The crowd roared as Penelope stepped on stage. The onslaught of the bright stage lights kept her from seeing too far into the crowd, so she couldn't be sure if they were excited to see her, or...

Gunnar grabbed her arm, dragging her back. "Stay here," he hissed, holding her in place in the shadow at the edge of the stage, "until I call for you."

Penelope did as he said, lingering at the edge as he rushed out to the centre of it, right under the brightest spotlight.

"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome, everyone!" Gunnar's voice boomed out. He now had a purple microphone in hand and all the noise echoed from the massive speakers right next to Penelope, sending his voice rumbling right through her ribcage. She wished she had earplugs.

"Thank you for joining us for the Fortieth Anniversary of the Ridgestone Raven Festival! For those who are not aware, I'm Gunnar Christensen, mayor of the beautiful town of Ridgestone and the mastermind behind The Raven Festival," Gunnar said with a wink, striding confidently across the stage like he was giving a TedTalk. "Of course, you're not here to see me," a small bout of laughter sprang from the crowd, "you're here to celebrate our beloved cryptid, The Raven!"

A wave of responding cheers from the crowd rose up and crashed over them. The light changed and Penelope turned. She realized then that the huge back wall of the stage was actually a projector screen. A giant image of The Raven—the same pulp-fiction style monster from the back of Liam's work shirt—was now splashed across it.

More cheers washed over the stage.

Gunnar's tone shifted then, his usual manic smile dropping into something grimmer. "But while this was supposed to be a time of celebration, unfortunately, a shadow has been cast over our festivities. I'm sure you know by now, but our original special guests—" Gunnar turned, motioning to the stage screen behind him. The image on screen shifted, panning over photos of Xander and Daevon and the rest of the crew. The background music shifted to something sombre.

Penelope's stomach clenched as she watched the slideshow play out on the massive screen. She pressed her lips together to stem the flow of vitriol that bubbled up her throat. Or maybe it was just puke. Either way, she wanted nothing more than to rip that stupid purple microphone out of Gunnar's hand and spew it all over him and everyone who had gathered to witness this farce.

Gunnar continued right along, unaware. "—the world-famous paranormal investigator Xander Green and his crew, including the newest addition of internet sensation DAEVONIC, have gone missing in their pursuit to find The Raven. It's a tragic event, but we haven't given up hope that they might be found. That's why we've established a Police Liaison booth right here, at the festival." As he spoke, red and blue lights lit up in the distance, pinpointing the location of the booth. "They're here to help us collect tips to assist with the search. If you have information, anything you think might be relevant, I implore you to go speak with them. Every tip, every lead could help us find them—"

"WHY DON'T YOU ASK PARANELOPE?" someone shouted from the crowd. A few snarling cheers bolstered the accusation.

Penelope curled up on herself. Her anger was gone and now she wished she could run off the stage. She knew that people were saying those things online, but to face it in real life was—

Gunnar's head snapped up and for a second his mask slipped, his watery blue eyes going hard and icy. "Now, now," he said, quickly recovering. He tutted, like a kind but stern father figure. "I won't be having any of that. Paranelope has been nothing but a help to our town, our festival, and to the search effort. After they went missing she graciously agreed to step in as our special guest because she believes in this town and in our Raven and she wanted to help."

The heckler didn't speak up again to refute Gunnar's account and the rest of the crowd just murmured amongst each other. No one wanted to argue the facts, not really. They just wanted an easy villain to pin it on and, to Penelope's surprise, Gunnar wasn't going to give them one.

Not yet, at least.

"Now, then," Gunnar continued with his careful mask back in place. "I hoped to have a bit of a better introduction to our special guest, but... Well, the raven's out of the bag I guess! Please, join me in giving a warm welcome to PARANELOPE!"

He motioned to Penelope, beckoning her closer. With no other choice, Penelope stepped out of the shadow of the stage to stand next to him.

"Say 'hi' to the crowd, Penelope," Gunnar said into the microphone, nudging her forward with his elbow.

She did as he said, stepping closer to the edge of the stage. Her eyes had adjusted to the light by now and she could see the sea of people laid out in front of her. A few of them looked happy to see her, cheering and jumping up and down for her attention, while others looked markedly less so, scowling at her. And some people—most people—just looked like they had no idea who she was at all. But she waved to them all, her arm swaying mechanically as she searched the crowd for friendlier faces...

They were all right where she left them, on the corner next to the planters. Her dad was now perched on the edge of one, but when he caught her eye he leapt up and waved at her with both arms. Beth and Lyla joined in, their mouths opening into cheers of their own that Penelope couldn't hear over the din of the crowd. A sharp whistle rang out as her dad brought his pinkie fingers to his mouth—that she could hear. A smile began to creep onto her face... until her eyes found Henry.

Henry wasn't smiling. He was as serious as ever, his shoulders hunched up around his neck like he was bracing himself for a hit. As their eyes met, his widened, brightening with purpose.

Now? the look asked.

Everyone had been too busy, too distracted to really question why Henry had suddenly changed his mind to attend the festival he hated so much, after all this time. Penelope's big debut and the family business that needed his support were good excuses, as long as people didn't stop to think about it too much... And in the midst of the frenzy of the festival, they wouldn't, at least, not until later. Even Gunnar hadn't questioned it.

But Henry wasn't here for business, or even for Penelope.

He was waiting for a sign.

Penelope waved back at her dad, at Beth and Lyla, at Henry. She gave them a big smile and a nod...

Now.

Go.

Henry nodded back before he turned and strode off into the crowd. His sister glanced after him with a brief look of confusion before she shrugged it off and let him go. She knew as well as anyone that Henry couldn't stand crowds for too long. Maybe he needed some space, and then he'd come back to join them.

Only Penelope knew that he wouldn't...

This was their plan.

Gunnar hadn't known that Henry was at her side when she had answered his call and they were going to use that to their advantage. Under Gunnar's watchful eye, Penelope had to play along, play her part, and play nice, just like he wanted. She couldn't do anything...

But Henry could.

Her job was to keep her own watchful eye on Gunnar, to keep him happy... To keep him distracted. And once he was, then she could give Henry the sign. The signal to go back to the subdivision and rescue Liam and Daevon and the others while Gunnar was none the wiser.

She continued waving to the crowd as she turned back around, smiling in honesty for the first time tonight.

Everything is going to be alright...

She looked back at Gunnar, waiting expectantly for his next direction—

But Gunnar wasn't looking at the people standing in front of the stage. His gaze was fixed on the same spot hers had been, on her friends and family, on Henry's back as he disappeared into the crowd...

Penelope stared at him, keeping her face as still as possible, her smile going stiff. She waited, watching him, to see if he would react...

Had he seen?

No, she told herself. He couldn't have. And even if he did, he had only seen a man leave a crowded street. He couldn't possibly know where he was going.

Gunnar's eyes flicked back to hers. Their gaze held for a second before Gunnar smiled, resuming his cheerful mask. He raised the microphone to his mouth. "We've got a great night planned for all of you..."