Loki's Wolves - Armstrong Kelley L. - Страница 28

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She patted the top of his head like he was still a wolf. “Won.”

“Oh, good,” Fen murmured. Then he rolled over and went to sleep.

After Matt carried Fen into the woods to sleep, Laurie and Matt took turns napping. They were pretty sure that Fen was okay. He’d woken up a few times, asked a question, and then gone back to sleep. She wished that they had their tent and sleeping bags with them, but they’d stowed them near the Mount Rushmore parking lot because they were pretty sure that walking into the monument area with camping equipment would attract attention they didn’t want. So now they had only the cold ground to sleep on, and their backpacks to use for any kind of pillows.

In one of his brief awake periods, Fen told her that going back and forth between wolf and human took a lot of food, and he was just exhausted—and also healing from injuries. She was leaning against a tree then, and Fen scooted over and laid his head in her lap. It was warmer with him cuddled against her, but it meant she couldn’t move.

When Matt woke, he offered her his sweatshirt, so she slipped it on and, with Matt’s help, moved so she wasn’t Fen’s pillow. Then she stretched out on the ground next to her cousin for a short nap.

By afternoon, during one of Matt’s shifts, Fen woke, and they’d woken her up, too. Her cousin seemed fine—tired, but okay.

They filled him in, and then they went to buy something to eat and figure out how to get to Deadwood. They were finishing their breakfast-lunch when Fen inclined his head toward a group of kids about their age, who were starting to board two buses with big DEADWOOD TOURS signs painted on the sides. A woman with a clipboard stood outside the bus, checking names off a list as kids boarded.

“We could go with them,” he suggested. Now that he’d had food, he was a lot more alert.

“They areheaded to Deadwood,” Laurie mused.

Matt didn’t say anything for a moment. He looked at the crowd, and then he stood. “Better than walking or trying to hitch a ride.”

Fen grinned. “Excellent.”

All of her father’s side of the family had the uncanny ability to persuade people to do things. It made sense now that she knew that Loki was a relative, but it still made her uncomfortable, even though it was clear they’d have to use those skills to get on the bus without being noticed. Fen was obviously a lot like their ancestor, though: he had that trouble-ahead bounce to his step that always worried Laurie, but after seeing him almost killed by trolls, she didn’t have the heart to say anything. Maybe a little bit of Brekke skills were justified after cases of near-death by trolls.

Fen looked over at her and noticed her expression. Quietly, he said, “You can do this.” Then he glanced at Matt and said, “When we distract her, just get on the bus like you belong. Clear back. Head down.”

Matt nodded.

Then Fen said very softly to Laurie, “You’re a Brekke. It’s in our blood.”

“Right,” she breathed. “I can do this.”

As they approached the bus, Fen started poking at her and said loudly, “I get the window seat.”

“You had it earlier.” Laurie shoved him. “Jerk.”

“You know it.” Fen flashed his teeth at her, looking so wolfy that she wondered how she’d never noticed.

“Enough.” The woman with the clipboard scowled at them. “Where are your badges?”

“He lost them,” Laurie whined. “I told him, but—”

“You told me after I lost them. What kind of help is that?” Fen looked at the woman. “I don’t want to sit with her on the way back.”

Matt boarded the bus.

“Well, maybe I’ll sit on the other bus.” Laurie shoved his shoulder, and then she turned to walk away.

“Get on the bus.” The woman sighed wearily.

Fen folded his arms. “Fine. Youget on this, and I’ll—”

“ Both of you, on the bus.” The woman looked at the line of kids waiting. “Now.”

They went to the back, where Matt was seated. He nodded at them, but they said nothing else. Laurie might not be experienced at this like Fen was, but she wasa Brekke. She knew instinctively that they’d used a distraction to get on the bus, but now they needed to avoid attention to stayon the bus.

They took the seat directly in front of Matt’s.

A few kids looked at them, but this wasn’t a school group. Thankfully. Blending into a school group would be harder. There, the kids mostly all knew each other. This was a group, but probably for something like a community center or church or youth group.

A girl sat down beside Matt. “Who are you?”

“Matt,” he answered.

Beside Laurie, Fen smothered a sigh. They exchanged a worried look. Matt just wasn’t used to trickery. Even though she tried not to use it, she still knew Tricks 101: don’t use your real name. Laurie opened her mouth to intervene before he said something crazy like We’re runaways from Blackwell.

But before she could, she heard Matt say, “Didn’t we meet earlier?”

Fen looked at her and raised both eyebrows in surprise. Matt was taking the act-like-you-belong thing to a new level. In the seat behind them, they could hear Matt and the girl chattering away about the monument. It wasn’t a strategy she would’ve used, but it seemed to be working. The kids in the seat across from Matt were talking, too.

“Laurie might know,” Matt said, suddenly drawing her into the conversation.

“Know what?”

“How far to Deadwood?” the girl beside Matt said. She was smiling, but Laurie didn’t think it was particularly friendly.

“Ummm, I don’t know. Maybe an hour?” Laurie had a rough guess from trips she’d taken before, but that wasn’t the sort of thing she usually paid much attention to.

“Which school do you go to?” the girl asked. “I don’t think I’ve met any of you before.”

“We were on the other bus,” Fen said. He leaned his head back on the seat and closed his eyes before adding, “Do you mind not talking? I have a headache.”

“Sorry, I forgot.” Laurie was silently thankful for Fen’s surliness, but she looked at the girl and mouthed, “Sorry.”

The girl said, “Whatever.”

Matt nodded.

Once they’d looked away, Fen leaned in and whispered, “Knew you could do it.”

Laurie tried not to feel too excited by their success so far. They had a huge list of impossible things in front of them… but they’d already overcome trolls, wolves, and chaperones. They really weren’t off to a bad start.

FOURTEEN

MATT

“ALL-POINTS BULLETIN”

On the bus trip, Matt relaxed for the first time since his grandfather had named him champion. He’d done well so far. Really well. They’d found the trolls, and they’d gotten the information they needed. His idea hadn’t exactly gone as planned, but Laurie had figured out a solution, and they’d all worked together to escape. That’s what it was about—working together. He wasn’t a perfect leader, but maybe he wasn’t totally faking it, either. Maybe he really could become the leader they needed.

When the bus stopped, they were in Lead, making an educational pit stop to visit the Black Hills Mining Museum. Matt thought of just staying on the bus, but everyone was getting off.

“The chaperone said it’s only three miles to Deadwood,” Fen whispered as they filed out. “We’re walking.”

As they stepped off the bus, a tour guide was trilling, “And don’t forget, if you decide to try the gold panning, you are guaranteed to find gold!” The older kids jostled past her, some mimicking her and rolling their eyes. The younger kids just trudged along, casting pained looks at the museum and the prospect of an hour of sheer boredom.

The museum didn’t look like much. It was mostly a single-story building with a flat roof. Near the front, though, a weirdly shaped silo jutted out. A model of a mining shaft, Matt guessed. He was following along, gaze fixed on that silo, thinking maybe this could be interesting, when Fen stopped him.

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