“Back to the trucks,” the older man said.
We listened as their footsteps faded away. And we all relaxed, but we stayed where we were until we heard the faint sound of the trucks starting up. They went south.
Jackson said, “I’ll be back with the wagon,” patted my mother on the shoulder, and left. He was moving fast.
“What?” Mom asked, bewildered. “Where’s Jackson going?”
“We got to get the bodies out of here,” I said, my voice as smooth and calm as I could get it. “Those soldiers are gonna come back, sooner or later. We got to get these two out of the town limits. Away from the school.” At least there wasn’t any blood.
“I think I can dig the hole,” Felicia said. “I’ll go with Jackson, too.”
“You’re an earth grigori?” I was pleased. She would be able to make a good living, though moving dirt around wasn’t exciting.
“Nope. I’m like Felix,” my sister said. She gave me a significant look with wide eyes. Then she shrugged. “But I can move some earth, too, like Eli can. Just not my best thing.”
I tried to keep my face blank, but I was truly shocked.
Felix was a death grigori. He could pull the life out of someone… and he could also put it back in, though that was harder. Not the most comfortable man to be around.
I’d known my sister could kill silently (or loudly, for that matter), but I’d never realized that if she could kill that way, it was an unusual skill. Felix didn’t have many friends. Felicia would also be more of a target once her power became known.
“That’s why you’re with Felix so much,” I said.
Felicia’s letters had let me know that in addition to the regular school classes, she was being specially tutored by the grumpy, thirty-ish Felix. Until now, I hadn’t been able to figure that one out.
“We’ll talk again. That sounds like your stepdad returning.”
Felicia was right. The wagon rolled to a stop right outside the school. It behooved us to move quickly. We wanted as few eyes to see this as possible.
“Can you make the bodies lighter?” I asked.
My sister nodded. Her eyes closed, and all the emotion washed from her face. It was eerie. The man’s body rose in the air, just a bit, and I took the shoulders. Mom rose off the bench and bent to lift the feet. She always responded to need, even when she was revolted by the task.
We were both surprised by the lightness of the body, and I’m sure Felicia noticed. She smiled proudly. I tilted my head toward my sister to tell my mother where credit was due.
In five more minutes, Jackson, Felicia, and I were in the wagon heading out into the low hills southeast of Segundo Mexia. Mom was finishing the end-of-term school cleanup she’d begun more than an hour ago.
Thanks to Felicia, Jackson and I buried the bodies in record time. Jackson dropped us off at the base of the hill, and he continued to the town stable to return the horses and the wagon, which belonged to the hotel.
I went up the hill in a hurry. I wanted to see Eli more than anything. Felicia hurried right behind me, just as anxious to lay eyes on Peter. I threw open the door to the cabin, sure the brothers would be inside.
But they weren’t.
CHAPTER FIVE
Felicia and I talked about the situation till we had no more to say.
Because she was fifteen, Felicia wanted to set out that very minute. Reason (me) argued against that. Dark was closing in. It was a bad night to be wandering around Segundo Mexia. People were on edge and might shoot at anything. I told my sister all these reasons to wait. Several times.
Felicia was trying not to be angry with me, but I could tell she was unhappy. She was not good at hiding her feelings.
Tonight my half sister was just going to have to fume. She stalked into the room she and Peter had used and shut the door behind her very carefully.
I was too tired to eat anything. Felicia had been too angry.
I stripped, pulled on my old nightgown, and climbed into bed. Though my body was exhausted, my mind was as crazy as a rat in a cage. My body won, after a while.
I thought I heard Eli return at least three times that night. Each time, I startled awake. Each time, I was wrong.
Felicia was more composed the next morning. But she didn’t want to talk, so I figured she was still angry. Being quiet suited me. We ate some leftover tortillas and meat before making our way down the hill. You’d better believe we were both keeping our eyes open. This time, I carried my rifle in addition to my Colts, with extra ammo in a pouch, plus some food. We both had full canteens. Who knew what would happen?
“Nobody’s out,” Felicia said when we were halfway down the hill. “Normal?”
“Not hardly.”
“Nobody” wasn’t quite accurate. I could see a few people moving around. The patterns of the town were all upset, though. The few citizens who were on the streets were hurrying as fast as their legs could move, and they didn’t pause to talk to each other.
“They’re wondering if the soldiers will come back,” Felicia said.
I nodded. “Let’s start with Trader Army.”
The sign on his door was turned to OPEN. The bell over the door jingled as we entered. Trader, his back to us, jumped just a little.
Trader’s wife, Clarita, was sitting on a stool behind the till. No surprise there. They would want to be together after the scare of yesterday. Clarita was holding an ancient pistol, and she was ready to use it.
Army had lost an eye in the Mexican invasion after the US dissolved. The left side of his face was a mess of scars. But I never thought of it any longer until I introduced him to Felicia. Her face tightened for just a flicker. I was sure she had seen more shocking things.
Clarita was glad to see us; she’d always been a talkative and inquisitive kind of person. After Clarita had established my exact relationship to Felicia and learned that Felicia was fifteen and not married, I asked Trader what had happened in the square. None too soon—my half sister had started fidgeting from foot to foot.
“The first shot was one of them soldiers,” Trader said.
“What was he shooting at?” I wanted Army to get to the body count, but there was no hurrying him.
“You’re not going to believe this, but he shot Big Balls,” Army said.
My mouth dropped open. (So did Felicia’s, but for a different reason.)
“Big Balls is a pig. Was a pig,” I told her hastily. “The butcher raised him from a piglet. Big was the meanest thing on four hooves, so he’s no great loss, except to the butcher’s pride.” I turned back to Trader. “How’d that happen?”
“I don’t know how Big got free—I suspect the little Hatcher girl, ’cause I spied her running for home. Be that as it may, Big charged the soldiers, and one of them shot at him. Big Balls was too mean to let that stop him. He kept on going and managed to get in a good bite before he died.” Trader admired Big’s attitude, and so did I.
At least the pig had gotten in a lick. That bite must have hurt like crazy. No one had ever seen a pig as large as Big Balls. After all the years he’d terrorized Segundo Mexia, Big Balls had died defending it.
“I guess the butcher will be eating good. I hope he saves me some bacon,” I said, because Army was waiting for a comment. I just wanted him to tell us what happened.