“One time, I got the shits so bad I had to travel with a plastic bag on my butt,” Derrick told her.

Rose scrunched up her nose. “What, like a diaper?”

Derrick mimicked holding a grocery bag by the handles. “No, like a friggin’ bag. Like something that could hold a load, but, like, a real load.”

Rose squinted, imaging for a moment how this would work. “Waaaaiiittttt…” And then she laughed so hard they had to stop for her to catch her breath.

Derrick waddled around her, legs bowed as if he were clutching something between his butt cheeks.

“Stop!” Her cheeks were shiny with tears. “Oh my god, stop.”

Derrick righted himself and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her forward. “Come on, Morriseau. We gotta keep moving. If I could do it then, you can do it now.” He pretended to be interested in the twisted trees they passed under, but it was all he could do to hold himself together while her laughter pulled him to pieces.

CHAPTER 8

A GIRL AND A GUN

The Family

NO ONE BACK AT CAMP PANICKED. THEY KNEW exactly where Rose had gone and why, and they knew that Derrick had followed after her. They knew because they knew these kids so well, but also because Derrick had left behind a note, scribbled in pencil on the back of a tear of birch bark paper.

Gone to the schools to find the kid. We’re all good. Took a rifle. I’ll bring them back—Rose and the gun.

“Fools,” Bullet hissed. Despite all the clamor and gnashing of teeth, she liked the girl. It was a fondness born out of respect, which was even rarer than straight-up kindness or having things in common. The truth was, they did have things in common—they all did. That was why it was so hard to be removed and skeptical these days. Survival made a hell of a social glue.

It would be six more sleeps until Carole returned with an update. Then they should know exactly which school the boy had been taken to and could set out to recover him. And even then, it wasn’t like they could just walk up to the building, knock on the front door, and politely ask for him back. It wasn’t like they had the manpower or the weapons to storm in. But once they knew where he was and got details on the property and routines, then they could scheme. Maybe the Recruiters would move him. They could try to highjack the convoy, like they had for the old woman. That one hadn’t turned out so well, but there were lessons to be learned from it, and they had, they had learned. At a terrible cost. But now they had to worry about where these two idiots had gone? She spoke her worry out loud.

“How are they even going to choose to the right school? And that’s even if they make it there,” she sighed. “But I cannot think of a good way of getting them back. I mean, how do we know which way they went?”