Lina slumped defeatedly on Fleet's flank as soon as she got to him. She sensed Doon right behind her, who sighed wearily. "I don't know what we expected," he said. "I guess we were being too optimistic."
"I didn't think that anybody could be as stubborn as Torren!" Lina said.
Their conversation with Marshall had barely lasted a minute. He shut down every question they had, every probe to get information out of him. If anything, they did learn that he was planning to move on immediately, and he began to pack up his things as soon as they left.
"So, what now? We head to Reddington?" Doon said.
Lina nodded as she took her satchel out of the saddlebag, which was filled with seeds for trading. "I guess so. We need to replenish our supplies though. Let's spend the night here before heading out in the morning. That jerk should be gone from the barn by nightfall anyway."
With that, they started to head back into town. Doon easily fell into step beside Lina. "So we still don't know why he's collecting all those diamonds, and what he plans to do with the ones he does have," he said. "But I'll bet that he's planning to hold out until the month of Chilling, when people need supplies the most. Roamers don't go around as much during the winter, so it'd be the perfect opportunity for him."
"He would wait until people had to buy his things," Lina realized aloud. With a shudder, she recalled Looper from back in Ember all those years ago, selling those rare colored pencils at a premium that she couldn't resist. There were many cold-hearted people out in the world who were willing to take advantage of their blessings.
"If he keeps collecting diamonds, even if it happens slowly, soon we'll be going backwards," Doon said. "People will start dying again for things we solved a while ago, like keeping warm. We can't let that happen!"
"But Doon, what can we do to get those diamonds back? We don't know what Marshall's planning to do with them."
Doon remained silent as Lina picked up a dirty baseball that rolled up to her feet. She saw a couple of children waving at her and threw the ball to the closest boy, who called out his thanks.
"I...I don't know," Doon finally admitted. "I want to get them back, but it wouldn't be right to steal them, even if he's being unfair." He paused, and Lina saw a determined look in his eyes. "That's why I have to keep studying about electricity. We can't rely on those diamonds forever, not when it'll take so long to figure out how to reproduce them."
Lina was glad that Doon was so determined. That was one of the things she liked about him, and why she knew she could trust him more than anyone. Only Doon would be so resolved to learn everything he can about electricity. Only Doon would get upset enough about Marshall's shady ways to go out with her and investigate.
"I hope we can figure out where he's getting all those new things too," Lina said. "It bothers me how nothing about it makes sense."
Doon furrowed his dark brows. "I can't stop thinking about Ember," he said. "What if we really missed something? What if Marshall's just been taking things out from there this whole time?"
Lina didn't want to say it out loud, but she was sure that there was another explanation. At the same time, she couldn't disagree with Doon's suspicions either. "We just have to go to Reddington," she said. "If we find nothing useful there, then maybe we can go to Ember next."
"It's strange to think that we might revisit Ember again," Doon said. "I wonder what it looks like after all these years."
I wonder too, Lina thought with a wistful sadness she didn't understand.
Tim watched with apprehension as Torren grumbled and got back up on the cart for the umpteenth time. "Are you sure you're ready to travel like this?" he called.
"It's just this stupid old ox!" Torren hollered back. "I need time to show him who's boss!"
Even still, Tim didn't feel very comfortable watching the ox move the cart around with jerky movements. He had been hoping to ask Torren to take him to Aster when the time came for him to move, but as of now, things didn't look promising.
"What in the world is that boy up to now?" Tim whirled around to see his girlfriend standing behind him, hands on her hips and mouth twisted in amusement.
"Oh, didn't you hear? Torren is now officially a 'roamer-in-training,'" Tim said, leaning over to peck Lizzie's cheek.
"I can hear you!" Torren shouted from across the field.
Lizzie laughed and clung onto Tim's arm. "Good luck trying to look cool like that, 'roamer!'" she called.
Tim chuckled before he realized that now was the perfect time to break the news to Lizzie. "Hey, can you come with me for a moment? I want to talk about something."
She frowned. "That doesn't sound good. What's going on?"
Wincing internally, Tim just took Lizzie's hand and led her to the riverbank, where they usually went on their dates. The whole way, Lizzie kept asking questions with a worried voice. Not knowing how to ease her into the topic, he simply sat cross-legged across from her.
"Lizzie, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," he said slowly.
"Are you breaking up with me?" Lizzie cried. "Did something happen? Did I do something wrong?"
"No!" Tim took her hands and rubbed circles on the backs of them. "No, that's not it." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before letting the words flow out, as Lina told him to. "I've been exchanging letters with Vivi, the blacksmith from Aster. I asked her if she could teach me how to become a blacksmith, and she said yes. With her training me, I could become a blacksmith and open up my own forge in Sparks."
"What? Tim, that's wonderful!" Lizzie suddenly jumped on him and wrapped him in a hug so fierce that he nearly fell backwards. "I'm so happy for you! I know you've been looking for the right job forever."
"But that's not all," Tim said softly. He pulled back from Lizzie, although he didn't look her in the eye. "Vivi said it will take two years before I'll be skilled enough to work on my own. And Aster is really far from here."
Lizzie was quiet for a long time. Tim didn't like that, because she was usually so talkative and spirited. "You're moving to Aster," she said finally.
Tim nodded. "I can't be her apprentice unless I go."
"Why did you wait until now to tell me?" Lizzie asked. "How long have you been planning this?" Her voice shook, but Tim wasn't sure if it was out of sadness, anger, or both.
"I didn't know how to tell you," Tim admitted. "I want to stay with you so badly. But...the only way I can become a blacksmith is if I move to Aster. I'm leaving with Torren in a couple of days."
He finally looked back at her, but Lizzie was now staring at the ground. Tim wished that she could say something, anything. He had never seen her so quiet before. "I...I just thought I should tell you," he added weakly. He knew she didn't deserve to hear it from him like this. Lizzie had been there for him when he was adjusting to life in Sparks. She was the one who helped him heal and learn to belly laugh again. She was the reason he wasn't afraid anymore. But now, he felt a looming dread overcome him.
"So what?" Lizzie said.
"Lizzie, it's not like I won't see you again," Tim said. Now his voice was shaking too. "I'll come visit whenever I can."
She shook her head. "It's not that," she said. "You've waited until you were practically in the middle of moving out to tell me about it. Don't I deserve to be part of the process too? I've supported you with every job you tried since you moved here. I want to support you with this too, but not if you're going to hide things from me."
Tim opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. He knew he didn't have any good response.
Slowly, Lizzie stood up, never meeting his eyes. "You don't have to look for me when you leave," she said. "Goodbye, Tim. I hope you become a wonderful blacksmith."
With that, Lizzie walked away, and Tim felt as though his heart had become hollow.
