Rewrite Redemption (29 page)

A tear ran down her face. She brushed it off angrily, staring at the front of the classroom. This was going to be harder than I thought. I was wiped out. She looked even worse. My next note was more to the point.

She turned and glared at me like I was crazy. “What do you mean?” she mouthed.

“A.J.,” I mouthed back to her. “I know she’s gone. I know the secret.” 

She looked at me for a few seconds longer, irritation turning to hesitant curiosity. She nodded. “Lunch,” she whispered.

I gave her the ok sign and slumped in my seat, stretching my legs into the isle. We pretty much ignored each other for the rest of class. I sat there thinking about what to say to her, trying to come up with a good opening line.

Finally, the bell rang.

I bolted from the room before the teacher could launch into any kind of sympathy speech about my brother. Lex followed on my tail. By some unspoken agreement, neither of us talked until we’d cleared the building. We crossed the lawn, drawn to the maple like it had been prearranged to meet there. We dropped our stuff and she sat down.

I touched the tree and paused for a moment, closing my eyes. It was a great tree…old, deeply connected. No wonder A.J. hung out there. I could feel a trace of her essence lingering around it. “Give me a minute,” I said to Lex.

She didn’t question it.

I put both palms flat on the bark. I leaned into the tree as though I was going to push it over. I reached deep into the tree’s core. Once I connected, I let the energy flow through me, filling me with calm. It wasn’t as good as A.J.’s energy, but it was still a relief. After about a minute, I held out my hands, shaking the dissonance off my fingertips.

When I opened my eyes, she was just standing there, staring at me. My guess was that she’d seen this before. My guess was that what I’d just done said it better than any opening line I could have come up with.

“So you’re like her,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Pretty much,” I answered. It wasn’t the time or place to go into the Shadow explanation.

“Can you help me get her back?”

“I can’t promise anything, but probably,” I said. “I think so.”

Her eyes filled with tears, but they didn’t fall. She gave me a long, heavy look. “You better not be screwing with me, New Guy.”

“Cross my heart.” I made the motion across my chest. “Let’s get out of here.” I pulled her to her feet and grabbed both our packs. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

She nodded. “Yeah, let’s go to our place.”

This time I nodded, and we set out silently for the place where I’d been spending half my nights since I’d been in Boulder. At least this time, I’d get my foot in the door.

The Indian just stood there, head cocked; scanning me as if he wasn’t quite sure I was real. Lowering his bow, he slowly moved closer and gave my knee a tentative poke. My mind exploded, grasping frantically at possible actions, coming up empty.

His muscled body blocked my exit, but I was too stunned to attempt escape. I just stared back, trying desperately to stop the panic, trying desperately to stop shaking, hoping beyond hope that he wasn’t going to hurt me.

My eyes locked on his but on the periphery. The knife in his belt grabbed my attention like a neon sign. My scalp tightened, adrenaline prickled from my torso down my arms, and I felt beads of sweat between my breasts. I waited for him to grab me or at least yell for the others.

But he didn’t.

After an hour-long minute, he knelt on one foot. Dropping his bow and watching my face, he reached out and gently lifted up a slipper. When I didn’t protest, he shifted his eyes to see the bottom. I crouched on one foot, trying to keep my balance as he ran his fingers along the ridges and traced the star on the heel. Then he set my foot back down and grabbed one of the Velcro straps, giving it a swift tug.

It made that frrrrpppp Velcro sound, and he grinned, his dark eyes crinkling. He did the same with the other strap, this time laughing softly, grinning at me like we’d just shared a really good joke. Then he stared at me…like…questioning or something.

I took a ragged breath and stared right back. He was big and powerful. But there was a…a kindness in his eyes…and a curiosity. I took an even breath this time and attempted to smile. Then—

 “Chief!” a rough voice startled both of us.

The Indian stood quickly and backed away, eyes lingering on my face. He held out his hand, palm down, and shot me a quick look…like “be quiet” or something. And before the cowboy got close enough to see around the rock, the Indian turned and walked back to the campsite. The cowboy followed.

“So whadaya think, friend? How far to the yellow rock?”

 “Half day,” the Indian answered in a low, melodic voice. “Camp here. Leave first light.”

“Well then, how ‘bout you take that bow and arrow of yours and shoot us something to throw in with the beans?”

The Indian just grunted. Apparently, he wasn’t going to nark on me. I hoped he’d help me. I hoped my read on him was real. I felt like we had a moment there with the Velcro thing and all. It reminded me of that trip when I was five. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. I was still scared, but no longer shaking. I could do this. I could get through this.

I had no choice but to try.

I sat back, hand against my chest, trying to slow my heartbeat with deep, even breaths. The Indian took off through the trees with his bow on his back. I stressed that one of the cowboys would walk my way for a bathroom break before the Indian came back. Luckily, they seemed content for the moment to sit around my fire, drink whiskey, and talk about the whores they’d buy when they struck gold. It was revolting—
they
were revolting. And the way they were talking about women put the fear of God into me, that’s for sure.

I stroked my key, holding it for luck. Then I just crouched there, making sure not to move, making sure not to even breathe loudly…wishing hard that the Indian would return.

I focused on the cowboy’s conversation, trying to keep from thinking about getting caught. I had to extrapolate from bits and pieces of broken banter, but it seemed that the Indian had been trading with them for a while…furs. They’d been selling the furs to another trader, who took them east, so that they could buy supplies to continue their hunt for gold. While dropping off a load of furs, the Indian had seen them panning for gold. He told them he knew where to find more of the “yellow rock” and was taking them there. And now they were making plans for what they’d do when they were rich.