“Yeah,” said Kowi. “Tell him to come see me. I want to be sure he’s okay with all this. If he is, we can start planning tomorrow. I’m sure Nurse Coli will tell me I can’t do anything else today after this meeting.”
“Sounds lame,” I said.
“She’s just looking out for me,” he said, shrugging. He obviously didn’t care she was smothering him.
Good for them. Even wackos need love. “Alright, so I’ll see you later.” I held my hand out for a fist bump and Kowi joined in. Peter tried but fumbled around helplessly, so I just grabbed him in a hug before releasing him and walking out of the hut. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” I shouted over my shoulder. “Come on, Buster. Let’s go take a walk,” I said, patting my leg to get his attention.
“Where are you going?” yelled Peter.
“Nowhere!” I said, lying my butt off. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Okay. Later.” Peter left going in the opposite direction.
I practiced my quiet walking techniques as I headed out to the clearing where I’d first seen Bodo with Nina. I was going to give the harmonica in my pocket a try, and see if I could call any scary-looking pterodactyls over to me.
The leaves crunched under my feet and I sighed, knowing that despite my best efforts, I still sounded like a herd of pachyderms moving through the brush.
***
I reached the clearing where I’d seen Bodo working with Nina a couple times. There were gators lazing around near the banks and some long-legged birds out in the water, wading around looking for fish; but there were no big hawks that I could see. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, really. A part of me had hoped to see her and another part didn’t really want that. Maybe if she wasn’t here it meant she was somewhere with Bodo, looking for a way to come home.
I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my uninjured forearm. Just in case Nina did come, I didn’t want her to tear my skin apart. I wasn’t sure if the shirt would be enough, but I figured it was better than nothing.
I pulled the harmonica out of my pocket and stared at it for a few seconds. It was the first time I’d really examined it since Winky had handed it to me. Bodo had always kept it in his pocket, so I’d never really gotten a good look at it. I turned it over, noticing a scrolling design on both sides. It was like flowers and thorns mixed together with some stylized leaves.
The instrument was heavy, much more so than the few toy harmonicas I’d had in my lifetime. A scratch that looked different than the scrolling on one side caught my eye. I brought it up closer to my face to see what it was, and was almost sorry that I had, once I realized what I was looking at. Bodo had etched a small heart with my name next to it into the metal.
My heart squeezed uncomfortably in my chest and my throat got sore with unshed tears. I couldn’t look at it anymore or think about what it meant, so I lifted the instrument to my lips and blew on it.
One clear note came out and echoed eerily across the swamp.
A few of the nearby birds flew away but none of the gators even flinched. No hawks appeared on the horizon. I stared up into the sky, looking for a tiny brown shape that might be coming toward me, getting bigger and bigger as it got closer, but there was nothing above me but blue sky and some wispy white clouds. I sighed. At least the rain had finally let up.
I blew on the harmonica a few more times, using different notes and even trying to make a tune out of a few of them, but Nina never showed up. Adding insult to injury, I was reminded once again that I have zero musical talent, even on an instrument that had only ten holes to blow into and no place to put fingers.
I looked down again at my name and the heart scratched into the metal and rubbed it, enjoying the feel of its uneven surface under my finger. Bodo had done this with his own hand at some point. I wondered when. Was it before he told me he loved me or after? Did he do it after I knew about Nina or before? What does it even matter? He loved me, he told me, and now I have to go find him so I can tell him back.
It was that simple for me. I couldn’t have Bodo out there in the world somewhere not knowing how I felt. If he was dead, well, then he already knew, and I was going to have to be okay with that. But until I knew that he knew how I felt, I wasn’t going to rest.
***
Lunch was filled with talk of setting up our defenses. Paci and Fohi had designated themselves as leaders of the defense team. Rob and Jeremy joined in, okay in theory with letting the other two call the shots. I got the impression they were all just excited about the idea of setting boobytraps for canners.
“Okay, so we need to map out the traps and make sure everyone knows where they are,” said Paci.
“Yeah. If anyone we like goes into any of them, I’m gonna feel like crap,” said Fohi.
I frowned. “Are they going to be death traps? I thought you were just digging some holes or something.”
Fohi smiled. “Yeah … holes with sharpened sticks in the bottom, maybe.” He snickered.
I flinched at his bloodlust. “Geez, Fohi. Lighten up a little, would ya?”
He frowned at me. “Why? Do you think the canners will lighten up on us?”
Jeremy joined him, mocking me. “Yeah, right.” His voice went up an octave. “Excuse me, indian boys? Do you mind if we come into your swamp for a little visit?” He frowned at me. “It’s gonna be more like, ‘Hello, assholes. Here’s a bullet for your face. Now give me your kidney. I’m hungry.’”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, okay, so they’re not nice guys. I’m just saying, if a good guy does end up falling in and getting killed, you’re gonna feel bad. Just like Fohi said.”
