66
That evening Sara wandered through town to the hill Bea had mentioned, for some reason feeling like she should avoid looking suspicious. No one had ever actually said that spending time with the people who lived on the periphery was disallowed, but the groups did not mingle. It felt like an unspoken taboo that she didn’t want to have to explain breaking.
Of course, this didn’t involve being actually sneaky, as that would surely count as suspicious, but rather an affected nonchalant meandering, moving through town in the proper direction over the course of an hour. Anything but direct.
As she neared the hill and had to search out the trail, she let the charade fall. She could not hold herself apart from the task when it required actual effort, and, despite Bea’s assurances, the path w
