“What’s wrong with her?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “She got mad at a joke I made yesterday. I guess she’s still mad.”

  He shook his head. “Girls do that. A boy will tell you when he’s mad and then will be done being mad. Girls will tell you that nothing’s wrong and then they stay mad. They don’t even remember why they’re mad.”

  Jaden laughed. “That’s the truth.”

  They had reached the arena. Bella stood waiting, the frisbee dangled out of her mouth. Her tail gently swung back and forth. She brought it to Jaden and dropped it at her feet.

  “Do you want to throw it?” Jaden asked Benny.

  “I better not. My stomach might start bleeding again if I move too much.”

  “Oh, sorry! I forgot.” She picked up the frisbee and flung it. Bella raced the flying disc across the arena, leaping into the air and catching it. She ran back to Jaden and dropped it at her feet.

  “She’s cool,” Benny said.

  “I know. And she is so smart. Watch this.” Jaden sat on the hay bale and called Bella. When Bella came over, Jaden said, “Want your belly rubbed?”

  Bella put her front feet on the hay bale and scooched closer to Jaden so she could reach her belly.

  Benny laughed. He walked over and sat next to Jaden.

  “What’s going on in here?” The voice came from the door to the stable.

  Jaden turned around. Missy, Sissy and Erin stood in the doorway. Erin had a satisfied smile on her face.

  “Playing with Bella,” Jaden replied. “Do you guys want to play?”

  “I do,” said Sissy. She picked up the frisbee and flung it across the arena. Bella watched it fly and then turned back to Jaden, ignoring the frisbee.

  “Get the frisbee,” Jaden said.

  Bella dashed across the arena and scooped the frisbee into her mouth. She pranced to Jaden and dropped it at her feet. Jaden picked it up and handed it to Sissy. Missy and Erin had disappeared.

  Sissy flung the frisbee again. This time, Bella returned it to her.

  Benny chuckled. “She really is smart.”

  “The smartest dog I’ve ever seen.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Benny’s mother, Denise, joined the group for lunch in the bunkhouse. Her face was more purple than anything. She walked slowly, slightly bent over and favoring her left side. Benny sat on her left side and his aunt, Sherrie, sat to her right. They stayed close, helping to keep her food and drink within easy reach.

  Nelda Jones who had worked in the hospital before the flare joined them at the table, sitting across from Denise. Allison and James also sat with them.

  After lunch, Jaden helped clear the tables and wash dishes. When the last dish was put away on the shelf above the bench, Jaden turned to look around. Erin and the twins were sitting in the back corner of the bunkhouse playing a game of cards.

  Jaden walked to the corner. “Can I play?”

  Sissy smiled and moved over. Missy threw her cards on the tale and stood. “I’m done.” She turned and stomped away.

  Erin sat quietly; a small smile curved the corners of her mouth.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Jaden asked. “Did I do something to make her mad?”

  Sissy laughed. “She thinks you are trying to steal her boyfriend.”

  Jaden’s brows furrowed. “Her boyfriend?”

  Her eyes widened. “You mean Benny? I didn’t know he was her boyfriend. I’m not stealing him. I was just being his friend.”

  Sissy shot Erin a glare. “I believe you, but there are some people in this group who just like to stir crap.”

  Jaden looked at Erin. “Did you say anything to make her think I was trying to steal Benny?”

  Erin shrugged. “I let her know you’d taken him to the arena. I didn’t have to say anything else. You two were quite cozy when she checked on you.”

  “Unbelievable!” Jaden muttered. “As if we don’t have enough trouble in our lives right now, you have to drive wedges between people.”

  She stood and turned to Sissy. “Please let your sister know that I don’t want Benny for a boyfriend.”

  She walked across the bunkhouse without looking at Mary and exited through the side door. She walked past the picnic tables and across the yard to the garden. Once there, she reached down and pulled a ripe tomato from a plant. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she rubbed the tomato on her shirt and took a bite as she walked toward the tree line.

  A narrow path led between thorny trees. Raspberry bushes, vines reaching out to snag anything passing by, caught on her jeans. She ignored each obstacle in her path until she reached the plateau. She had discovered this secret plateau when she went to see if she could watch the men cut firewood. Only about forty feet from the house, the trail was obviously used by animals but not by humans.

  The trail sloped gently downhill, winding between thorny locusts and berries until it ended at a flat area - about eight foot square - that jutted out from the surrounding ground. Past the level spot, the ground gave way to a steep drop off. The river ran fifty or sixty feet below.

