by Nancy Isaak
“We’ve got Crazies!” he announced, panting. “Shawnee can see them from her hill—at least five of them and they’re heading our way. They’re about a mile away and they’re closing fast.”
“Let’s move!” I ordered. “Jay, Connor—we need to get Pauly onto Beauty. Kieran, you’ll ride with him. If Pauly passes out, you’re the strongest, so you should be able to hold him. Jay, you and Connor ride Kieran’s horse. Rhys, you’ve got Topher. Shawnee will take Florenza if she’s coming with us.”
“What about you?” asked Jay, worried.
“I’m the runner, remember? Everyone else will go with me. Running, we’ll be back at the Point in no time.” I turned to Florenza. “No time for games or attitude from you. So, you’re either coming with us or you’re on your own.”
There was the flap of footsteps and Shawnee suddenly appeared.
“Half mile and closing,” she panted.
“Florenza,” I urged. “Make your choice—now!”
* * * *
We moved fast—running straight down the highway.
Florenza ran beside me, not wanting to take anyone’s place on a horse or—perhaps—horses simply scared her. Either way, she had decided to come back to the Point with us.
“Just for now,” she told me. “And to make sure that Pauly-kid is okay.”
As we ran along Pacific Coast Highway, I waved to the sentries as we passed, calling them nearer in to the Point—both to bolster our defenses and to keep them safe if the Crazies were attacking.
* * * *
Close to our turnoff, Jacob and about twenty armed Locals were impatiently waiting for us. “Shawnee says five Crazies,” he called out, racing toward me.
I nodded, panting. “Half mile back from Paradise Cove, but coming this way.”
“Ten to each side,” Jacob instructed the guys behind him. “Stick to the trees and don’t take any chances—but I want to know what’s going on.”
“You want us to capture them?” asked one of the guys.
“If you can do it without anyone getting hurt—bring them in. But stay frosty. Just because you see five, doesn’t mean there isn’t another thirty Crazies in the woods around them.”
“Roger that.”
As the guys raced away, disappearing into the brush on each side of the road, Jacob turned his attention to Florenza. She was standing a little behind me, her face sweaty from the run, trying hard to control her panting.
“You tried to kill Pauly,” he growled, his forehead wrinkling into a deep frown.
Florenza shook her head. “I wanted that boy dead, he be dead.”
Jacob stared at the girl for a moment—as if sizing her up. Finally, with a sniff, he turned back to me. “Get her back to the compound. We’ll meet in the Council room, talk it over when I return. Until then, Kaylee—you’re in charge.”
“You’re not coming back with us?” I asked.
“Not until I know that we’re not under attack.”
Nodding, I grabbed Florenza by the elbow, to steer her in the right direction. She immediately pulled away from me.
“Just tell me which way to go,” she said. “I don’t need no touching.”
* * * *
It was another three hours before Jacob and his guys finally returned to the compound. They were tired and hungry—having missed lunch—and immediately headed over to where Sophia was keeping a giant pot of soup warmed up over a fire.
“What happened?” I asked, running up to Jacob and throwing my arms around him. “I was worried!”
“They were definitely there,” he told me, leaning down to kiss my forehead. “Five Crazies, just like Shawnee said. The guys saw the tail end of them, heading back along the highway.”
“Not toward us…so they weren’t coming after us?”
Jacob shrugged. “Who knows…probably not. Most likely, they were just exploring the area. But, to be sure—we searched the woods on both sides of the highway for a couple of miles.”
“But you didn’t go after them…try to catch them?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “They were too far away by then.” He looked toward the Medical Clinic. “Listen, sweet…I’m going to head over and check on Pauly. Then, we need to talk to Connor, get his report on the slaves up at the country club.”
“Connor’s already waiting in the Council room.”
“And the girl who hurt Pauly?”
I grinned. “Well, Kieran wanted to put her in the cage, but I overruled him. Florenza’s in the Council room with Connor.”
Jacob frowned, looking worried.
“It’s okay,” I told him. “We searched Florenza, even her mouth. She doesn’t have any weapons anymore. And Connor is wearing his gun. Plus, I put two guards in the room with them.”
“You think it was smart, bringing the girl back here—after what she did to Pauly?”
“She didn’t know Pauly was trying to protect her. She thought he was attacking her. Florenza was only fighting back.”
“There will be bad feelings in the tribe,” warned Jacob. “Pauly is well-liked.”
“Well, what was the alternative? Should we really have left a girl out there, with the Crazies heading toward her?”
“I wonder what Pauly will have to say about it.”
“You know, Pauly,” I grinned. “He’s just met his feminine equal. She may have cut open his neck, but all Pauly’s seeing right now is a sassy Latina.”
Jacob shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding!”
* * * *
As I watched from the Council room doorway, Jacob assigned two guys from our armed guards to stay with Florenza. I worried a little when I saw the angry looks they gave the girl but—as they were walking away—Jacob assured me that they wouldn’t harm her.
I wasn’t so certain.
“It’s just—well, it’s been so long since we’ve seen another girl,” I told Jacob. “I just feel a little—protective. And Florenza’s been on her own for so long. It’s probably scary for her to all of a sudden be around guys again.”
