“Yeeeesss. We were talking about it at the pool last night. Everyone suspects it. I guess he was busted by some girl as having totally bland not-hot-at-all kisses after a formal dance or whatever.”

“Pffft. Well … I can totally vouch for the fact that that is total bullcrap.”

I sat up suddenly and grabbed Peter’s arm, squeezing it hard. “No!”

Peter just smiled shyly.

“Oh. My. God. You did not kiss Trip on the mouth. That did not happen!” I nearly squealed for joy.

Peter giggled. “Well, of course it was on the mouth. What kind of girl do you take me for?”

I pulled him close and hugged him to me fiercely. “Holy crap, Peter, this is so exciting!” I jerked away to look at him. “Are you kidding me? You kissed the second hottest guy in the entire swamp?”

Peter pushed my hands off and said prissily, “No. I kissed the hottest guy in the entire swamp.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it.

“Why are you laughing? That’s rude, you know. I just spilled my guts to you.”

“I know. It’s not funny. Well, it kind of is, but only because I know how it’s torturing Trip, and he totally deserves to be tortured a little.”

“Maybe a little,” admitted Peter. “He’s being a big baby about it.”

I calmed down. “Well, of course he is. He was probably raised to hate gay guys. You can’t blame him for being conflicted.”

“Conflicted. That’s a great word to use for Trip, actually.”

“Poor guy,” I said, play frowning.

“Poor guy, my butt,” said Peter. “He needs to stop playing games with me and get real.”

“Oooh, he’s playing games?” I rubbed my hands together. “Tell me. This sounds awesome.”

“Geez. You need to get a boyfriend, Bryn.”

His words hit me like a cold shower.

His face went from scolding to shocked, as soon as he realized what he’d said. “Oh, crap, Bryn. I’m so sorry. That was a stupid thing to say.”

I waved him off. “No. Don’t worry about it. I’m okay.”

Peter looked at me through narrowed eyes. “What are you doing, Bryn? I see something on your face I don’t like…”

“Pimples? I have a few, I know.” I brushed my face absently, trying to blow him off.

“Don’t play with me, girl. I’m not stupid. You’re planning something.” He grabbed my wrist with his girly claws. “Tell me right now.”

“No,” I said, pouting. “It’s none of your business.”

Peter’s mouth flopped open and closed. “Huh? Wha…? You …?” He dropped my wrist and lifted a finger, wagging it at me. “Oh, no ma’am. You are not playing that game with me. I told you my secrets and now you’re going to tell me yours. Or else!”

“Or else what?”

“Or else …” he narrowed his eyes at me. “I will tattle on you. To Kowi.”

“You wouldn’t,” I said menacingly.

“Oh, yes I would. So tell me now, or I’ll leave right this instant.”

“Do you have any idea how much you sound like a mother hen right now?”

“Mother hens cluck, and I am not clucking around.”

I giggled. “That was pretty good.”

“Yeah, I know, right?” Peter was smiling despite his seriousness. “Now, come on. I’ve told you my junk, now you tell me yours.”

I could hardly argue with my own words thrown in my face. “Fine. I’ll tell. But you have to promise to keep your big mouth shut about it.”

Peter mimed zipping his lip and locking it.

“Throw away the key, too. Don’t think I don’t know your game.”

Peter rolled his eyes and mimed throwing a key over his shoulder.

I thought about it for about two seconds before I told him. “As soon as my leg is better, I’m going after Bodo. And Winky’s coming with me.”

Chapter Three

PETER’S PROTESTS FELL ON DEAF ears. No matter what he said, I was going to find Bodo, so I ignored him. His voice reminded me of buzzing bees, and I fell asleep to the sound of his droning on and on about the danger involved and all the reasons I should just stay here in the swamp minding my own business. I woke up several hours later, alone.

“Come on, Buster. It’s got to be dinner time by now. Let’s go find the food.” Buster did his excited happy-dance, making me laugh with his enthusiasm for something he didn’t understand one bit.

We wandered over to the eating area. Fohi, Rob, and Yokci were the first people I saw, standing in the hut with some other guys. The food hadn’t shown up yet. They came over to talk as soon as they saw me.

“Oh, man …,” said Fohi, “… are you okay? I didn’t really see your leg before you left, but Paci said it was bad.” He was staring at my bandage.

“It’s okay. Not that deep. No stitches or anything.” I was looking around for Paci, but didn’t see him anywhere. I didn’t want to ask anyone where he was, though, so I just focused on the guys standing around me.

“Listen, Bryn … I gotta thank you for that. I mean, you really saved my ass today.”

“You’re damn right, she did,” said Yokci, which was kind of surprising because I never considered him one of my biggest fans. I think his general clumsiness with fighting made him feel nervous around me.

“Shit, I know, Yokci! That’s why I’m saying thank you! Geez!” Fohi pushed Yokci, barely moving him, since he was nearly twice Fohi’s size.

“Hands to yourself, twerp, or I’ll make you eat leaves,” warned Yokci.

“Yeah, right.” Fohi ignored Yokci to look at me again. “So anyway, thanks. I’d a-been poked bad if it weren’t for you.”

