“You’re planning something, aren’t you?” He stepped over a log before continuing. “I know what you’re doing. It’s that Bodo thing, isn’t it?”

“Shhhh, shut up. We’re almost back to our hut.”

“Put me down as thinking this is a bad idea. Get that voting machine out of your butt again so I can make it official.”

“It’s not a machine, idiot, it’s a system. And you don’t get to cast a vote. I live in a dictatorship and I’m the dictator. If you don’t agree, just keep your thoughts to yourself.” I looked at the firm line of his lips and stubborn jaw and added, “And don’t you dare tell Bodo, or I’ll give you the worst wedgie you’ve ever had in your entire life.”

“I’ll fight back.”

“No, you won’t. Your nuts’ll be too far up in your throat to do that.”

“Youch,” said Peter, respect in his voice. “You don’t mess around with your wedgies.”

“No, I don’t. They’re krav maga wedgies and a whole different animal.”

We arrived at the edge of our hut to find Bodo lying on one of the mattresses.

Chapter Two

I STAYED IN THE LIVING area of our hut, refusing on principle to go talk to Bodo first. As far as I was concerned, he was the one who had stormed off and acted like a jerk, so it was his responsibility to make things right.

He was talking to Peter. I tried to listen in and figure out what they were saying, but they were speaking in annoyingly low voices that made the individual words impossible to discern. I acted busy, messing up Peter’s can arrangement on the shelves.

My attempts at eavesdropping were interrupted by the arrival of Trip carrying a big basket filled with food. He was the last person I expected to be making a dinner delivery.

“Hey,” I said, as he walked up and handed me the basket. All kinds of things were mixed together inside. I guess the boys and I will be sharing tonight.

I dropped a hunk of bread on the ground for Buster to chew on while he waited for the real food to arrive. Buster was partial to the hunks of deer or gator meat we’d been getting.

“Hey. Kowi asked me to drop this off on my way out.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you stopped by, actually. I forgot to mention something at the meeting that’s pretty important.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” he asked, leaning on one of the poles that held up our hut, his arms crossed.

“The plan for going after those canners. The ones that are holding those kids.”

“No need to discuss it. We’re not going anywhere.”

“What?” I almost thought I had misunderstood. But his firm look told me he probably wasn’t joking. “Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe he, of all people, was saying this.

“Yes, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Uh, because there are innocent kids being murdered? … But only after being dismembered while they’re still alive, maybe?” I felt like I was being messed with. Does he really need this explained? I was starting to think Trip was thicker in the head than I had imagined.

“Kids are dying all over the world. It’s not my problem. I’m just going to worry about my people here in Kahayatle and that’s it.”

“I … uh … shit, I guess I don’t have anything to say to that - except you’re an ignorant jerk.”

He bristled at my evaluation. “I don’t do what I do here to impress you.”

“I would think you’d at least want to impress your own people. Fight for their survival.”

“When and if the cannibals come to my world, then I’ll deal with them.”

“Oh, that’s a brilliant idea. The Sitting Duck Plan. I’m sure the canners will love it. It’ll make their job a lot easier.”

Trip frowned at me. “It’s not being a sitting duck. It’s being smart, lying low.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s being ignorant - trying to pretend things aren’t happening when they are. But hey … if you’re afraid and can’t handle it, no big deal. I’ll just do it without you.”

He stood up, moving away from the pole to get closer to me. “First of all, I’m not afraid. Anyone who knows me, knows that. Second of all, you can’t go out of the swamp without my permission, so you can forget your little plans for going after anyone while you live here.” He was close enough now that he was towering over me, once again trying to intimidate me with his attitude and strength.

I heard someone behind me, first some footsteps and then a voice.

“You need to get back over dare, indian guy, becausse Bryn doesn’t like it when people get at her face like dat. And neither do I.”

I was still mad at Bodo for his earlier crap, but thankful as hell that he had my back right now. I was exhausted from all the training I’d already done today and wasn’t in the mood to fight anyone right now - particularly the one guy in the whole place who I knew could give me a run for my money.

“This has nothing to do with you, white boy.”

“White boy? I’m not white. Maybe a little bit pink or maybe beige. But not white.”

I turned halfway to look at Bodo, wondering if he was messing with Trip or just that confused over the vernacular. His expression gave nothing away.

“You’re nuts, you know that?” said Trip.

“Whatever you want to say, I don’t care. But you don’t get to talk to Bryn like dat.”

“Says who?”

“Sayss me.”

“Right. And you’re nothing to me or her, so back off.”

“I’m am, too. I am her boyfriend,” Bodo said boldly.

I cringed at Trip’s next words.

“Not according to her, you’re not. So go back to your little mattress meeting over there with twig-boy, and let the grown-ups talk.”

I was shoved out of the way before I had a second to think. One minute I was standing in between them, and the next I was on the floor looking up at a complete mess.

