--19--
	The entrance to the city was guarded by a pair of large, wrought iron gates filled with curliques and topped with spikes.  On market days, there were guards posted out front, and another one in the gate office to stamp passports.  All of which looked very impressive, but it didn’t mean anything any more.  Over the course of the last hundred years or so, they had mostly become decorative rather than functional, and it was unlikely that they were the same gates that Deirdre had installed anyway.
	“You're both mad.  You’re just going to go home like nothing happened?  Why did I break you out of jail if you’re just going to wait for them to come and get you again?” Jess said.
	It was after midnight, and the only people around were the homeless and the night vendors who were looking to sell them bad food.  Jess didn’t recognized anyone, and that was a small relief.  The three of them were standing in the shelter of a shuttered vendor's shack, to keep out of the wind.  She suspected that it was also to keep from being spotted, though there hadn’t been any signs of pursuit since they’d left the prison.
	“They won’t.  Marcus doesn’t care about us,” Catherine said.
	“He's too busy looking for Thomas.  And for Elizabeth,” Sarah said.
	Jess's heart leapt in her chest.  It was too much to hope that Elizabeth would be there, but she couldn't stop herself from turning back to search the darkness behind them for some sign.
	“Is she with him?  Are they safe?” she said.
	“You know as much as we do.  The last time I saw either of them was yesterday morning, outside of the warehouse.  But you need to worry about yourself, right now,”  Catherine said.
	Sarah lit a cigarette and sucked on it until the tip glowed.  She breathed a cloud of smoke at the sky and held the cigarette out for Jess to take.  Every year, Jess promised herself that she was going to quit, and one day she would keep that promise, but now it was a comforting link to her old life.
	“But I shot that boy.  That’s two people I’ve murdered tonight.  I've never killed anyone in my life,” Jess said.
	“It was self defense.  You can't ever forget that.  Both of them would have killed you if you hadn't killed them first,” Sarah said.
	“That’s not how Marcus will see it.  That’s not how Elizabeth would.  She’s never going to want to look at me again,” Jess said.
	“She will.  We’ll explain things to her, and she’s a practical vixen.  She'll understand you did what you had to do,” Catherine said.
	“If you ever see her again,” Jess said.
	She could feel the weight of the pistol hidden in the pocket of her rather baggy pants.  She knew she ought to get rid of it.  It wasn't like she really knew how to use it and nobody would teach that kind of thing to a House girl, even if she was free now.  But she knew, too, that it might be the only thing that would keep her free.
	“You should be able to get a coach at Shelby's Ford.  Take one going south and after a day or two you should be able to find a ship to Viridis at just about any halfway decent town on the coast,” Sarah said.
	“But that's too long.  If I do that, then by the time I get to Viridis anything could have happened to Megan,” Jess said.
	“Not if my father can help it,” Catherine said.
	They both kissed her on the cheek, and Catherine gave her a push towards the gates.  Frightened, but anxious to be on her way, Jess walked quickly out of the city and turned left down the road to Shelby's Ford.  She had been out of the city once before, but not very far and she’d never seriously thought of going anywhere else.  Her life in Jaspertree had been uncomfortable, but it had also been familiar and nowhere else was any better.  Now, she was actually looking forward to trying again.