  The path she’d taken was the only way to get to this secret place. The walls on either side were covered in thorny vegetation too thick for any living thing to penetrate. The front dropped off. It was possible that someone could climb up from the river, but it would be a hard climb.

  She sat on a fallen log, took a bite out of the tomato, and watched the river flow far below.

  Why would Erin dislike her and start acting like a bully? She hadn’t done anything to her. Well, except for the joke when they were hiding in the tack room. Was that all it took to bring out the bully?

  She was so lost in thought that when a thump occurred to her left, she jumped. She leapt from the log and spun around wildly. There was nothing there.

  She sat back on the log. A thump in front of her caused her to jump, then spin around.

  “Who’s there?” she called. “Benny, is that you?”

  She heard a deep chuckle and a shiver ran down her neck.

  “Don’t be afraid, Jaden,” a deep voice replied. “My name is Will Mead. You met me at supper last night. I didn’t mean to scare you but I know I have. I apologize. I’m not going to come down there.”

  “I remember you. You were the guy with long hair. How did you know where I was?” She turned her back to the river and faced the trail back to the house.

  “I’m going to go up by the garden. Why don’t you come on up and we can talk?”

  Jaden had never wanted to leave a beautiful place as fast as she wanted out of this beautiful plateau. She shivered at the thought that this could have been someone wanting to do harm to her and she had been trapped - unless she had been willing to plunge into the river from a scary height.

  She made her way up the slope. When she stepped into the yard, the man who’d scared her was sitting on the garden bench waiting. He lifted his hand from his knee and wiggled his fingers in a wave.

  She approached him slowly.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “I wasn’t scared.” She raised her chin and looked him in the eye for just a second before looking away.

  “Did it enter your mind that you were trapped there?”

  “Not until you started throwing rocks at me.” She glared at him.

  He raised both hands. “I wasn’t throwing them at you. I was simply trying to get your attention and get you to think about your predicament.”

  “My predicament was that I wanted to be alone. You ruined it.”

  “Jaden, our world has turned upside down in the past week. What used to be safe isn’t safe anymore. We are safer here than we would be in cities, but there might be people looking for trouble anywhere. We all have to learn what to look for and what to do about it. Can I ask that you don’t go back down there alone again?”

  Jaden nodded.

  “Good!” he said. “I’m going to talk to Allison and suggest that we have a couple classes to teach everyone about awareness in your surroundings and how to get away from someone who might be coming for you. Things like that.”

  “Are you going to tell her that I snuck down there?”

  “No,” he said with a grin. “And I won’t tell her that you stole a tomato either.”

  Jaden felt her cheeks burn.

  “Okay.” He stood and looked toward the barn. “I have a meeting to set up security details. We have a lot of important decisions to make. Would you like to join us?”

  “I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t really want to.”

  He chuckled. “You are quite an old soul, Jaden. I’m really going to enjoy our time here. See you at supper.”

  She nodded and watched him walk to the barn and disappear through the side door before she turned and entered the barn through the arena.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Will Mead stood at the white board in the back corner of the bunkhouse. Erin, Missy, Sissy and Jaden sat facing him at the table. Erin and Missy leaned toward each other whispering and giggling.

  The door to the stable banged shut and Benny approached the table. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to slam it.”

  Jaden noticed he seemed to be in less pain than he had been when he first joined the group. He no longer favored his side and swung his arms freely when he walked instead of holding it close to his wound.

  He crossed to the table and slid into the only empty seat - next to Jaden.

  Erin snorted. Missy made a small croaking noise.

  “Okay,” Will said. “As you all know, Allison wanted me to spend a little time covering a few things that might keep you safe.”

  Erin snorted again. She muttered something, but the only words Jaden caught were, “stealing boyfriends.”

  Will raised his eyebrows. “Have we got something going on here that I should know about?”

  Sissy laughed. She leaned across her sister and jabbed her finger at Erin. “Not unless you want to get into this one putting crap in this one’s head.” She pointed at her sister.

  Will looked from Erin to Missy and then to Sissy and Jaden.

  Jaden dropped her eyes and examined her fingernails.

  “Why did the bully want to go to hairdresser school?” Will walked over and stood in front of Erin.

  She shrugged.

  “So she could tease hair,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes and sighed.

  “Knock Knock,” Will said.

  Erin picked up her pencil and examined it.

  Will stepped directly in front of her. “Knock Knock.”

  Erin let out a deep sigh. “Who’s there?”

  “A jerk who wants to mess with you.”

  “Go away,” she muttered.

  “Exactly.” Will waited until she looked up at him.

