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reached into the box and pulled out a long string with square black metal beads strung on it. “We have enough for”—he quickly counted—“six of us. So one of us will go without and buddy up. Draw straws?”
    “Let’s see if they work first,” Hayden said.
    Shame unstrung the beads and handed each person twelve beads and a silver bracelet with a channel carved into it so that the beads could slide into the channel.
    Everyone got busy slipping the beads, apparently in a specific order, into their bracelet. Shame looked at Zayvion and me. “Which of you wants to wear it?”
    “Allie,” Zayvion said quickly.
    “No,” I said, “not Allie. If it’s got magic in it, I’ll probably break out in a rash or worse. And even if it doesn’t, I have no idea how it works. Is it like a phone?”
    “Not at all,” Shame said with a grin.
    “It’s a code,” Zayvion said. He stepped over so that he was right in front of me, head bent, the bracelet he wasthreading the beads into between us. “The beads represent numbers and the numbers represent letters or sentences in a book.”
    “What book?” I asked.
    “
Winnie-the-Pooh
.”
    “And you’re not joking,” I said.
    His lips quirked into a smile. “This isn’t magic, Allie. This is a little trick Shame’s dad put together when Shame was a kid. They actually run on batteries.” He tipped the bracelet so I could see the inside of the band, where a little watch battery was inserted. “And the signal is on a frequency that gets boosted by magic. If you can recite
Winnie-the-Pooh
, you can decipher the coded messages sent and received.”
    “Can you recite
Winnie-the-Pooh
?”
    “In my sleep.”
    I couldn’t help but smile. “You know I’ll find every way possible to tease you about that, right?”
    “I have no doubt.”
    “So what if you don’t know the works of Pooh word for word?”
    Zay bent, reached into the shoe box, and pulled out a palm-sized book. “Have Pooh. Will travel.”
    I shook my head. “Maybe I should carry that.”
    “Maybe you should wear the bracelet,” he said.
    “No, I wouldn’t know how to read it. And I’m not going off on my own anytime soon. If I need to, you can give me your bracelet then.”
    He hesitated a moment, then put the bracelet on. “You do know by me wearing this, I will demand that you stay beside me at all times.”
    “It had crossed my mind, yes.”
    He handed me the book, which I stuffed into my back pocket. “Thanks. I think I’ll need a coat too.”
    “I’m sure Shame has something you can use. Shame?”
    Shame was handing out copies of the book to the other people in the room. “What?”
    “Got a coat Allie can wear?”
    “Sure, but a coat isn’t going to make you look different to the police cameras.” He turned, gave me a look. “I’d recommend a haircut.”
    “Or a hat,” I said.
    “Or both.”
    I didn’t want to cut my hair. I didn’t want to do a lot of things I needed to do right now. And hair would grow back. If I lived long enough. “Where are the scissors?”
    Zayvion frowned. “I don’t think you have to—”
    “No, Shame’s right. Anything I can do to change my look is a good idea right now. It’s not just magic users after me, Zay. The police are looking for me too.”
    Maeve walked across the room. “Why don’t you let me help you out?” she said. “I hate cutting my own hair, but I’m quite good at someone else’s. Promise I’ll make it cute.”
    “I don’t care if it’s cute. I’d shave it right now if it would make me stand out less.”
    “No, dear. I think a bald-headed woman might draw more attention.”
    We headed off to the guest bathroom, and Maeve found a set of barber scissors in the drawer. “You’ll need to sit, since you’re so tall,” she said.
    I walked into the adjoining bedroom and dragged a chair back to the bathroom, plunking it down in front of the mirror. There was just enough room for Maeve to walk around me, and she started by