Free Indivisible (Overlooked by Liberty) by Blair Smith

peak and out the opening at the top of the hideout.  A scent of burned cherry lingered from the smoke trail.  She watched--and listened to Butch ramble.
           "And we've got food.  Thad, get Ms. Conrad some food."
           "No, thanks, really."
           "No," continued Butch.  "We got plenty."  Thad handed a pack of cookies to his brother; he opened it and handed them to Helen.  "We got enough to hold out three weeks and that's not counting food we could get hunting.  Tater's a tracker, you know.  If you get lost in the woods we could find you with her.  She's got a real good nose.  The best nose on a dog I ever seen.  The Feds are too stupid to use dogs.  But if they did we have trip lines and snares all over the place; the snares would catch a dog."
            Helen opened the pack and pulled a cookie out, smelling it before biting into it.  "Do the snares catch Tater?"
           "Caught her once, then she learned.  Most dogs wouldn't learn like her.  Tater's smarter than most dogs.  We hooked up a harness on her; me, Barry, and Thad had her help us drag logs up here for the hideout.  Oh, she's still your dog.  We just exercise her.  Barry would want that.  Tater has taken a real liking to Thad though."
           Tater raised her eyes at the mention of her name.  She lay stretched out on her own padded bed next to the warm rocks that circled the fire, poised and waiting to absorb any heat that oozed between the gaps in the stone.  The dog lay her head on the fluffy cushion with eyes open and recharged from the activity of the evening.  Helen watched the animal and realized this was a frequent experience for Tater.  It explained why the dog had stayed out all night since the Rousell brothers started borrowing her.  "Doesn't your mother say anything about you boys running around all the time.  I don't mean to seem ungrateful, but shouldn't you be home?"
           "It's okay with Mom as long as we don't hurt anyone.  That's what she says, 'As long as you don't hurt anyone'."
           "Butch, does your mother know where you are, and some of the things you two do?"
           "Mom drinks a little.  And she goes to bed early if her boyfriend isn't staying over; if he is, they like it when we go out.  Sometimes we stay here.  Sometimes we stay at Max's deer camp.  Me and Thad are rugged.  We're the last of Pack 220.  We're not afraid of nothing.  If me and Thad come across another robot gun and see the red lights come on, we know exactly what to do.  We'd shoot out the sensors.  It's got to have sensors to see the motion and heat.  And we carry flares too.  We can light 'em and throw 'em out as decoys.  We're ready, Ms. Conrad.  A Scout's always prepared."  Thad shook his head, agreeing with his brother.
           "There's nothing wrong with being afraid, but you boys need a normal life.  You shouldn't be sitting around planning how to attack the Feds."
           "We used to do a lot of stuff in Scoutin' but we're not members anymore.  I can never be an Eagle Scout unless there's an Akela.  So we're starting our own secret pack, Ghost Pack 220.  We're rebuilding the troop.  Gettin' more kids every day."
           "So people join every day, huh?"  Helen treated everything Butch said with suspicion.  He had a way of talking as though all-knowing.
           "Yep.  Every day."  Butch began telling her about Dixville Notch: how Mr. Ronolou had had him and Thad drop to the rear of the troop and help as his assistant; how Mr. Ronolou jumped in front of the bullets while he yanked them down behind a rock when the shooting started.  "I was going to go get Barry but Mr. Ronolou wouldn't let me go.  The Akela said I couldn't.  A Scout always obeys the Akela, ya know.  Mr. Ronolou got up and took twelve hits to draw the robot gun away for me and Thad so we could escape.  That's rugged."  Butch shook his head agreeing with