hemp mat and starts down the stairs. Kara stiffens but then follows. Walking into closed, dark spaces is hard for both of us. When we reach the bottom, Jenna turns the lights on.

Kara looks out at the grim cavern of a room but says nothing. For a moment I think I see a hairline crack in her mask, but just as quickly it's gone. She forces a smile and takes two steps. Jenna follows and fills the strained silence with explanations of what the room was originally for.

Kara nods. "So ... you've been busy all these years ... saving people. Complete strangers."

"I guess you could call them that. But I understood what they..." Jenna's thoughts dwindle away as she looks at Kara. Does she see a crack too? "It was only a temporary stop until we could find a more permanent placement for them."

Kara walks around the room and swipes her finger across a dusty table, then flicks the dust from her fingertip. "That was very good of you, Jenna. So good. It's good to help strangers."

"I think we need--"

Kara turns around and laughs. "You don't really expect us to stay down in this hellhole, do you?" She freezes at her slip. Has she already discovered Jenna's weakness so now her perfect control is shaky? She shrugs to cover for herself. "You know me and dust!" But the edge still hasn't left her voice. This is not going to end well. Her control is dissolving.

I step toward her, ready to grab and hold her if I need to. "Kara, it's only a backup in case we--"

"Ah! Another backup. Just what we need."

Jenna steps toward her, unfazed. "Kara," she says firmly, "I think we need to talk. Now."

Kara throws her arms out. "About what? Who gets which cot?"

"What we should have talked about this morning. The accident. What happened afterward. What you are now."

The smile on Kara's face fades. Her eyebrows rise. She takes a step forward. "And just what am I, Jenna?"