Free Red is for Remembrance by Laurie Faria Stolarz Page B

their space. Lily is trading her services of hair braiding and neck massaging, while Mason and Rain trade jewelry trinkets acquired from their nightly taking quests, and Daisy trades sweaters, coats, and any leftover household items that couldn't be hawked in a pawn shop.
    Brick and Shell have been assigned to walk the rows, scoping out the trades so they can report back to the group about the deals of the day. Clay follows several yards behind them, well out of earshot.
    "What's he doing?" Shell asks Brick.
    Brick shrugs. "Mason probably ordered him to keep an eye on us. So we don't get into trouble."
    "What kind of trouble?"
    "I don't know." He shrugs again. "So we don't run off or do anything weird, probably."
    Shell looks back in Clay's direction. It appears as though Clay has slowed his pace a bit, giving them space.
    "Just ignore him," Brick says. "That's what I try to do."
    Shell nods, taking the advice. They turn down one of the longer rows, impressed the array of tradeables. This is Shell's second time at a trading field, Brick's umpteenth, and both marvel at the abundance of choices-- palm and card readings, offers for manicures and hair dyeing, handmade
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    quilts, wooden bowls, exotic seashells, and food staples of all types.
    They pass by a group of young girls attaching sparkly white angel wings to each other's backs.
    Are your wings broken?" one of the girls calls out to Shell.
    Shell stops a moment, then approaches her, noticing how each set of wings is unique, all set apart by their shape-- some pointed, some bubbly, others wavy, a few with diamond-shaped cutouts. "I don't think so," he says, finally. He looks back at Clay, who watches them from a few tables away.
    "May I?" She whirls him around to inspect his back, running her hand across his shoulders.
    "What happened to you?" she asks, turning him back around.
    Shell's face drops, confused.
    "Your wings aren't just broken." She gasps. "They've collapsed." The other girls shake their heads with compassion. "Sometimes wings can break like that," she continues, "but it's usually only after something terrible happens-- a lost love, a near death, a sudden illness-- were you sick?"
    "I believe so," She'll says.
    The girl nods, unsurprised. "Well, you're still going to need some temporary wings until yours heal over. I think I have a pair that will be perfect." She turns to fish through a trunk behind her, pulling forth a simple, straight-lined, no-frills pair from the bottom of the heap. "These will be perfect," she says, holding them up to She'll. 'And what have you got to trade?"
    "Maybe I'll come back later," She'll says, looking to Brick for backup, though Brick remains expressionless.
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    "Well, don't wait too long," the girl says. "It's dangerous out there without your wings."
    Shell nods and he and Brick leave, Clay following several paces behind.
    Are you sure you don't want a pair?" Brick asks.
    Are you serious?" He checks Brick's expression to see if he's joking, but he remains as straight-faced as ever.
    "Why not?" Brick explains. "Maybe she can see something about your past. Don't you believe some people have a sixth sense?"
    Shell bites his bottom lip, knowing that he must believe it. Why else, in the car earlier, would he wonder if Lily could sense he was wearing the woolen scarf under his coat? "Can you sense things?"
    Brick shrugs. "I try to."
    "What do you mean?"
    Brick glances back to check for Clay, who's suddenly stopped. He's talking to some people at one of the tables.
    "Can you keep a secret?" Brick asks.
    Shell nods.
    "On the way over here," he whispers, "when Clay said he didn't take that platinum necklace, I sensed he was lying."
    "Seriously?"
    "Forget it," Brick says. "I've spoken out of turn. Please . . . forgive me."
     
    "Sure," Shell says, his mind scrambling with questions.
    "I've been working on developing my senses," Brick continues, "through meditation and spells and stuff. But sometimes it backfires and I just imagine things.