“I wonder why there isn’t coffee in the cabins,” Davie said to Grey.
“Cost, I’m sure. Those guys would probably go through a bag a day, given the chance.” Grey grinned. “Makes me glad I’m not an addict. I’d be in withdrawal by now and we just got here.”
Soon, they were all chowing down amid casual conversation about TV shows they used to watch, or movies they’d seen before their lives had changed—while carefully avoiding why they had ended up on the streets.
A couple of times, Davie caught Vin watching him when he thought Davie wasn’t looking and wondered what that was about. Probably because I’m the new guy here, although he doesn’t seem to be interested in Grey. He figured that could be because he already knew Grey. After all, from what both Grey and Maddox had said, Grey was responsible for some of the guys ending up at the Encampment.
Halfway through the meal, Ran and Pace appeared. They stopped at Ran’s cabin to get rid of their rifles before coming over to eat. Pace joined Coop and they held a whispered conversation, with Coop nodding more than once. Davie wondered what they were talking about, since they were obviously trying to keep it secret, but as always since he’d gotten here, he didn’t think it was his place to ask.
After supper, everyone helped clean up, at which point Vin said to Davie, “We need to get rid of the coals before we put the grill away,” startling him, since he didn’t realize he was there.
“Where do we dump them out?” Davie asked, trying to sound casual even though he was surprised Vin was talking—and to him.
“Over there, but it’ll take two of us,” Vin replied, gesturing to a small area of dirt at one side of the clearing. “Once I get the shovel.” He went into the laundry cabin, returning with one, and dug a hole. Then he and Davie moved the grill over and dumped the coals, which Vin covered with dirt. They carried the grill back to the cabin, at which point Vin took the cooking grate to the sink beside the dryer and began scrubbing it down.
“You don’t talk much, do you,” Davie said as he watched him.
“Nothing to talk about,” Vin replied succinctly.
Davie chuckled. “That doesn’t seem to stop anyone else.”
Vin shrugged. “That’s them.”
“While you’re the strong, silent type.” ‘Strong’ was a logical description in Davie’s opinion since, even though Vin was only an inch or two taller than Davie’s five-ten, he was obviously more muscular from what Davie could tell by how his long-sleeved T-shirt hugged his torso. He wondered about that, since Vin must have lived on the streets. But so did I and I still kept in shape as much as possible.
“Tom Hardy, I’m not.” Vin flashed a grin at Davie that ended seconds later. Before it did, Davie realized that Vin wasn’t all that bad looking when he wasn’t frowning, which was most of the time as far as he could tell.
“Who is?” Davie asked.
“You? Okay, you don’t look like him…” Vin immediately closed down and went back to what he was doing.
“I should be so lucky,” Davie said under his breath. For a moment he wondered if Vin was coming on to him, in his own quiet way. Doubtful. He’s definitely not the type who’d do something like that, even if he is gay, which…Okay, don’t judge a book by the cover, so to speak. Most people wouldn’t figure I was from looking at me. “If you don’t need me for anything else, I’m heading home. Or what’s passing for home at the moment.”
Vin nodded. “See you…whenever.”
Davie left, taking one last look at Vin before closing the door. He had to admit he was surprised that, of all the guys living at the Encampment, Vin had decided to talk to him tonight. If he could figure out why, maybe he could do something to bring Vin out of his self-imposed shell. Or not. It is his choice. It’s not like everyone’s shunning him from what I could tell. He just keeps to himself, even when everyone’s around the way they were tonight. It’s like he doesn’t trust people, which makes me wonder why.
“What’s got you so serious?” Grey asked when Davie came into their cabin.
“Umm…wondering what Ran and Pace were doing this afternoon,” Davie lied. “If they were hunting, they obviously weren’t successful.”
“Good question. Who knows? Maybe Ran’s training Pace to be his back-up to patrol the area. He has to sleep sometime, right?”
Davie nodded. “You’d think.”
They left it at that, but having said what he did made Davie wonder what was really going on. He seriously doubted Ran had suddenly decided to have someone, anyone, do what he did. He’s secretly training Pace to go undercover to catch drug dealers. Next thing we know, Pace will be leaving and they’ll say it’s because he’s safe now. He laughed and then had to tell Grey why.
“Uh-huh. That’s the Encampment’s big secret. Maddox and Ran are running a spy agency using street kids as their agents. As if.”
“Could be interesting though, if they were. I’m Bond. Davie Bond,” he intoned, doubling over with laughter.
“That makes Maddox ‘M’, which fits, and Ran is, umm, ‘Q’?”
“I think ‘Q’ came up with all the fancy toys Bond used, so no,” Davie said. “Ran’s the man who trained Bond, because someone had to.”
“True, that. Okay, it’s been a long day, so I’m going to head to bed and dream of being Bond going after some sexy female.” Grey grinned at Davie. “You can imagine what it would be like to have Ran train you one-on-one.”
“As if.” Davie wondered if he would, despite his denial. Ran was sexy but also a lot older than him, and probably as straight as they came. He did wonder about Vin, however. Not that I’d do anything if he…offered. “I’m bushed, too, so I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, going into his room.
