technically he hadnât found it, since heâd had it all along.
âUp with the sun, boy. Donât lose the rhythms of the earth. Thatâs the first step to letting the street have you. You donât want her to have you. Sheâs a bad mother, or worse.â
âIâm tired. Go away.â
âBet youâre hungry.â
Tom rolled back and looked at Wolflegs.
âGot an egg salad sandwich here if youâre awake.â
Tom sat up. âOkay, Iâm awake.â
Wolflegs held out the wrapped sandwich. Tomâs hands shook as he unwrapped it. He was so thirsty that he didnât think there was any spit left in him, but some came. He ate the whole thing in six bites.
âYouâre here early,â Tom said with his mouth full. âDonât you go home at night?â
âMy son did not sleep in a bed last night, so I do not,â Wolflegs said.
Tomâs throat was so dry that he swallowed with difficulty. âIâm gonna drink that river now,â he said.
Wolflegs shook his head. âThatâs white manâs water. You havenât had anything to drink?â
âThereâs no fountains anywhere.â
âSome of the buildings have washrooms open to the public. They have fountains for the tourists.â
âWhere do the tourists go?â
âCome. Iâll show you.â
Tom folded his blanket over a branch. He was afraid to walk in the Core with someone as tall as Samuel Wolflegs, with someone who had long black and silver braids, with someone who for sure would be seen. But his thirst was greater than his fear.
He neednât have feared.
âThey donât see you either,â Tom said as they walked.
âThey donât want to,â Wolflegs said. âChicken skins, all of them.â
âI think they are pretty. They look goodâI mean, they look like they would be good.â
Wolflegs grunted. âMoney can make you look moral.â
Tom wondered what he meant. âHow long have you been looking for Daniel?â He needed to talk to take his mind off his thirst, though his speech sounded sticky.
âSince last winter,â Wolflegs said. âHeâs left before, when we fought. But this time demons got him.â
âDemons?â
âBad medicine. Demons. They say drugs made him crazy, but it was his demons made him take the drugs. It was demons made him take more and more. Some say heâs dead. Heâs not dead. If he was dead, I would have seen his ghost.â
âThereâs no such thing as demons.â
Wolflegs looked at him. âThatâs what Daniel said. He didnât know about demons, about bad magic, and so he wouldnât use the good magic I had to give him.â
âGood magic, eh?â Tom said. He tried to smile, but his cheeks didnât work. He tried again. Nothing. He guessed heâd forgotten how to smile, too. âYou mean magic like the power I have to be a Finder?â He would have laughed if his cheeks had worked and his throat wasnât as dry as the sidewalk.
âYes, like that,â Samuel said.
Tom said nothing. His legs were stiff and his tongue coated, and he was walking beside a medicine man who believed in magic, and if gravity had a thumb he was sure it was pressing down on him right now.
âYou should find your way home,â Wolflegs said almost gently. âI am wrong to keep you here, looking for Daniel.â
Tom almost said, âDonât worry, Iâm not looking for Daniel,â but something stopped him. He didnât know many things about himself, but he knew he was ânice.â The candy had said so, and now it was written down in his notebook. Nice was pretty vague. How good did you have to be to be nice? Did you just have to not say mean things? Or did you have to find peopleâs kids for them?
âWhere is home for you, Tom?â Samuel asked.
âI donât know,â