Page 72

CHAPTER 71

HOLO AND I look at each other in horror.

Wendy leans forward like she’s getting ready to fight. “You can’t do that.”

“Of course I can. The family that’s willing to take Holo is in Archer,” Ms. Pettibon goes on. “That’s just fifteen minutes south. They have a big yard and several other boys. He can probably continue on at Kokanee Creek High School. Kai, on the other hand, will need to go to Blackfoot, which is about an hour southwest— YEEOUCH! ” Ms. Pettibon’s eyes go wide as she claps her hand over her shoulder. Enraged, she turns on Holo. “You little beast!”

My brother, who has just bitten her, is struggling to hold back laughter. “I didn’t even break the skin!”

Ms. Pettibon obviously doesn’t find this funny. “What is wrong with you?”

“Oh, lots of things,” Holo says. “Do you want to hear the list?”

I can’t believe it—except that I can. What would I do without my brilliant, insane brother? I suck in my cheeks so I’m not smiling, too. “Ms. Pettibon, I don’t think your foster families are going to want kids who bite,” I say. “There’d be, you know, safety concerns.” I gnash my teeth at her. Make like I’m about to chomp her, too.

Ms. Pettibon gets to her feet. “I’m going to speak to my supervisor about this. In the meantime, you should stay in jail! All of you!” Then she stomps down the hall, passing the chief, who’s just come in the front door.

“That boy’s dangerous,” she shouts. “A psychopath, most likely—”

“What are you talking about?” the chief asks. He looks exhausted and dirty and pissed.

But Ms. Pettibon just blows past him, shoving Randall out of the way as she stomps outside.

“Follow her,” I yell to the chief. “Tell her we aren’t any of her business!”

He clearly doesn’t understand what’s going on, but he hears the urgency in my voice. He spins around and follows her outside. A few minutes later he’s back, shaking his head.

“You should’ve kept your teeth to yourself, Holo,” he scolds. “She was talking about juvie.”

“What’s juvie?” Holo asks.

“Let’s hope you never find out.”

“What’d she say?” I demand. “Is she sending us away?”

“She’s extremely angry. She wants you out of Kokanee Creek.”

“But she can’t—”

“She can do a lot,” the chief says grimly. “But I’ve held her off for now.”

“So are you going to let us out? Let us go back home?”

“To that cabin on government land? That’s what you’re talking about?” The chief’s still struggling with the fact that we grew up lost in the wilderness and yet somehow only a handful of miles from town.

“Yes,” Holo and I say at the same time.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“So where are we supposed to go?” I demand. “That’s the only home we’ve ever known, and you’re taking it from us!”

“It never belonged to us,” Wendy whispers.

“But we didn’t know that!” I remind her.

She shrugs. “Does it matter?”

“If you won’t let us go back,” I say urgently, “then we all have to come stay with you. I’ll move in with Holo. Wendy can have my room. We can’t be sent away. Chief, she’s the only mother we remember. The only mother we know.”

“But you ran away from her,” he says. He sounds confused. Exasperated. Tired.

“Just for a little while! Then we went back, remember? Please, you can’t separate us.”

The chief leans against the bars of our cell as he considers this. He doesn’t look thrilled about bringing Wendy to his house. Maybe it’s because the whole situation is wild and totally overwhelming, or maybe it’s because a couple of hours ago, they almost shot each other.

Probably it’s both.

“You know what Lacey would say,” I press. “ Mi casa es su casa. ”

“Please,” Holo begs. “Wendy doesn’t have anywhere to go now. Neither do we—unless you let us stay.”

The chief sighs. He swings the cell door wide open and then turns around and starts to walk away from us. “Fine,” he calls. “You can all stay for now. Until whatever happens next.”

Holo grins happily. “What’s going to happen next?”

Wendy just looks down at the floor. I think she’s crying again.

“I don’t know,” I say. “But we’re going to face it together.”