Voices of Dragons

Kay stared at nothing, trying to picture it. Wanting to see a TV and not wanting to at the same time. “So it didn’t do any good. We wanted people to see us to try to stop the fighting, but it didn’t do any good.”

“Oh, but it did. Everyone saw you. The news people are having a field day with this. They all got footage of you on that thing, and nobody knows what to make of it. Everybody, everybody’s looking for you.”

That didn’t surprise her, but Kay had a sinking feeling that the rest of the plan wasn’t going to be easy because of it.

“But, Mom, what are people saying? What’s going to happen if I show up?”

“I think all hell will break loose. Half the commentators are saying you’re a traitor. Half of them are calling you some kind of ambassador. This is riling up both sides.”

This had been so much simpler when all she was doing was breaking the law, sneaking over a little tiny river. Then she hadn’t been thinking about becoming a celebrity. She hadn’t meant this all to get out of hand.

“But, Kay, here’s the thing,” Mom continued. “I don’t think Branigan can hide you away, not when every reporter in the country wants to interview you. Maybe he can get the police to arrest you, but it’ll all be in the open now.” She paused, then said, “That’s why you did it, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“I think it worked.” Her mother actually sounded pleased, or relieved, maybe even proud. “Now we just have to figure out what to do next. I wish…” But she didn’t finish, and Kay knew what she wanted to say. Her father would have known what to do. She wished Jack Wyatt were here.

Kay didn’t want to think about that. And she didn’t want to tell her mother what she wanted to do next, what she thought needed to happen next.

“We’ll talk to the press,” her mother said, not noticing how quiet Kay was. “Let me talk to my boss. We’ll set up a press conference. I don’t like putting you out there like that, but it may protect you from General Branigan. We can get a voice in there for the other side, to show everyone you’re okay and haven’t been brainwashed by dragons.”

Was that what people were saying, that she’d been brainwashed?

“Are you okay with that, honey?” her mother said.

If Kay told anyone what she was pla

“Mom, can you find out what happened to Jon? He was with me this morning. There were soldiers out in the woods, and I think they may have arrested him or something.”

“I’ll find out. Kay, can you come home?”

She wouldn’t be able to avoid it. She needed to get ready, she needed to plan, and she needed the book. “I think so. We can try.”

“Wait until dark,” Mom said. “I’ll call Deputy Kalbach and have him help you. Okay?”

The plan would have to do. “Okay.”

At least her mother was feeling better.

“So what’s the plan?” Tam asked after she’d put her phone away.

“I guess I’m going home. Mom says to wait until after dark. Can you drive me?”

“Yeah, of course. More dodging cops. It’ll be fun, right?” Her smile was forced.

Kay had to give her credit for looking on the bright side.

Tam went to get some food—instant soup from home, because everything nearby was closed, even the Alpine. They waited in the shop’s backroom until dusk, eating soup and drinking sodas, when Kay’s mother called her and said that Deputy Kalbach was waiting in his car at the end of the street to make sure she got home okay. Mom said the news vans and swarm of reporters were worse than they’d been after her father’s funeral.

Kay braced herself. Tam had her hand on the door.

“We ready?” she said.

Kay nodded, and Tam opened the door. She half expected the back parking lot to be swarming with army cars and news vans. But it wasn’t. No one had found them. No one was looking for Tam’s car.

As they drove, Kay resisted an urge to crouch under the dash again.

Silver River wasn’t a huge town and definitely wasn’t that busy except during the height of tourist season. But along Main Street, there were usually cars and people around, enough to make the place look interesting, inhabited. Now, it seemed like a ghost town. Most of the storefronts had CLOSED signs in the windows. No cars were parked on the curb. The empty Alpine parking lot seemed wrong. Several blocks in the center of town were roped off with yellow caution tape. The street was still barricaded, to keep people from driving that way. Around the corner, Kay could see bands of black soot on a brick wall, the only hint that the group of buildings had burned.

Kay wanted it all to go back to the way it had been. She wanted to see her father, in his uniform and cowboy hat, walking up the street. But nothing she could do would make that happen. She could only try to make things a little better than they were right now.

Finally—Tam was driving extra slowly and carefully— they reached Kay’s neighborhood, then her street. It was like a circus had camped out there. A dozen news vans lined up, blocking driveways, and they all had huge ante

Kay slipped down to crouch on the floor before Tam told her to. “Park here,” Kay said, whispering, as if the people on the street could hear her. “Find Deputy Kalbach and ask him what to do.”

Tam parked, and as she left the car, she looked over both shoulders and all around, as if searching for signs of an ambush, as if they were in some kind of spy movie. Kay waited, hugging her knees to her chest, for Tam to return. Hoped no one happened to walk by and look in the window at the girl huddled on the floor.

More quickly than she would have expected, Tam returned, climbed back in the driver’s seat, and started the engine. “He said to park the next street over and sneak in the back. He’s going to go tell your mom.”

A few minutes later, she and Tam were ru

Kay was coming from the garage to the kitchen when her mother met her and engulfed her in a hug. She was almost crying, murmuring meaningless phrases, pressing Kay to her as if she’d believed they’d never see each other again. “I’m okay,” Kay kept saying, but her mother didn’t seem to hear. When Mom finally pulled away, sure enough, she was crying, quiet tears streaming from red eyes.

Maybe this was a mistake, Kay thought. Her mother would never let her leave the house again.

Mom made her and Tam sit down to di

“Did you find out about Jon?” Kay asked.

Mom nodded. “They let him go. They wanted to charge him with some kind of aiding and abetting, but I managed to pull some strings. Nice to know I still have a few strings.” She looked at Kay with a raised brow. Kay couldn’t even remember back to this morning. “The bureau asked him to stay at home and be available for questioning.” So he was home. She could call him.

Her mother continued, “Branigan issued an order to stand down. He’s not following you anymore; he’s not sending anyone to arrest you, at least until after the press conference. You’ll get a chance to have your say, answer questions. Then I’m afraid it’ll go to the higher ups.”

“Who’s higher up than Branigan?” Kay said.

Mom gave her a look. “All the way to the top. Congress, the president. They can’t ignore this. You should see the polls, Kay. As soon as the pictures of you flying went out, the numbers in favor of negotiating went way up. Just showing people that cooperation is possible completely undermined the military’s argument.”

But guys like Branigan wouldn’t stop fighting, because they were like bullies on the playground. Neither side could back down without losing face.