Amazon Queen

'Are you sure we shouldn't go after Padia? If we get to her, we can undo everything she's done. I could go alone.'

'No. There are some things that can't be undone.' Death being the biggest one. If we went after Padia, and someone, anyone at Mel's paid the price. . I bit down on my cheek. It wasn't an option. For once I was going to think about individuals before the tribe. 'We need everyone.'

Kale's jaw tightened. She glanced at Tess as if the hearth-keeper might offer something to strengthen her case, but Tess only stared back. Finally Kale nodded.

Glad I wasn't going to have to fight a battle here before going to fight whoever awaited us at Mel's, I started yelling orders. We had our weapons packed and were ready to go in ten minutes. We left the dogs behind with food and water. Everyone else piled into the truck. With Cleo missing, the car was missing. The truck was all we had, and we had no time to steal another vehicle. Kale, Lao, and Tess got the cab. Jack, Bern, Mel, and I lay flat in the bed. Only truckers and RVs would be able to see us there. We covered ourselves with an old tarp and hoped no one would notice us, or if they did, wouldn't bother to call in and report us.

The worry didn't keep me awake. I took advantage of the trip and the dark that had fallen to grab a couple hours of sleep. It would be early when we arrived at Mel's. . barely dawn.

It seemed a good time for an attack.

I would be ready.

Chapter 21

I saw the birder as soon as we pulled into Mel's lot. Jack saw her too; I felt him stiffen beside me, but I beat him out of the truck. I threw myself over the side and was running toward the building where the older woman stood, a canvas bag over her arm, before Lao had even brought the truck to a stop. The woman saw me coming; her skin paled. I'd grabbed Bern's nunchakus as I'd leapt. They'd been loose on the floor and easy to reach.

I spun them over my head now but resisted the urge to yell. Just because I could only see the one birder didn't mean there weren't more. I expected there to be more, and I didn't want to alert them.

Kill this one, then move on to the next. That was my plan.

The nunchakus were spinning, the whirring noise they made reassuring and restful. Focused and ready, I prepared to strike.

Something hit me from the back, someone. . big and strong, bigger and possibly stronger than me.

I tried to twist, to lash at my attacker with the weapon, but a second assailant joined the fight. A staff jabbed me in the trachea, cutting off my breath.

'Stand down! She's not a birder. Stand down!' Jack's voice, yelling in my ear. Adrenaline rushing through me, I gripped one end of the nunchaku in my closed fist and pummeled it into his skull.

Then suddenly a weight like a lead blanket dropped on top of me, on top of Jack too. He cursed softly. Only my face was free of the suffocating heaviness. I twisted my neck, searching for whoever had brought this new weapon into the mix.

Bubbe stood over me, her face upside-down in my view.

Her lips pursed, she made tching noise. 'You kill my clients, it make it very hard for me to keep my business, dorogaya.

Client. Stand down. The words mixed in my head. Jack's attack and the staff jabbing against my throat. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. With my emotions under control, I opened them. 'Let me up.'

The weight disappeared and so did Jack.

I moved to my feet. The birder or, rather, the old woman who I had thought was a birder, stood hidden behind Bern, only the tip of her canvas bag and the corner of her purple shorts visible. Both were shaking.

With a sigh, Bubbe left me and went to comfort her customer. I made out a few murmured words, a spell, I guessed, and the woman seemed fine. . or at least she didn't scream when Bern stepped away, leaving me a clear view of her.

She still looked like a birder to me. Her shorts came to her knees and she wore practical white-laced shoes. Her shirt was pink with a robin on the front, and her bag bulged with what could easily have been a stash of handguns or bombs.

I took a step, thinking to question her if no one else would. Mel dropped the staff in front of me, rapped me in the gut.

'I know her. Bubbe knows her. This entire neighborhood knows her. She was Harmony's principal for four years. She is not a birder-'

The woman reached into the bag.

My muscles coiled, ready.

She pulled out a pair of binoculars and slipped the cord attached to them around her neck.

Mel sighed. 'Okay, She isn't one of your birders. She watches birds. The Arboretum is across the street. Lots of people watch birds there.'

I kept vigilant, focused on the octogenarian. Older, perhaps, than some, but aside from that she looked exactly like the birders who had killed my mother.

Mel tapped me in the stomach again. 'We're here because of Amazons, remember? Besides, you can't jump on every old lady with a pair of binoculars and leather walkers.'

Amazons. Right, we were here because Tess had heard the Amazons were planning an attack on Mel's.

Still, I glanced again at the old woman in the robin shirt. 'Check her bag,' I ordered.

Mel rolled her eyes but marched off. After a few gentle words to the woman, she returned with her canvas bag. 'Organic trail mix, an aluminum bottle of water, and a field guide. Satisfied?'

I wasn't. 'Open the bottle.' If I was going to do this right, I wasn't trusting anything.

Turning her back so the woman couldn't see what she was doing, Mel twisted the lid off the bottle and took a sniff. Her nose twitched.

I leaned forward, ready.

'You're right. It's not water. It's lemonade, with a kick. . vodka, I'd guess.' She screwed the lid back on and stared at me. 'Okay?'

Still not completely satisfied, I waved her away.

In a few minutes the could-be birder was gone.

Leaving me to face an annoyed Bubbe and an amused Mel.

I passed both of them. At the corner of the building I took a right and kept walking. I walked the entire perimeter of the property before coming back to where the rest of them waited.

I gestured for Bern to join me and headed toward the gym/cafeteria. The building should be vacant; I wanted to make sure it was.

Mel and her grandmother stopped me. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the family resemblance was striking, or maybe it was just the grim set of their faces.

'You think perhaps we could discuss what is happening, what our plan is? And how we can accomplish it without assaulting any more customers?' Mel twisted the staff she still held in the dirt.

I stared her down. 'Easy. Close down. Send everyone home.'

With Bern right behind me, I continued on into the cafeteria.

We moved as quickly as we could through the building, hitting the main floor. . cafeteria, kitchen, and gym first, then moving to the basement where the showers and a few offices were. The place was empty. It didn't appear anyone had been inside since my last visit.

Reassured, we exited out the front. Mel was waiting for me. 'Let's get Bubbe to put some kind of ward on the doors and windows,' I told her.

She twisted the staff parallel, then perpendicular to her body. 'You think we hadn't done that before?'

'We got in,' I reminded her.

'We know you, and for reasons I'm beginning to doubt, trust you.' She stalked toward the main building.