  “Listen,” he said softly. “I understand that you are just a kid and haven’t seen or experienced everything in the outside world, but it’s important to learn that causing trouble never makes a person happy. You won’t find happiness in bullying.”

  “I’m not a bully.” Erin raised her head and looked Will in the eye. “I’m just supporting my friend, Missy.”

  “I’m not going to go into this any further,” Will said. “I am just going to tell you one thing. Bullies see themselves as someone not to be messed with. Sometimes they really think that they are in the right. Other times they feel threatened by someone and it scares them. So they react to those fears by acting tough. But know this… the people who watch the bully know what’s going on. They don’t respect the bully; they feel sorry for them. Don’t become that person that people have no respect for.”

  He turned and walked back to the white board.

  “Now, Allison has asked me to teach you guys a few things that will keep you safer. We’ll meet every day for a while and spend about fifteen or twenty minutes learning. Today we are going to talk a little about evasion.”

  He looked at each child.

  “None of you should ever be alone away from the yard. We have a full security team that makes sure that no one can get close to the bunkhouse or the yard. Any time you leave the yard, like to help harvest or scavenge, there are members of the security team with you. But things happen. It is plausible that you could get separated from the group and be out alone. If a bad guy decides to follow you, for whatever reason, knowing how to evade that person or persons will help you and the community.”

  He paused before continuing. “What would you do if you were down by the river all alone, and you saw someone coming your way? You don’t think they’ve seen you yet but if you don’t do something, they will see you soon.”

  He looked at each child, then pointed at Sissy. “You. What would you do?”

  “I’d run,” she said.

  “How about you?” He looked at Benny.

  “I’d probably hide,” he shrugged.

  “Jaden?”

  “I don’t know.” She scratched her nose. “I’d probably run. Isn’t that what evading is? Getting away from the danger?”

  Will nodded. “What’s important to learn is that running is not the same thing as evading. Running calls attention to you. If the bad guy or bad guys haven’t seen you yet, they will see you when you start to run. Evading is getting away from them, whether they saw you or not, without them finding where you went.”

  “So you just duck and crawl away. Simple.” Erin twirled a lock of hair around her finger and then let it fall.

  “The problem with that,” Will said, “is that if your bad guy knows how to track, he’ll follow the trail you make crawling away. There are a few rules that I want you to learn about evading. We will discuss these every day and talk about them. If the time ever comes, we will have talked about them enough that these rules will stay in your head and you’ll know what to do.”

  “The first rule.” He turned to the white board and wrote ‘Leave no trace.’

  “Leave no trace,” he said. “That means anything. Food wrappers, candy wrappers, anything at all. If you stick your hand in your pocket and pull it out, even that little piece of fluff is trace. A good tracker will find that.

  “You also want to be careful that your clothes don’t get caught on a branch or a thorn and leave trace behind. Watch where you’re stepping. If the ground is soft and you are on a trail, you are likely to leave tracks.”

  Erin sighed.

  Will ignored her. “Remember that soft areas of ground can leave so much information behind. Mud, snow, sand, soft dirt, and even hard dirt with dust on it all are easy to track on. Even tall grass can be easy because your tracker will be able to see the bent over grass from where you stepped or crawled. If you have a choice, use rocky surfaces.

  “If you are in the woods, you won’t leave much of a track in the leaves on the ground, but you have to pay attention that you don’t accidentally snap a twig or leave a thread of clothing hanging.”

  Erin muttered something that Jaden didn’t understand.

  “What was that you said?” Will asked.

  She shrugged. “I just said that if we never leave the yard, we don’t have to worry about this crap.”

  “So your plan is to never leave the yard?”

  She shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

  “If the whole group has to leave for some reason, you are going to stay here, in your room?”

  “If the whole group had to leave, they’d take me with them.”

  “But you still don’t know how to move without leaving trace. So, you are going to put the whole group at risk because you are in too bad of a mood to learn what you need to do.”

  She dropped her hand to the table, leaned back her head, and sighed. “I was listening, okay. I heard what you said. I learned. I just think it’s stupid that we have to learn this stuff.”

  “You have to learn it sometime. Why not now? Why not give yourself a couple years of practice so that when you are older, and actually expected to be alone at times, this is second nature to you and you don’t have to think about it?”

  “I said I learned it. I was listening,” she snapped.

  “Then let’s go out and give it a little test run.” He looked toward the table near the stove where Riley and Mary were drinking coffee.

  “Riley,” he called. “Want to play tracker up here in the yard so we can see what they picked up on this morning?”