Piper gazed down at the lump in the bedding that used to be her baby sister, at the tuft of fading, strawberry-blonde hair, so carefully braided and tied with an array of pastel ribbons. Naomi reached out to touch one of the ribbons tenderly.
“For Easter,” she said, as if that explained it. As if that made sense.
They had been home for three days, and this was the first time Naomi had allowed Piper in this room. Now she knew why.
She looked at her mother out of the corner of her eye, so afraid of what she might see. It took her long moments to work up the courage to actually turn her head for a good look. Naomi’s face was serene. When her eyes lifted from the mummified remains of her daughter, there was clarity in them. Sanity. Piper couldn’t make it make sense.
“Mama, this is not okay.”
A frown line creased between Naomi’s eyebrows. She straightened the covers over Macy, trailed her fingers over the bright braids, and spoke. “We’ll see you later, honey. Sleep tight.” Then she led Piper out of the bedroom and shut the door. “I’d rather not talk about it in front of her.”
Piper pressed her hands over the cold dread that sat like a rock in the pit of her stomach. Before she could try again, Naomi looked up, and again, Piper was struck by the calm sanity in her gaze.
“I know it’s not the healthiest thing. I couldn’t stand the idea of putting her in the ground.” Naomi shuddered. “I couldn’t smother her in the cold, dark dirt. I’d have gone crazy.” Her eyes sparkled so much like the old Naomi, Piper felt tears start into her own eyes. “And if that wasn’t an invitation for a pot shot at your old mom, I don’t know what was.”
“Mom, she should have…” What? A “proper” burial? Since when had Piper ever concerned herself with what was “proper?” She stumbled on. “She should be put to rest. This doesn’t feel right. For her, or for you.” Then, a terrible thought occurred to her. “Oh, my God. Do you have Daddy here, too?”
Naomi laughed, actually laughed – as if that was crazy, but keeping Macy’s corpse tucked in Piper’s old bed wasn’t. “No, my girl, I do not.” She held her hand out. “Let’s walk outside. It’s a beautiful day.”
They headed down to the lakeshore and strolled, arm-in-arm, along the path worn by Naomi and the dogs on their rambles. The big Rottweiler Naomi had introduced as Hades plowed into the lake, sending up a mammoth spray of water, then waded out to shake all over them. He trotted away, grinning a huge, doggy grin, and Naomi’s face was young with relaxation and love as she watched him.
“He’s such a clown. They say you can love many dogs in a lifetime, but there’ll be one special dog, one animal you connect with in an extraordinary way.” She nodded after the sniffing Hades. “Pretty sure he’s mine.”
“Mmm.” Piper had never shared her mother’s rapport with animals, though she didn’t mind having them around. Other than her joy in watching her birds, she’d leave the critters to Naomi. They walked on in silence for a few moments, and before she could think of how to return to the subject of her sister’s remains, Naomi did it for her.
“When Macy died,” she had to swallow hard to get past the word, “I probably wasn’t totally…in my right mind. I don’t remember much. I didn’t eat, didn’t wash. I just stayed beside her. I barely took care of the animals. I was so afraid to leave her. I still feel that way, though I’ve gotten a better handle on it. I know she’s gone, Piper. I can’t feel her anymore, either her or Daddy, the way I could before.”
They’d spent hours discussing the changes people had gone through – so much easier to talk about that, than some of the other things that needed to be spoken of. Confessed. Piper didn’t tell her mother, but she was still waiting for the bond-line connecting Brody to her to disappear. On and on it went, steadily glowing, hatefully strong. Several times, Piper had caught herself trying to brush it off, a gesture of both irritation and fear. She could not yet bring herself to analyze what the steadfastness of his bond-line might mean.
For the moment, she was content to rest in the safety of her mother’s love, to enjoy the new peace between them. They touched easily now – no more grudging hugs or flinching away from Naomi’s frequent gestures of affection – and it felt like they were getting to know each other from a brand new place, without all of the old resentments getting in the way. The plague had done for them what time and maturity on Piper’s part would have done before. She could see and appreciate that now.
