“What else is involved?” I asked, mirroring her movements along the path.

“Depends on what kind of cloth. If it’s cotton, we harvest the cotton, separate it from the seeds, and then go through a few other steps to eventually turn it into a thin yarn. If it’s wool, we sheer, wash, and spin. That’s a very simplified version, but you get the idea.”

“Wool? You guys have sheep?”

“Yep. Goats, cows, and horses, too.”

I looked around. “Where are they?”

Mandy laughed. “Not here, obviously.”

“Obviously,” I said, feeling stupid.

“We have a ranch that’s not far away. You can get to it by canoe.”

“Aren’t you guys afraid of canners or other people getting out there?”

“No. We keep it hidden. And protected. Even more now that you guys have let us know about the canners.”

“That’s cool.”

“Would you like to see it sometime? I could take you.”

“I’d love to.” I couldn’t believe I was actually going to see a horse again. I’d never been one for riding before, but I couldn’t ignore what great transportation they’d be these days. “Do you guys use the horses for getting around?”

“Yeah, sometimes. But we worry about taking them out in front of hungry kids for obvious reasons.”

I shook my head. “It’s so ridiculous. I mean, there’s enough food on this planet that no one needs to go around eating kids or horses or dogs or any of that crazy stuff.”

“You and I know that, but they don’t. You’d be surprised how many kids think food just appears in boxes from some factory somewhere. I don’t think they ever questioned where their food started, you know, as crops and things.”

“Even if they did, they probably think those crops are all gone and can’t be used anymore.”

“Exactly. Maybe someday we’ll be able to educate people and make some changes. But until then, we have to worry about ourselves and keep our animals away from the wackos.”

We had arrived at the pool and I looked around, trying to find the gator traps.

“Are you coming?” Mandy had walked ahead and was already partway down one of the wooden walkways, going towards the ring of huts.

“Yeah. I’m just looking for the gator sticks.”

“Gator sticks?”

“Yeah. The sharp sticks that keep the gators out.”

“Oh. They’re farther that way and over there.” She gestured to the perimeter around the outside of the huts.

“What about the snakes? What makes them stay away?”

“Ginger and Sneaky, the raccoons, the foxes, herons, bass, some other snakes…”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Ginger and Sneaky?”

“Our cats. The snakes don’t really like them. Plus we have several king snakes around here.”

“King snakes?”

“Yeah. They’re badass. Kind of like canners to the cottonmouths.”

I felt myself go faint. “Cottonmouths? There are cottonmouths here?”

She smiled. “Yeah, of course. These are the Everglades, you know.”

I looked at the pool with new eyes. “Holy crap. I swam in a snake’s bedroom last night.”

Mandy walked over and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the huts. “No you didn’t, goofball. There are no snakes here. We make way too much noise, the cats are always here, and the raccoons never get enough to eat. Believe me, there are much more peaceful places for them to hang out than here.”

I eyed the water, but saw no wiggly things moving around. “I want to see these cats.”

“Well, come on, then. They’re probably inside begging for attention.”

We walked across the boards until we reached a hut that had its cloth sides on but rolled up. There were already a few people inside, none of whom was Peter. Dammit.

“Bryn’s here to watch us make cloth.” Mandy left me to go sit down at a loom. At least that’s what it looked like to me.

“Whoa. That’s cool,” I said, going over to stand next to her. I reached out to touch it.

“Ah-ah-ah! Don’t touch.” She raised her hand as if to slap me.

I jerked my hand back. “Sorry.”

“Just watch and learn, grasshopper,” she said.

She moved some levers and passed a hunk of wood with some yarn around it though the middle of what looked like guitar strings stretched across the frame. She pulled back on a wooden bar, shifted a lever dropping something down, and then moved the hunk of wood through again from the other side. I watched her for a few minutes and was fascinated to see an actual piece of cloth starting to appear at the frame near her stomach.

“Wow, that is so cool.”

“Yeah,” she smiled up at me. “It is, right? I never knew clothes started out this way until I came here.”

“That doesn’t look like clothes material, though,” I said, leaning over to touch it.

She slapped my hand away. “Don’t touch. It’s not for clothes. This is what we use for rugs and blankets.”

“Oh, man. I want a rug like this.” The colors were crazy vibrant and I could see samples of finished products folded up on a shelf nearby with patterns on them.

“Play your cards right and you might get one,” she said turning back to her work. “Now go away. I’m busy.”

I frowned. “I want to try.”

She shook her head. “Nope. I have a quota I have to get done today. Talking to you is slowing me down. Maybe another time.”

I felt rejected, but knew I couldn’t get in the way of their plans. They had a whole group of new kids to clothe and keep comfortable. No way was I going to be to blame for getting in the middle of that.

Just then Peter came walking in. “Hey, Bryn. What’re you doing here?”

“Didn’t they tell you? I’m head weaver now.”

