Kellan crossed out two routes before the map reached the door.
Eli watched the wet pencil stroke go through an entire district’s shortest way out. A woman waiting for a copy made a small, despairing sound. She had been counting the turns on her fingers.
“That road was open this morning,” she said.
“It may still be open,” Kellan answered. “We don’t have a crew to support it.”
“Then why are you closing it?”
“I’m changing what the map promises.”
He wrote a different mark beside the road and explained it to her before returning the pencil to Eli. The supported paths were not merely paths somebody remembered using. They needed an available guide, current information, and a receiving point. Kellan could supply those on fewer streets than Eli’s first draft suggested.
“People will use them anyway,” Eli said quietly.
