The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga (12 page)

“Hey.” Jade said, sticking out her hand for Pip to
shake it.

Instead of taking Jade’s hand, Pip shook his head and
laughed, “Never thought I’d see the day when ya’d offer to shake my
hand. Truth is you ain’t too fond of me, never have been.” Pip
laughed harder at Jade’s disconcerted face, “In fact, last time I
ever saw ya, ya threw a stable brush at my head for putting your
saddle back on the wrong rack.”

Jade shrugged one of her slender shoulders and threw
Pip a baiting smile, “Sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing for
me to do. Get it right from here on out and I won’t throw things at
you.”

Pip laughed even harder, “Good to see your attitude
wasn’t lost along with your memory.” He reached out and took Jade’s
hand, which was now resting on her hip, “Good to have ya back.”

“Hmmm,” Jade said, leaning in to whisper in Avery’s
ear, “I can see why I wasn’t too fond of him before.”

After shaking Jade’s hand he placed his hand on
Avery’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, “If ya need anythin’
I’ll be over in the stables.” As he took off, he turned back around
and shouted, “I’ll see ya later, Avery!”

It startled Avery to hear Pip say her name with such
familiarity. Part of her wished she could remember Pip, Gumptin,
the sweet smelling lady who liked to hug Jade, and all the other
villagers, but another big part of her didn’t want the memories,
knowing that on top of everything else they might just cause her to
curl up in a little ball and refuse to move.

Jade grabbed Avery by the shoulder, shaking her out
of her deep thoughts. She turned Avery towards her and gave her
the, ‘Get me the hell out of here’ look.

Avery decided that before Jade got past just
conveying meaningful looks to her and went straight to yelling at
people; she would take Jade someplace private away from swarming
villagers.

Avery told the villagers she was taking Jade away to
get some air and then took her over to the two small wooden benches
on the outskirts of the village where Gumptin had attacked her with
the knife. When they reached the benches Avery took a seat, taking
in the quiet of the forest behind her, happy to be away from their
overzealous greeters. Jade paced back and forth in front of Avery,
refusing to sit down.

“So, how you doing?” Avery asked, already knowing the
answer.

Jade stopped pacing and sat down next to Avery,
“Well, everyone seems to know me and that’s weird. Plus, there was
way too much hugging and touching for my liking, but,” she took a
deep breath in, “at least it’s not a trailer park.”

Avery nodded, thinking back on all her horrible
memories of Rebel Moon Trailer Park.

“So,” Jade said, looking around the village, “which
one of these freaky tree-house things are mine.”

“Ummmm…” Again Avery had no clue.

Even when she had first seen the giant trees with
their windows and doors, the idea that she had actually lived in
one of them had completely escaped her. Before Avery had a chance
to let down Jade again with her lack of knowledge involving their
life on Orcatia, Gumptin came up and interrupted them.

“You two done holding hands, yet?” He asked them
brusquely, “We have got to go back and get the others.”

“This should be fun.” Jade scoffed, standing up,
“They’re not gonna believe this in a hundred years. Especially
Sasha, that girl’s more stubborn than I am, and that’s saying
something.”

Avery thought about it for a second, “You know,” she
said, “I think we should try a different tactic than I did with
you. I say we just get them to the park somehow, we’ll lie to them,
and then once they’re there, we’ll show them Gumptin and the Ora
Gateway.” Avery could foresee hours of mindless explaining if they
talked to each girl individually, “Then, even if they try to argue
we’ll have Gumptin there to point out the gateway and explain the
truth.”

Jade nodded her head in agreement to the plan, “Plus,
that way, if they try to make a run for it, we can just push them
through the gateway.”

“Brilliant!” Avery beamed, wondering if they’d
actually have to pull off that last part of the plan.

The landing back on Earth wasn’t any smoother than
the landing on Orcatia had been. The only difference was this time
Jade made sure to pick herself up off of the ground fast enough to
avoid Gumptin falling on top of her.

“So, where to first?” Jade asked, once they were all
up and situated.

“Well,” Avery said, hesitantly, “I was thinking we’d
stop by your place first.”

Jade looked at Avery suspiciously, “Why?” She
asked.

“That way we can split up and get things done
faster.” Avery tried to sound convincing, but Jade wasn’t having
any of it.

