“Even if your armour isn’t shining.” Jessi touched his bloodied jacket. A corner of her mouth turned up in an attempt at smiling, then fell again.
Cillian sighed. “All right. You can help me check the house, but stay close behind me, got it?”
She nodded.
Cillian sighed again and headed for the kitchen.
27:
Little Princess
Alice didn’t understand why Kara and Mister Walter stayed with the Jeep. Every time she asked, she didn’t get a proper answer. Eventually she just got tired of asking. Also her feet were starting to hurt again. She didn’t like all this walking.
“Why can’t we ride in the Jeep?” she huffed.
“’Cause the Jeep got destroyed,” Danny told her, “it doesn’t work anymore.”
“I’ll try to get us another ride,” Mr. Eggor said.
It looked like it was hard for him to move in his chair. They were walking next to the highway, over hard-packed dirt. They probably would have moved onto the highway but there was a barrier in the way that Mr. Eggor couldn’t cross. At least, not easily. Alice had never known anyone in a wheelchair and couldn’t quite understand why Mr. Eggor didn’t just walk like her and Danny.
Suddenly the earth shook and there was a loud noise from behind them. They all turned and saw a great big puff of smoke rising over the trees from around the bend.
“What was that?” Danny asked.
“We passed a turned-over tanker before we crashed. It must have exploded. Come on, we have to keep moving.” Mr. Eggor had only glanced over his shoulder to look and then kept moving.
Alice thought the smoke was pretty. It swirled and danced in the air.
“Come on, Alice.” Danny took her hand and pulled her forward.
She took a few stumbling steps, still wanting to watch the smoke, but then turned around and walked with them. Alice liked Danny. He was nice. For an older boy, anyway. Most of the older boys at Alice’s school were mean bullies, always pushing each other and picking on the smaller kids. Danny actually talked to her.
Right now, he was wearing a big backpack that looked heavy. Mr. Eggor was also carrying a big heavy-looking bag. Alice wondered why she didn’t have anything to carry. She had Shoes though. She got to hold his leash made of string as he walked along beside her. His little legs meant he took little steps and he had to walk fast to keep up. He looked tired and thirsty.
“Shoes is tired,” Alice told Mr. Eggor.
“So am I, but we can’t stop yet,” he told her.
“Why not?” Alice wanted to stop. Her feet really hurt.
“Because it’s not safe.” Mr. Eggor wouldn’t say more than that.
Alice didn’t know what to think of Mr. Eggor. Sometimes he was nice, but sometimes he was mean. Right now he was being mean. He looked strong though, and that made Alice feel safe. He could protect her from the people who were chasing them, from the people like Judy’s dad. She wished her Daddy were there to protect her. She didn’t know where her Daddy was though.
“Hey, there’s a truck coming.” Danny was looking behind them again.
Mr. Eggor turned himself around to look at the truck. It was a blue pickup and not driving on the road. Alice moved closer to Danny in case the truck driver didn’t see her little form. Cars scared her when they were on the road. She never crossed the street on her own. Cars not on the road were worse. She pulled on Shoes’s leash to bring him closer.
“Hey!” Mr. Eggor yelled. He put himself in front of Danny and Alice and started waving his arms in the air. “Hey!”
As the truck got closer, Alice got scared that it wasn’t going to stop. She noticed that it wasn’t going to hit them though; it was on the other side of the ditch. That had been a hard ditch for Mr. Eggor to cross. The truck didn’t look like it slowed as it went past, but the red lights in the back came on and it stopped. A man jumped out of the driver’s seat carrying a gun that Alice didn’t know the name of. It was big though, and she associated it with farmers for some reason.
“Wait here,” Mr. Eggor told Alice and Danny and then started heading towards the man. The man came towards him as well and they met halfway.
“I assume you’re looking for a ride?” the man asked Mr. Eggor.
“We are,” Mr. Eggor nodded. “I don’t know where you’re heading, but we’d very much appreciate a ride, at least part of the way.”
The stranger looked back at his truck and then at Alice and Danny. Alice scrunched up even closer to Danny.
