Free Rebel Nation by Shaunta Grimes Page B

around her body to keep from falling apart. Mango made a soft sound to catch her attention and pressed against her legs. She sat down on the edge of Isaiah’s bed and her dog put his head in her lap.
    Isaiah and Jude stared at each other. Isaiah was bigger than Jude, but Clover thought he probably underestimated the younger boy. Fighting wouldn’t help. It would make things worse if some adult had to break them up. “Stop it. Enough.”
    â€œI’ll go,” Bridget said. That stopped the posturing, anyway. Both Isaiah and Jude turned to her. “I have to. Isaiah, I’m sorry, I have to go.”
    Something passed between the two of them that felt, to Clover, like some radio wave that slipped silently over her head.
    â€œIf you go, I go.” Isaiah’s jaw was so tight, Clover thought it might snap.
    â€œOkay, good. Get your stuff together. I have some plastic bags. You’ll need dry clothes, warm things. Whatever you can fit in your pack.” Clover stood up and moved to his dresser as she spoke. They’d wasted enough time. “Make sure you keep at least one change of clothes and a pair of shoes dry for the trip to the ranch.”
    â€œJust go, Clover,” Isaiah said.
    â€œCome on,” she said. “Don’t be so stubborn, you need the bags and—”
    Jude took Clover’s elbow, firmly, and directed her toward the door. She yanked away from him, but it was too late. She was already in the hallway and Jude blocked her way back into the room. He said, “Half hour before dusk, where the wall crosses the river in the west. Got that?”
    Isaiah didn’t answer. He closed the door and Clover heard the lock slip into place.
    â€œAre they going to be there?” she asked, somehow managing to keep her voice low.
    â€œThey’ll be there.”
    â€œThey could bring the guard with them. Bennett. Kingston. We can’t just leave them, Jude.”
    Jude sat on the floor, with his back against the wall across from Isaiah’s door. “We aren’t.”
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    â€œ
We’re
waiting for them to figure out that this is the right thing to do. Sit down.”
    â€”
    Half an hour after Isaiah locked them out of his room, he came out with Bridget. They both stopped short when they saw Jude, Clover, and Mango sitting in the hallway.
    Clover thought they looked resigned. That was good. “Ready?”
    â€œI don’t like this,” Isaiah said. “But if I can’t talk you two out of it, then I can’t talk her out of it. And if she goes, I go.”
    Isaiah shifted his shoulders, as if to let them know that he didn’t care one way or the other. He cared, though. Clover saw it written all over his posture and the hard set to his face.
    Isaiah shifted the pack over his shoulder and pointed a finger at Jude’s chest. “I’m holding you responsible if anything happens to Bridget or Clover.”
    â€œBridget and Clover are responsible for themselves,” Clover said. Isaiah exhaled sharply and walked away.
    Clover slipped her hand into Jude’s. She knew that Jude didn’t need Isaiah to hold him responsible. If anything happened to any of them, he’d never forgive himself.

I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends, my god-damned friends . . . they’re the ones who keep me walking the floor nights!
    â€”WARREN G. HARDING,
TO WILLIAM ALAN WHITE, AS QUOTED IN
A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
    West stood on the bank of the river and watched the water rush into the city, under the bridge formed by the wall. Several sharp rocks jutted up and caused the water to break around them.
    Was that good? Shallow water maybe meant less chance of anyone drowning. Was it bad? Shallow water maybe meant more chance of someone being beaten against the rocks that would be submerged by a few feet in the spring when the snow