She said, “I think he would understand. I think Dad would understand about this.”
Tam was still shaking her head, not so much in denial but in disbelief. “What can I do?”
“I need to get a message to Artegal. If I try to do it, they’ll know I’m up to something and stop me. But you can go. I’ll show you where.”
“Kay, no, I can’t go talk to that thing!”
“Artegal. His name is Artegal, and he’s my friend.” Kay held Tam’s hands, trying to get her to be quieter. “You won’t even see him. Just leave a note for him. Tomorrow morning, before the press conference.”
“I can’t cross the border!”
“Just for a minute. Everyone else is looking up, looking for dragons—they won’t even see it.”
“Kay—” Tam had tears in her eyes. Strangely, Kay was worried about her makeup smearing.
She touched Tam’s cheeks. “Don’t do that. It’s going to be okay.”
“Kay, why are you doing this?”
She had to think about it, because she hadn’t tried to put it in words. “Because I have to try.”
“It’s not up to you to…to save the world!”
“Hey, maybe there’s a reason I’m the only virgin at Silver River High. You ever think of that?”
As she had hoped, Tam laughed, at least a little.
Kay hugged her. They held each other tightly for a long time.
Tam said, “What’s going to happen?”
“I’m not sure.”
Kay wrote the note on a huge piece of sketch paper, the biggest paper she could find. She described what would happen as briefly as possible, large, so it would be easier for him to read. She folded it up, found a map, and showed Tam where to take it.
“I can’t read this. I’m not the big mountain chick like you are,” Tam said, staring at the topographic map as if it were in a different language.
“Take it to Jon. He’ll show you exactly where it is.”
“Kay, I’m scared.”
“I know. Call me if you can. It’ll be okay.” If they just kept saying it, maybe it would be true.
After that, they came out to the kitchen, Tam said good-bye to Kay’s mother, and they had to act like nothing was wrong, even though their eyes were red. They hugged once more before she left to go home. Tam looked at her like she was convinced they’d never see each other again.
Kay went back to her room, found her phone, and dialed Jon’s number. He picked up halfway through the first ring, as if he’d been waiting with the phone in his hand. “Kay!”
“Hi.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said tiredly, before he finished asking. “Are you okay? What happened? What did they do to you?”
“They put me in a room and asked me a lot of questions. But I couldn’t tell them too much because you haven’t told me anything.” He sounded accusing.
Her impulse was to say she was sorry, but she was tired of feeling sorry. She wasn’t the one who made the world this way and put the military in charge. “What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t tell anyone.”
“Until you decided to tell the whole damn world. If you wanted attention, you’ve got it.”
“I didn’t. Not really,” she said. She said it after all. “I’m sorry.”
“No, Kay.” He sighed. “It’s…it’s amazing, what you’ve done. You’ve shocked the whole world.”
“It was an accident, Jon. The whole thing started as an accident. It’s just that since then…”
“You’re glad it happened,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“So what happens now?”
“Tam’s probably going to be calling you soon,” Kay said. “I asked her to help me with something. She doesn’t like it—”
“Is it anything like you asked me to help you with?”
She hesitated—but maybe Jon was right, maybe he’d been right all along. She couldn’t keep all these secrets to herself anymore. “I need to get a message to Artegal.”
“What are you planning?” he asked after a pause. He knew her too well. The thought startled her.
“It’s big, Jon. It’s dangerous. But if it works—” What was she saying? This wasn’t going to work. She was being naïve. “It’ll at least make everyone think about this, about what’s happening.” That, she decided, was the best she could hope for, and it would still be worth it.
“Kay—”
“There’s a press conference tomorrow at noon. Mom set it all up. It’s going to be at the middle school. Outside, in the parking lot. Can you be there? I’m going to need help.”
“Are you trying to kill yourself?” he asked.
It was going to look like it, wasn’t it? The trouble was, none of them trusted Artegal. And none of them knew about the secret map. That was one secret she couldn’t reveal. People like Branigan could never find out about it. She’d taken it out of the book and kept it with her.
“No,” she said finally. “But I may have to go away for a little while.”
“What about school? What about your mom?” She could hear him swallow over the phone. “What about us?”
Her eyes stung with tears. She was trying not to think about the really hard parts of all this. “Jon, if you had a chance to stop a war, would you?”
The logical thing for him to do would be the reality check. To tell her that nothing she could do would stop a war. Not this one, not any. But he didn’t do that.
He said, “Yes, I would.”
“If it weren’t for me and Artegal accidentally meeting, we wouldn’t have this chance. We have to try.”
“Okay,” he said, his voice steady now. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
23
Kay made one more call that evening. After digging out the business card he’d given her, she dialed Captain Will Conner’s number without really knowing what she was going to say. She had only a vague hope that he would listen to her, maybe even help her. After all, he hadn’t ratted out her and Artegal.
The connection clicked on. “Yes?”
She recognized the voice. “Captain Conner? This is Kay Wyatt.” Her mouth dry, she waited for a reaction.
When he did speak, he sounded angry. “That was some stunt you pulled. Just what exactly were you trying to prove?”
“It’s like you said,” she answered, defiant. “I can talk to him. I had to show people—”
“That’s not what I said—I didn’t tell you to start a fight. That was a friend of mine in that plane that went down. He died.”
Kay’s eyes stung and her tears slid free. “Like my dad,” she said, her voice thick.
Conner let out a heavy sigh. “Kay, why are you calling?”
“I need a favor. I don’t know if you can do it, but if you can, I had to try. I just had to see.”
“What favor?”
“Can you make sure there aren’t any jets over Silver River tomorrow at noon?”
He hesitated. “What are you planning? What’s going on?”
“I can’t tell you,” she said, trying to stay coherent. Trying to stay strong so she could get through the next day. “It’s…it’ll be fine. Everything’ll be fine.” She had to believe in the mantra.
“Kay, how dangerous is this? Maybe you should let the adults handle this one. Stay safe and help out your mother.”
She hadn’t expected Conner to be able to help, but she had to try. Let the adults handle it. And wasn’t that what they always said? The adults had started this whole mess. She didn’t like the way adults like Branigan handled things.
“But you were right. I may be the only one who can talk to them.”
“Maybe that’s what I said, but that was before—”
Kay said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry about your friend.”
“Kay, whatever you’re planning, it’s not worth it—” She hung up.
Kay didn’t sleep. She tried. She didn’t know when she’d have a chance to get a good sleep again. Maybe never, but she tried not to think of that. She’d packed a bag of supplies—warm clothes, hand warmers, granola bars, beef jerky, and bottled water. She found the GPS tracker in her mom’s glove box—she was going to make sure she knew where she was this time. She had coordinates to follow. She didn’t think her mother would mind, when all was said and done. She tried to think of what else she’d need, but her mind couldn’t focus. She put the gear in the car that night, so she wouldn’t have to explain it to her mother in the morning.