As Miriam, Ayan, and Key reached Victoria House, Miriam saw a familiar face learning.
"Hello cousin," Jo said as she passed the three of them.
Miriam stopped and Ayan tried to pull her inside. "Leave it be, Miriam, she's trying to annoy you."
Miriam didn't move. Neither did Jo. "I'll meet you in a minute."
Ayan looked at Miriam as if she was going to second guess this decision, but in the end, she went into Victoria House, pulling a confused Key with her. The door closed behind them, leaving Miriam and Jo alone.
Jo looked much the same as she had when she had left home two years earlier. She stood a few inches taller than Miriam--closer to Ayan's height. Acne dotted her face, and her hair, which had once been as long as Miriam's own, but was now as short as Key's.
Miriam sighed. "Why are you here, Jo?"
"Because my boyfriend lives here? Or are you and your friends the Victoria House guard?"
"Stay away from my friends."
"Oh, you mean Mat? Well, guess what? He gets to pick who he's friends with." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I know dad's taught you money can control everyone, but we're not in Alaj anymore. Things are different here."
It took all Miriam's energy not to run at Jo and pin her to the ground. They'd often grappled as children. Her cousin had won, more often than not, but Miriam had a feeling she was out of practice. Nevertheless, her uncle had taught her it was dangerous to attack out of anger, and there had been enough anger between them since the day Jo left.
Miriam was dressing in her room when she heard voices arguing downstairs. She followed the sound to find her uncle and cousin in the front hall.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" her uncle said, "that school ended weeks ago and you traveled through all of Alaj to steal from broken families?"
"I was visiting friends! And I wasn't stealing!" Miriam didn't know if it was the discordant lies of the way they yelled over each other that made her head ache.
"No," her uncle said sarcastically, "you weren't stealing. You promised you would find their children first."
Though Miriam stood in full view on the stairs, neither acknowledged her presence.
Jo looked her father in the eye. "I told them I thought they might be in the same place as mom." That statement rang true, but Miriam couldn't figure why Jo would tell someone that.
Miriam's uncle shook his head. She hadn't noticed before how exhausted he was. He was constantly making deals with other province leaders to protect his people. The work had taken a toll on him. "Your mother is dead." He said it as if he'd already had to repeat it several times.
"I know," Jo said, "she died while I was at school. Thanks for the phone call!"
"Jo..." Miriam's uncle put a hand against his daughter's shoulder, but she shrugged it off.
"Did you do anything to help her, or did you just watch her die?"
"Jo, you think I wouldn't have helped her? I loved her!"
"And that's not a real answer." Jo looked at Miriam. "What do you think? Is he telling the truth?"
Miriam opened her mouth to tell her cousin that she had, in fact, heard truth in his words, when her uncle roared in anger.
"You dare accuse me of murder after the crimes you've committed?!"
"I haven't committed any crimes."Jo turned to Miriam again, as if to have her prove that what she said was true, but Miriam's uncle took his daughter by the shoulders, more forcefully this time. "No, you haven't committed any crimes in asking for money to fund your little search, but when you report back to those families that their children can't be found, you'll have made a tidy profit."
Jo pulled out of her father's grasp, but he still held her eyes. "I will not tolerate this in my house. You will pay back every penny now, or you will leave."
"I see you have my replacement already." She turned to Miriam. "I'm sorry I left you that robe."
Miriam looked down at the robe she wore. Jo had given it to her a year earlier, passing it down along with the duty of serving tea to her uncle's visitors. She wanted to say something to her cousin, to bring her back and mend the tear between her uncle and Jo. But she couldn't move. So Jo walked to the door and Miriam's uncle closed it behind her. She never came back.
Jo gave a soft chuckle an started to walk away. Then she turned. "I'm surprised you're friends with Mat at all. He's a liar."
Even though her words rang true, Miriam felt the need to defend Mat. "No, you're the one who's lying."
Jo cocked her head. "You know, maybe I was wrong about you. I always thought you just didn't care about certain lies. But maybe you only hear what you want to."
"You're wrong."
"Yeah, just like I was wrong about dad." Jo walked away to Providence House.
