8

Just before darkness fell, another bird fluttered down onto the wagon. With practiced hands, Lena scooped the bird up. “You’re a tired one, aren’t you? Poor thing.” She cooed at the bird softly, and called out to her father. “There’s another message.”
His hand emerged from the slit in the cover. He took the bird. “Thank you.” His voice sounded tired. “Light the driving lamps, will you? We need to move quickly. They’ll let everyone know we’re here, but the speed will be worth it.” Reaching into a box beside the seat, she took out a clockwork fire starter and handed it to me, pointing silently at the lantern that hung beside me.
For several hours, we talked quietly, but eventually, the conversation lagged. I was nodding in my seat when the canvas rustled open and the Mask emerged, startling me so badly that I nearly fell off my seat.
He stretched, reaching upward until I could hear his back cracking. Sighing, he clambered over the back of the bench and sank down between us. Lena handed him the reins without a word. After a moment, he spoke. “There’s a master mask waiting for us at the Ford of Sovea. He’s got supplies for me. I’ll take the horse to Kingsbury, and he’ll drive with you to Belkeep. Once you get there, refill the bird cages and head to Torwell as quickly as you can. If all goes well, I’ll be waiting there for you.”
My head was in a whirl. Everything seemed so sudden. I knew that the birds somehow carried messages between the masks, but I still didn’t understand how. Lena said that the masks couldn’t speak to each other’s minds, but that seemed a lot more believable than the idea that birds carried enough information to tell the Mask everything that he seemed to know.
“What about Ian?” Lena’s words surprised me.
“Take him with you. Tell the redface what’s going on, and have him help you train Ian. By the time you get to Torwell, he might actually be useful.”
With that, the Mask turned and winked at me. I think his wink was supposed to reassure me, but in the dim light, one of his eyes just seemed to disappear behind his black mask, and the effect was more grotesque than comforting. Some unseen landmark spurred him into action. “We’re almost there.” He handed me the reins, and once again disappeared into the wagon, where we could hear him rummaging for supplies.