Free Matchbox Girls by Chrysoula Tzavelas

She snapped her fingers at the dog watching her, a chocolate-colored retriever. Its tail waved slowly, but it didn’t move.
    Finally, she cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “Hey, you! Girl with the dogs!”
    The girl looked around and then waved. Marley beckoned her over. Much to her surprise, the girl immediately dashed across the grass to her, all three dogs following in her wake.
    “Hi!” she said. Marley looked at her with narrowed eyes. The kid looked to be maybe fourteen, with a mop of curly dark hair and big hazel eyes in a brown face. She was pretty in a way that almost seemed airbrushed, which wasn’t uncommon in L.A., but did usually require makeup.
    “Who are you?” Marley finally asked.
    “Is this about the dogs? Because they are totally under control.” She made a hand gesture and all three dogs sat down. Her words were followed by a hopeful grin; her teeth were very white.
    “That's nice. That's good. But I already saw that today. However, now I am asking for your name,” Marley said.
    “Oh! I’m Annalise Audot. Call me AT.” She grinned again, but there was a hint of nervousness beneath the cheer.
    “Why are you following me around, AT?”
    AT looked like she’d just been asked the one test question she absolutely knew the answer to. “Corbin asked me to help keep an eye on you.”
    “Is that the tall man from the library?”
    “What, he didn’t even tell you his name? What a dork.” AT rolled her eyes and raised a hand in despair at such neglect. “Yeah, him.”
    “Where is he now?” Once again, relief flashed across AT’s face, and Marley wondered what questions would worry the girl.
    “He went to look up something. I think he wants to figure out what the bad guys are planning.”
    “See? Bad guys,” said Lissa, from somewhere behind Marley’s leg. “I said.”
    Marley looked around. Kari was playing in the woodchips near the edge of the playground, while Lissa was crouched in the grass a few feet behind Marley. She clutched a sizable stone in each hand, but didn’t seem ready to throw them. Marley hesitated and then let it pass.
    Instead, she fished for a question that would make the dog girl nervous. “Where’s Zachariah?”
    A serious shrug. “I wish I knew. I can’t f—” she cut herself off. “He knows stuff he didn’t tell Corbin.”
    “Uh-huh. And what makes those other folks the bad guys?” AT stared at her like she’d asked something ridiculous, so she clarified. “Maybe I’m the bad guy. Maybe you’re the bad guy.”
    AT shifted uncomfortably. “Um. They’re the bad guys. If you knew what I knew, you’d agree. But I can’t explain,” she added hastily. “It’s complicated.”
    Marley was pleased; that was more information than she'd actually expected to get. Secrets. Complicated secrets!
    Lissa, who had crept forward, tugged on Marley’s pants leg. “Kari’s throwing stuff.”
    Marley turned in time to see Kari on the far side of the playground, chucking a piece of wood bark at the pair of approaching women. It fell far short of them, but the little girl had a supply of ammo in her shirt.
    “Kari, no, stop it!” Marley called, moving toward her. The strolling women paused. They were middle-aged, and reminded Marley of her own adopted mother, with short, neatly managed hair and quietly stylish clothing. There were almost certainly women who had experienced the idiosyncrasies of small children before.
    Except one of them looked honestly frightened of Kari, while the other one was absolutely expressionless. The frightened one fumbled in her handbag, a large, pale leather affair. They both had identical handbags, which was... strange.
    Marley’s stomach churned. Something was wrong. She shouted, “Hey!” and her jog became a sprint.
    It seemed like a tidal wave of dog poured around her as AT’s animals sped past, but she barely noticed. Kari was looking back at Marley, confused. Beyond her, the woman was shaking something out of her