Peter frowned at me for about two seconds before he said, “Yeah right. That’ll be the day.” He took a seat at one of the looms nearby that was unoccupied, pulling a couple levers and picking up the hunk of wood to start weaving as if he’d been doing it his whole life.

“I’ve got your workout schedule put together,” he said without looking at me. “I assume you can start tomorrow. Is that going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” I said absently, watching him work. I wandered over closer, wondering if I could get him to give me a try. “So, do you have quotas too?”

“Yeah. But they’re not as bad as Mandy’s. She’s the top dog around here.”

“Watch who you’re callin’ dog, dog.”

Peter smiled. “Whatever, Mandycat.”

Peter seemed happy here - less stressed than he did back at the hut or when I saw him talking to the mystery man in the trees.

“So, Peter, where were you this morning?” I asked as quietly as I could and still be heard over the clacking of the looms’ boards.

“Around. Coming here.”

“I left after you and got here before you, though.”

“I was in the bathroom.”

“I went there too.”

Peter sighed and stopped working to stare at me. “Am I in trouble for something? Why do I feel like you’re watching my every move?”

“Uhhh, because I am?”

“Why?” he whispered, glancing over at Mandy. I looked at her too, but she seemed very focused on her work. Another girl came in and sat down at her loom. The clacking in the room got louder.

“Because,” I whispered back. “You’re being mysterious and sneaking around and stuff.”

He frowned at me. “The only one sneaking around is you. And not doing a very good job of it, either.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Meet me for lunch. We need to talk.”

“I’m busy.”

“Peter, I’m not kidding. I seriously need to talk to you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll meet you at our place at lunchtime. Don’t be late.”

“I wouldn’t dreeeaam of it,” I said, reaching over to pinch his cheek. “See you later, hot stuff.”

Peter tried to stay grouchy at me but a smile snuck out. “Bye.”

I left the loom area, keeping a close eye on the pool, seeing nothing moving inside but the currents of water that were feeding it. I still wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea of going in again, but maybe that was because it was still cool out. My tolerance for danger seemed to move up and down with the weather and circumstances.

Thoughts of my wavering bravery reminded me that Paci and I never did have that conversation about the defenses they were constructing. So even though I was a little worried about him thinking I was tracking him down because I liked being with him, I decided to go find Paci anyway and see what he and his group had been up to.

***

Paci and his group of defenders were working near the area where Peter, Bodo, and I had first pulled up in the swamps. I’d wandered a good hour before I was able to track them down, getting various directions from people I stumbled upon along the way.

Paci was down in a hole banging away on something. I approached the edge and looked down to find him waist-deep in black water, looking dirty and sweaty as hell.

“What are you doing down there?”

“Oh … hey, Bryn. Pounding in some stakes. Wanna come join me?” He smiled invitingly.

I grimaced. “No thanks.” I looked up at Fohi who was standing across from me, handing things down to Paci as he asked for them.

“Pretty tight, eh?” he asked.

“If tight means dangerous-looking, then yeah. Tight.”

He puffed out his chest with pride. “Anyone thinking about showing up here unannounced is going to get a little surprise … a nasty one.”

I nodded, not sure what to think about this vicious trap. Anyone falling in would instantly become a shish-kabob.

“Help me out. I’m done here,” said Paci, holding up his hand to Fohi.

Fohi grabbed it and pulled, but a piece of the ground underneath him near the edge of the hole crumbled, causing him to lose his footing.

He let go of Paci and his arms flailed out to the sides as he fell forward, his feet now on solid ground, but his body angling down towards the pit and moving almost in slow motion.

Paci let go and fell back slightly, able to catch himself on the inner wall of the pit.

Fohi, however, had nowhere to go but straight down horizontally. And down he was going, his entire torso headed for about ten sharpened stakes at the bottom of the pit.

I did the only thing I could think to do, not stopping to consider the possible outcomes. I leaned over the pit and connected my hands to the top of Fohi’s shoulders, stopping his descent into the hole.

Unfortunately, now we were both leaning over it, and only the triangle made by our feet on the crumbling edges and our connection at his shoulders over the top of the pit were keeping both of us from being skewered below.

“Ahh, Bryn!” Fohi yelled in a high voice. “What are you doing?!”

“Holy, shit, Bryn!” yelled Paci, backing up against the wall as tightly as he could. “What the hell?!” He reached his hands up, but he couldn’t touch either of us.

“Get someone!” I grunted out. “Pull back on both of us … at the same time.” I could feel my feet slipping.

“Hurry up!” yelled Fohi, his voice two octaves higher. “Ahhhhhhh!” He was yelling and gripping onto my wrists with his hands. His body was shaking with the stress of staying nearly horizontal over the hole. My abs and back muscles were burning from the effort of not collapsing.

Hands grabbed my waist from behind. “Wait!” I yelled. “Fohi needs to get pulled back at the same time or he’s gonna fall in!” His rescuer wasn’t in position yet. We waited the few precious seconds for him to get there; it was Yokci and he looked majorly stressed at his responsibility. I watched as he positioned his feet on either side of Fohi.