A moment later, one of the guards came a little too close to Florenza for her preference. She immediately stood up straight, glaring at him—baring her teeth and actually growling. Intimidated, the guard quickly turned and moved farther away.
“Never mind,” I said.
* * * *
“The slaves are all gone…and the Crazies.”
“What do you mean, they’re gone?!” asked Jacob. “There were dozens of guys at that country club. How could they all be gone?”
We were sitting in the Council room, listening to Connor give his report. Jacob sat at the head of the table; I was to his right. On his left was Kieran, with Porter beside him.
Connor shrugged. “We don’t know for sure—we can only speculate.”
“Then, speculate.”
“We think that maybe the water went bad—like the creek and the small lake they have there. We don’t know if it was something natural or if somebody poisoned it. But everywhere we looked, there were dead animals. I’m talking birds, coyotes…there was even this stinking carcass of a cow.”
“Any humans?”
“A couple of bodies,” Connor admitted. “They were pretty bloated, so we don’t know if they were Crazies or slaves…too difficult to read their tattoos.”
“But they definitely had tattoos on their back?”
“Absolutely,” Connor nodded. “But we simply have no way of knowing who they were…sorry.”
Jacob smacked his hand down on the table, furious. “We missed our chance…dammit!”
“We’ll find out where they took the slaves,” said Kieran. “When we do, we’ll go get them.”
“I don’t know,” murmured Connor. “It might be getting more complicated than that.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Jacob.
“Well, it’s just…we noticed more Crazies living in the houses along the way. Like they don’t seem to be all in Agoura Hills anymore.
I mean, they’re still Crazies—we can tell from the tattoos and the whistle codes they use and everything. Plus, we noticed that they’re marking their houses—somewhere on their front doors—a small anarchist-A.”
“So, you’re thinking that they might have separated the slaves?” I asked. “Sent them to different houses, that kind of thing.”
“Maybe,” shrugged Connor. “I think we have to consider it. Or maybe they just sold them in the market. All I know is that we couldn’t find the slaves and we spent a good week looking.”
“But you didn’t go into Agoura Hills?” asked Kieran.
“No,” agreed Connor. “We stayed out of that area because we didn’t want to take a chance at messing things up for Josh’s team. Plus, if Brandon saw me, he’d recognize me right away—not like I can hide this limp.”
“So, it’s possible that the slaves were all taken to Agoura.”
“It’s possible…or they could have been taken to a new farm even farther south along the 101 Freeway…or up near the 118…or any of a number of places. Or they could have been absorbed into the Crazy population. Whichever way,” Connor put his hands into the air in frustration, “we couldn’t find them.”
At the head of the table, Jacob sighed. “Then, I guess we’re just going to have to wait until Josh checks in. Hopefully, that will be in a few days. If anybody might have some idea of where the slaves have been taken, it should be him—or the Stars.”
“Speaking of which,” said Connor. “We noticed that some of the Crazy-houses, the ones with the anarchist-A’s on the door—well, if you look really close, sometimes there’s a tiny star in the bottom right hand corner. We didn’t test out our theory or anything, but we’re guessing that might be a Star house.”
“We’ll need to have Brent confirm that,” said Jacob. “That’ll be important to know if one of us needs a quick safe house—someplace we can run into if someone’s chasing us.”
* * * *
After Connor had finished his report, Jacob asked for Florenza to be brought in. Kieran stepped outside to get her—only to race back into the Council room within seconds.
“She slipped her guards!” he hissed. “She’s somewhere in the compound!”
Jacob rose, furious. “If that girl is a Crazy…”
* * * *
We eventually found Florenza in the Medical Clinic. She was sitting at Pauly’s bedside, painting her nails a neon green. Meanwhile, Pauly was snoring away, completely oblivious to the fact that his attacker was right next to him.
As Jacob, Kieran, and I raced in through the door, Jay ran across the Clinic toward us. She had her hands up—to let us know that everything was fine.
“She came in about an hour ago,” Jay explained. “She wanted to make sure that Pauly was okay.”
“Why didn’t you let us know?” asked Jacob, angry.
“I’m here by myself,” said Jay, irritated. “So, it’s not like I could text anyone, and I certainly wasn’t going to leave her here alone with Pauly to go and find you guys.”
Jacob stalked over to Florenza; Kieran and I followed. “You were supposed to stay in the mansion,” Jacob barked at her.
“I got bored,” Florenza drawled, blowing on a fingernail.
“And how did you get past your guards?”
She looked up at him, arching an eyebrow. “Bathroom window.”
“You were two floors up.”
“You got a point, pretty boy?”
I couldn’t help myself—I giggled.
Jacob spun around and glared at me.
“Sorry,” I grinned at him. “But you do have pretty eyes.”
“Yeah,” agreed Florenza. “I always liked those blue-blue eyes.” She pointed a fingernail at me. “You got pretty eyes, too. Green is my favorite color.”
“Thanks…I like your fingernails.”
The girl blew a slight raspberry—disgusted. “Used to be, my fingernails—works of art, you know. Now, they be all chipped and nasty.”
