Banished

get us a room-stay here, okay?”

I didn’t argue. I didn’t want to admit to Prairie that I had never been in a motel before. Gypsum had two-a Super 8 and a motor court called the SkyView. I’d walked past them hundreds of times, wondering what it would be like to have a room to myself, everything clean and neat.

Chub was napping, so I left him in the car and walked Rascal nearby. I watched Prairie go through the glass doors and into the lobby, where I could see her talking to a man behind a counter. After a short while she returned.

“I got us a room near the back,” she said as she drove the car around the corner of the motel to a space that was partly hidden behind a Dumpster. “I didn’t tell them about Rascal. We’ll have to sneak him in.”

“You’re worried about the cops looking for this car, aren’t you. And… the guys Bryce hired.”

She nodded. “I smeared mud on the plates this morning before we left, so the number’s hard to make out.”

I helped her get the bags out of the trunk. Chub held my hand and yawned as we followed Prairie to the last door on the first floor. Then I went back and carried Rascal in with my sweatshirt draped over him, not that anyone noticed us. Our room had a view of the end of the parking lot and a Denny’s next door. Beyond, on the other side of the fence, was the back of another restaurant, with more Dumpsters and delivery doors and trash blowing along the pavement. A man sat on an upturned bucket, smoking a cigarette.

I knew what motel rooms looked like from TV. This one had a smell, not bad but both chemical and musty. I set my backpack down on one of the beds and watched Prairie unpack the Walmart bags.

“I hope you’re up for a new look,” she said, and I could tell she was trying to sound cheerful despite her exhaustion. She laid out a box of L’Oreal Couleur Experte on the night-stand between the beds. Next came a plastic comb and a pair of scissors. She upended the two largest bags and a pile of tangled clothing fell onto the bed. The last bag contained a handful of little plastic makeup cases, plus an enormous pair of sunglasses with white frames.

“Is that all like… a disguise?” I asked.

“Yes. We need to do what we can to make ourselves invisible. So we can get back to Chicago. And then find somewhere we can be safe.”

Safe from things I never knew existed before today. From ancient magic and curses and dark secrets, things out of a twisted fairy tale. And at the other end of a spectrum, from a man who wanted to use me to experiment on.

A scientist.

I thought about the science class I’d never be attending again. Realized, to my surprise, that there were a few things I’d miss about my old life after all.

Chub was wandering around the room, touching things, exploring. He found the phone and pushed at the buttons. Prairie sank down on one of the beds, beside her purchases, and massaged her temples with her fingertips.

“Seriously, Hailey, we need to sleep, just for a couple of hours or so.” She took her cell phone out of her purse and pressed the keys. “I’m setting an alarm. I’ll get us up in plenty of time to do what we need to. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, sighing. It wasn’t worth fighting her over. And I knew she was probably right anyway. Even though I felt wired now, I was bound to crash soon enough.

“Come here,” I said to Chub. “Nap time.”

“Nap time,” he repeated, but instead of getting into the other bed he climbed up with Prairie. She must have been mostly asleep already, because she just made a sighing sound and looped an arm around Chub, who snuggled in close. Before even a minute passed I could tell by his breathing he was asleep.

I tried not to be jealous, to be glad that Chub was as comfortable around Prairie as I was. And mostly, I was glad. Except that now I was alone. And I didn’t want to be. The fears, the anxiety, were simmering inside me, and I was afraid that if I was left alone with my thoughts they’d bubble up and take over.

I looked at Rascal, who was sitting motionless next to the door. “C’mere, boy,” I said, and he got up and trotted over to me.

“Up,” I said, and he jumped up onto the bed.

I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him a little bit closer. He didn’t smell very good, a combination of wet dog and something else, something unfamiliar. But he was still better than nothing.

I was worried that he wasn’t back to normal yet, but now wasn’t the time to obsess over it. I switched off the lamp. With the heavy drapes pulled shut, the room was as dark as if it was midnight. There was a hum coming from the ceiling, a fan circulating the strange-smelling air. Prairie’s cell phone glowed on the bedside table.

I was sure I’d never get to sleep with everything I had to think about, but the next sound I heard was Prairie’s alarm.

CHAPTER 15

RASCAL WAS CURLED UP against me, oblivious to the cell phone’s beeping. My mouth felt dry as a desert as I slid out from under the covers. In the other bed, Prairie sat up and turned off her phone. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

I went to the bathroom, drank two glasses of water and splashed cold water on my face. When I came out, Prairie had gotten up and lined up her purchases on her bed.

“Well, hello, sunshine,” she said cheerfully.

“What are you so happy about?”

“Nothing much… other than I think we managed to throw off Rattler. I mean, if he hasn’t showed up yet, I guess we’re doing okay.”

“You think that worked? All that driving around?”

“He’s not here, is he? So it seems to me he must have gotten sidetracked by one of our visits. For all we know he’s on a bus to Texas.” She gathered her supplies. “I know a shower would probably feel great right now, but how about if I color your hair first? You’ll need to rinse out the color after it sets, so you might as well wait to get in the tub.”

The sleep had done Prairie good; in the light of the lamps she’d switched on, I could see that the dark shadows had nearly disappeared from under her eyes.

I ran a hand through my hair. It was almost perfectly straight, rich brown with natural highlights. I knew people paid a lot of money for color like that.

“Uh, all right,” I finally said. My hair was the one thing about me that I always knew was special. But if it meant our safety, I’d get over it. “What color?”

“I thought we’d try to match Chub’s. Make it look like you’re brother and sister.”

I glanced at Chub, who was rolling over and sighing in a tangle of covers. His hair was so pale, it was almost white, with a wash of gold. I couldn’t imagine that color on me.

“I need to cut it too,” Prairie said, apologetically. “I wouldn’t ask, if it wasn’t so important.”

While she mixed up the dye, filling the room with an acidy smell, I stripped down to the tank top I was wearing under my flannel shirt.

“Let me cut some first,” Prairie said, after she spread a sheet from her bed on the floor in the center of the room, then put the desk chair on top of it. “Just get some of the length off. Then I’ll shape it when the color’s done, okay?”

I sat in the chair and she ran her hands through my hair. She gathered it into a ponytail and twisted it. I shut my eyes and tried to relax.

The first cut left my head feeling strangely light. I didn’t want to think about my hair falling to the floor, so I asked Prairie something I’d been wondering.

“How could you not know that Bryce wasn’t who you thought? I mean, you were… you know.” Sleeping with him, I thought but didn’t say.

Prairie paused. I could feel the heat from her skin, her hands inches from my face.