Free Sky Jumpers Book 2 by Peggy Eddleman Page B

White Rock, and some I’d never seen before. A metal shop, a tailor, one where they sold food supplies, a doctor’s clinic, and the hotel. I’d heard that word before, but if Luke hadn’t said it, I probably wouldn’t have remembered what it meant. And they had a restaurant! I knew it was a place where strangers went to eat meals together, but I hadn’t ever seen one.
    People walked from shop to shop while the owners stood outside, shouting out sales or holding up items. About every five shops on each side of the road stood a Glacier guard wearing a gun in a holster on his hip and dressed in dark blue, similar to the one we saw blocking the other road. The guards scanned the crowds and the buildings, making sure there wasn’t trouble anywhere.
    We took our horses and trailer to a corral at the end of the street. A kid who was probably fourteen or fifteen scurried toward us and opened the gate to the corral.
    On one side of the street, the backs of the buildings were against the tall wooden wall that split the circle of thecity in half. Now that we were at the end by the corral, I noticed that there was a door in the wall, with two guards standing on either side.
    “What’s on the other side of the wall?” I asked Luke.
    “That’s where the people live. They have gardens along the back part—that glass overhead works like a greenhouse. Lengthens their growing season.”
    When we finished tying up our horses, Mr. Williams called out, “Mr. Grenwood has agreed to stay with the horses and trailer while I trade for supplies. Everyone else, meet back here in an hour.”
    “What do you want to see?” I asked Brock and Aaren. “I want to go to the bakery. And the hotel. And the restaurant.”
    “The clinic, too,” Aaren said.
    Brock, Aaren, and I started toward the buildings when Aaren’s dad stopped us. “I don’t want you three going off on your own. This is a dangerous place.” He glanced down the street, as if there were hidden attackers everywhere, but all I saw were Glacier guards, making sure everyone was protected.
    “I agree,” Mr. Williams said. “I’m going to get the feed for the horses. Why don’t you come with me?”
    Luke slung his bag over his shoulder. “Oh, come on. They’re not five. They’re older than you give them credit for.”
    I gave Luke a look that was a million times nicer than the look Mr. Williams gave him.
    “I told Hope’s parents I would watch out for them,” Mr. Williams said, “and I don’t think they’d be too happy if I let them go off on their own in a place like this.”
    Luke raised an eyebrow. “They went off on their own and saved your town, right?” We did! I kind of loved Luke a little for mentioning it. “And they won’t have fun in the feed store. I’ll look after them.”
    Mr. Williams ground his teeth, and Aaren’s dad squinted down the road, then gave a single nod.
    “We’ll stay safe,” I promised. “You can trust us.”
    Mr. Williams looked at Aaren’s dad, then said, “Okay.” We took off into the town with Luke before they could change their minds.

We walked with Luke down the road and went inside a building with a sign that read EVERYTHING .
    “This is one of my favorites,” Luke said. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
    I didn’t know where to look first. Shelves lined the walls, and tables filled almost the entire floor, leaving only small aisles to walk through. Some tables held inventions, some games, some wooden boxes of different sizes. Furniture pieces sat in a row against one of the walls. I walked over to the shelves and touched some folded squares of the softest fabric I had ever felt. I didn’t know what it was made of, but it definitely wasn’t the wool or cotton we had in White Rock.
    Luke chatted with the person manning the shop, while Aaren, Brock, and I went to the table holding games. I felt the smooth wood of a thick, flat circle, with a ring of dips carved around the edge. Each dip held three shiny rocks.