Free Hot Zone by Sandy Holden

eye on it.”
    Tucker glanced at Meri. I shrugged. “Maybe if she wakes up and feels better, I mean. Or, Mr. Prince, I could go alone. Before my rise into royalty, I used to venture out in the village alone all the time.”
    “Yeah, but there were no trolls then. Besides, you don’t want to make the prince feel he’s unneeded and give him a complex.”
    We fell silent. He dipped some carrots into the dip I’d bought and ate them. “Madde,” he said finally, “have you thought about going and staying at your parents’ house?”
    Until he said that, I really hadn’t. I was thinking about their house, but I really don’t remember the thought of going there entering my mind. “It seems silly, but I really hadn’t,” I admitted.
    “Would your parents mind?” he asked.
    I felt a rush of gratitude that he had assumed they were alive and returning. “No, they’d be glad, especially in light of all the stuff that’s happened. But if I went, we’d all go. I’m not leaving Meri and Phil here, and you are welcome as well.” That seemed a little less inviting than I’d meant, so I added, “You can protect us from trolls.”
    He was quiet for a minute. “I don’t mean to sound like a commando, but is it defendable? One thing I like about this place is that it’s on the third floor—not accessible by window.”
    I thought about it. My parents lived in an old remodeled barn. “It has windows all along one side—the south side that faces the lake. But those windows are on the deck, and it can be shut off. There are motion detector lights too, mostly to keep the deer away from Mom’s garden and the flowers.” I paused. “But do you really think that we might be attacked?”
    “No,” he drew out the word, sounding anything but sure. “I was just thinking that with all this crap going on, people might decide to do a little looting.”
    “You don’t loot houses,” I said quietly.
    “No, I suppose not.” He let the matter drop. “What do you say? Shall we move this little campout over to the house?”
    I thought about Meri, who was still sleeping. I thought about Phil, and all our stuff here. There wasn’t really any reason to move right now. Except … except I wanted to go. Maybe I just wanted to be in my home, or maybe I felt closer to Mom and Dad there. But I couldn’t make everyone move just because I wanted my mommy. “I guess we have what we need right here.” I couldn’t keep the disappointment out of my voice, although I’d intended to do just that.
    Tucker was watching me. “When did you come up with that story?”
    “What? Oh, that’s just me being strange. Don’t let it worry you.”
    “I didn’t say I was worried. I just asked when you thought of it.” He sounded as if he didn’t intend to let this go.
    “I’ve been thinking about Mom and Dad’s place all day, all right? I don’t know why, but maybe it’s the gunshots last night. Maybe they spooked me or something. It’s nothing.”
    Tucker was still watching me. “You’re going to think I’m paranoid, but I think we should go there.”
    I hadn’t expected this. “Why?”
    He shrugged, a little self-conscious. “Now that you said that about fire, I just think we should be in a place we could … okay, that’s bullshit. I think we should go because you don’t feel comfortable here.” He folded his arms across his wide chest.
    “I’m fine.”
    “No, Madde, you aren’t. And who’s to say that you aren’t having some kind of premonition?”
    “That’s impossible. Next you’ll be saying that I’m psychic since my illness.” I knew I was being difficult, but I waved my fingers at him. “Oooh. Madde becomes the foreteller of doom.”
    He was immovable. “Is that any different from me suddenly gaining intelligence?”
    His question hung in the air. I didn’t know what to say. I busied myself cleaning the counters, but he waited me out. “Okay, damn it, I don’t know.” I sighed. “Tucker, I don’t know