I dressed quickly and scooted out to the landing, where Bear was poking his head out of his room.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
Romi and Francis’s door opened, too. “Francis?” she called. He must not have been inside with her.
No one answered. Perplexed, we all made our way down and stared at the strange stillness. A half-eaten egg on a plate and a bunch of empty chairs—your high chair included.
“Do you think something happened to Nell?” I asked. “And they rushed to a hospital?”
“No,” Bear said. “I couldn’t make out much, but I definitely heard Tam say, ‘you have to see this,’ right before they left.”
“‘You have to see this?’” Romi repeated, curious. She glanced out the windows, where dappled morning sun was coming in through the trees from the forest beyond. “What could there be to see out here?”
“Maybe some wildlife?” I offered. “Maybe they found some deer—a mother and fawn?”
“I want to see that, too!” Bear smiled.
“I want eggs,” Romi replied, and went to the stove. “Anyone else?”
Bear did. I handled the toast, for something to do. I tried to make conversation, but Bear was still too drowsy, and Romi was concentrating on the stove, so everything fell flat until I finally mentioned our Dreamer’s Atlas after we’d finished eating.
“Let’s get it set up!” Romi cried. She was already scanning the living room, figuring out the best way to change the area from lounge to cartography studio.
“You know Tam’s just going to argue with you if you do it your way,” Bear said with a laugh, carrying plates to the sink.
“She can try.” Romi winked at him. “But they took all the good bedrooms because we were late, so fair is fair.”
We got to work, pushing furniture to the walls and dragging over the big kitchen table. We scavenged the desks from our bedrooms to serve as research stations and positioned all the lamps where we’d need them for detail work. Then we unpacked the maps we’d brought, poring over each one excitedly. It wasn’t until a car rumbled up the driveway that we realized it was already early afternoon.
“Where have you all been?” Romi asked as Tam, Wally, Francis, and Daniel, carrying you, came into the living room. “It’s past lunch!”
“Did you bring any, by any chance?” Bear asked.
“Forget lunch,” Daniel said. His voice sounded the same as when they’d all left—exhilarated, confused. I was closest—he threw a set of car keys to me. “Follow us.”
“What’s going on?” Romi asked.
“You won’t believe it unless you see it,” Tam said.
“Try us,” Bear grinned, feeding off their energy. All of them, except Wally, were practically vibrating with excitement. “What did you find, guys?”
“I don’t know if . . . ,” Wally murmured, and then fell silent.
Somehow, despite the volume of our conversation, Tam heard him. She put a hand on his shoulder. “The glory is Wally’s. Couldn’t have done it without him.”
“I . . .” He trailed off.
“Come on, Wally,” Bear said teasingly. “No point fighting it.”
Tam gave his shoulder another reassuring squeeze, and Wally sighed, acquiescing. He knew it was true. Whatever belonged to one of us, belonged to all seven of us.
Especially Tam.
“A town,” he said at last.