“Kaylee,” Jacob growled, under his breath. “Not the time or the place.”
Trying to keep a straight face, I pointed a finger at Florenza. “We need to talk to you—now!”
Sighing, Florenza stood up. “Give me a sec,” she said. Then, she bent down and adjusted the blanket around Pauly. “See you later, papi,” she said to Pauly’s sleeping form. “Don’t take no wooden nickels, yeah.”
* * * *
“Are you a gang member?”
The four of us—Jacob, Kieran, Florenza, and I—were walking along the side of the cliff. It was cold out and I noticed storm clouds in the distance. Hopefully, that meant rain in the future—Frank’s farm desperately needed the moisture.
“If you’re asking me if I was a bad girl,” said Florenza, kicking at a stone, “yeah…probably.”
“So, you belonged to a gang up in San Francisco?” I asked.
“Well, it weren’t no Girl Scout troop.”
“Where are your—gang members—now?”
Florenza shrugged. “I don’t know. When it happened and I woke up in the morning, I only found one other girl at the house. Couldn’t stand the bitch, so I walked away. Then, I just kept walking.”
“And you walked all the way down from San Francisco?” asked Jacob.
“Not all at once,” she admitted. “Spent time here or there. Lived for six months in a place called Asilomar. They got this conference center right on the beach. That worked for a while. Then, other girls came. So, I bailed and kept on walking. Figured maybe I’d head down to Mexico eventually…see what’s up there.”
“How come you didn’t stay with the other girls in Asilomar?” I asked.
Florenza grinned. “Let’s just say, me and this chick—the one who thought she was big bossing—we had what I’d call a misunderstanding.”
“Did you cut her throat, too?” sneered Kieran.
“Matter of fact, I did, muchacho. Bitch stuck this little girl, knife to the belly, just ‘cause the girl took her earrings. Killed an 8-year old kid—stupid bitch. So, yeah,” said Florenza, looking straight at Kieran. “I took a razor to her.”
Kieran turned to Jacob. “See—she’s too dangerous. We won’t be able to trust her. She’s a freaking gang-banger!”
“Standing right here, dude,” Florenza chuckled.
With a huff, Kieran glared down at her, his eyes narrowed. “What we should do is give her razor back and send her packing down the highway.”
Florenza shrugged. “Who says I want to stay?”
I sighed, frustrated. “Come on, Kieran. If there’s one thing we Locals are supposed to do—it’s give out second chances.”
“Kaylee’s right,” noted Jacob. “We don’t look at what a person did in the old world anymore…it’s what they’re doing in the new one that counts to us.”
“And in the new world—that girl cut Pauly’s throat!” growled Kieran.
“Then, maybe it should be Pauly’s decision,” suggested Jacob. “Since he’s the wounded party.”
Kieran groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “You know Pauly,” he muttered. “And she’s a pretty girl.”
Florenza grinned. “Aww…you think I’m pretty.”
* * * *
We did eventually ask Pauly if he had any objections to Florenza staying with the tribe—for however long she wanted.
“Are you kidding?!” was his immediate response. “That girl’s gonna’ marry me!”
Florenza—who was standing nearby—sniffed at Pauly. “In your dreams,” she told him, disdainfully.
“Oh, you’re in my dreams, girl,” grinned Pauly.
Beside Jacob and me, Kieran rolled his eyes. “Fricking nightmare,” he muttered, under his breath.
* * * *
Later that evening, I volunteered to walk Florenza over to the girls’ house. My guards walked behind us, close enough to intervene if Florenza became violent.
“Big house,” she noted, as we climbed over the fence and b
egan walking down the driveway. “You don’t live here no more?”
I shook my head. “Not since I married Jacob.”
“That’s nice, huh—marrying that boy? He’s pretty good-looking.”
“It’s very nice,” I agreed.
“The other one, the one I cut…he’s cute.”
“Pauly’s a…handful. He’ll probably love the new scar you gave him. If I know Pauly, he’ll think that it makes him look dangerous.”
Florenza stopped walking. She turned toward me. As she did, the guards moved closer, coming up on either side. “I didn’t want to hurt him,” she told me, softly. “Really.”
“Yeah, I figured that.”
“But I could of,” she confided, her eyes narrowing in seriousness. “That’s important you know…I could of killed him if I wanted.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you’ll hurt the girls in that house?” I asked.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t hurt no one who’s not hurting me.”
“Then, what are you trying to say?
She shrugged, conflicted. “I guess…I just don’t want you thinking I’m something that I’m not, you know.”
I smiled at her. “You wear green eye shadow, you used to be in a gang, and you cut Pauly’s throat with a razor that you kept in your mouth…I’m pretty sure that I know you’re not a Disney princess, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Florenza grinned. Her fingers moved up to touch a green eyelid. “Girl—this be fashion where I come from!”
* * * *
While the guards remained outside, we stood in the foyer. All the girls were there—except Peyton and Jay.
“Florenza is from San Francisco,” I explained, introducing the black-haired girl who stood beside me. “She walked all the way down here.”
Cammie glared at Florenza, her eyes narrowing. “And cut Pauly’s throat…almost killed him!”