Chapter 4
For the first few days, Davie and Grey got acclimated to living at the Encampment. If he’d expected to be bored, and he had, Davie was in for a surprise. On the morning after their arrival, they went outside once they’d finished breakfast. Maddox was there, talking with Fox and Vin. He stopped, gesturing for Davie to join them.
“You might as well start from the ground up,” Maddox said, winking at the others.
Davie wasn’t certain he wanted to know what that meant. He changed his mind when Maddox told him there was a community garden and he would be helping Vin and Fox maintain it. Since Davie couldn’t see anything remotely resembling a garden, he asked where it was.
“As soon as we get the tools, we’ll show you,” Fox replied.
Davie followed them to the laundry cabin where, not too surprisingly, there was a space set aside to store what they needed, including a lawn mower.
“Don’t worry,” Fox said when Davie looked askance at it. “Ace has that chore.”
He followed them through the trees until they came to what he figured had once been a large glade. Now there were neat sections of plants, each one covered with a thin white material held up by wire hoops. “To keep the bugs and rabbits away,” Fox explained. When Fox and Vin pulled the material back, Davie saw what he was certain were the tops of carrots and beets in three large beds. There were also two beds of lettuce that was barely beginning to sprout, and one of, to Davie, unidentifiable greens. When he asked, Fox said they were potato leaves.
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is weeding,” Fox said, grinning as he handed Davie a tool with three claws. “Be sure to get the roots or they’ll grow back before you know it. When in doubt, ask Vin, he’s the expert. We don’t want you digging up something edible.”
“You are?” Davie said, looking at Vin. All he got in reply was a sharp nod before Vin knelt by one of the beds and began digging. “Strong and silent,” Davie muttered. He was rewarded with a brief smile.
By the time noon rolled around Davie was hot and sweaty and ready to take a break—and said so.
“We’re almost through, for today,” Fox replied.
“Today?”
“Okay, for the week, unless it rains a lot. In that case we’l
l be back to do all this over again in a couple of days.”
“Ugh.”
“You’ll survive,” Vin told him.
“Says you. What do we do tomorrow?”
“Wednesday’s are general clean-up of the grounds,” Fox said.
“If that includes pulling weeds…”
“Only around the cabins,” Fox replied without blinking an eye. When Davie scowled, he relented, saying, “It doesn’t. It means getting rid of any fallen branches, mowing, which is Ace’s chore, scrubbing down the tables, blah, blah, blah.”
“Do we ever get free time to, I don’t know, explore or…Maddox said there was a stream. Are there fish?”
“Oh hell, you’re a fisherman?” Fox asked.
“I never have, but it might be fun trying,” Davie replied as they started back. “Of course, I’d need a rod and reel and bait.”
“Worms,” Vin said. “There’s a couple of old fishing rods stored away in the same room where we keep the gardening tools.”
Davie almost teased that Vin had said more than three words in a row but thought better of it. If I did, he might not talk to me again.
When they got back, Davie headed straight to his cabin to clean up and fix something to eat. “How the hell did a street kid end up pulling weeds,” he said when Grey turned from making a sandwich to look at him.
“You mean instead of selling it?”
Davie flipped him off, muttering “Smartass,” then went into the bathroom to get rid of his T-shirt and wash off the sweat. After putting on a clean one—one of the four he owned—he joined Grey in the main room.
“Figured you might need this,” Grey said, handing him a sandwich.
“No kidding. Thanks. What did you do while I was learning all about gardening?”
“Helped Maddox, before he and Pace left.”
Davie thought about asking doing what and why, but being a denizen of the streets until yesterday, he knew better than to pry. If Grey had wanted him to know, he’d have said.
After they ate, Davie got one of his books and settled down to read. Mid-afternoon, he was aware it was getting dark and soon it was raining softly. He stepped to the window to watch, a feeling of peace washing over him when a rainbow appeared moments later.
“I could get used to this,” he said when Grey joined him.
“It has its plusses,” Grey agreed, “if you don’t mind being miles from civilization.”
“You do?”
“Sort of. I’m a city boy, born and bred, but then so are you.”
Davie leaned against the wall beside the window to study him. “If you want to go back, we can. They can’t keep us here against our will.”
Grey chuckled. “The smart money says you’d be dead or at least in the hospital soon after we did, if your mom’s boyfriend found you. Then there’s the punks who want your hide. Who’d protect me if that happened?”
“I didn’t say I wanted to go back. Damn. This beats the hell out of how we were living, right?”
“Right.”
“I wonder…”
“Hmm?”
“Maybe Pace is going to be doing what you were.”
Grey nodded. “Possible, I guess. Maddox didn’t say.”
“What’s Slade like?”
“That was out of the blue,” Grey replied. “He’s intense because he’s dedicated to helping guys like us who really need it. If he had his way, he’d clean up the streets. Get rid of all the dealers and pimps. Not that it’s possible. So instead, he created the Encampments.”
Davie frowned. “There’s more than one?”
“Yeah. This was the first one. When he decided it was working, he opened two more. There’s a lot of street kids who need more than shelters can do for them, even the ones he owns.”