Naomi spoke again. “I didn’t bury Daddy, either. I couldn’t.” She smiled a sad smile. “I have it on good authority he was happy with my solution, but that’s a story for another time. It comforts me, to have Macy near, to care for her body and talk to her, and why is that wrong? I’ve thought about it, and here’s where I stand: In the time before, we used to pump our dead full of chemicals, then seal them in an air-tight, multi-thousand dollar casket, all so they’d decompose more slowly once we’d buried them. How did that make any more sense than what I’ve done with your sister?”
“Well, geez, Mom.” Piper couldn’t help grinning at her, though an under-current of worry remained. “When you set out to justify something, you do it up right.” They both chuckled. Then Piper squeezed her mother’s hand where it was looped through her arm. “If you need to keep her like that, I’ll get used to it. I just…need you to be okay.”
And there was the crux of it. It really wasn’t about burial practices or the right-or-wrongness of mummification. She just needed her mother to be stable. Reliable. Sane. All the things she’d been in the time before. Piper, too, had been thinking, and she’d recognized some truths about herself.
All her life, she’d pulled and tugged and yanked, always anxious to take the next step away from both her parents, especially her mom. In the time before, it had been a hostile thing; if there was a way to be different from her mother, she’d found it. So many of her beliefs and interests had evolved from her “anti-Naomi” stance, and it made her sad, now.
Her mom had never tried to stifle or discourage her. She’d tried to share the things she was interested in – things Piper saw as “too domesticated” to have value – but otherwise, even though it hurt her sometimes, even though she made no secret of the fact that she wished they were closer, she’d supported her daughter as she’d gone her own way. Together, her parents had been the solid bedrock from which Piper had launched herself. She didn’t realize how much she had relied on that stability until half the bedrock was gone.
And while Piper was sorry for the years of conflict, she also recognized that she and her mother were fundamentally different. Naomi was a nester, a creator of homes. People like her formed the basis of communities. Piper was a seeker. A traveler. The urge to strike out for parts unknown was an innate part of her. She yearned constantly for independence, for growth, for change. That yearning was still there – she could feel it, a restless murmuring in her heart – but she shushed it, recognizing as well her need to be still, to heal.
A grating croak in a nearby tree made both of them look up, and Naomi laughed a welcome. “You! I thought you’d abandoned us.”
Piper shaded her eyes with her hand, and saw a huge raven, head cocked and eyes bright, gazing down at them from the lowest branch of a nearby Cottonwood. “You’ve got bird minions, too,” she said. “I am so not surprised. I watched my birds every day, when I was with…” She still hadn’t figured out a comfortable way to refer to Brody’s group, so she just abandoned the sentence and started another. “I loved the Cedar Waxwings and these big guys the best. Ravens are highly intelligent, did you know? As smart as the great apes, some researchers think.”
“Well, this fellow sure is. I call him ‘Loki.’”
“Norse God of Mischief. Nice. Have you mind-melded with him, like you do with the dogs?”
“Only a couple of times, and only on his terms, but yes. You should see the way he sees colors – I don’t even have words to describe it.” Naomi looked up at the sun and sighed. “We probably ought to think about some lunch before we head to town. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
Piper shrugged. “It’s no big deal.” They were supposed to meet with Jack, Martin and some other key members of the community this afternoon to talk about Brody and his men, as well as discuss changes in the community’s security as a result of the confrontation that had occurred. “If Jack gets pushy, I’ll just shove right back.”
Naomi laughed. “You can’t know how many times I thought of you when he hit me with his twisty words and sly tricks.” She patted Piper’s hand fondly. “He thinks he’s quite the manipulator, but he’s got nothing on my girl.”
They’d discussed Jack, of course, and many other members of the community, including the strange and compelling Verity and the absent Layla. Her mother was worried about the latter; apparently, she was pregnant, and wasn’t having an easy time of it. “She was so kind to me,” Naomi had said. “We’ll get in touch with Owen, and see if we can drop in soon. Maybe take them some soup or some cookies.”
Her words had made Piper smile. Plague or not, some things were ever the same. They ate a simple but beautifully presented lunch of tuna on crackers and the last of the canned fruit. Naomi talked about her plans for building a greenhouse so she could grow and preserve food year-round, which she hoped to trade for meat when the dogs weren’t successful at bringing in game. She had told Piper about her single attempt at hunting, as well as Martin’s unhappiness with her decision. They hadn’t discussed Martin much at all, which suited Piper just fine. She was still coming to grips with her father’s absence, and she sure wasn’t ready to see someone take his place. Of him, Naomi would only say. “He’s a friend, and a good person to have at your back.” It was all Piper wanted or needed to know.
