I’d known the tree was …”
“Stripling.” Cedar’s mouth was a ragged hole in the tree bark and its eyes were barely knotholes. If it stood still, I wouldn’t have seen anything but the tree. I could hardly believe I was holding a conversation with it. I almost wanted to laugh, but I saw its hooked branches and how it loomed over me. I thought about that other tree and its prison shacks and that urge to laugh died away. “Her name was Stripling. You will show some respect.”
“Stripling,” I agreed. “If I’d known Stripling was in trouble too, I would have done what I could.” The problem was, I had known. And I hadn’t done anything like enough.
“Too late for that.” Cedar stretched its arms, its branches, toward me. I smelled damp, rotting wood over the exhaust that filled the tunnel. “You owe us for the death of one of our own, and we mean to collect.”
“Stripling wasn’t part of our ’ville,” said Touhy firmly. “We can’t claim the blood price.”
I thought for a second about edging toward Touhy, but she looked at me with murder in her bright green eyes, and I stayed put. She might be defending me, but she was not interested in being friends.
“What is the matter with you, Touhy?” roared Dan Ryan. “The courts and their mob are raiding every camp they canfind. We can’t wait anymore! We’ve got something to bargain with, and we need to use it!”
“Touhy’s right,” said girder boy. He unfolded himself until he was almost as tall as Cedar. “If Bad Luck was taken from her family, the act needs to be paid for. That’s the law.”
“She’s mine!” shouted Dan Ryan. “I found her, and if you’re all too yellow to do what we gotta, I’ll keep her!” He shook open his burlap sack and I grabbed at my magic. There was no way I was going back in there.
The Halfers screamed and for one wild second I wondered if I was just that scary before I heard an engine gunning and the squeal of tires.
“Leave her alone!” thundered a new voice.
A black Ford sedan swerved off the road with Papa on the running board on one side and Mama hanging out the window on the other and Jack hunched behind the wheel.
I’d been found.
9
If You See Me Comin’
Jack swerved that Ford sedan out from between the trucks, over the low curb, and straight through the heart of the gang. Halfers jumped and scrambled every which way and Jack slammed on the brakes so the car spun out in a mad squeal of tires one bare inch away from the wall. Dan Ryan shrieked high and sharp, squealing out the word of his nonsense chant of a spell like an angry pig. Or an angry rat.
“… train should jump the track, Callie LeRoux, get in the sack!” His magic swung at me, with the full force of his anger behind it. But this time I was ready.
“You first, Dan Ryan!” I grabbed that order up, twisted it right around, and threw it back at him.
Dan Ryan hollered, and he was gone. The burlap bag was on the ground, with something kicking around inside it. Claremont’s scream was like a whole brewery’s worth of bottles falling downstairs, and she lunged for me. Girder boyyanked what could have been a plumber’s wrench out of his pocket and was raising it up to take a swing at my head. I snatched the burlap sack with all my strength, swung it around, and let it fly. Girder screeched and ducked.
Papa jumped off the running board and spread his arms wide.
“Back off!”
Papa’s magic hit the Halfers like a storm wind, slamming them all against the tunnel wall, except Girder. He was struggling to get the sack open. I took off running. Mama had the sedan’s door open. I scrambled in over her lap and plopped down in the space between her and Jack. Jack didn’t even wait for her to get the door shut. He just gunned the engine and slammed the gears into reverse. Papa charged alongside and jumped onto the running board, just as the car leapt backward. Jack shoved the pedals down, crashed the gears together, and we
“Stripling.” Cedar’s mouth was a ragged hole in the tree bark and its eyes were barely knotholes. If it stood still, I wouldn’t have seen anything but the tree. I could hardly believe I was holding a conversation with it. I almost wanted to laugh, but I saw its hooked branches and how it loomed over me. I thought about that other tree and its prison shacks and that urge to laugh died away. “Her name was Stripling. You will show some respect.”
“Stripling,” I agreed. “If I’d known Stripling was in trouble too, I would have done what I could.” The problem was, I had known. And I hadn’t done anything like enough.
“Too late for that.” Cedar stretched its arms, its branches, toward me. I smelled damp, rotting wood over the exhaust that filled the tunnel. “You owe us for the death of one of our own, and we mean to collect.”
“Stripling wasn’t part of our ’ville,” said Touhy firmly. “We can’t claim the blood price.”
I thought for a second about edging toward Touhy, but she looked at me with murder in her bright green eyes, and I stayed put. She might be defending me, but she was not interested in being friends.
“What is the matter with you, Touhy?” roared Dan Ryan. “The courts and their mob are raiding every camp they canfind. We can’t wait anymore! We’ve got something to bargain with, and we need to use it!”
“Touhy’s right,” said girder boy. He unfolded himself until he was almost as tall as Cedar. “If Bad Luck was taken from her family, the act needs to be paid for. That’s the law.”
“She’s mine!” shouted Dan Ryan. “I found her, and if you’re all too yellow to do what we gotta, I’ll keep her!” He shook open his burlap sack and I grabbed at my magic. There was no way I was going back in there.
The Halfers screamed and for one wild second I wondered if I was just that scary before I heard an engine gunning and the squeal of tires.
“Leave her alone!” thundered a new voice.
A black Ford sedan swerved off the road with Papa on the running board on one side and Mama hanging out the window on the other and Jack hunched behind the wheel.
I’d been found.
9
If You See Me Comin’
Jack swerved that Ford sedan out from between the trucks, over the low curb, and straight through the heart of the gang. Halfers jumped and scrambled every which way and Jack slammed on the brakes so the car spun out in a mad squeal of tires one bare inch away from the wall. Dan Ryan shrieked high and sharp, squealing out the word of his nonsense chant of a spell like an angry pig. Or an angry rat.
“… train should jump the track, Callie LeRoux, get in the sack!” His magic swung at me, with the full force of his anger behind it. But this time I was ready.
“You first, Dan Ryan!” I grabbed that order up, twisted it right around, and threw it back at him.
Dan Ryan hollered, and he was gone. The burlap bag was on the ground, with something kicking around inside it. Claremont’s scream was like a whole brewery’s worth of bottles falling downstairs, and she lunged for me. Girder boyyanked what could have been a plumber’s wrench out of his pocket and was raising it up to take a swing at my head. I snatched the burlap sack with all my strength, swung it around, and let it fly. Girder screeched and ducked.
Papa jumped off the running board and spread his arms wide.
“Back off!”
Papa’s magic hit the Halfers like a storm wind, slamming them all against the tunnel wall, except Girder. He was struggling to get the sack open. I took off running. Mama had the sedan’s door open. I scrambled in over her lap and plopped down in the space between her and Jack. Jack didn’t even wait for her to get the door shut. He just gunned the engine and slammed the gears into reverse. Papa charged alongside and jumped onto the running board, just as the car leapt backward. Jack shoved the pedals down, crashed the gears together, and we
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