Free The Takers: Book One of the Oz Chronicles by R.W. Ridley

pulled the wagon farther away. Wes leaned over even farther, but this time Ajax slapped his hand hard. Wes pulled back. "Ow!"
    "Doesn't look like Ajax thinks we should burn it," I said.
    Ajax snapped his forefinger and middle finger on his thumb. I scrambled to find his book. It lay underneath the bed. I hurriedly opened to the chapter on American Sign Language and found the sign, "No." He then held his palms up and wiggled his fingers. "No burn." He laid his hands out and mimicked the opening of a book. "No burn book." He made a V shape with his forefinger and middle finger and waved them over the palm of his other hand. I flipped through the pages, and could not believe my eyes when I found it.
    "What'd he say?" Wes asked.
    I hesitated. "He wants us to read the book."

Lookie, here," Wes said. "You do what you want, but I wouldn't listen to no go-rilla if I was you." He hoisted a case of beans up on the wagon. "You best burn that comic book."
    With great difficulty, I lifted a box filled with trail mix bags onto the back of the farm wagon. "I don't know, something tells me I better listen to Ajax for now."
    He turned and looked at Lou sitting inside the mattress store. She was making sure Nate was fed and changed before we took off for the interstate. The run-in with the Greasywhoppers the day before had convinced me I didn't want to make the trip by myself. "She say anything else about what she saw in that book?"
    I shook my head. "She hasn't said much of anything since… You know."
    "Yeah," he said. "I know." He looked over the well-stocked wagon. "Okay, you got food, first aid kits, blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes, water. They'll be plenty of places to re-supply along the way."
    "You think we'll run into anyone else out there?"
    "Bound to," he said. "They're not all going to be friendly either, so take extra care."
    "Sure you won't come with us?"
    He rubbed his grizzled chin. "Working on something."
    "You said that before," I said.
    "Still working on it. I may be able to catch up with you." He patted Ryder. "Don't push the horses too hard. They'll let you know when they're ready to stop. Stick to the interstates, 24 to Chattanooga, 75 to Atlanta, 20 to Columbia, 26 to Charleston. It's the long way, but it's the safest route."
    "I know," I said. "You've only told me about a hundred times."
    "It's important." Kimball chased Ajax down the sidewalk. They were playing like they didn't have a care in the world. "You're going to have a go-rilla, a dog, a baby, Lou, and two horses on this trip. Might as well call you Noah."
    "I guess we better get going." I stepped toward the store. "Saddle up, Lou. We're going to hit it."
    Lou picked up Nate and put him in his sling. She gathered up as many baby supplies as she could carry (even though we had plenty on the wagon) and exited the store. Kimball leapt onto the wagon with no problem. Ajax hesitated and then pulled his huge frame onto the back of the wagon.
    I shook Wes's hand. "Wish you were coming."
    "We'll see each other again," he said. "You can count on that."
    I wanted to cry, but I didn't feel like it was the manly thing to do, so I didn't.
    Wes bent down on one knee in front of Lou. "Thanks for…" He started to cry. I guess he thought it was the manly thing to do. "For letting me call you Lou. It sure was nice to have my little sister around again." He hugged her, careful not to smother Nate.
    Lou began to bawl. All she could manage to say was, "I'm going to miss you."
    Wes picked her up and lifted her onto the wagon seat. I gave the supplies one last look and then walked around the wagon and climbed up on the other side of the seat. We both gave Wes one last goodbye, and then, with a flick of the reins, we were off on our journey.
    ***
    Lou and I didn't speak much that first day. We were scared to. Not because we were afraid the Greasywhoppers would hear us, but because we were afraid we would talk each other into turning back and staying with Wes for the rest of our