“Who’s going to pass our signal to you?”
“I will,” said a guy whose name I couldn’t remember. “I’ll stay on the northwest corner of the wall, in the bushes. I’ll watch for signals from Bryn’s team. If I get one, I’ll run to the southwest corner and signal you at that garden door.”
Kowi nodded. “That’ll work. Peter … Bodo … you guys keep one eye on your job and one eye on us. One of you is going to have to stand at this southeast corner, watching for signals we might send.”
“I can do dat,” said Bodo.
“But you have to watch out for Peter, too,” I said, imagining little Peter standing all by himself out there in the front of that house with a gang of canners coming after him.
“Bryn, chillax, I’m going to be fine.” Peter rolled his eyes at me.
“I’ll be there too, don’t forget,” said Fohi.
I gritted my teeth together to keep myself from saying what I was thinking. Somehow the thought of a guy who had just shot his own reflection didn’t fill me with a huge sense of calm.
“I’ll be there too,” said Paci. “Nothings gonna happen to Peter.” He looked at me intensely.
“I can look after myself,” said Peter, leaving us to go stand at the front of the car. A few seconds later he said, “It’s getting really dark out here, guys. We should probably go before it pours.”
“We will in a minute. I just want to be sure everyone knows what we’re doing here,” I said as Kowi folded up the map and put it in his back pocket. “Today is recon day only. We are not supposed to engage with them at all or let anyone know we’re there. We watch them until it’s dark and they go to sleep, then we regroup over here.” I searched their faces, looking for any signs of disagreement but seeing none. “We’ll discuss what we found, make a plan, and go in for rescue probably tomorrow morning. Right?”
Everyone nodded except Trip.
“You don’t agree?” I asked, slightly irritated.
“Yeah, I agree. But I also think we need to stay open to the idea that we might have to engage today. If they see us, then your plan to do nothing kind of goes into the wind, doesn’t it?”
“He’s right,” said Bodo. “We gotta be ready to make da big explosion and den get dose kids out.”
“And end those canners,” said Fohi, cracking his knuckles.
“I’m ready for the dogs,” said Winky, without emotion, patting her pocket.
“You scare me, Winky. You really do,” I said, unable to stop smiling.
She shrugged. “We are the indigenous people of this place. We do what we have to do to survive. I’m not going to apologize for it.”
“And no one expects you to,” I said, putting my arm across her shoulders. “Come on, guys. Let’s go do some recon.”
“Wait!” said Winky, unzipping her backpack and pulling a leather pouch out.
“What’s that?” I asked, as everyone gathered around her.
“Warpaint,” she said, dipping her finger into the opened pouch and bringing it out. She reached over to the closest person next to her and put her finger under his eye, pressing her fingertip to his skin. Then she spoke solemnly.
“Fohi, member of my tribe, I send you off to war, to do what must be done to protect our people. Go with strength and purpose.” She drew her finger from his eye, down to his jaw, leaving a trail of black paint behind.
Each person stepped up in turn, receiving the black line and words of inspiration. Kowi took the pouch from Winky to do hers, and then I was the only one still remaining.
Kowi retrieved some paint from the pouch and walked over to stand in front of me, placing his fingertip under my right eye. He stared at me for a few seconds, and no one said a word.
My heart was pounding and my breath came rapidly. I didn’t know why, but this suddenly felt more than just ceremonial to me. As if the exercise and the paint carried some form of supernatural powers of protection that might make it possible for me to survive this ordeal.
Kowi spoke in a deep, reverent tone as he drew his finger down my cheek. “Bryn. Nokosi. Member of my tribe. I send you off to war, to do what must be done to protect our people. Go with strength and purpose. You will not fail us. And we will not fail you.”
I swallowed hard and willed the tears to stay away.
***
The first ones out were Rob and Fohi. I didn’t know about anyone else, but I was sending some crazy prayers up to any gods or angels who might be listening. Please, please, please don’t let anything happen to them. I stood at the entrance to the garage, watching them make their way up the street. They stayed close to the houses, crouching down when they got near windows.
“Bryn, you’re next. You and Winky. Go,” said Kowi, nodding his head at us.
I gave Bodo and Peter a quick hug before moving off, getting a good luck lick from Buster that for once didn’t gross me out.
Winky and I followed in the trail of Fohi, who I could see a couple blocks ahead of us for a few seconds before he and Rob turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.
Winky and I moved as silently as we could, the soft, animal hide of our moccasins making it easier. All I could hear was the soft rustling of the tall weeds and grasses that rose up to our knees, and in some places, thighs. The homeowners who used to live here would have been very upset to see their lawns now. They looked nothing like the perfectly manicured, half-million-dollar homes and yards of the past.
I looked back and saw two of our group following us several houses back. We’d all be at the canners’ house within fifteen minutes max at this rate. I thanked our good fortune that was keeping the day dark and the rain at only a light drizzle.
