“I think maybe we both thought it was so amazing we could be friends at all that we didn’t want to give it up.”
“Get down,” Tam said. She stared intently out the windshield.
“What?”
“Down, out of sight.”
Police cars with flashing lights were parked ahead. Kay unbuckled the seat belt and slid onto the floorboards, curling up as much as she could and keeping her head down, covered. All that was visible was her back, the dark surface of her coat. As the car slowed, she wanted to look. Keeping her head down was almost impossible, she wanted so badly to see what was going on. But she didn’t. She could hear Tam’s fingers tapping on the steering wheel.
They drove slowly, but they didn’t stop. Then, Tam increased speed, and they were back to driving normally. Another ten minutes passed before Tam said, “I thought maybe it was a roadblock, like they were checking cars, but they just seemed to be watching. I think maybe you should just stay down there until we get to the store, okay?”
“Yeah.” Kay shifted to keep her legs from falling asleep and settled into the pocket under the dash.
When they slowed and started making turns, Kay guessed they’d entered the town. After another minute, the car stopped.
“Can I get up?”
“Wait a minute. Let me get the store unlocked first.”
Tam climbed out of the car and a few minutes later returned to call back to Kay, “Come on. Hurry.”
Grateful to be out of the uncomfortable position, Kay sat up and tumbled out of the car to follow Tam inside.
When the door closed behind them and they were safe in the store’s backroom, Kay finally relaxed. She sank onto a bench by the door and realized she was shaking. From fear, stress, exhaustion—she didn’t know what. From everything.
Tam sat next to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay, isn’t it?”
Kay shook her head. “I don’t know anymore. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Maybe there’ll be a war, but it can’t last forever, right? There’ll be another treaty, and it’ll all settle down. Maybe they won’t be looking for you, then. You can stay here for a while. I’ll go get some food, and there’s a bathroom, so you can wash up. You’ll feel better.”
Kay leaned against her friend, and they hugged. Tam was trying to make her feel better, but none of it was going to happen like that. This could go on for years. Forever. She couldn’t live in the backroom here for years.
“What are we going to do, Kay?”
She and Artegal had a plan. Maybe it wouldn’t work, but no one would be able to ignore it. Something would happen because of it.
Tam wouldn’t like it. No one would like it. But that was what made it a sacrifice, wasn’t it?
22
Kay stripped off her coat, used paper towels to wash her face and hands, and shook out her ponytail, trying to pick apart some of the tangles in her hair. If she didn’t feel clean, she at least felt a little more awake. The water was hot. She finally felt warm for the first time all day, for the first time in forever. She’d forgotten what warm felt like.
Then she called her mother, rehearsing what she could say without giving too much away, in case anyone was listening.
Tam watched intently as Kay tapped her feet nervously, waiting for the ringing to stop.
“Kay, where the hell are you?!”
“Mom, I’m okay. I’m fine.”
“But where are you?”
“Mom, are General Branigan and them looking for me? What’s going on?”
“It’s a real mess. Just tell me you’re south of the river. Are you?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” She and Tam exchanged a glance.
“Thank God.” Mom sighed. “Kay, the dragons are striking everywhere, a dozen cities all over the world. They’re not avoiding fatalities anymore. People are dying, Kay, and the air force doesn’t have enough jets to counter them. It’s not just Branigan talking about using nuclear bombs in Dragon now; it’s the defense secretary, the national security advisor—I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear all this.”
Kay stared at nothing, trying to picture it. Wanting to see a TV and not wanting to at the same time. “So it didn’t do any good. We wanted people to see us to try to stop the fighting, but it didn’t do any good.”
“Oh, but it did. Everyone saw you. The news people are having a field day with this. They all got footage of you on that thing, and nobody knows what to make of it. Everybody, everybody’s looking for you.”
That didn’t surprise her, but Kay had a sinking feeling that the rest of the plan wasn’t going to be easy because of it.
“But, Mom, what are people saying? What’s going to happen if I show up?”
“I think all hell will break loose. Half the commentators are saying you’re a traitor. Half of them are calling you some kind of ambassador. This is riling up both sides.”
This had been so much simpler when all she was doing was breaking the law, sneaking over a little tiny river. Then she hadn’t been thinking about becoming a celebrity. She hadn’t meant this all to get out of hand.
“But, Kay, here’s the thing,” Mom continued. “I don’t think Branigan can hide you away, not when every reporter in the country wants to interview you. Maybe he can get the police to arrest you, but it’ll all be in the open now.” She paused, then said, “That’s why you did it, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, kind of.”
“I think it worked.” Her mother actually sounded pleased, or relieved, maybe even proud. “Now we just have to figure out what to do next. I wish…” But she didn’t finish, and Kay knew what she wanted to say. Her father would have known what to do. She wished Jack Wyatt were here.
Kay didn’t want to think about that. And she didn’t want to tell her mother what she wanted to do next, what she thought needed to happen next.
“We’ll talk to the press,” her mother said, not noticing how quiet Kay was. “Let me talk to my boss. We’ll set up a press conference. I don’t like putting you out there like that, but it may protect you from General Branigan. We can get a voice in there for the other side, to show everyone you’re okay and haven’t been brainwashed by dragons.”
Was that what people were saying, that she’d been brainwashed?
“Are you okay with that, honey?” her mother said.
If Kay told anyone what she was planning, no one would let her do it. They really would lock her up.
“Mom, can you find out what happened to Jon? He was with me this morning. There were soldiers out in the woods, and I think they may have arrested him or something.”
“I’ll find out. Kay, can you come home?”
She wouldn’t be able to avoid it. She needed to get ready, she needed to plan, and she needed the book. “I think so. We can try.”
“Wait until dark,” Mom said. “I’ll call Deputy Kalbach and have him help you. Okay?”
The plan would have to do. “Okay.”
At least her mother was feeling better.
“So what’s the plan?” Tam asked after she’d put her phone away.
“I guess I’m going home. Mom says to wait until after dark. Can you drive me?”
“Yeah, of course. More dodging cops. It’ll be fun, right?” Her smile was forced.
Kay had to give her credit for looking on the bright side.
Tam went to get some food—instant soup from home, because everything nearby was closed, even the Alpine. They waited in the shop’s backroom until dusk, eating soup and drinking sodas, when Kay’s mother called her and said that Deputy Kalbach was waiting in his car at the end of the street to make sure she got home okay. Mom said the news vans and swarm of reporters were worse than they’d been after her father’s funeral.