They finished their lunch and headed out to the ATV, leaving the dogs behind for this trip. Piper had insisted she could walk the distance – it still shocked her that her mother regularly did – but Naomi was equally insistent. She needed to baby, to nurture, to protect, to coddle. For the time being, Piper was content to let her, but soon, she would need to remind Naomi that she’d survived a great deal on her journey home, and could certainly handle a four mile hike, among other things.
She thoroughly enjoyed the ride into town, watching the familiar scenery flash by, the giant boulders and cool green pine forests, the fresh, spring-scent in the air of growing things and melting snow. They pulled up to the church just as Martin and his daughter were arriving, also on an ATV.
Martin nodded at Piper, then fixed his dark, intense eyes on Naomi’s face, analyzing. After a moment, he smiled. “You look about ten years younger than the last time I saw you. You girls been up there playing ‘beauty spa?’”
Naomi narrowed her eyes at him, then slid a sideways glance at Piper. “Never quite an insult, but not a compliment, either.” Then, she smiled at Martin’s daughter, her expression tender. “Hi, Grace. How are you, sweetheart?”
Grace’s lips lifted, but it wasn’t really a smile. “I’m fine, thank you.” Her dark eyes, so like her father’s, shifted to Piper. “I stayed in your room.” She fingered the sweatshirt that bagged on her skinny shoulders, and Piper was startled to recognize it. “And this is yours. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Piper lifted a hand to her throat, then to her mouth, hiding a sudden tremble. Her mother had told her what had happened to Grace, of course, but Piper hadn’t expected to feel such an instant rapport, such a need to protect. She recognized the ghosts in Grace’s dark eyes and wanted to banish them for her, to wrap the younger girl up in vibrantly-colored sweatshirts and warm safety.
“It looks good on you,” she said unsteadily, working hard to keep her tone light. This traumatized girl didn’t need her big emotions. “That color works better with your dark hair than with my, well –” She rubbed the top of her head. “With what used to be my hair.”
Grace grimaced, and touched her own choppy hair. “Mine is such a mess,” she said, then looked at Naomi. “I don’t suppose you brought scissors with you?”
“I can find some.” Naomi smirked at Martin. “All three of us can play ‘beauty spa,’ after the meeting. In fact, if you don’t have other plans, you should come up to the cabin. I can cut Gracie’s hair, you could stay for dinner and visit with Persephone. She’s been pining for you, I’m afraid.” Then, she looked quickly at Piper. “Is that okay with you? I’m sorry, honey, I should have said something to you first…”
“It’s cool, mom.” But it gave her a twinge, the thought of others invading their safe cocoon. To hide it, Piper smirked at Grace, falling back on a little old-school snark. “It’ll be just like play-dates when I was little. My mom had to bribe kids to be my friend then, too. So, Grace, if you’re nice and do everything I say, I’ll let you play with my Barbies, but only the ones with the chewed-up feet.”
Naomi’s familiar huff and soft, admonishing, “Piper!” gave her comfort. It was good to know her mom’s buttons were all where she’d left them.
“You were one of those, huh?” A little smile, a real one, played around Grace’s mouth. “I was never much into Barbies. I don’t suppose you have Trivial Pursuit? Or Monopoly?”
“We have ‘Horseopoly,’ which is almost the same thing. My sister –”
Piper’s words strangled in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and fought against the rising swell. Macy. Oh, little sister. The grief kept coming like this, like a slap out of nowhere. She didn’t know which was worse, this, or the sudden bouts of overwhelming fear, the terror that woke her in the night, or froze her in the middle of some mundane task, her body suddenly clammy with sweat, her hands shaking uncontrollably. She felt a light touch, feather-soft, land on her forearm. Opening her eyes, she met Grace’s gaze.
“I know.” The younger girl said simply. “My little brother, too. You stop forgetting after a while, and that makes it easier.” She paused a moment. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
Piper nodded, and rubbed at the center of her chest where the ache was easing into something she could manage. “I think I knew, on some level,” she said softly. “I couldn’t tell where they were, like I could with my mom. And I think you’re right – it will get easier when I stop expecting them to be here.” She blew out a huge breath of air, then led the way towards the church. There was refuge in motion. “Let’s get this show on the road, people. Grace has challenged me to a game of Trivial Pursuit when we get back to the cabin.”
