"How did seeing Nod off go?"

"Barnet isn't scheduled to leave until this afternoon," Ronin didn't look up from the reports scattered across his desk.

"Are you going to go see Nod off then?" Finn leaned against the doorframe.

"No," Ronin jotted down a few notes in the margins of a report, "he was upset when I left him. Seeing me will only upset him again. It's better if he gets used to Barnet."

"What did you think of Barnet?" Finn pressed.

"Finn, I have work to do," Ronin sighed.

"You didn't like him," Finn concluded.

"Finn," Ronin snapped.

"You should go see him off when he leaves," Finn insisted, "you'll feel better about it, and even if he's upset, it will be better for him in the long run."

"I don't know what's better for him right now, never mind the long run," Ronin growled, "what I do know is that he has to go with his uncle, and my showing up again isn't going to make that any easier."

"Ronin, if you don't trust him, you need to at least check on Nod one more time," Finn was unfazed by Ronin's show of temper.

"I never said I didn't trust him," Ronin protested.

"If you trusted him you wouldn't be this upset," Finn pointed out.

"I… can't," Ronin closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I had to leave Nod there alone screaming for me and I can't. I'll go see him once he's settled in a few weeks."

"And you're confident Nod will be alright that long?" Finn asked.

"Finn, go away!" Ronin barked.

"Alright," Finn held his hands up in surrender, "but as your best friend, I'm telling you, you should go see him off."

Finn left before Ronin could tell him no again, and Ronin sat staring at his desk for a long time, hands clenched into tight fists to stop them from shaking.

"Lord Barnet, isn't that boy supposed to be with us?"

Barnet looked up from his clip board, giving the caravan hand an irritated glare.

"He's here somewhere," Barnet said dismissively.

"He's not with any of our wagons sir," the man assured him.

Barnet sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had known the boy was going to be trouble even before he had met him. Maybe he should have brought the governess with them.

"What are you doing right now?" Barnet asked.

"We just finished loading the third wagon sir," the man said, "we're waiting on the textile delivery so we can get the next one loaded."

"Go look for him," Barnet dismissed him with an annoyed wave of his hand, "but be discreet. He's already caused enough of a scene today. I'm sure he's just hiding in the loading bay somewhere."

"Yes sir," the man said and left.

This trip couldn't be over fast enough for Barnet.

Nod hugged Cheep-Cheep to himself tightly and crouched under the leaves of a crocus. The bad thing was back the way he had come, and he had to get away.

It seemed like… it seemed like he hadn't been here in a long time, like he had been somewhere else, but he knew this place, the green and the growing things and the soft moss under his feet were all familiar.

But hadn't there been something better… a good something… something he had really liked.

No. The good thing was gone. He couldn't have it anymore. He had Cheep-Cheep, and he would find the chickadees. Then he would be okay.

He didn't feel like he would be okay though. He felt like everything was terrible, and he was frightened, and it didn't feel safe at all.

He remembered when things felt bad he was supposed to move. When things felt bad that meant there was something bad nearby, and he should get away. There was a crackle and a rustling of grass in the underbrush, and Nod scrambled back, crawling under a tree root and hiding.

A weasel came out of the grass and sniffed the air, and Nod held very still, holding tight to Cheep-Cheep and wrapping his hand around the charm on his necklace. It was warm, and it tingled against his palm. He felt better when he held onto it. It was an important necklace, and it made things better somehow.

The weasel looked around, then continued on its way. Nod waited until he couldn't hear it to move, but he didn't come out of his hiding spot.

He wanted… he wanted… he didn't know what he wanted, but he knew he couldn't have it. He sat down in the dirt under the tree root, pressing his face against Cheep-Cheep, and cried.