by Nancy Isaak
“How does Shawnee like working for Peyton?” I asked.
Cherry shrugged. “She’s okay with it. She says that Peyton is being nice to her.”
“But it still worries you?”
She nodded.
“My offer still stands,” I said. “You can take my key and Shawnee and go to my dad’s house down in Malibu. You should be safe there.”
“Without you guys, it would be impossible.”
“Why?”
When she looked at me, Cherry’s eyes were glistening—like eyes get just before they fill with tears. “You have to understand, Kaylee. I’ll be turning eighteen soon. If that happens here and I’m gone, well…there’ll still be someone to take care of Shawnee. But, if it’s just her and me in Malibu, and suddenly I’m gone and she’s all alone—I don’t know what she’d do. She might just give up, you know.”
I understood. “She’s a young twelve.”
“And she’s a little slower than everybody else, you know. Not that there’s something wrong with her mind or anything. She’s smart. She’s just—”.
“—slower.”
“Exactly.”
* * * *
An irritated and very fatigued Jay entered the room a half hour later. She flopped down on a stool next to where Cherry and I were working.
For a moment, she didn’t say anything—just stared up at Cherry’s bald head.
When she finally did speak, Jay’s voice came out in a grumble. “I suppose I should be surprised, but it feels like my insides are being ripped out, I’ve had four Midols already, and I just couldn’t care less.”
“You got your first period?!” I cried.
“Oh shaddup!” she griped. “Like why didn’t you tell me that it would hurt this much? And how come I’m suddenly jonesing for chocolate and peanuts? Seriously, what’s up with that?!”
Cherry and I both burst out laughing.
“And look at this on my chin,” Jay continued to complain. “I’ve got a pimple! I’ve got actual chin-acne at the end of the world. Like how stupid is that?!”
We laughed even harder.
* * * *
Five minutes later, a terrified Belinda rushed in through the door, looking for Jay. There had been a mountain lion attack up in the Foxes Compound.
Shelton had been killed.
JOURNAL ENTRY #30
Things have gone very wrong here.
If we were smart we would all grab our things and head down to Malibu.
But—how can we leave without Lily?
* * * *
When Belinda came and told us that Shelton had been attacked by a mountain lion, Jay and I immediately grabbed the emergency first aid kit and raced over to the Foxes Compound. We were hoping that maybe she was wrong—that maybe Shelton was still alive.
Belinda followed behind us, crying and wringing her hands. I felt bad for her, because I knew that she had been close friends with Shelton.
Cherry, meanwhile, had ducked down behind a filing cabinet the moment we heard Belinda coming down the hall. I was hoping that she had left the yearbook room by now and managed to make her way safely home, without meeting up with anyone from the Protection Detail.
* * * *
There was so much blood!
Shelton had been attacked in the backyard of the house right across the street from where the Foxes lived.
As we arrived, Jay whispered to me that this was the same house where she had heard the music coming from the other night. I tried to look through the basement windows as we passed by, but the curtains were all closed.
* * * *
We found Shelton lying on the ground in the backyard.
Someone had placed a blanket over top of her body. My first thought on seeing it was that no one should have disturbed the body until the authorities got here. (Shades of too many “CSI” reruns, I guess.)
Poor Belinda—she took one look at Shelton’s bloody remains and turned and ran back the way we came.
There were at least eight girls standing around the body—all members of the Protection Detail—crying or talking quietly.
Orla and Tray were also there—standing on the back patio. They were both smoking, and Orla kept chewing worriedly on her nails.
Tray—as always—looked immaculate and unemotional.
She did give me a slight smile when I came around the corner, though.
…yippee…
* * * *
When Jay pulled the blanket off of Shelton’s body, Orla and Tray came over to look down at their ‘friend’.
“I just don’t understand why Shelton didn’t pull out her gun,” said Orla, sadly. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
With a start, I realized that—indeed—Shelton’s revolver was still in its holster at her waist.
“She probably didn’t have enough time,” said Jay, kneeling down to examine the body. “Mountain lions are quick. It looks like it caught her over there and then was dragging her through the bushes over here. What stopped it, though? Do you know?”
“Orla and I heard her scream,” said Tray. “When we came running around the corner, the lion ran off.”
“But it was big,” continued Orla. “And it had one of those collars on…like the ones the Wildlife-people put on to track them.”
“Are you the one who tried to stop the bleeding?” Jay pointed to the bloody jacket pushed into a large gash on the side of Shelton’s pelvis. Her wrists were also sliced badly, the left hand hanging from a slip of gristle.
“Yeah, that’s my jacket,” Tray nodded. She looked down at the ground, kicking at some dirt. “I don’t want it back.”
“But at least you tried,” said Jay. “That was a good thing, Tray….you tried.”
“Thanks,” she said, quietly.
