19
PENN
Penn thinks maybe Cody will cry.
Maybe she’ll pray.
But she does neither of these things.
She runs.
And runs and runs and runs until dawn.
Not away from Yurka – not at first. She darts through alleys and between bar-hoppers till the streets are cleared out, never pausing long enough to say excuse me.
It’s a task to keep up with her. Penn does it, cheeks flush and heart heaving. He thinks, any minute now, she’ll stop.
But he’s wrong.
The sun breaks, low in the sky, already damp and heavy, but Cody doesn’t slow. She runs faster, in fact, and throws herself at the tall, wide-planked fence boxing Yurka, leaping like a pebble out of a sling-shot.
Like a girl onto a stallion.
Penn climbs over, too, and wants to stop her going into the wood. The Night Beasts will be out.