“We have no room in the cab,” the man said.
“That’s okay; we can ride in the truck bed. In fact, I’m sure we’d both feel better with that arrangement.” Alice didn’t know what Mr. Eggor meant by that, but she was thinking that he didn’t trust the driver of the pickup truck. Judging by the driver’s face, he didn’t trust Mr. Eggor either.
“Give them a ride, Corey!” A woman leaned out the window on the passenger side of the car.
Alice looked at the truck and saw a pair of kids looking at them through the back window. From a distance, they looked like they might be Alice’s age.
The man sighed. “All right. Get in. Do you need help with it?”
“I wouldn’t mind some help crossing the ditch.” Mr. Eggor nodded toward it. He then turned around and faced Danny and Alice again. “Come on!”
Danny walked forward, tugging on Alice’s hand so that she had to come too. She, in turn, tugged on Shoes’s leash. Shoes was her responsibility. Her Daddy told her that when she was having too much fun, playing with her dollies, to put food in his dish.
“I was told to never ride with strangers,” Alice whispered to Danny.
“You rode in the car with us, Kara, and Walter,” Danny pointed out.
“But I knew Mister Walter and Kara by then.” They had fed her and were going to help her find her Daddy. Now she had no idea how she was going to find him. “I don’t know these other people.”
“But you know me and Alec. It’s okay. If Alec thinks it’s fine, then it is.” Danny helped her walk down one side of the ditch and up the other. The grass was long and tangled around their feet.
“If you say so.” Alice decided to trust Danny.
They walked up to the back of the pickup. The woman had climbed out of the car and opened this little door-like thing at the back of the pickup part of the pickup truck. Mr. Eggor had called it the truck’s bed, but it didn’t look anything like a bed. There were suitcases and two colourful children’s backpacks up there. One was a Dora the Explorer bag and the other was Jurassic Park. Alice liked the Dora bag better. It was pink.
“Hello, I’m Kelly.” The woman held out her hand.
Danny shook it. “I’m Danny and this is Alice.”
Alice waved instead of shaking her hand. “And this is Shoes.” Everybody always forgot to introduce Shoes.
“Are you kids hungry?” Kelly asked. “I have some sandwiches in the car.”
Danny looked to Mr. Eggor who was just being helped out of the ditch by the driver. The driver hadn’t introduced himself yet, but Kelly had called him Corey.
“No offence, but do you have anything in a sealed package? Something you didn’t touch?” Mr. Eggor asked Kelly.
“I have some granola bars and pudding packs,” Kelly answered him, then turned to Alice and Danny once more. “Would either of you like some of those?”
“Yes, please,” Danny nodded a bunch, “I’m starving.”
“I like pudding, but only if it’s chocolate.” Alice liked the fact that she was getting so many treats today. Although it had been scary sometimes, the day had been exciting. Like an adventure, although more like a Jurassic Park adventure than a Dora The Explorer adventure.
“I believe we have some chocolate.” Kelly went back to the front of the car.
“All right guys, up you get.” Mr. Eggor pointed to the back of the truck.
“Do you need help getting up?” Corey asked Mr. Eggor.
“I sho
uld be fine. Thank you.” Mr. Eggor picked up Shoes and lifted him up onto the truck.
Corey the truck driver went back to the front of the truck as well. Danny climbed up into the back next. It was harder for Alice because she was so little, but when Mr. Eggor lifted her up, it became very easy.
“I’ve never ridden in the back of a truck before.” Alice was kind of excited about the idea. She imagined it would be like when her Daddy pulled her around in her wagon, only faster.
“Well, until we can get back on the road, it’s going to be very bumpy and we won’t have seat belts,” Mr. Eggor told her. “When we get going, I want you two to hold onto me, okay?”
“Okay,” Alice agreed.