Jay replaced the blanket over Shelton’s body and stood up. “Look, I’m sorry,” she spoke to the girls standing nearby, “but—in this heat—we need to bury Shelton as soon as possible. I’ll need some volunteers. And you’ll need to wear gloves and masks. They probably aren’t necessary, but we can’t take any chances anymore.”
All around, hands went up.
The only two who didn’t volunteer were Tray and Orla.
* * * *
It was a long night, but we finally got Shelton buried just before dawn. Later on that day—after all the work details were finished—there would be an ‘actual’ funeral.
But at that moment—for Jay and me—we just wanted to go home, wash off the blood and grime, and go to bed for a few hours.
“Well, that was entirely unpleasant,” I commented, as we walked toward Jude’s house.
Jay yawned—not even bothering to cover her mouth. “Want to hear a secret?”
“Sure,” I said, tiredly. “What is it?”
“Shelton wasn’t killed by a mountain lion.”
“What?! When did you figure that out?”
“Soon as I got there. Those cuts on her arms—they came from a knife. I’m sure of it. And the wound in her belly was too straight and deep to be from a big cat.”
“Why didn’t you say anything, then?!”
“I would think that’d be obvious,” she said, yawning again.
“Well, not to me. Maybe I’m just too tired but…” And then it hit me. “Oh my god, Jay,” I whispered. “You think someone killed Shelton.”
“Not someone,” she said. “Tray and Orla.”
A LEADER IS CHOSEN
Shelton was buried on the hill next to Amelie.
At her service, Sophia once again spoke of the Tribulations. However, her sermon was more generalized this time. I didn’t know if she was afraid that I would interrupt again or if she had been told by Orla to be more respectful.
One thing Sophia did do, though, was suggest to the other girls that Shelton hadn’t been killed by a mountain lion. That—instead—she had been killed by one of the ‘beasts’.
When she said that, I looked over at Orla, expecting that she would correct Sophia.
But she didn’t.
If anything, Orla looked pleased.
It made me wonder if Orla hadn’t been the one to put the beasts in Sophia’s fracturing mind in the first place.
* * * *
Because we didn’t want Sophia to overhear us talk, our small group went to Jude’s house after the funeral. It was after curfew, which meant that Shawnee and Cherry would be staying the night.
Shawnee—in particular—was extremely happy about this.
She loved to play with Pugly, and the two of them chased each other around the backyard. More than a few times, we had to calm both of them down, because Pugly got so worked up he actually started barking.
Luckily, his bark was more like a huff-huff-huff.
Still, we didn’t want to take any chances that a passing Protection Detail would overhear.
* * * *
While Shawnee played with Pugly—Jay, Jude, Cherry, and I sat around the kitchen table, talking. It was dark and we had one small candle before us. Because of what we were discussing, we kept the light low—not wanting to draw the attention of anyone on the street outside.
“You really think that Tray and Orla killed Shelton?” Cherry didn’t seem quite convinced.
“Those were knife wounds,” asserted Jay. “I’m absolutely certain. I can show you pictures just like them in one of my medical texts. And I can also show you pictures of an animal attack. Shelton’s wounds weren’t anything like that. They simply weren’t caused by claws or teeth.”
“And since Tray and Orla were the only ones who saw the supposed ‘mountain lion’,” I added, “they’d have to be the ones who killed her.”
“But why?” asked Cherry. “If there was a somewhat-nice 12th grader, Shelton was it.”
“Maybe that was the problem,” said Jay. “That night—behind the house across from the Foxes—when I heard Orla talking to Tray, they said that Shelton’s conscience was bothering her and she wanted to come clean. Maybe they were afraid of what she might say to the other girls. Maybe she was going to tell everyone that the beasts weren’t real.”
“Plus, Shelton’s eighteenth birthday was coming up,” I added. “She might have felt that she had to make amends—like before she disappeared.”
“Damn,” murmured Cherry. “If they killed her, that’s really cold.”
“Orla and Tray basically have five months left until their eighteenth birthdays,” I said. “So…we have a choice here. We can stay and keep our noses clean until they hit eighteen and they’re probably gone or we can pick up and just go now.”
“I’m not leaving Lily,” Jude immediately declared.
“Nobody’s asking you to,” I told her. “If we decide to go, we’ll figure out a way to grab Lily first.”
“Have you got a plan?” she asked, perking up.
“Not yet. But I will.”
“Then you need to be the leader.”
For a moment, I thought I had misheard Jude. “Pardon?”
“You heard me,” she snapped. “If we’re going to get Lily back, we’ll need to work as a team. That means—we’ll need a leader.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “But then it should be you. That only makes sense. You’re older and bigger.”
“And I’ve got a temper and I tend to use it,” she growled. “I’d make a lousy leader.”
“Then Cherry.”
Cherry immediately put her hands up in the air. “Not a chance. I suck at leading. I just wind up letting everybody do what they want.”
“But you’re both older than me,” I protested.
“And Jay’s a 15-year old doctor,” said Jude. “Look, Kaylee…you’ve got to be real for a second. You’re a smart girl and you’re level-headed. It’s obvious to the rest of us that you’re our leader. We don’t care that you’re younger, so you shouldn’t either.”