“Like the shelters do anything except give us a place to crash and get preyed on when we try to sleep, if we can…sleep that is.”
“There’s some good ones,” Grey protested. “Like his.”
“Not that I ever found. Of course, after the first couple of times I went to one I decided I’d be safer sleeping in alleys.”
“Cynic,” Grey said, smiling.
“Realist,” Davie retorted. “At least now I don’t have to worry about it, for the time being.”
“Nope,” Grey replied, turning away to look out the window again. For some reason, Davie wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling him. It was only a feeling and he was probably wrong about it. Nonetheless it bothered him.
* * * *
Wednesday, as Fox had said they would, everyone pitched to clean up the area that encompassed the main part of the Encampment. As far as Davie was concerned it wasn’t all that hard. Well, except for getting on the cabin roof to clean stray leaves out of the cistern. He wasn’t exactly afraid of heights. After all, he’d crashed more than once on rooftops after leaving home, but they were flat. The cabin’s was pitched like a normal home. Grey volunteered to do it. Davie almost let him before deciding to face his fears. By the time he made it to the cistern his toes ached from instinctively trying to grip the shingles even though he was wearing tennis shoes. Next time I’m doing this barefooted, he promised himself.
Thursday, because it had rained hard the previous afternoon, it was back to the garden for Davie, Fox, and Vin, who was his usual taciturn self. Friday everyone got mops and buckets from the laundry cabin so they could do a thorough cleaning of their cabins from floor to ceiling.
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. With no chores to do, Davie decided he wanted to find the stream and maybe do some fishing. Grey was less than enthusiastic about the idea, so after breakfast Davie took off on his own, stopping at the laundry cabin to find the fishing rods Vin had mentioned. “It would help if I knew which way to go,” he said under his breath as he left the cabin.
He wasn’t aware Vin was there until he said, “That way,” and pointed.
“Want to show me?” Davie asked, figuring it wasn’t likely to happen.
Vin hesitated, then shrugged. “Why not.” He got the other rod and they set off, walking silently side-by-side.
Because they weren’t talking, Davie could hear birds chirping in the tree branches above them and sounds of small animals in the underbrush. He jumped in surprise when two chipmunks darted out a few feet in front of them.
“Better than rats,” Vin said with a brief smile.
“No kidding.”
The sound of the stream reached their ears long before they got to it. It was wider than Davie had expected, the water moving rapidly, swirling around rocks and the branches of a fallen tree. On the other side there was a fence.
“That’s the Encampment’s?” Davie asked as he set down his rod on the edge of the dirt abutting the stream.
“Yep.”
Davie’s gaze followed the line of it to where it crossed the stream several yards north of them. For a moment he wondered how that was possible since it was electrified. Then he realized there was a gap a good foot or more between it and the water with posts sunk into the earth on either side of the stream to hold up that section.
“It wouldn’t be hard for someone to swim under the fence to get in here,” Davie said.
“There’s other security, especially here,” Vin told him as he began digging into the dirt with his fingers. It didn’t take long for him to unearth a couple of worms. Davie grimaced when he handed him one. “It’s a worm. Damn,” Vin told him with a shake of his head.
“I know.” Hesitantly, Davie pushed it onto the hook at the end of his fishing line then cast it into the stream. Vin did the same with his worm and then they waited for a fish to bite.
Ten minutes passed and none did, even though Davie thought he saw a couple of them deep in the water. “I don’t think we’ll be eating fish for dinner,” he said with a laugh.
“Rarely do,” Vin replied in his usual laconic fashion. “Just nice to sit and relax.”
“But you’d rather be doing it alone.”
> “Nope. Wouldn’t have come with you if that was the case.”
Davie pushed the end of his pole into the dirt then leaned back on his hands, looking up at the clouds. “Why me?”
“Why not?”
“I mean…Everyone says you’re a loner so why are you…?” Davie glanced at him in question.
“Willing to hang out with you? Maybe because you haven’t pushed it. Most of the guys who end up here want to make friends with everyone because they figure they can trust them, which is more than happened to them on the streets.” Vin went silent for a long moment, staring off into space. “Trust doesn’t come easy for me so I’m not willing to take the chance.”
“But you are with me.”
“Like I said, you didn’t push. You talk, but if I don’t answer you let it be. And you don’t try to pry into why I’m here.”
“Fuck no. It’s none of my business, any more than it’s yours about why I’m here. You want to tell me, I’ll listen. Otherwise…”
Vin gave him one of his rare smiles. “Works for me.”
Another ten minutes passed without any fish taking the bait. The sun was beating down, so Davie took off his shoes and socks and put his feet in the stream to cool down. It worked, sort of, but not enough. He stripped off his T-shirt, then impulsively asked, “Do you swim?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, do you want to swim? I’m going to.” He decided taking off his jeans wasn’t such a good idea, since he wasn’t wearing underwear. That didn’t stop him from walking into the water. The stream deepened the farther out he went, until he was waist deep in very cool water. He shivered, but having come this far, he wasn’t going to quit. Taking a deep breath, he dove in.
The Encampment Page 3