Fohi jumped in enthusiastically. “No. I change my mind. Anyone who’s stupid enough to fall into a trap we tell them about, deserves what they get. BAM. Darwin award winner.”
“What if someone stumbles into it at night?”
“Darwin award.” Fohi nodded his head.
“What if someone’s being chased by a canner and forgets where a trap is because they’re panicking?”
“Hopefully they’ll both get killed,” said Jeremy.
Fohi looked a little worried.
Rob held up his hands. “Okay, so it’s not perfect. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure the good guys aren’t caught in any traps. But maybe Bryn has a point. Not all of our traps have to be deadly. Some can just … immobilize.”
Paci looked right at me when he said, “So if we catch a canner in a hole, are you going to be able to execute him later?”
Everyone got quiet, waiting for my answer.
I stared back at him. “Why is this all on me? Who says I’m the executioner?”
He shrugged. “Just seemed like you didn’t do all that well with the canners you already killed. Now you’re talking about having to kill more, instead of letting them kill themselves in a trap. I’m just asking …”
I didn’t like being pushed into a corner like this, and least of all by Paci. I thought he was my friend. I scowled back at him, refusing to answer. I shoved a piece of fruit in my mouth instead.
“Whatever. I say we figure out the best places to put them first, and then we can figure out which type of trap would work best. It’s going to depend on the landscape and stuff,” said Rob.
“Someone’s gotta do a map of this place,” said Jeremy.
“And someone has to be sure the bad guys never get their hands on it,” said Peter, sitting down next to me.
“Where’ve you been?” I asked in a low tone so no one else would hear.
“Out. Somewhere.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Out somewhere where?”
“Out somewhere. That’s where.” Peter picked up a hunk of bread and shoved it in his mouth, acting like he couldn’t talk anymore because his mouth was too full.
“You know … you’re not fooling me for one second. You’re hiding something from me, and I’m going to find out what it is.”
Peter gave me a sassy look, but didn’t respond. He handed a hunk of meat to Buster who laid down in front of us with it between his paws, pulling bits of it off and chewing away. If a dog could smile, Buster would be grinning his butt off. He stopped every once in a while to look at us, his tongue hanging out.
“Buster, you’re a goof, just like Peter,” I said. The dog started to get up, thinking I wanted to play, but I pushed him back down. “No, stay. Eat your brontosaurus.” I turned my attention back to Peter. “I can’t believe you’re keeping secrets from me. That’s so rude. I’m injured, you know.” I held up my bandaged arm, hoping it would earn me some pity points and make him feel guilty.
“I’m not keeping secrets. Not really.”
“Lie.”
“No, not really.”
I sighed. “Peter. I know when you’re lying. You can’t just do it. You have to say something like ‘not really’ to hide it. That’s your guilty conscience talking.” I popped a nut into my mouth and nearly gagged when it hit the back of my throat.
Peter whacked me on the back a few times. “Okay, Sherlock. You win. I’m hiding big secrets.” He acted like he was patronizing me, but I could tell by the way he was fidgeting with his basket that he was up to something.
“Listen, Peter. I’ve had lessons in sneaking. I can follow you whenever I want to. So maybe it would be better for everyone involved if you just spilled your guts now.”
Peter smiled. “I’ve seen you try to sneak before … or rather, I should say I’ve heard you try and sneak before. Your threat doesn’t scare me. It amuses me, but it doesn’t scare me.”
“Shut up. I can too sneak if I really want to.”
“Uhhh…no you cant.”
“Bet me.”
“No thanks. I don’t want to take your money.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“Okay, then, I don’t want to take your harmonica.”
I frowned at him. “It’s not for sale.”
“If you bet me, it is.”
I sighed. Peter was impossible to argue with these days. “What’s gotten into you lately, huh? You’re acting all … bossy and stuff.”
“I was always bossy. You just never noticed.”
I shook my head. “Nope. Not this bossy.” I shook my finger at him. “But don’t you worry, little camper. I’m gonna find out your big secret and then I’m going to tell the whooooole world. Everyone’s gonna know it.”
Peter shrugged. “Be my guest.”
I finished my meal in silence, only half listening to the awesome or not so awesome traps Paci and his buddies were planning to set out in the swamp, in the areas between the canoe rental place and here. I was more focused on Peter’s secret life. I couldn’t figure out what was going on with him, but I was going to, as soon as possible. He was full of extra umph and sassiness, and I knew there had to be a reason for it, other than the fact that we’d just gone and kicked some canner butt.
Now I had two missions: one was to find Bodo, the other was to find out what or who had lit a match under Peter’s butt and set him on fire.
***
It was several days later before I got my chance to sneak up on Peter and the little mystery he had going on. I was lying on my mattress after lunch, preparing to take a nap, the heat making it too uncomfortable to do anything else. I still wasn’t back to one hundred percent with my arm, even though it was healing well and the stitches were ready to be taken out.
“I’m going to take a nap,” I said, yawning for effect.
“Good. You need it. I’m just going to straighten up around here for a bit, then maybe I’ll join you.”