They walked together into the cool, dark church. Jack and Ethan were already in one of the conference rooms, along with a woman Piper hadn’t met yet. Her eyes flickered over Piper, lingered on the fading bruises, and narrowed. She strode over and stuck her hand out.
“I’m Rowan. You couldn’t be anybody but Piper. You’re the image of your mom.”
“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Piper could analyze, too. She’d never seen anything like this woman’s bond-lines – there were too many to count, all of them surging and fading, only to pulse again, according to a rhythm too complex to identify. “You’re the healer.”
“Ack.” Rowan made a face. “If you say so. I prefer ‘Physician’s Assistant,’ which was my title before, but nobody listens to me.” Her eyes probed Piper’s face, then seemed to go unfocused. “How are you sleeping?”
Piper blinked, and almost asked how she’d known. Then, she remembered what Naomi had told her about this woman. “Better last night than the first two.”
“Nightmares?”
“Yep.”
“If they get worse or if you start avoiding sleep, let me know. We don’t have medication, but we have some herbs that can really help. Your appetite’s okay?”
Piper smiled. “My mom could make dog food appetizing if she had to. No problems there.”
“Good. If the other symptoms get worse – the sudden shakes, the anxiety – just be sure to ask for help.” She reached out and squeezed Piper’s arm, the gesture both matter-of-fact and comforting. “You’re safe. We’ve got you.”
She returned to her seat, and Piper moved to take a seat as well, refraining from voicing the thoughts Rowan’s words conjured. She was safer, that was certain. In just the few days she’d been here, her body was already responding to the alleviation of stress; both physically and mentally, her strength was surging. Other than the nightmares and the occasional bouts of severe anxiety, she hadn’t felt this stable and solid on her feet in over a year. But absolute safety was a fairy tale she didn’t believe in any more. None of them should.
They were joined by a man named Thomas, as well as the sentries from the other day, Andrea and Paul. They all took seats at the table, including Grace, which was surprising. Piper nodded at Ethan, and in Jack’s general direction, but avoided meeting the young pastor’s eyes. That white arc of light was something she would rather not think about just yet. Easier to do that than to convince herself it didn’t mean what she feared it meant. To keep her eyes busy, she started analyzing bond-lines, instantly fascinated by what she learned.
The kaleidoscope between her mother and Martin was to be expected, even if she’d rather not dwell on it. She moved on quickly. Vibrant green and pink bonds between Martin and Grace, touched with purple and white – what she’d come to think of as the “good parent-child relationship” colors. Ethan’s bonds to Elise and the kids were as strong as ever, and tentative bonds were already forming between him and the people in this room.
Jack’s bonds were as multiple as Rowan’s, but different. Where Rowan’s were what Piper thought of as “mutual” – a two-way bond – Jack’s were primarily one-way, like the bond linking Brody to her. This community was clinging to him, but other than a few sputtering bond-lines, he didn’t feel a reciprocal connection. She saw the exception when her mother asked about Layla.
“She won’t be joining us, I’m afraid. I spoke to Owen this morning, and he said she’s been resting a lot, just taking it easy. They’re hoping the morning sickness and other issues will settle down soon, and we can have our teacher back.”
His voice was completely level, and not even a hint of color warmed his face to betray what he was really feeling, but zowie, this Layla sure lit him up. He was like Brody, Piper thought – exceptionally skilled at hiding what he was feeling or thinking from others. Without her ability, she never would have suspected, but as it was, she sat there enjoying the show. When he spoke of Layla, the whole rainbow of colors flared, all of them, though a deep, throbbing orange predominated. Poor guy, he really had it bad for another man’s pregnant woman. It made her wonder if she’d imagined that arc of white light. It had been an exceptionally stressful situation…
As if he could feel her attention, Jack glanced at her. The moment their eyes met, it crackled between them again, white light accompanied by a hissing, buzzing, pop. She’d been half expecting it, and it still made her jump. Jack winced and looked away. Okay, so she hadn’t imagined it, but the jury was still out as to what it implied.
Jack looked at Thomas. “You want to fill everyone in on what happened with our visitors, so we can get started?”