“Dude, you’d a-been Fohi-on-a-stick if it weren’t for her frigging ninja moves,” said Rob. “That was quick thinking, Bryn. One second I saw Fohi falling to his death, and the next you’re there like a human bridge or something, holding him over the pit. How’d you do that, anyway?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. I saw him falling and just moved.”

“Ninja, man. She’s a frigging ninja,” said Fohi, his voice full of admiration.

I laughed. “I’m not a ninja, you idiot. Just a dumbass who should have let you learn a painful lesson. I know I learned mine.” I looked down pointedly at my leg.

“Hey,” said Fohi, acting offended. “That’s kind of a harsh lesson, being skewered on a pike. And besides, what’s that all about … learning lessons or whatever? Don’t you agree with defending our territory?”

“Yeah, we need to defend it. I’ve got no problem with that. I’m just worried about one of us getting hurt, that’s all.”

“We got that taken care of,” said Fohi proudly. “Got it all mapped out today.” He pulled a paper out of his back pocket.

I held my hand out. “Can I see?”

“Not so fast,” said Coli from behind Fohi, snatching the map from his hand. “This goes to Kowi first.” She marched away and handed it to her boyfriend who had arrived and was standing on the other side of the hut.

“Frigging bi…,” said Fohi, stopping himself from saying the word, fuming at her back. “Where does she get off, huh?”

“Don’t worry about it, dude. It’s just Coli,” said Rob. “We were giving it to Kowi anyway. She just acted as your personal delivery girl, right?”

Fohi turned around and laughed bitterly. “Yeah. Right. Good one, Rob.”

Rob looked at me when Fohi turned to scowl at Coli again and rolled his eyes.

I had to stifle a giggle in the back of my hand. While my head was turned, I saw Paci enter the hut. I wanted to look away and pretend I didn’t care about him at all, but it was impossible. Not only was he striking to look at in general, but tonight his stride was purposeful and his expression was especially serious as he went right up to Kowi and whispered in his ear. He looked commanding and a little intimidating.

“What’s going on?” Rob said quietly.

“I have no idea,” I whispered back.

We didn’t have to wait long to find out. Kowi and Paci came over to stand in front of me. Kowi spoke first.

“Uh, Bryn … do you know someone named Jimmy?”

I looked at him confused. “What? No.” I tried to think back to my life before my dad left. There had been a guy named James in my trig class, but I had no idea where he was now, and he’d never gone by Jimmy that I knew of.

“How about someone named …” He stopped and looked at Paci.

Paci spoke up. “Sissy. He said her name was Sissy.”

“Sissy?” Suddenly, it dawned on me. “Wait a minute … do you mean Jimmy and Sissy at the Cracker Barrel?” I looked at them like they were crazy. Why in the hell would Jimmy and Sissy be here in the swamp? Could that mean Bodo’s here?

I grabbed Paci’s arm and squeezed it hard in my excitement, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest. “Is it Bodo?”

Paci took my hand and gently pulled it off his arm. “No. It’s not Bodo,” he responded, his face a blank mask. He may have even looked slightly irritated, but I didn’t take the time to decide if it was because I’d just put the kung fu grip on his forearm or because of some other reason.

I looked from him to Kowi, totally lost now. “What is it? Who is it? Why are you asking me this?”

Kowi sighed heavily. “There are a couple kids who just showed up at the canoe rental place. They started yelling until someone went to go see them. They said Jimmy and Sissy sent them and to ask for Bryn and Bodo.”

“So? Who is it?” I was getting frustrated with answers that didn’t make any sense.

“Two guys named Ronald and Jamal. They say they’re twins.”

I backed my head up involuntarily, pulling my chin in. “Who the hell are they? I don’t know anyone named Ronald and Jamal.”

“Well, they asked for you, so you need to come talk to them.”

I looked at Paci, lost for words.

He reached across the space between us, putting his hand on my back and pulling me forward, moving out of the way so I could precede him. “Come on. I’ll go with you.”

“So will I,” said Kowi.

“Oh, no you won’t,” said Coli coming up behind him. “No way are you getting in a canoe with your gut like that. Sorry.”

“Coli, I …”

“No!” she barked at him. Then in a calmer voice she said, “Trip can go. He’s on his way.”

Within seconds, the man of the hour came crashing through the trees, entering the area next to the hut, looking almost like a bull ready to chase down a matador.

“What’s going on?” Trip asked loudly. “We got canners nearby?” He was definitely ready for a fight.

“No, not canners. Friends of Bryn.”

“They’re not my friends,” I protested. “I have no idea who they are.”

“That’s why you’re going to go find out who they are and how they think they know you.” Kowi looked at the other chief. “Trip, go with her. Take a few guys. There’s only two of them that we know of, but bring weapons just to be sure. Keep at least four guys in hiding. Use the signals to let us know what’s going on.”

“Wait!” yelled Fohi. “You gotta look at the map! We put in some traps, and I don’t want anyone falling into one on the way.”

Trip shook his head. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“It’s not a bad idea, Trip,” said Kowi calmly. “You know we need to get our defenses lined up, and you need to know where they are before you go wandering around on the outskirts.” He opened up the map and showed it to all of us. Someone brought over a torch so we could see it better since the light was getting dim.