I looked at Jay—hoping for some guidance.
“Hey, boss!” she said, with a grin.
JULY
MAKING THE PLAN
We started meeting regularly at our house—working on a plan to rescue Lily.
At first we considered breaking into the Foxes’ house at night and taking Lily right out of her bed. Shawnee—our house-spy—put a quick stop to that, when she told us that Lily slept in an alcove that was attached to Peyton’s room.
A daytime rescue was also rejected.
There was simply too much activity going on in the Foxes Compound. Members of the Protection Detail were always coming and going during the day. Plus, other girls sometimes visited with petitions to be presented for Wednesday’s Tribunal.
So—we couldn’t rescue Lily at night or in the day.
This was going to be tricky.
* * * *
“Well, that sucked,” said Cherry. “Sophia’s definitely losing her edge.”
Because we were working on our rescue-plan at Jude’s house that night, Cherry and Shawnee had joined us for dinner—watery tomato soup and some very musty crackers that we’d brought home from the school’s cafeteria.
A very un-appetizing meal.
“I have something good for dessert.” We all turned in surprise, because it was Shawnee who had spoken. She was sitting at one end of the table, with Pugly snoring away in her lap. “I’ve got chocolate!” she grinned—pulling out two large bars from a purse she had stowed under her chair.
“Where did you get chocolate?” demanded Cherry, looking very unhappy.
Shawnee pursed her lips, looking hurt. “I don’t know.”
“You sure as heck do!” said Cherry. “You stole that, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t…I found it.”
“Damn it, Shawnee!” Cherry was close to yelling, she was so mad. “I told you—no more stealing!”
Shawnee looked down at the table, speaking in a little girl voice. “Sorry.”
Now, Cherry did yell. “No…sorry just doesn’t cut it anymore!”
Silent tears began to stream down Shawnee’s cheeks.
Jay, Jude, and I were frozen in our seats. We didn’t know what to say—it was beyond uncomfortable.
Cherry waved a finger in front of her sister’s face. “I’m serious, Shawnee. This is, like crazy-dangerous. You promise me…you promise me right now that you won’t ever, ever do it again.”
“I promise.”
“Swear on Pugly,” Cherry demanded.
Shawnee put one hand on the dog’s back and another on her own heart. “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in Pugly’s eye.”
“Oh my god!” cried Jay, horrified. “That’s nasty! Who swears like that anyway?!”
Meanwhile, Jude reached over and grabbed one of the chocolate bars. “Since these are obviously not going back,” she grinned. “Let’s have dessert!”
Shawnee broke into a big smile and wiped away her tears.
Cherry just frowned.
* * * *
“From what I’ve seen, it looks like the Protection Detail live in these four houses…here, here, here and there.” Jude had laid a hand-drawn map across the now-cleared kitchen table and was pointing out various houses in the Foxes Compound. “I’ve also seen some of the girls go into this house, but I don’t think anyone lives there.”
“That’s where Shelton’s body was,” said Jay. “In the backyard.”
“Is this what you’ve been doing when you go out at night?” I asked Jude. “Making this map?”
“I’ve been watching the Compound,” she nodded. “Trying to figure out a way to get Lily out.”
“Those four houses completely surround the Foxes,” Cherry noted. “It’ll be hard just to get past them, let alone get into the Foxes’ house.”
“Do we know which room Lily is in?” asked Jay.
Shawnee leaned over to study the map. After a while, it became obvious that she didn’t quite understand it. Jude took the next five minutes to explain what all the lines and symbols meant.
Finally, Shawnee tapped a corner of the map. “That’s wher
e Lily sleeps…right there. She’s got a big bed and it’s got this curtain all around the sides.”
“Shawnee, can you spend some time with Jude and Cherry,” I asked, “and help them draw what the inside of the Foxes’ house looks like? You’re the only one who’s been inside.”
She nodded. “I can show you where the key is.”
We all looked at her—huh?
“The key to Lily’s room.” Shawnee gave a frustrated sigh, as if we should already know this. “The one that locks her in at night with Peyton. I know where they hide it.”
Cherry immediately reached out and pulled Shawnee into a gentle headlock, giving her a noogie. “You really are our little spy, aren’t you?”
Shawnee grinned up at me, still stuck in Cherry’s headlock. “I did good?”
JOURNAL ENTRY #31
Oh my gosh!
It was so funny tonight.
Jay actually thought that we had forgotten that it was her sixteenth birthday.
* * * *
So—after we had finished working on our ‘Lily-plan’—Shawnee and Cherry went into the back bedroom to get ready for bed. They took Pugly with them, too, because Shawnee likes sleeping with him.
It was only Jay, Jude, and me left in the kitchen.
Jude was busy, looking over her map, and I was cleaning up the dishes (not easy, by the way, when you only have a small bucket of water that you also have to use for bathing!)