“You just want to split up so you won’t have to go
get Sasha!” Jade accused Avery, nailing her motivations on the
nose.

“No!” Avery shouted, trying to look offended and make
her lie seem believable.

“Don’t even try to play me; I know you too well.”
Jade told her, “Besides, you’re the fearless leader, don’t you
think it should be your duty to retrieve your followers.”

“Hey!” Avery huffed, annoyed that Jade was already
bringing the leader detail into her arguments, “I’m not leader on
Earth; I’m just Avery. Look, you know Sasha won’t put up as big of
argument with you. She’s too scared you’ll punch her! Plus, Bunny
annoys you anyway. I’ll go pick up Bunny and Skylar and you get
Sasha.” Avery knew she had Jade right where she wanted her at the
mention on Bunny’s name.

Jade sighed, “Ugh, that girl does get on my nerves
for some reason.”

“Also,” Avery said in a sing-song voice, “you’ll get
to ride your big noisy bike around Sasha’s snooty rich
neighborhood.”

“Dammit!” Jade yelled, genuinely upset that the idea
of riding her bike for maybe one of the last times ever, mixed with
pissing Sasha and her uppity neighbors off, made it impossible for
her to say no.

Avery smiled and turned to walk towards her parked
car, but stopped abruptly when she realized Gumptin was following
her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked him,
placing her hands on her hips in an authoritative stance.

“With you, of course.” he responded, looking at her
like this was well known information.

Avery laughed mockingly, “Oh, no, you’re not, not
this time. You saw how well that worked with Jade. No, this time
you’re going to wait right here until we get back.”

“Wha…what am I suppose to do while you are gone?” He
stuttered, acting very put-out.

Avery shrugged, “Why don’t you hide behind a
tree…you’re good at that.”

Avery could hear Gumptin quietly fuming to himself
from behind a large tree as she and Jade got into her car.

After Avery dropped Jade off at her trailer, she
drove down the highway until she reached Main Street. Once there,
she took a right and drove down the town’s central fairway. She
passed all the small shops, the bakery, the hardware store, the
town’s one doctor’s office, and her mom’s flower shop. Avery
noticed that her mom’s car wasn’t parked out front, which was
unusual for the time of day, but she didn’t have time to dwell on
where her mother might be.

After driving a few more blocks, Main Street turned
into a small suburb area. It was there that Avery made a left,
passed five houses, and then stopped at 113 Tumbleweed Dr, also
known as Bunny Claiborne’s house.

Bunny’s house was a red brick two-window building,
with yellow shutters and door. It was smaller than most of the
other houses on the block with only two bedrooms and one bath, but
what it lacked in size it made up for in character. The entire
front yard of the house was basically one giant garden. There were
carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries secluded in a soil bed
on the right side of the front yard. Pruned citrus trees offered
blankets of shade over the entire front yard. There was a
cobblestone pathway leading from the street to the yellow front
door, entirely lined with rose bushes of every color blooming big
and bright. The left side of the yard held a small white bird bath
in the shape of a crescent moon and was surrounded by a carpet of
perennial flowers. Bunny had always had the most extraordinary
green thumb. She tended to and kept every single plant alive
year-round, no small feat in the blistering Arizona summers.

It was only Bunny and her mother that lived in the
house. Although, no one really knew Ms. Claiborne that well, not
even Avery and she was over at Bunny’s house all the time. Ms.
Claiborne mainly stayed in her room when she wasn’t working as a
file clerk at the city courthouse. She hardly ever spoke, even at
work. In fact, the most she usually said to Avery was, “What would
you like for dinner?” or “See you later, dear.” Admittedly, Bunny’s
mother was a bit of an enigma, but then again, so was Bunny.

Avery got out of her car and walked up the
cobblestone path to the front door, breathing in the scent of the
flora as she did. She rang the doorbell, which chimed a whimsical
little tune and stood there waiting. A little tabby, one of Bunny’s
many cats, purred and rubbed itself along Avery’s legs, and Avery
knelt down to stroke it. As she was petting the purring cat she
heard the door open. When Avery looked up she saw Bunny’s smiling
face staring down at her.

