Free Jack In The Green by Charles De Lint Page A

Then they'll hit the whole place and have a room full of hostages to make sure they get their money."
    None of the boys speak. They all know that the money is gone, already given away to those in need. There's no time to steal that much again in time to save Maria and the funeral mourners.
    Her miraculous return is about to turn from joy to horror. Maria and Luz will die. All her friends and family will die. The cartels make a point of sending clear messages about anyone who crosses them.
     "So what do we do?" Will finally asks.
    Jack turns to him. "We stop them."
    "We have to get this Mano Grande," one of the Glimmer Twins says.
    "Yeah," the other twin adds. "He already killed her once."
    Jack's eyes are dark with anger.
    "Oh, I remember," he says. "He's first on my list."
    "We're going to need an army," Will says.
    "I know," Jack says. "We'll have to call in the rest of the boys."
    His companions exchange glances.
    "But," Ti Jean begins.
    Jack holds up his hand.
    "Don't say it. I know what it means," Jack tells him. "If we do this, we have to go back to the green wood. Maria will be safe, but we won't see her again."
    He looks around at them, meeting their gazes one by one. "I can't ask you to do this for me."
    Will laughs. "You're kidding, right?"
    Jack doesn't smile. He lays a fist against his chest.
    "You honour me with your loyalty," he says.
    The boys respond with the same gesture.
    "Okay," Ti Jean says. "Let's get this show on the road."
    Jack nods. "The Glimmer Twins will go back to camp to get our weapons. We'll meet you at the community center."

    It was so hard to go to the cemetery. But this is harder still. Maria knows she would not be able to do this without Luz at her side.
    The community center is full of people when they step through the door, arm in arm. Her cousin Rico is first to notice. His eyes widen and he makes the sign of the cross. Beside him, an older man is the next to see her. He clutches the table and has to be lowered into his chair. Maria recognizes him. It's Juan Valdez, the undertaker. He lives just down the street from her parents' house. Of course they would go to him.
    A ripple of silence spreads from Rico and Señor Valdez through the hall until it reaches the table at the far side of the room where her parents are sitting. For a long moment, all they can do is stare. Then Mamá stands slowly and approaches the two girls, leaning on Pablo for support. Pablo's face is white. Papá walks on the other side of him.
    But before her family can reach her, Maria hears a high-pitched squeal. She turns to see Connie and Veronica running towards her.
    Luz drops her arm and steps aside.
    "Oh my God, oh my God!" Connie cries.
    Then her girls are on Maria, firing questions, hugging her, crying. Veronica's eye make-up runs. They only step back when her family has come close.
    "Maria Ana?" Mamá says.
    She looks so old, Maria thinks. Both her parents do. This has been harder on them than it has been on her.
    She steps toward her mother, arms outstretched. Mamá clutches both her hands. She pulls Maria in close and begins to weep. Papá puts a tentative hand on her shoulder, as though he's assuring himself that his returned daughter is flesh and blood, not a ghost. Then he holds both her and Mamá in a tight embrace.
    The silence is the room is so profound that Maria can hear the pulse of her own blood.
    Mamá pulls away, but still holds on with one hand. She wipes her tears with the other.
    "Sis?" Pablo says. "How—how is this possible?"
    "I don't know," she tells him. "I remember dying, but then I was back, standing in the same place I fell. It was like I'd never been hurt. I didn't even know what had happened until an old woman told me about the funeral."
    "The things I have heard," Mamá says. She shakes her head. "They think you're a part of that gang—the one that robs all the rich people."
    "Los Murrietas," Maria says.
    Mamá nods. "Such nonsense. I have told the reporters a thousand times that