to the point, because of the powerful spirit they possessed. The spirit to survive and to thrive. These were the people who were keeping us in the battle to defeat Saint Dane. I didn’t know a single one of them, but I loved them all.
I even thought I saw a tear in Kasha’s eye, and that’s saying something. “They do not know how precious they are,” she said, once again reading my mind.
“No, they don’t,” Courtney agreed.
“So then, how do you know?” I asked. “I mean, about Solara and the spirit and all?”
Courtney shrugged. “I didn’t believe it at first. I didn’t understand. But everything you told me confirms it. So I guess it’s true. Wow.”
She started walking down the slope toward the village.
“But how did you hear about it?” I called to her.
“From Nevva Winter,” she said, and continued walking.
Chapter 31
Now I was the one who needed answers.
I ran after Courtney. Boon and Kasha were right behind me, with the other gars keeping pace.
“Nevva told you about Solara?” I asked, incredulous. “How? When?”
“Wait until we get to my house,” she cautioned. “I have a lot to tell you.”
She had that right. I couldn’t imagine any situation, or possibility, or opportunity, or reason that could have explained how Nevva Winter told Courtney about Solara. That was impossible. Yet Courtney knew, and she wasn’t one to make something like that up. She may have grown up a little, but she was still Courtney. I had all that I could do to stay calm and wait until we had the chance to talk.
We descended along the slope that led down to the village. It was a route I had taken before and was familiar with, only this time we reached the first ring of structures much sooner. As I said, the size of the village had tripled to accommodate the exiles. The first ring of houses weren’t houses at all. They were larger than the other log-cabin homes and had no personal touches of any kind.
“Defensive structures,” Courtney explained. “Like I said, we’re ready.”
I didn’t know what kind of defense these wooden huts offered. I didn’t think they would do much against a dado-klee army, but it wasn’t the time to point that out. That would come soon enough. As we walked toward the center of the village, the structures became smaller and looked more like homes. I saw kids in the street playing catch, riding skateboards on paved roads, and generally running around. I could almost imagine this to be a suburban street back on Second Earth. The lineup of homes with front yards looked right out of suburbia. The idea that this quiet, hyper normal community was about to be under siege was almost too much to comprehend.
“These outer rings are where the Yanks settled and made their homes,” Courtney explained.
“Yanks?” I asked.
“That’s what they call themselves. I was more of a Mets fan myself, but considering how they got here, I guess the name fits. They’ve become an important part of the Black Water community. There are people here with all sorts of skills. Carpenters, teachers, plumbers, farmers. This isn’t the Black Water you remember.”
I looked around at the new structures. Though the general style was the same as when I had last been to Black Water, there were subtle differences that showed the hands of skilled craftsmen. Black Water had improved. You could even say it evolved. I had mixed feelings about it.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Courtney said. “We’re not supposed to mix the territories. Get over it. That ship sailed a long time ago, thanks to our demon friend.”
She was right. Halla was in shambles. It was no longer what it should have been, thanks to Saint Dane’s Convergence. I figured that at this point, any positive move was a good one, even if it meant mixing technology and know-how from one territory with another’s.
Many people called out a friendly “Hi!” to Courtney. She was well-known and liked. Of course, that was quickly followed by a sudden change in attitude when they saw two klees walking with us. It’s not like they ran into their homes and slammed the doors or anything. But I could read the confusion on their faces. Klees had become the hated enemy once again.
We arrived at one of the small cabins in the outer ring of what was the old village. The huts beyond seemed older and crude. This was the dividing line between the old Black Water and the ring of new cabins that the exiles helped build. The Yanks. Incredible.
“Wait here,” Courtney ordered.
Boon, Kasha, and I did as we were told as she went to talk with the gars who had been escorting us. After a few words they cast us dark, worried looks, then reluctantly backed away and left us alone.
Courtney returned and spoke to Boon and Kasha. “Don’t take it personally. They just don’t want to be eaten.”
“Understood,” Kasha said.
Courtney opened the front door and motioned for us to enter. “This is my home. It’s small, but it’s strange.”
We entered to find a two-room home. The first room had a living area with some rough chairs and tables. Across from it was a sink and a fireplace. The door beyond led to a small bedroom.
“Not exactly like what you’d find in Stony Brook,”
Courtney said. “But it’s all I need. Who’s hungry?”
As much as I wanted to eat, I had other more pressing things to worry about. “Uh, you do get that the klee army is on the way, right?” I asked.
“I told you, we’re ready,” she answered. “How do you think you were shot out of the sky?”
“Yes, how did you do that?” Boon asked.
“We developed a weapon that fires a short, intense burst of radio waves,” she explained. “Some of the Yank geeks used the link radio technology that the gars developed and found a way to direct and control it. Don’t ask me to get more technical than that. It doesn’t affect living things, only mechanical devices.”
“So it’ll shoot a gig out of the sky, but it won’t stop a living klee?” I asked.
“Pretty much,” Courtney answered.
“What about a dado klee?”
Courtney gave me a dark look. I had finally given her a bit of information she didn’t already know. “You’re kidding, right? Dados?”
“I wish.”
“You mean that klee army on the way here might be dados?”
“Sorry to give you the bad news,” I said. “Bad news? That’s the best news I’ve gotten in forever!”
“Uh, it is?”
“Eat first, business later.”
Courtney set out a meal of fresh fruit that was harvested from the farms that circled the village. She even grilled some fish from the stream. Boon and Kasha preferred to eat their fish raw, which was kind of disgusting, but who am
I to judge? I’m not a cat. Or a sushi guy. Courtney was all sorts of bubbly as she worked. Giving her the news about the dados seemed to energize her. How weird was that? I couldn’t speak for my klee friends, but I was starving. I was dying to hear Courtney’s story, but after all that had happened, I didn’t think it would hurt to eat a little. Or a lot. We didn’t speak much while Courtney busied herself cooking, but once we sat down to enjoy the meal, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“You’re killing me here, you know,” I said.
Courtney put her food down and looked off to nowhere in particular. It felt like she was winding her thoughts back. From the hard look in her eyes, it was clear that she wasn’t bringing up happy memories. Her light attitude was gone. When she spoke, she rarely made eye contact with us, as if she weren’t really in the room, but drifting through the past.
“When the Ravinians threw us into the flume, I wasn’t scared. Not at first, anyway. I’d been through the