Bunny was tall and thin with straight chestnut brown
hair that fell to her shoulders, which she always wore in a braid
with shaggy bangs covering her wide forehead. She had sun-kissed
skin, crystal blue eyes, and a bright easy smile that always made
Avery happy just to see it. Bunny was all limbs, long legs and
arms, but despite that she still managed to move with a slow grace.
Avery assumed it was because of Bunny’s artistic soul. Bunny loved
anything to do with the arts; she drew, knitted, gardened, painted,
and played the flute. She was the studious one of the group. The
one the other girls came to when they either needed help studying,
or more likely, their homework done for them.

Avery had always considered Bunny to be one of her
closest friends, even before she knew about their shared destiny.
It was during one of their group playgroups, when they were about
five years old, and Avery had stolen Bunny’s Rainbow Brite
lunchbox, and Bunny had swiftly whacked Avery over the head with a
plastic sandbox shovel, that a connection had been formed between
them. From that day on they never went more than two or three days
without seeing each other, even during the summer.

Avery thought of Bunny as a sweetheart, quieter and
meeker than the rest of the girls; the one she needed to protect,
but there was also a darker side to Bunny that not many people
besides Avery got to see. For instance, once in junior high when
Avery was walking with Bunny to her house after school, Alex
Marquez had ridden up next to them on his bike and began poking fun
at Bunny’s new haircut. Bunny acted as if it didn’t faze her, but
after Alex had finished with his teasing and sped up to ride away,
Bunny picked up a rock the size of a lemon and pitched it at the
boy. It hit his wheel, denting it, and sending him flying over the
top of his bicycle, splitting his head open on the cement, and
requiring fifteen stitches to close him up. The whole thing had
freaked Avery out, but Bunny didn’t seem bothered in the slightest
by it. To this very day it was a secret that Avery and Bunny
shared. Everyone else, including Alex Marquez, just assumed he
hadn’t seen a large rock in the road, hit it, and flipped his
bike.

“Avery,” Bunny said, fixing her bright smile on
Avery, “were we suppose to do something today?”

It wasn’t at all unusual for Bunny to forget whether
she did or didn’t have plans. It was another characteristic that
Avery attributed to her artistic soul, her flightiness.

“No.” Avery answered her, standing up and shooing the
small tabby cat into the house.

“Alright,” Bunny said, not sounding the least bit
fazed by Avery’s answer, “do you want to come in?”

“No,” Avery shook her head, “I really don’t have
time.” Avery thought it was best to just tell Bunny outright what
she wanted her to do. After all, she might get lucky and Bunny
would say yes without any question. That way, she wouldn’t have to
muddle through some terrible lie that she was sure Bunny would see
right through anyway, “Bunny, could you do me a favor and come with
me somewhere?”

“Come with you where?” Bunny asked, curiosity
spreading over her face.

So much for getting lucky. Avery still didn’t want to
take a lying approach, so she decided to beat around the bush,
“There’s something I want to show you in the park by the school, I
just can’t tell you what it is right now.” Avery saw curiosity turn
to suspicion in Bunny’s eyes, so she quickly added, “It’s a
surprise!”

Bunny stared at Avery silently for a moment, and then
she shrugged, “Whatever,” she said, “it beats staying here.”

Avery sighed, that was so much easier than it had
been with Jade. Of course, Bunny still didn’t know the real reason
Avery was abducting her, but that was a technicality. Avery should
have known that Bunny would be an easy sell. It was in her
easygoing nature.

After Bunny had gotten her purse and locked up the
house, Avery told her, “Oh, by the way, we have to stop and pick up
Skylar.”

Bunny shrugged again, “Whatever.”

Avery only hoped that Skylar would be as easy as
Bunny.

Skylar Bavol resided in one of only two apartment
complexes in the entire town, Cowboy Palace Luxury Apartments, the
nicer of the two. It only took them three minutes to reach their
destination. When they got there, Avery parked the car under the
pink plastic parking-lot awnings. Bunny opted to stay in the car
and read.

As Avery swung open the white metal gate that led
into the inner apartment complex, the smell of chlorine from the
gated swimming pool smacked her right in the face. She walked over
to the rusty green iron staircase and climbed it up to the second
floor. Avery knocked on door number 12B and a moment later Skylar’s
mom answered.