Our change in fortune's downright confoundin'. As I look 'round the cave, all them traders workin' out travel details with Tegan and Ro, I recall my disbelief that Ro was real when he came out of the gulch that first day. That's how I feel now about all that's happenin' to us. I had been under the impression that I'm the kind of girl who gits stuck with an alcoholic guardian, slimy, gropin' men, and a dyin' farm and ain't nothin' I could do 'bout it to change my lot. But I was as ignorant as them folks in the Regions, thinkin' there was a real distinction 'tween people, that luck was something you was born with or without and that was that. Now I know—I'm the kind of girl who escapes a dyin' farm with a man who managed to find his way to me through a sea of dust. I'm the kind of woman who determines her lot.

And now, we've got more than just our determination and a scruffy goat to git us out of this desert. We found ourselves allies, just when we needed 'em. Seein' as though I have some trust issues, I hold onto a lingerin' doubt that Tegan truly is willin' to orchestrate not only our passage out of the desert, but also what Ro refers to as the dissemination of his booklet. Her plan is fer her trader companions to reroute. Ain't no cargo they're currently haulin' that cain compare in value to Ro's booklet, so now they got themselves a new priority.

Tegan says there are already copies of the copies in the north and northwest, and most likely some along the western coast as well. But folks in the other directions is still purdy much livin' in ignorance. Them traders aim to change that.  Tegan's sons will take two booklets northeast to their home town. Two more will head with theirs directly East, a trader named Cheri will take two with her to her home near the southeast Region, and a sixth trader will deliver two more directly south.

Once all of 'em git where they're goin', they'll start writin' out copies and spreadin' the word. They'll give the copies to their trader friends, with the end goal of gittin' 'em across the borders into the Regions. I don't have to remind you how dangerous this'll be fer 'em, yet none of 'em flinch at Tegan's orders. They're livin' in hope, these traders, and hope's a powerful motivator.

The six traders leave, start walkin' in their intended directions. Tegan kisses each of her boys 'fore they go. "Take care of yer little brother, ye hear, Vlad?" she gives her oldest a quick hug and her youngest a knowin' wink. "Don't let him git into no trouble."

"All right, ma." Vlad squeezes her hand, then he and his brother is out of the cave and gone.

I look 'round, assessin' the situation. We got us two remainin' copies of the booklet, and three traders, includin' Tegan. "Yer no longer headin' south," she tells us. "Ain't nothin' fer you there."

I'm about to tell her that that's the point. We wanna find somewheres where there ain't nothin' and nobody who'll bother us. And besides, where is it she wants to lead us to that she thinks is so special? Fer all I know, it's a lawfolk holdin' cell she's set her sights on. Soon as I open my mouth, though, Ro steps in. "What do you know that we don't, Tegan?"

Tegan smiles, gives Ro a motherly pat on his shoulder. "I know a way out."

"A way out of the desert, you mean?" I'm a mite confused, cuz I don't exactly consider this news. She is a trader after all.

She leans in towards us both. "A way out. To where the law won't never follow you. I know how to set you on the course of freedom."

#

We're takin' our remainin' copies west. Tegan, along with two more seasoned traders named Gina and Vern, will come with, cuz Tegan's real set on her goal of keepin' us from gittin' killed or captured. They promise there ain't nothin' more they wanna do than to help us, and with that grim determination buildin' up in 'em, it's hard not to believe in their sincerity. It don't mean we ain't nervous about the direction we're headin', though, especially Ro. I'm glad he still has enough sense left in him to question Tegan's plan.

"We're still too far north." Ro points to his map. "If we head west now, we'll end up less than three hundred miles south of the capital. That area's tightly controlled."

"I hear you, but the pass we need to take through the mountains is directly west. Once we're through, we'll start veerin' to the southwest, and that'll take us out to the coast right where I need us to be."

The coast. I still cain't believe that's where we're headed. I don't even know what to expect from the ocean, what it will sound or look like. Ro and I both expected we'd end up in some dusty outpost in the south, still well inland from the Regions. But here Tegan's aimin' us right straight at one of the Region's mid-coastal ports. Her plan is bold, I'll give her that.

"I gotta make it known, Tegan, that I think this plan of yers is real perilous."

"Well, cain you think of anything better?" she asks me.

"Not really."

