i almost believed they 'd never come and i can feel myself getting lighter and my breath start rushing faster because they 're here , they 're actually here- i see three figures standing on the ground at the bottom of the bay doors , silhouetted against the shaft of light , their shadows turning as they hear acorn 's hoofbeats- just to the side , i see a cart parked in the darkness , its oxes nibbling on grass- and we get closer- and closer- and the figures ' faces suddenly loom up as acorn and i enter the shaft of light , too , juddering to a stop- and it is , it 's exactly who i thought it would be and my heart does a skip of happiness and homesickness , and in spite of all that 's happening , i feel my eyes get wet and my throat start to choke- because it 's bradley tench from the beta and simone watkin from the gamma and i know they came looking for me , they came all this way looking for my mother and my father and me- and they step back , startled at my sudden appearance , and then take a second to see past all the dirt and the grime and the longer hair- and i 'm bigger , too- taller- almost grown- and their eyes get wider as they realize who i am- and simone opens her mouth- but it 's not her voice that speaks .