Mama touches her nose to mine and says we'll see the Traveler today. After we reach the top of the mountain range, after the trees clear, we'll see it floating way up high over the City, and we'll be safe. The Traveler keeps the people in the City safe—that's what everyone says it's there for.

I hope we're close. My shoes are getting holes in them. The ground gets rocky as we climb higher into the mountain. It's cold here too, but we're not cold. My new friend, Béla has a fire he carries in his hand.

We're traveling with people Mama calls "pilgrims." They help us. They helped us when Papa got sick. They helped us when our farm got burnt by the rain. They helped us when Mama said we needed to go far away to be safe.

And when the pilgrims get hurt, little metal birds heal them. Béla says they're Ghosts, but Mama says ghosts aren't real. I talk to the birds a lot. Fiz, Pops, Groendlewic, and Wort. They tell me about the Traveler. I think the Traveler is their mama.

We reach the top of the mountain. I run through the trees. I want to be the first one to see. The birds flutter around me as I look out to the valley. I see a big wall, and I see a big city, and then I see the Traveler.

The sky is empty around it. It's alone. Wort says it looks different from what he remembers—the pretty triangle is new. There are big, old scrapes on it. Like my knee that has a scar shaped like a fish.

Everyone gets so excited when they see the Traveler, but I get sad. The Traveler got hurt but has no one up there—no birds, no mama. I look up to the birds, to the pilgrims, to Mama. I grab her hand. She wipes away my tears and touches her nose to mine.

When we reach the City, the pilgrims talk about finding other pilgrims to help more people like me and Mama. The Traveler hangs low above us, just out of reach. The scars look so deep. Béla asks if I want to get up on his shoulders; I do. I still can't quite reach, but I tilt my head up and know the Traveler can feel the touch of my nose.