The man stops mid-sentence and glares at him. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Yeah, sure.” Bobby grabs a piece of chicken and tears into it. “I got cargo for you.”
Avery and I exchange looks. Cargo?
George removes his glasses, rubs his eyes, and glances at us. “Ain’t never seen you kids around here before.”
I meet his wizened eyes. The guy’s got to be pushing fifty, with a receding hairline to prove it. There’s a curiosity in his expression that’s a little off-putting, like he wants to stuff us and prop us up in his room for display.
“Skyshippers.” Bobby’s voice quiets to a whisper. “Pops didn’t like me bringing them in, but what are you gonna do, right?”
George pushes his empty plate to the man sitting across the table from him. “Go see if they’ve got more of them potatoes, Jim.”
Jim nods, standing up and leaving the table. George leans forward. “ Again, Henderson? Thought you’d have learned your lesson from last time.”
Avery grabs a carrot from her plate. “Last time?”
Bobby sighs. “I met these kids from the Chosens. You know, runaways. Big deal.”
George scoffs. “Big deal? They were wanted by the government. You nearly brought the Unified Party right to our doorstep, boy.”
Bobby shakes his head. “It was the right thing to do. It’s not like they hurt anyone. Stupid government laws. Went outside of their work orders. They just wanted a place to hide.”
“What happened to them?” I ask.
“Government threatened to take out the town,” George mutters. “We turned ’em in. Had to.”
Bobby swallows a large chunk of chicken. “Still feel guilty about that, don’t ya Barkley?”
“We do what we have to so they’ll leave us in peace,” he grunts, “something you don’t seem to understand, Bobby. Draggin’ in strays like this.”
“They ain’t Unified Party,” he counters. “They’re just trying to get to Seattle. Told ’em you could help. Maybe.”
He frowns. “Is that right? Now what would two sky kids want to go to Seattle for? I thought the idea was to leave the Surface for good.”
“It’s not Skyship business,” Avery replies, “or government. We’re on a personal mission.”
He chuckles. “Personal mission? Personal suicide mission, maybe. The Colony don’t like strangers crossing the mountains, especially strangers from above. Shoulda snuck in down south, or out west over the peninsula. Don’t you have shuttles?”
“Not anymore,” I mutter.
“That’s why we need you,” Avery says. “The Colony lets you across, don’t they?”
“Because we’re of the same mind. We’re both Fringe. We look after each other. It’d never work with Shippers.”
“But we help you guys,” I reply. “We send down rations.”
“To get your hands on Pearls,” he says. “I don’t think y’all would be so considerate without that little carrot dangling over your head. Sure, it’s not like you’re government, but still… we’re very different people.” He pauses. “Why go to Seattle anyway?”
“I was found there,” I whisper, “when I was a kid.”
His eyes narrow. “You’re still a kid. Place’s been deserted for going on two decades now. I don’t see any lesions on your skin. No chemical stain.”
I tug at the chicken on my plate, tearing off a hunk and shoving it in my mouth. “I don’t know. My school found me when I was just a toddler, walking in the middle of the rubble. I don’t know my parents. I don’t know why I was there, but if I can just see the ruins… maybe it’ll jog a memory. Or maybe I’ll find something.”
Bobby stares at me, mouth agape. “They found you living in Seattle? Like, chemical wasteland Seattle?”
I take a long drink of water. “Someone could have brought me there. Maybe they dumped me. I don’t know. I keep having these dreams. They’re connected.”
George grunts. “That’s ridiculous.”
Avery scowls. “Why would we be here if it wasn’t true? You said it yourself… Shippers stay away from the Surface.”
“Nobody survived the bombings,” George says. “I should know. I had family out west. I’ve seen the aftereffects firsthand. Even fifty miles outside the city there were people dying from chemical burns. There’s no way a child could survive conditions like that.”
I shrug. “I guess I wasn’t an ordinary child.”
He runs a finger along his bottom lip. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You really believe this.”
I nod. “If you’d seen what we’ve seen… ”
He laughs. “Thought I’d heard it all. You kids are something else.” He drums his fingers on the table.
Avery glances at me, then back to Mr. Barkley. “So… ”
“So,” he begins, “if I were to believe you… let’s say I even drove you over… there’d be no coming back. I need the space in the van for supplies.”
“That’s all right,” she replies. “We’ll find a way back on our own.”
“And if the government showed up-not saying they would-but if they did, I’d have to turn you over. I don’t want no trouble.”
I look over to Avery, smiling. “We’ll take our chances.”
He sighs. “Awfully strange seeing Skyship kids here in Lenbrg. If this is some kind of trick, I guarantee you’ll be paying for it.”
“It’s no trick,” I say.
He frowns. “Eat up. I’ll show you the van when we’re finished talking.”
Avery beams. “Thank you!”
“Didn’t say I was takin’ you yet,” he grumbles. “Now hurry. I should be leaving soon.”
37
After lunch we exit the comfort of the dining hall for the oppressive heat of Lenbrg’s northern sector. We pass the town farm before coming upon what’s left of a torn-down apartment complex.
Avery scoots closer to Bobby as we cross a lonely cul-de-sac. “So, we’ve met your dad. Where’s your mother?”
“Bovine flu hit real bad a couple of years ago,” he responds.
“Oh,” she whispers. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey,” he shrugs, “no biggie.”
We turn a corner and George’s house comes into view-a ramshackle country barn, augmented with its own personal wind farm in the neighboring field.
George pauses in front of the building, resting his hands on his hips. “Don’t like livin’ inside Uni. Rather be my own man, know what I mean?”
Nobody answers, but he doesn’t seem to expect a response. He leads us up the front lawn in silence. Moments later the door swings open and a scrawny, mean-looking boy steps onto the porch.
George smiles. “Hey Danny. Didn’t see you at lunch.”
“I grabbed some stuff and left,” the boy responds quietly, never taking his eyes off of us. “Who are they?”
George heads up the steps and rustles the boy’s hair. “Change of plans, son. We’ve got passengers comin’ with us this afternoon.”
The boy glares at me like he’s possessed by a demon. I half expect his head to start spinning in circles.
“Relax Danny boy,” Bobby leans against a wide post supporting the canopy. “They’re just Shippers.”
The kid’s eyes widen at the word. He steps away until he’s back inside the house.
