Hardly anyone spoke throughout dinner. The two strange gentlemen, Mr. Brant and Mr. Coakley asked the family general questions about their life, school, and so on. There was nothing of substance to the conversation. Father looked uneasy, especially since he had originally invited the two men to stay. He looked like he much regretted his decision by the end of dinner. After they had finished he sent the children upstairs to Roger's room to get ready for bedtime. He and Mr. Brant and Mr. Croakley went into the living room and spoke softly, but vigorously for almost an hour. Evie tried to eavesdrop from the top of the stairs, but they all spoke in such light voices that she couldn't make out any coherent sentences. She gradually moved down the steps as quietly as possible so as not to be heard. At last, she could make out what was being said. The two men seemed to be asking questions about a woman. Evie wondered if they could be talking about her mother, but that seemed too strange to be true. Or was it strange enough to be true? Were these men looking for her mother for some reason? Surely, her father was no help. He knew less about where she was than anybody else. Suddenly, Roger came around the corner and ruined her secrecy. "Evie!" he exclaimed. "Get up here, and help me with these blankets!" Evie jumped and hurried up the stairs. Convinced her father and the two strangers heard Roger, she shot him a piercing glare. The girls crawled into Roger's bed, and Roger made a pallet on the floor. Roger turned out the lamp, and darkness covered the room. Roger drifted off to sleep rather quickly. Rose didn't take much longer, either, but Evie did not sleep. She lay awake most of the night wondering what the two strangers had to do with her mother, and why they had come to their house.
The light had gone away, and the cave was dark when she awoke. There was no way to tell how long she had been asleep. Hours? Days? All that mattered at that moment was that she made it out of the city walls undetected, at least for now. She decided to wait until the sun came up to keep moving. She didn't know this area well enough to make her way in the dark. As she lied there waiting for dawn, she thought of her family and her home. She wanted nothing more than to be cooking dinner for her family right now. She swore to herself if she made it back, she would never leave again. She closed her eyes and imagined she was there sitting by the fireplace. While these happy thoughts danced in her mind, she drifted back to sleep. She only awoke when she felt someone grab her arm.
