Luna's Arc

Chapter 14 of 29

The light was dying by the time Luna's legs gave out. The little ones had stopped whimpering hours ago, too tired even for that. She raised her hand and the ragged line halted behind her. "We rest here," she said. "Just for the night." The oldest Ghost Kid, tall and thin, met her eyes and nodded. He had led children through these woods before and lost some. He knew when a body could go no farther. Luna picked a small clearing ringed by close trees. "We build a fence," she told him. "Nothing gets in." The two of them gathered fallen sticks and stood them upright in the dirt. The older children pulled long vines from the trees and wound them tight around the wood. Luke worked beside Luna, his small fingers threading vine through the gaps. The tiny black cat rode in the crook of his arm, watching. When they finished, the ring of bound sticks stood crooked but strong. One by one the children climbed inside. The little ones curled against the bigger ones. Luke pressed close to Luna, the kitten between them. The oldest boy settled by the gap they had left, keeping watch on the dark trees. Warm bodies packed together against the cold. Someone hummed. Slowly, the breathing evened out into sleep. Luna could not sleep. She stared at her own hands in the dark. She kept seeing the knife go down through the slug's skull. Clean. Sure. She had known exactly where to strike, how to twist the blade free, how to cut a grip loose from her sleeve. No one had taught her that. She had no memory of learning it. She had no memory of anything before the woods. "You're awake," Luke whispered. "I keep thinking about the knife," she said. "How did I know how to do that?" Luke was quiet. Then he pulled the red multitool from his pocket and pressed it into her hand. His name gleamed on the handle. "They taught me a little," he said. "Before. Mom held my hand and showed me." He looked at her. "Maybe they taught you too. Before you forgot." The words landed hard. Someone had trained her. Her hands remembered what her head had lost. That meant her past was not empty. It was hidden, locked somewhere behind the fog. And the answers waited in the house on the map. "I need to remember," Luna said. "All of it. Not just the knife." She closed Luke's fingers back around the tool. "The house will tell us. It has to." Luke nodded and shut his eyes. The kitten yawned. Luna lay back against the huddle of children and stared at the crooked fence. Somewhere past it, an animal cried out and went silent. She did not flinch. By dawn they would be moving again. But now Luna knew one thing for certain. Whoever she had been, that girl was still inside her, waiting to be found.