I dashed out of the door, stumbling to a quick-paced walk as I made my way back to the Alpha House. I caught Lucinda coming in from the border, but with the hunched way she was walking, I presumed that she didn't see me waving to her.
I raced back to the packhouse as fast as I could, stumbling slightly over dips in the grass. I had to stop once in a while to catch my breath, but I managed to make it just as the hands on the clock grabbed the six.
"Phew." I sighed, wiping a fake sheet of sweat from my forehead. "That wasn't too hard, was it? I looked around the entry to the Alpha House, taking in the little details for the first time.
It reminded me of a palace from a Disney movie, or maybe a real palace. Two staircases made of intricate marble details flanked the sides of the wa