Thomas nodded. “Andrea and Paul followed them all the way into Manitou Springs. They weren’t trying to be discrete, and they’re sure the men knew they were there. They camped on the outskirts of Manitou that night, then headed into Colorado Springs. We don’t know where they went after that.”
Andrea spoke. “Paul was picking up some pretty bad stuff. He said it wasn’t safe to go on. We backed up the pass a ways and watched for the rest of that day and part of the next. They may have circled around another way, on one of the hiking trails, but they didn’t double back the way they went.”
Ethan spoke. “I don’t know what the plan was, beyond Woodland Park.” His eyes touched Piper. “Brody Sanders – he was the big guy, the leader – didn’t speak about anything beyond this objective.”
“Was that usual?” Martin asked. “He only shared short-range goals, rather than speaking of long-term strategy?”
“Yes.” Ethan and Piper answered at the same time. Ethan gestured for her to go ahead, and Piper swallowed. She would rather have just listened, but she’d jumped in.
“No one ever knew what Brody’s long-term strategy was, but you can be sure he had one. Everything he did was calculated for tactical advantage.” She glanced around, and groped her way forward carefully. “After we were burned out, he revealed that he’d changed. People here have changed, my mom says, and it’s okay to talk about?”
Rowan answered. “More okay with some than with others, but yes. An increase in intuitive abilities, primarily, which manifests in several different ways, depending on the person. Really strong in our kids. I’m documenting whenever I have a chance. You’ve changed? Will you say how?”
Again, Piper looked around the room, wondering what the best strategy was here, or if the revelation would be used against her somehow. Then, she shook her head. This wasn’t Brody’s group. “I see bonds between people, as color and light. I studied sociology in college. Social dynamics and relationships have always fascinated me. It’s as if I can see what I could only theorize about before.”
Around the room, heads were nodding. “Cool,” Grace murmured. “Useful.”
Piper nodded at her, and went on. “In any case, Brody suggested that he could…” She paused, because it sounded so hokey. “He said he could see the future. Possible paths, he said. I think he came here expecting to…” Again, she had trouble speaking of it. She looked at Ethan for help, and he obliged.
“That blonde woman, that Verity – she made it sound like he came here to die.” He didn’t look at Piper this time, and she appreciated his discretion. Her business didn’t need to be everyone else’s. “He had some things to atone for. Some things I knew about, and who knows what he carried with him from his life before, or from his time on active duty.”
Briefly, silence fell, as people digested the information. Then Martin looked between Piper and Ethan. “There’s a gang, para-military or ex-military, we’re not sure which, operating out of Colorado Springs. We don’t know much about them, except that they’re extremely violent. They control a significant portion of the Old North End, and they have in excess of a thousand people living in their territory and cooperating with them. How likely is it that this Brody would seek to join them?”
Ethan was the first to answer. “I couldn’t venture a guess. Brody doesn’t need people, not like most of us do. He doesn’t ask for advice or input. He just commands. He doesn’t make friends, and he doesn’t seem to need them. He wouldn’t join, unless he had a reason to.”
“And he wouldn’t join as a subordinate,” Piper added her input while staring at the table top. The very idea of Brody in command of such a large group made her suddenly light-headed. “He would take over, for a specific reason, with a specific goal in mind.”
“There are somewhere between 10 and 15 men in positions of power, as near as we can tell,” Martin said. “Is he capable of staging that kind of coup, with only three men?”
“Yes.” Ethan and Piper spoke the word in unison. “Absolutely,” Ethan added.
Silence, again. Then Thomas spoke. “We can’t know what this Brody and his men will do, but we can talk about what we have to do. A handful of people walked right in here, and if they’d wanted to, they could have taken this community over with a few automatic weapons and some hand grenades. We’re likely to be facing a similar situation when that gang decides the grass is greener up the pass.”
Andrea and Paul were both nodding at his words, and his voice picked up speed and strength. “We have to train more defenders, and find a way to secure our perimeter. We have to be able to fight fire with fire. When they come at us in force, we need to be prepared to fight for our homes and families, for what we’re trying to build here.”
“That’ll never work.”