She watched as Mr. Eggor took off his pack and did that weird thing with his knees that made his legs stick out straight. Alice poked at her own knees but they only moved when she told them to. Mr. Eggor then leaned forward, put his feet on the ground, and pulled himself upright, using the back of the truck for support. It looked very hard. He then leaned sideways, not bending his knees at all, and lifted his bag with one hand. He put it in the truck, and Danny dragged it out of the way. It looked really, really heavy. Mr. Eggor then leaned down, grabbed his chair with the wheels, and lifted that up into the truck as well. As he pulled himself up, Kelly came back.
“Here you go.” She handed some granola bars to Danny along with the pudding. “I also found a package of Dunkaroos and a can of pop you can share if you’d like.” She handed those to Danny as well. She gave Mr. Eggor a concerned look, and then gave the same look to Danny and Alice. Alice had been seeing that look a lot lately.
Kelly then went back to the front of the truck and climbed in. While Danny and Mr. Eggor found places for the bags and collapsed the wheelchair again, Alice looked in through the back window. There were two little girls in the truck that looked the same as each other. Alice was delighted that they were twins. She had met twins before, but they were smelly boys. She waved at the girls and they waved back. The backpacks must have been theirs, but it was impossible to tell whose was whose. The girls were even dressed alike in matching flower-print sundresses. Alice’s own dress was made out of blue jean material and she liked it better than the twins’ dresses.
Kelly, who Alice decided must be their mommy, made them turn around and face the front again. Mr. Eggor pulled himself up next to Alice and sat with his back against the front section of the truck.
“Sit here, Alice.” He motioned to the spot next to him.
Alice sat down next to him and also faced backwards. She was between Mr. Eggor and the side of the truck.
“Danny.” Mr. Eggor nodded to his other side.
Danny sat down as well. Mr. Eggor then tugged on Shoes’s leash and brought the floppy dog over to them. He placed the dog on his own lap.
“You guys ready?” Mr. Eggor asked.
Danny nodded.
“Yes, but I’m not a guy,” Alice corrected him, “I’m a girl.”
Mr. Eggor grinned at her. He then raised an arm and slapped his hand on the rear window twice. The truck’s engine came to life, and they started moving forward.
As they picked up speed, Alice discovered that Mr. Eggor was right about it being bumpy. She held onto him to keep herself from bouncing right out of the truck. He had wrapped his large arm around her shoulders and held onto the side of the truck for more stability. His other arm was holding onto some metal pipes that were attached to the rear window. They were probably for holding something, but right now, the only thing they held was Mr. Eggor. Danny held onto his other side, Mr. Eggor’s bag and the suitcases wedged between him and the far side of the truck. He had snapped up the helmet he was wearing but it still bounced around on his head. Danny reached across Mr. Eggor and held onto Alice’s arm. She would have held his hand, but Alice didn’t want to let go of her grip on Mr. Eggor’s shirt. Shoes didn’t have anything to hold on to and bounced a lot, but somehow managed to stay on Mr. Eggor’s lap. He looked very silly with his floppy skin. Alice would have laughed if she weren’t so scared. Down near their feet, the chair and the backpacks were bouncing around and sliding back and forth. Alice squeezed her eyes shut. It was not like being pulled in her wagon.
* * *
After some time, Alice didn’t know how long, there was one really big bump and then the ride smoothed out. Alice opened her eyes again.
“We’re back on the highway,” Mr. Eggor told her.
“Thank God,” Danny sighed. He sat up and stretched all his limbs.
Alice decided to do the same. An odd pop came from her elbow, and she glared at it. She didn’t like it when her body made those odd snaps. It felt weird.
“You both all right?” Mr. Eggor asked.
“I’m okay,” Alice nodded, forgetting about her elbow already. “Shoes, are you okay?”
The dog woofed.
“I guess we should wait awhile before opening this pop, huh.” Danny pulled out the can of pop that Kelly had given him, which he had wedged, between the bags. It was orange-flavoured, Alice’s favourite.
“Can I have a pudding?” Alice asked.
“Sure.” Danny passed her a chocolate pudding. “There are no spoons though, so you have to eat with your fingers.”
“That’s okay.” Alice peeled back the top of the pudding. She liked eating pudding with her fingers. Her Daddy would only let her eat the last little bits like that but she had always wanted to try eating the whole thing with her hands. Now she got to.