We turned the corner once to the left and then at the second one to the right, as instructed. I could see the seaside mansions at the end of the road now, looking small from here but probably at least ten thousand square feet each. These canners sure had decided to live in style. I wondered at their boldness, living so out in the open and in such an obvious place. They sure weren’t worried about anyone knowing they were there. It made me sick with nervousness, because I knew it was their complete confidence in their viciousness that made this attitude possible for them.
Winky and I finally made it to the wall of bushes at the far east side of the canners’ house, burying ourselves in their leaves and branches, hiding from sight. We were both breathing heavily and sweating.
Now that we were here, I felt myself slipping into a state of almost surreal panic. A heart attack seemed imminent and my pulse was racing super fast. I had to take several calming breaths to chill myself out. I pictured my dad with his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes, telling me I just needed to focus and remember my training. I closed my eyes and relived the moments before matches, when he would get me centered and ready for the fight that was to come. There was no point in wishing he was here, but that didn’t stop me from praying. Dad, if you’re out there, please watch over me and my friends. Don’t let anything happen to us. I almost asked for him to send me a sign that he’d heard my plea, but I didn’t want to suffer the painful disappointment when nothing came, so I didn’t bother. At least this way, I’d still have hope he was out there somewhere.
“Are you okay?” whispered Winky.
I opened my eyes, my heart not beating nearly as fast as it had been. I was almost peaceful now. I wasn’t sure if it was from the prayer or the acceptance that I was really doing this thing that had made it happen, but I wasn’t going to over-analyze it. “I’m good. You?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Look! Here come Bodo and Peter.”
I got nervous looking at Peter carrying Buster’s struggling form. Buster wanted to bark really bad, and we just could not afford that right now. There were still two more teams behind them that needed to be here before we’d be ready.
“Come on. Let’s move over to the other side of the wall, near the tree.”
Winky and I stepped out of the bushes so we could move faster and slunk around the side of the wall, running as fast as we could to the corner.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Bodo and Peter split away, headed in the other direction. They were going to get to the opposite side of the place as soon as possible, which was probably a good thing, even though I really wanted to see them one more time before our plans went down.
The last thing I saw was Peter’s skinny back turning the far corner behind us, before I turned right and followed the north wall to the east.
***
Winky and I stopped beneath the tree whose branches hung over the north wall. I looked up at it and nearly freaked. How in the hell had Celia climbed this thing with one arm and the other one bleeding? She must have been flying on adrenaline. The drop from the wall alone was at least fifteen feet. The tree was completely on the other side, so there would be no climbing it from here.
“How are we going to get up there?” asked Winky in a tiny, quiet voice.
I heard some rustling on the other side of the stucco wall, and put my finger to my lips. A muffled woof came from the other side. I shook my head so Winky would get my message: Do not move an inch! A dog stood on the other side from us.
She nodded her head.
We waited for what seemed like forever before the sounds ceased and moved away. I leaned in close to Winky’s ear and whispered as quietly as I could. “When we hear Buster barking, I’ll get up using your back as a step, and then I’ll lean over and pull you up to the top of the wall. Then we’ll get into the tree together.”
She nodded her head again, giving me a thumbs-up.
We didn’t have to wait long. A few seconds later, I heard Buster barking. It was faint but unmistakable, coming from the east side of the house, near the front corner of the yard by the ocean. Several barks responded from the backyard, and we could hear them disappearing in the distance as they ran towards Buster.
“Now!” I said, pushing on her back, getting her to bend over. I jumped up on it, landing on my knees, intending to stand up and use it as a step. But Winky had other ideas.
“Stand on my shoulders,” she grunted out, waving her hands so I’d sit on her shoulders first and then stand on them, instead of kneeling and standing on her bent over back.
“Step closer to the wall a little,” I said in a panic. I hadn’t planned on doing it this way, so I was unprepared for a couple precious seconds.
I used my hands on the stucco surface for leverage and lifted one foot up to put it near her shoulder, skipping the whole sitting down thing to save time.
She offered her hand to help me and I grabbed it, praying she could handle the force of me pushing into her like this with my feet.
She staggered a little as she went from a bent-over position to a standing one, but didn’t go down.
The muscles in my thigh burned as I used my left leg alone to push myself up a little, until I could get my other foot under me and onto her other shoulder.
Once my second foot was secured, I let go of her hand and stood, putting both hands on the wall again. I was standing fully erect on her shoulders now, but was still about eight inches too short. Even if I jumped, I wouldn’t make it.
“Here,” said a voice from below. “Let me help.” It was the guy who was supposed to be acting as our lookout at the corner; and he was a good six inches taller than Winky.
“Thanks, Jason,” Winky said.
He put his hand under my right heel. “Push on my hand. I’m going to press you up.”
I looked down to see him gritting his teeth, straining as he did a slow bench-type press of my foot, his second hand joining the first to give me all the power he had.
I felt myself being elevated, inch by inch. I walked my hands up the wall until they reached the top, while still balanced on one foot. His arms were shaking like crazy.