"You never ran away from home?" Effy asked, and for all that she grinned, it was an honest question. Most people that she knew did at some point or another, whether triggered by a specific argument, or just the desire to fly far from the coop and out of the nest, out into the world where they could test themselves. Cook had been his own case, drifting without an anchor, going where the winds took him, only pushed to action when Effy needed to run, run, and never look back.

"Find that impressive," she added, weaving through and finding the easiest path to walk, with a small makeshift sundial— or really, simply a wooden disc with a small triangle glued there— rested in her palm to help keep them walking in the right direction. "Though I guess even when you run away, usually a wallet's enough."