“Would you like something?” Danny asked Mr. Eggor.
“I’ll have a granola bar if you don’t mind.” Mr. Eggor reached for himself.
There were several kinds of granola bars, and Alice was pleased to see that he took the gross one, the one without any chocolate. Although Danny took one of the best kind.
“After you’re done the pudding, do you want to share the Dunkaroos with me?” Danny asked Alice.
“What are Dunkaroos?” Alice had never heard of them before.
“They’re little cookies you dip into an icing,” Danny explained. “It looks like we got a vanilla flavoured one.”
“I hate vanilla,” Alice made a face, “but I’ll try the cookies. Do they have chocolate chips?”
“I don’t know,” Danny shrugged, “some do and some don’t, and I can’t see which ones these are. It probably means they’re the kind that don’t.”
“I’ll try them anyway,” Alice decided. Some cookies were still good, even if they didn’t have chocolate in them.
Shoes got up off of Mr. Eggor’s lap. He flopped back down at Alice’s feet, next to Mr. Eggor’s knees. Mr. Eggor tore off a piece of his granola bar and gave it to Shoes, who gobbled it down in one quick bite.
“Too bad we have nothing to give him some water in,” Mr. Eggor said. “He looks like he could use some.”
“He drank from a pool earlier today.” Alice remembered.
“Well, hopefully that’ll tide him over till we find something.” Mr. Eggor patted Shoes on the head.
A small section of the back window slid open near Mr. Eggor’s own head.
“You three okay back there?” Kelly asked.
“We’re good.” Mr. Eggor gave her a thumbs up.
“If you’re cold, there should be an old blanket in the left side panel,” Kelly told them.
“Thank you.” Mr. Eggor said as the window slid closed again. “Either of you cold?”
“I’m all right.” Danny took another bite out of his bar.
“I’m only a little chilly,” Alice told him.
“Well, that’s no need for a blanket, but here.” Mr. Eggor shifted around until he could reach the back of the truck where he picked up a big, beat-up, green jacket. It was the one that Danny had draped over his bag when they first met. Mr. Eggor had brought it with them from the Jeep.
Alice noticed that when Mr. Eggor moved, he grabbed his pants and used his arms to move his legs. “So you can’t move your legs because you got shot?” Al
ice remembered the story he had told in the Jeep.
“That’s right.” Mr. Eggor made his way back over. “Here, let Danny hold your pudding for a moment.”
Alice looked at her pudding. She trusted Danny, but could she trust him with her pudding?
“I promise I won’t eat it.” Danny held up his hands so that Alice could see that he didn’t cross his fingers.
“Okay.” Alice handed him the pudding even though he might have been crossing his toes.
Mr. Eggor wrapped the big coat around her. He then rolled up the sleeves really high so that Alice’s little hands could stick out of them.
“Is that better, Princess?” he asked, as he folded the front around her.
Alice had been called Princess before, but not in the way that Mr. Eggor said it. He said it in that way that grown-ups had, when they were lying, but they wanted you to know they were lying, as if it was a joke or something. Alice knew there was a word for it, but didn’t know the word. Her Daddy always called her his little princess.
“Yes, thank you.” Alice reached for her pudding, which Danny gave to her right away. He had kept his promise and hadn’t eaten any of the pudding.
“Where are we going?” Alice asked as she scooped up a blob of chocolate on her finger.
“We’re going to a place where we can be safe,” Mr. Eggor told her.
“Safe from the crazy people?” Alice ate the pudding blob.
“Yes, safe from the crazy people,” Mr. Eggor nodded.
“Will we able to call my Daddy from there?” Alice looked up at the older man. “And tell him where I am? He’ll be worried if he finds out me and Shoes are gone.”
“I’m sure he would be. And I’m not sure if we’ll be able to call him. We can try though.” Mr. Eggor seemed very truthful for an old man. Alice had begun to notice that lots of adults lied but she didn’t think Mr. Eggor had done so yet. He just wouldn’t always give a complete answer. Or sometimes he just wouldn’t answer at all.
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