Leave town limits by midnight, or I’ll book you for vagrancy.”
Lily nodded once.
Not because she agreed.
Because now she knew.
The mountain was not empty.
And Buck Harlan had just confirmed it in front of everyone.
She turned away from the diner, away from the sheriff, away from Buck and the ring and the town that had chosen the louder liar.
She walked north.
Past the gas station with the flickering Pepsi sign.
Past the school football field where she had once won a science fair with a
