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“They’re back.” Glick peeked from behind a leaf as the Guards entered the cage. He wanted to jump from the bush and kill them but he was too little. They were all too little.
“I wish we could figure out how to open the door that separates the cages.” Speckles squatted next to him, staring into the other enclosure. “I’d love to see those Guards torn apart for what they did to Rocky and the others.”
“We’ll try to figure out how to do that later, but right now, we need to stay hidden until the Guards leave,” said Bumpers.
“And we need to whisper.” Flea took Bumpers’ hand. “Guards have excellent hearing.”
“How do you know that?” asked Bumpers.
“She’s right.” Glick had no idea how he knew, but he did. “Think about it.”
Bumpers frowned as he and Flea moved closer to Glick. “They aren’t as fast as us and can’t see in the dark as well as we could...can.” He looked at the others. “How do I know this?”
“I don’t know.” Glick stared at his hands, familiar and yet strange. “I think...we were something else before...before we were this.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” said Bumpers. “We hatched like this. This is what we are.”
“I don’t know.” Speckles turned his back to the Guards and wrapped his arms around his legs. “I remember things. Things that I shouldn’t know. Things that are impossible to know from the egg.”
“Like what?” Bumpers pulled Flea closer.
“Like the sun and sky.” Speckles looked upward but there was nothing but false light. “The wind.” He smiled. “And water. I hated the rain. I hated getting wet.”
“Me too.” Flea looked up at Bumpers. “I remember those things too, but how?”
“I...I don’t know.” Bumpers looked at Glick. “Do you remember?”
“Yeah, but I don’t understand it either.” It was like the memory was imprinted in his brain from another life.
Speckles’ eyes had a faraway look. “We weren’t always Brush-Men. We were...” He shook his head. “I can’t quite remember.”
Glick’s gaze caught one of the two largest of the Brush-Men. It was staring at them, moving its mouth. He strained to hear the soft sound through the glass. “I think they know too.”
The others turned and looked.
“You think they all know?” asked Bumpers.
Glick moved to the edge of the branch and the largest Brush-Man’s eyes followed him. There was something about the creature—a sadness coupled with a gleam of superiority. “I don’t know about all of them, but I’m positive the big ones do, at least that one. He’s calling them Guards. He’s trying to get them to move closer to him.”
The large Brush-Man continued to click and clack, softly and in rhythm.
The Guards moved around the enclosure, looking down and kicking at the ground. Stink bent.
“Did you find something?” asked Topper.
“Just a stick.” Stink straightened.
“What are they looking for?” asked Flea.
“Not sure,” said Bumpers.
“Over here was where we stomped them.” Topper moved to the area where Speckles had broken through the earth. “There has to be parts of them around here somewhere.”
“I don’t want them to find Rocky. They’ll take him and...” Speckles’ voice cracked.
“Don’t worry. They won’t find him.” Glick put his arm around the smaller Brush-Man.
“How can they not?” Speckles stared at him.
Bumpers shot him a warning look.
“We buried him.” He wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t going to let it slip that what remained of Rocky was wrapped in leaves at the base of their bush.
“But your hands aren’t white,” said Flea.
“We used leaves to protect ourselves,” said Bumpers.
“Yeah.” Glick looked back at the Guards.
“There ain’t any of them here.” Stink kicked at the dirt.
“We can’t leave until we find some remains.” Topper looked at the Brush-Men in the other cage. “We can’t fail Scottsmoor.”
“We didn’t fail. If they ain’t here, they ain’t here.” Stink kicked the dirt again. “Hold up a second.” He bent again.
“What’d you find?” Topper hurried to his side.
“Only white ash. Little bits of it all around.” Stink touched the soil and straightened holding his gloved finger out to Topper. “What do you think this is?”
“It ain’t remains so I don’t care.” Topper continued walking and searching the soil.
“Why would they want the remains?” asked Glick.
“Not for anything good, I’m sure,” said Bumpers.