Bodo had launched himself at Trip, putting him in a headlock. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it happen myself. He landed a couple punches into Trip’s face too, before they fell into the shelves, knocking the cans all over the place.

I scrambled over to the opening between the two huts, joining Peter.

“What in the heck is going on?!” he shouted.

“Idiots are fighting,” I said, in a mostly calm voice.

“About what?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” I said. My answer was pretty much true. From my perspective, they weren’t fighting over the same thing.

“Guess,” said Peter, wryly.

“Well, I think Trip’s fighting because Bodo challenged his manliness.”

“Oooh, that’s bad.”

“Yeah. And I think Bodo’s fighting because Trip told him I said Bodo isn’t my boyfriend.”

Peter winced. “Ouch. That had to hurt.”

I shrugged. “I guess.” I was actually surprised by Bodo’s reaction. He always seemed so non-violent. The only time he’d come after me was in a joking way, and I’d never seen him fight anyone else. When he came after me, he did it so amateurishly and half-heartedly, I had assumed he didn’t know how to fight at all.

I watched him now, admiring his technique. He was a little sloppy, but he got points for creativity. “Wow, he’s really holding his own in there,” I said absently, watching him land a few punches into Trip’s gut before being grabbed in a bear hug that sent them both flying across the hut and into the railing.

Unfortunately for them, the railing had endured enough abuse already, what with me using it as a launching pad a few days earlier for Paci or Yokci when they were fighting me. It broke at the spot where Bodo’s back hit it, sending both of them into the swamp.

A big wall of water came up, soaking part of our hut’s floor. Peter rushed over to move our mattresses out of the possible splash zone.

I thought the cool swamp would cool the two idiots down, but all it seemed to do was make them madder. Punches were flying and attempts were made at drowning each other.

Peter and I just watched in awed suspense. We were soon joined by Kowi, Paci, and Jeremy.

“What in the hell is going on here?” asked Kowi.

“Testosterone overload,” I said.

“Holy shit, that dude can fight,” said Jeremy, giving Bodo some respect.

“Yeah, who’d a thought?” I said, still mystified as to how he was holding out so well against Trip. I had really underestimated Bodo and felt a little bad about it now. I should have been giving him private lessons all along - he could have been my star pupil. Maybe I could remedy that later if he wasn’t too mad at me for being somewhat responsible for the black eye I knew he was going to have tomorrow.

“What’d you say to get them fighting like this?” asked Paci, smiling at the scene in front of him.

“Why do you assume it was me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Jeremy, looking at me for a second and then back to the fight.

Bodo plowed into Trip again, sending him down on his back into the water. Both of them disappeared for a few tense seconds before they came back up sputtering. Trip took the advantage and slammed Bodo in the jaw, knocking him sideways.

“No, it’s not obvious. What happened is that I was telling Trip we needed a plan for going after the canners, and he was telling me how it wasn’t going to happen and how he wasn’t allowing me out of the swamp. And then Bodo stepped in to defend me. That’s it.”

“I guess this is something we probably should have discussed earlier,” said Kowi, sighing. “I meant to talk to you about changing your regular krav maga training sessions into something that can prepare us for more immediate stuff. Like going after those guys who messed with Celia.”

“Yeah, I can do that. Not sure how far I can get, though. It’ll depend on how much time I have.”

“They’re getting tired,” said Jeremy. “Should we stop them?”

“Nah. Let them work it out,” said Kowi. He turned to me, putting his back to the fight. “So you think we should go after them, then? The canners?”

“Heck, yes. Otherwise we’re just sitting here waiting for them to attack us. Let’s go get those poor kids out of there and end the problem before it comes to us.”

“I agree,” said Paci. “We can’t let what happened to Celia go unpunished.”

“I agree, too,” said Jeremy.

I looked over at the fighters. “Well, maybe you can explain to your fearless leader then, because he seems to think it’s a terrible idea.”

“He doesn’t like the idea of us mixing with the outside world at all,” explained Jeremy. “He thinks that’s what got our people in trouble in the first place, a couple hundred years ago. He wants to try and avoid the mistakes of our past.

I considered it for a second, trying to put myself in his shoes, but before I could speak my mind on the subject, Kowi put in his two cents.

“Well, I don’t agree with him, and it’s not just up to him anymore.”

Jeremy shrugged. “It’s your funeral. Go ahead and tell him you don’t agree.”

“I will,” said Kowi, standing straighter. “Come on. Let’s go get these fools out of there before they call the gators over.”

“Call the gators?” I said in a weak voice.

Paci looked back at me, smiling. “Yeah. Gators like struggling animals, stuck in the muck. Easy dinner.”

“Oh, crap,” I said pretty much to myself. No one but Peter could hear me, now that the others were all out there trying to pull the two roosters apart.