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The Unity Alliance. The Tri-Tribes—theHeaters, the Wilde Ones, the Marked—and us, the Icers, joinedtogether as one. Stronger together than apart. Fighting together isour only hope against the Glassies. Now all I have to do isconvince the new government. Shouldn’t be too hard, especiallyconsidering my friend Yo is one of the new leaders, a member of thefreshly created consortium. He represents the Brown District. Fu
Lost in my thoughts, I barely notice whenBuff stops me with an arm. “Wha-what?” I say. Then I see it. Theedge of the village, the first houses. The Brown District.
And I can’t stop my feet because they have amind of their own, and Buff is right behind me, and we’re able torun fast now because the snow is hard-packed and trampled frompeople’s feet and carts and kids ru
A familiar shack of a house appears on theright, and I’m not surprised when Buff manages a burst of speed topass me, barging through the door like a battering ram, hisboulder-like frame thudding solidly against the wood. I follow himthrough.
A half a dozen kids are attacking Buff,leaping on his back, hugging his legs, toppling him to the floor.His brothers and sisters, welcoming him home. Only the eldest, hissister Darcy, stands back from the fray, her hands on her hips.“Buff, if you insist on charging into the house like a Yag, pleaseat least remove your snowy boots.”
But she’s smiling as Buff peels his siblingsoff him, regaining his feet and kicking off his boots in theprocess. “Always keeping order in the chaos,” Buff says, embracingher. “What would we do without you?”
“We’d be forced to eat a lot of raw meat,” avoice says to my left. Buff’s father lifts up off the bed he wassitting on, using a wooden crutch to get his balance. His leg iswrapped tightly with thick cloth. “Your sister is every bit as gooda cook as your mother was.”
He hobbles over, nods in my direction.“Dazz,” he says.
“Sir,” I say. “Good to see you on yourfeet.”
“Good to see you home. Both of you.” Hisvoice cracks and I can see the deep lines of worry on his face. Andthen Buff’s arms are wrapped around his neck and they’re hugginglike only a father and a son can hug.
A pang of desire hits me in the chest,causing my heart to speed up. I can’t hug my father, not where heis, but my mother, my sister, are waiting. Worrying. I can’t lingerhere any longer. “Go,” Buff’s father says over his son’s shoulder.“And thank you for bringing Buff home to me,” he adds, as if I washis sole protector.
As I exit into the snow, I call back, “Hebrought me home, too,” and then I’m ru
—in front of the house—
—playing in the snow—
—like she didn’t spend a week in bedrecovering from a knife wound—
—like I never left her—
—is Jolie, building a man out of snow.
And then, as if sensing my presence, sheturns, her nose red and her eyes clear and bright. Her face lightsup in a smile that’s bigger and wider than all the countries of theearth. Her legs pump as she runs toward me and as I kneel down, andthen they wrap around my waist as she slams into me.
I spin her around and around and around asshe peppers my face with kisses and says, “I knew it. I knew you’dcome back.”
The Earth Dwellers by David Estes,coming September 5th, 2013!