Grace’s soft voice took a moment to register on everyone. Thomas’ face darkened, and though he didn’t quite bluster, his irritation was obvious. “Grace, I know you ‘studied’ them and all, but you should let us do the talking here. You don’t have the experience to –”
“If you try to meet violence with violence, this community won’t survive.” Her voice was still soft, but there was something commanding in her quiet tone. “I may not have experience, but I do know that in such a conflict, the side capable of being the most violent will win. My dad says there are less than a hundred people here, which means they outnumber us at least ten to one. Many of them have military training, and they have the munitions from Fort Carson at their disposal.”
From under her sweatshirt, she pulled a thick, ragged stack of papers that had been rubber-banded together, dark with row after row of neat handwriting. “Some of the information’s here, some of it I haven’t had a chance to write down yet.” She shot a sideways glance at her father, who was staring at her. “Dad, there are parts of this you shouldn’t see. I just…I don’t want…please? Could you trust me on this?”
Martin nodded slowly. “For now, honey. If that’s what you want.”
Grace went on. “I’m not saying all this because I’m a pacifist, or because I believe in the ideology of non-violence from a religious perspective. I’m just saying that when you analyze the resources available to both sides, when you look at it from the perspective of incompatible interests rather than ‘war,’ it’s the most effective method, given the circumstances.” She looked around, shrinking a little from the incredulous looks, and scratched her nose. “Unless we could just nuke ‘em. That would work, too.”
“Holy shit, Grace.” Piper was the first one to regain the power of speech. “Brilliant much? How old did you say you were?”
“Seventeen.” Grace scratched her nose again, using the gesture to hide a tiny smile of pleasure. “I did a paper. It got an A+.”
And just like that, Piper’s heart broke. How in the world was this wisp of a girl advocating for non-violence, after what she’d been through? Piper knew without doubt that she could never have been so level-headed in Grace’s place. Given the chance, she’d call hellfire and brimstone down on Brody’s head, then dance on his smoking corpse.
Piper looked around the room. “She’s onto something, here. I don’t have her knowledge, but I have read some papers by Sharp, and Roszak.” She looked at Grace, who nodded her recognition. “Non-violent action as a means to fundamentally transform a society. Man, what I wouldn’t give for the internet right about now. We need to understand the methodology of using non-violence against a violent regime, how to undermine and possibly de-construct their power base –”
“Hold the phone.” Andrea spoke. “Are you seriously suggesting we just sit here, and let them roll right over the top of us while we hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya?’ Because I, for one, would rather go down fighting. If they shoot, we have to shoot back, or we’re dead.”
“Dead is dead, no matter how it happens.” Grace’s soft voice again. “If you use a non-violent approach, there’s a chance you could end up killed. If you try to shoot it out with a superior force, there’s an even greater chance you’ll die. It’s not about being passive and submissive, it’s about choosing how you’ll engage in the conflict. I don’t have all the answers, but I know there are ways to disrupt or destroy established behavior patterns, to create alternative beliefs in a populace. The key is in there somewhere. I just need time to figure it out.”
Jack hadn’t spoken throughout the exchange, but he did now. “Grace, your dad has been saying something much like this for months, although he’s a bit easier to understand.” He smiled at her. “I can see where you got your smarts from. We need to work with this idea. You and your dad are both right when you say we can’t outfight them.” He looked at Andrea and Paul, who were wearing strikingly similar mutinous expressions. “I know it’s not how we’ve been trained to think – our society loved stories where the underdog triumphed against all odds. But that society is dead now, and we need to think in new ways. Does that make sense?”
Paul nodded, while Andrea just shrugged. Thomas chimed in then. “I think she’s got some good ideas – she really has a point about dead being dead – but we should still talk about defense, so we can’t be so easily blindsided. Maybe we should talk about moving again. Up by Naomi.”
Piper glanced at her mother, who didn’t seem surprised. “They’re not my lakes,” she said.
Jack nodded again. “We need a count on the houses and cabins and a community meeting to assess people’s willingness to relocate. As a stop-gap, let’s look at the schedule and increase our presence on the perimeter.” He looked in Piper’s direction but managed to not meet her eyes. “Can you look at Grace’s documentation and see what can be gleaned, maybe work with her to fine-tune some of her ideas?”
Good move, Piper thought – and delivered with just the right tone. Her mom might dismiss this youth pastor, but from what she’d seen, he had some skills. “It would be an honor,” she answered, and saw again Grace’s tiny but real smile.
“Unless there’s something else, then?” Leading the way, Jack rose.
