I looked for some smart backtalk, but he cut me off.

“No. Promise. Swear. I need to know you’ll be here when I get back.”

There it was again, that faint bloom of hope. Lizzy, urging me to give the unexpected a chance. But say it aloud? No way.

All I could do was nod.

TWENTY-NINE

Dinner time came and went. Too soon to expect Daniel, and besides, it was only me waiting for him. But Jake and Spunk should have been back and Rubio’s scouting party upriver hadn’t scheduled an overnight. The den was subdued, feeling the risk of our reduced numbers, worried for our absent denmates. Rousseau and Maxine had holed up in his office. Was he was now regretting his cell phone ban, each time the door watch sent a runner upstairs with a useless update?

I huddled in the Mess with Rivera, Poppy, and Jenn, pushing tepid veggie stew around the sides of my bowl. Poppy had slipped right into our girl group like she’d always been a Joe, and maybe she should have been. Her diffident cheer helped ease us past the occasional tension or disagreement. With Rivera so distracted by the Macy kids, it was good to have a new voice in the mix. She didn’t even mind when we called her Machete Girl.

The kids were mostly sleeping, but lanterns glowed late out in Main, folks clustering in the dim pools, speculating quietly. The Mess doors were propped open so we’d hear an alarm from the watch, but also to catch any stray breeze. With all windows and doors boarded or locked tight for extra security, the den was more like an oven than usual. We were all stripped down to the least we could wear without causing a ruckus.

“I can’t believe Gracie bulled her way onto the boat!” Rivera’s long hair was bound up in a clasp on top of her head. Rogue tendrils escaped as she jabbed her spoon into her bowl. “Telling Rubio she knew all about the Zodiac!”

Poppy’s nod was half-admiring. “Bullshit goes a long way.”

“You wouldn’t have gone,” I reminded Rivera. “You’d have to leave the kids.”

She shrugged. “True. But it’s the principle of the thing.”

“At least they took Breakers.” I’d had a lesson in useful lies and ruthless confidence, watching Grace work Rubio over. “She’ll share the inside chat when she’s back.”

“They all got so full of themselves,” Rivera said. “Even that geeky Irv.”

Old habit made me defend Rubio. “They say if this works out, it’ll change the whole structure of den life. Move us into the future.”

“Such as it is,” muttered Rivera.

“I don’t want to move. Until it’s off the Island for good.” Jenn eyed my bowl. “You leaving all that?”

“Not hungry.” I slid it her way.