Hope

Chapter Ten: Jing's Secret

Once Stan returned with Rebecca, we all ate our dinner and went to sleep in the wagon. It was crowded, but much warmer than sleeping outside in the muddy road. It also rained in the night, so when we woke up we were greeted by dark clouds and the beginnings of fog.

"Ugh. This town is so wonderful I can't understand why anyone would want to live here," Rebecca complained sarcastically. "This must be the Land of Eternal Fog."

"More like the Land of Eternal Cloud Cover," Tasha corrected. "And it's not that bad. It'll probably clear up in the afternoon."

"It might not be that bad, but my hair is already frizzing up!" Rebecca complained, gesturing to her thick red hair. "Why don't we ever go to the desert or someplace less humid?"

Stan snorted. "Do you really want me to give you all the reasons? Number One, that's too close to the capital. Number Two, it takes a long time to drive south. Number Three, it gets really hot in the summer. Number Four, you hate the heat. Number Five-"

"Okay, okay," Rebecca grumbled. "Forget I said anything. But seriously, do we always have to be somewhere cold and wet during the winter?"

"I second that," Tasha said, raising her hand lazily. "But we have to. Anywhere else is either too remote or too dangerous for what we want to do. And that is rally support for our cause without getting ourselves into too much trouble, by the way, not to make you miserable, Rebecca."

"I have yet to see the fruits of our labor," Rebecca yawned. "Wake me up when it's all over and I can go somewhere that isn't humid."

Jing chuckled. "I hope you feel like sleeping for a century."

Everyone had a little laugh at that, but then we quickly got up and prepared ourselves to journey into the world. Zack, however, just curled back up under his blankets and fell asleep. He wasn't going anywhere after all, so it made no sense for him to have to get up and put his sleeping stuff away.

Jing looked at Zack wistfully. "We're going to leave Zack here all by himself this morning. I have an important contact that I need to make, but I want you with me." She directed this at me. "Rebecca is trying to find a job and so are Tasha and Stan, so we can't spare them. I hope it's okay if I drag you along with me."

"No, that's fine," I said. "I haven't seen much of the town yet, so I don't really feel like getting stuck in the wagon all day."

Jing nodded thoughtfully. "True. I wonder how Zack feels. He can't even show his face without the risk of being recognized. Come on, let's go."

I followed Jing out of the alleyway and into the street, thinking upon what she had said. It was true that Zack was in danger for every second he remained in a human habitation, but as far as I knew he had no way of getting home. Whatever he had done to blow his cover was bound to follow him. It was then that I had true sympathy for Zack. His only option was to wait out the winter with Tasha and her group or risk getting killed before he managed to get home.

As I was thinking this, Jing paused by the bulletin board for a second, and my heart fluttered in my chest. But she merely gave it a curious glance and then moved on. I sighed with relief and followed, wondering who her contact was. Judging from the look on her face, it wasn't someone she was looking forward to seeing. I wondered what sort of person she was contacting and why she was contacting them. I didn't know right now, but I was sure to find out soon.

Jing then walked up to a grand building built mostly of a pretty white stone. It had columns in the front and a large window set right above the white double doors. Jing stepped right up to the doors, looking tiny against the white behemoth. It was then that I saw her for her seventeen years instead of the thirty-year-old she was inside. Jing timidly knocked on the door, at the same time grabbing my sleeve and pulling me forward.