Abby, as usual, somehow manages to say the exact right thing. She sounds so calm—not unbothered, just steady, and it settles Clarisse the slightest bit. The house of cards trembles and then rights itself, an internal storm quieting.

"Thanks," she says quietly as Abby stands up. She feels like this is less out of their control now that she knows somebody will be checking in back at the tent, the most likely place for Ellie to stop whenever she comes back. She lets go of Wags and watches him trot along with Abby as she walks out of the dining hall.

She isn't hungry, but she knows she needs it, so Clarisse forces herself to eat half the bowl Abby passed to her. Three big, tasteless spoonfuls, and then she can't manage any more. She needs to be moving, to be doing something. So she wipes her mouth on the back of her hand and moves.

It takes her longer than an hour to call Abby. She stops at the stables and walks down the length of the building, looking into each stall as she passes it. She checks Viscount's Keep and the temporary scaffolding at the staircase. She checks any place she recognizes as a spot where she and Ellie have stopped, any place that looks like somewhere Ellie might like. She calls Ellie on her crystal. She doesn't cry, she doesn't panic. Her anxiety feels like some distant thing, like she's watching somebody else.

Finally she does it. "Anything?" She knows the answer already.