Around the table, chairs scraped back, all except Martin’s and her mother’s. Martin stayed where he was, one arm locked across his body, gripping his elbow with knuckles that were white. The other hand, Piper now saw, had a similar white-knuckled grip on her mother’s hand. She glanced between the two of them, waiting until the room had emptied out to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Her mother just shook her head and let Martin hang on. His eyes were shut as he clearly fought to control some overwhelming emotion. Beside him, Grace stood, shifting uncertainly. She put a tentative hand on his shoulder. “Dad? What’s the matter?”
He looked up, and his face just broke. “You’re eighteen,” he gasped. “Gracie, honey, you’re eighteen. Your birthday was in November.” He brought his hands up to cover his face. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I just need a minute, honey. You go on with Piper. I just need a minute.”
Naomi looked up at Grace. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart. He’s having a ‘Daddy’ moment. Piper, would you guys like to meet us outside by the ATVs? You can tell Grace all about how often I embarrassed you with my weepy ways.”
Piper nodded, and looped her arm through Grace’s. “She was terrible. School plays, sporting events, you name it, she bawled.” She winked at her mom as she steered Grace out the door and hoped it took any sting out of words she didn’t want to sting, not anymore. “You should have seen her at my high school graduation, my God, we should have bought stock in Kleenex…”
They met Jack hovering in the hallway. Piper touched a finger to her lips, and the three of them walked silently to the outside doors, then stepped out into the bright warmth of a beautiful day.
“Is he okay?” Jack didn’t try to exclude Grace, but the question was clearly directed at Piper.
She tilted her head, a gesture that conveyed her uncertainty. “Are any of us okay? Something hit a vulnerable spot. My mom’ll help him sort it out; she’s really good at that sort of thing.”
Jack hummed an affirmative sound and turned to Grace. “You were a junior, when the plague hit, is that right?” When Grace nodded, he smiled. “When you and Piper are finished with your document, are you interested in joining our other students? Our teacher, Layla, would love to meet you. You could study independently, maybe even help with instruction with the other kids. I get the feeling school was something you really enjoyed and excelled in.”
Grace shrugged and looked down. “I loved school. But…I don’t know if I’d fit in with the other kids. Not after…everything.” She looked sideways at Piper. “Maybe I could study with you? My dad says there’s a library here with a crazy librarian who thinks she’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
“I’d love to study with you, as long as I’m here.” Piper blinked. Both Grace and Jack were looking at her with questions in their eyes, and it was her turn to shrug. “I mean, yes. I’d love to study with you. I enjoyed school, too, and this librarian sounds like someone I’ve got to meet.”
Martin and her mother emerged from the building, then, and Grace nodded politely at Jack. “It was nice to meet you.”
He nodded back, the smile on his face warm. Her mom had said he was at his best with the kids, his most real, and it looked like her observation had been correct. “Likewise, Grace. I look forward to you being a part of us.”
Piper and Jack watched as Grace joined her father, who appeared to have settled back into his “tough guy” persona once more. Piper turned to offer a similar goodbye and found Jack watching her with layers of speculation in his eyes.
“Do you have plans to leave, then?”
Piper maintained his gaze, ignoring the crackling bond-line. “I’m not sure why I said that. Habit, maybe. When I finished high school, I couldn’t wait to get out on my own. I guess I’m just not used to the idea of living with my mom again.” She wrinkled her nose as a thought occurred to her. “Hey, just for the record, this does not make me a boomerang kid. The circumstances were extraordinary.”
Jack’s lips twitched, and for just a moment, humor touched his eyes. “That’s what they all say.”
Piper turned, ready with a smart-ass rejoinder, but when her smiling eyes met his, the bond-line flared into something she’d never seen before, an opalescent rainbow that nearly blinded her. When she could see again, the look on his face made the words die on her lips.
“I don’t want this,” he whispered, and she got the feeling he wasn’t talking to her. “I did not ask for this. It’s not what I wanted.”
Piper looked away, stung without really knowing why. “Who gets what they want anymore? Adapt, like everybody else.” She walked away without looking at him again. “See you around.”
She started for the ATVs, then changed her mind, giving in to the restless, irritated energy that was suddenly making her skin twitch. “I’m going to walk it,” she called. Before Naomi could voice the protest Piper knew was coming, she waved her off and turned to set her feet on the road. “I got this, Mom.”