Anna Peregrine--The Conference of the Birds

Chapter Six

"I'm so sorry, Anna. I so regret putting you in this situation," Mum apologised as she and I walked through the tunnels as I tracked the residue.
"What if I can't do it? I've never tracked a hollow like this before. I'm not like Addison, who can smell peculiars from a long way off . . ."
"What you can do is even better. You can sense them, just like you have the pull towards other peculiars."
The trail led to the loop entrance the Americans used, and into another elevator. It led us up to a changeover into the present. We walked into a lobby full of tourists.
"Hope you folks had a great time!" a grinning tour guide said as she slapped a sticker on my dresser that read I saw the Olde Time Gold Mine and all I got was this lousy sticker!
Soaked into the carpet was another black spot. The trail continued outside, which was where I took the sticker off, putting it in the garbage.
All around us were normals who were taking the old west thing to a whole new level. How was this fun?
I kept following the trail through downtown, hoping my dress wouldn't look too out of place and draw attention, particularly by wights and hollowgasts.
"Mum, how did you find the place where the hollow residue started?" I asked, looking back at her.
She gave me a sphinxlike smile, "As we inspected the scene, I realised the wights themselves never entered the Marrowbone loop. They sent their hollowgast instead—along with someone else. Someone who wouldn't attract much attention. THat was the person who snuck into the girl's tent and kidnapped her, dragging her to the spot where the hollowgast had apparently been waiting–where you discovered its residue trail."
"But how did you track that person?"
"Ymbrynely intuition."
I raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"
"Alright. I noticed light-but-unusual boot prints leading in and out of the torn tent back–a tread pattern made by a high-traction sole, not the smooth-soled cowboy boots favoured by the Californios or the moccasins most Northerners wear. It led out along the tree line."
"So who's this other person?"
"Based on the shoe size, and, well, Ymbrynely intuition, I suspect it's a girl of about the same physical age and build as Ellery. Just follow the hollowgast's scent and sense trail. These wights don't travel anywhere without hollows, and I doubt they'll suspect they're being tracked that wy. You have the advantage–for now, at least."
"It's only an advantage if they always travel on foot. If they got into a car, there's no way I could track that. There wouldn't be any residue droplets o follow, and the scent trail would be way too faint. My tracking ability just isn't that developed. I'm more of a Ymbryne than whatever you would call my hollowgast peculiarity."
She raised an eyebrow at me, "I think you might surprise yourself, Anna. Look where you've led us."
I looked up. The trail was leading to a bus station.
"No way," I murmured.
We went into the building, which had certainly seen better days. There were bums in every corner. I looked over at the ticket booth to see a man inside of it. This was my chance.
"Excuse me," I said, approaching it, getting his attention. "Have you by chance seen a few men, with oh, I don't know, white eyes and a girl with them?"
"Yeah, I saw them," he said, giving me the answer I was not expecting. "Couple hours ago. They left on the five o'clock to Cleveland." He turned his attention back to his phone.
Mum rapped on the window, "How many stops does that bus make between here and Cleveland?"
The man sighed, pulling a paper out of a drawer, throwing it onto the counter, "Here's the schedule."
Mum looked at it, "Five stops. In a journey of about one thousand miles." She rapped on the window again. "When does the next bus to Cleveland leave?"
"Forty-five minutes."
Mum turned to me with a smile, "See? Just when you were about to lose hope."
I pulled her away from prying ears, "We'll stop at all the same stops they did, and I can check for the residue."
She smiled again, "Ready to start using your temporary membership on the Council?"

We sat on a bench waiting for the bus to come. I started playing with my falcon necklace, running the charm up and down the chain, looking around anxiously before looking at my mother who had a blank stare on her face.
"What happens if I lose the trail and can't find them? What happens if we can't get the girl back?"
"What will happen?" she sighed. "The Americans could lose faith in us, pull out of the conference, and go back to fighting one another. Or they may go to war right away, no matter what we do."
She said it so casually that it scared me, "You don't sound like you care all that much."
"I carea great deal, and the other Ymbrynes and I will do our level best to keep the negotiations afloat no matter what happens. But there's only so much we can control. The Americans have to want peace. We can't force that. And even if we forge an airtight peace accord, it's always possible that it could fall apart one day."
"Then why send me to do this? If it might not matter anyway, why bother rescuing this girl?"
"Because it's not the girl I care about. It's the wights."
Alright, who the hell was controlling my mother?
She continued, "This kidnapping wasn't a random act. I don't buy Balenciaga's theory–I think this abduction was about more than causing chaos and sabotaging the peace."
"Then what was it about?"
"Follow the wights. Observe them. And we may yet find out."
"And the girl?"
"Get her back if you can. But don't take unnecessary risks. I could abide any number of personal failures, but I could not abide losing you."
"And what will you be doing while I'm on this mission?"
"I'll be watching."
"You're not coming with me?"
"Not exactly. But I'll never be far away. Oh–and I want you to bring Jacob, Emma, Enoch, and Hugh along."
I pulled out my pocket watch, "Can they be here in half an hour?"
"Should be here any minute. I sent for them some time ago."
And just then, my friends were escorted in by Ulysses Critchley. They waved at us, smiling.
"Question: Why Hugh? I mean, I love the guy, but I'm not as close with him as I am with the others."
"Because he is capable and selfless. And frankly, he needs a bit of adventure to take his mind off Fiona."