"Then you'll just have to risk it, Curlicue." She checks her pack, makes sure everything's ready to go. "Have you been practicin' yer rich folks' talk?"

I sigh. "Yeah, course I have."

"What's that?" She cups her ear like she's strainin' to hear me.

"I mean, yes, of course I have been practicing." I do my best to imitate Ro's stuffy city accent.

Tegan nods and turns to attend to matters more important than her argumentative charge. Her plan relies on me passin' myself off as a proper rich lady, and that terrifies me more than all them hundreds of miles of travel ahead of us. But I aim to do it, cuz if it saves Ro and me from the lawfolk, it'll be worth all our efforts.

The seeds fer our grand escape plan started with a flier Tegan saw a few weeks back in a town well east of here. It was advertisin' fer recruits, what the sign called 'New Pioneers.' Them New Pioneers was needed fer a bold expedition. Now, that flier was in a commoners' town but it weren't meant fer no commoners. How it ended up there, I don't know, but something about it caught Tegan's eye, so she took it off the wall she found it on and kept it with her.

"I done almost fergot all about it, till I meet up with you. And then I got to thinkin', this here flier might be yer salvation." She flattens out the sheet of paper and slaps it down in front of us.

I stare at it, tryin' to make out the words in the creases where the ink's been rubbed off. When I read where they want their New Pioneers to do their pioneerin', I cain't control my shock.

"You want us to take a boat to some island on the other side of the world that I ain't never even heard of before? What makes you think we'd wanna go there?"

Ro nods in agreement, though his reasonin' fer stayin' on the mainland is different than mine. "How would I continue my work if I'm stuck on a remote island somewhere?"

"That's just the thing." Tegan's eyes open so wide, I fear they may pop out of her head. "That island is perfect fer yer work. You git past the officials at the dock by pretendin' you're a privileged young couple from one of the eastern Regions. They don't gotta know who you really are. Once yer on yer island, you cain spend as much time as you like copyin' that booklet of yers. A ship carryin' supplies will come once or twice a year, and you cain send back yer copies to be spread over the continent every time."

"But I'll be found out then, won't I? If I give them the copies to distribute, I'll have to tell at least one person on the ship about them, and they'll in turn tell the law about me."

Tegan shakes her head, points to the flier. "Not no one on this ship's gonna turn you in. This won't be the first time the Good Lady Margarethe's taken on illicit goods, so to speak. Captain's a good man, I hear. Been fightin' yer cause since before you even knew you had one."

I stare at the flier again. It says the Margarethe is due to set sail fer a newly discovered island at the end of September, which gives us a little over a month to git to the coast. And they need one hundred fifty upstandin' citizens of the Regions to sign on, especially farmers. The plan is fer them folks to create a tiny colony there.

"What makes you think they'd choose us fer this expedition of theirs?" I ask her. "Ain't they got tons of folks signin' up, wantin' to git off this sorry piece of dirt?"

"I heard the courier clerk talkin' about it with a customer when I first laid eyes on this flier. Sure, if they'd let commoners sign up, there'd be droves of desperate folks jumpin' at the chance. But rich folks is too comfortable. Them farmers still got fields that yield a bountiful harvest. Plus they got their society, their community. Ain't no reason fer 'em to give it up fer some far away island. That's why they was sendin' that flier out across the land. Had to widen their net to catch enough volunteers. And yer the farmer half of a healthy young couple set to make a new life and fill it with happy babies. Yer perfect New Pioneer material."

"But Tegan." I pull on her sleeve cuz she don't seem to really be listenin' to me. "They ain't never gonna let me on board. I'm just a commoner."

Tegan laughs. "Not no more, you ain't."

And that's when I start my lessons on how to speak like a proper rich lady.

A/N: They have a plan! Okay, it's highly risky and could end badly, but it's a plan, nonetheless. What do you think? Is May going to be able to pass for a proper Regions lady?

This chapter's votes will pay for May's acting lessons. She has to be very convincing, and that ain't gonna be easy, as you cain imagine! Thanks so much for your generous contributions!

The dedication today is for the Overlord herself, @BrittanieCharmintine, whose story MERMAIDS AND THE VAMPIRES WHO LOVE THEM is one of my very favorites here on Wattpad. I would give her and her book a thousand shout-outs if I could!