I didn’t have any siblings, but I could totally see how that could tear a person apart. “Wow. That really sucks.”

“Yeah,” said Peter softly. “I did that, too. With Lily sometimes. She was such a pest. She was always coming into my room, messing with my stuff.”

“I hear little sisters are like that.”

Peter just nodded, and I could tell he was really upset, so I just sat there and rubbed his back while he continued.

“Trip really isn’t a bad guy. I think he’s way more emotional than people give him credit for. I mean, he shows his angry emotion just fine, but he hides the other ones. I guess it’s a lot of pressure to be in charge and to try and keep your group of people happy and feeling safe when everything is so crazy.”

“You’re right. I only have to worry about us and this naked poodle here, and it’s not easy.”

Buster climbed over to my lap from Peter’s at the sound of his name.

“Yeah. He has, like, fifty people to take care of. And they had all those issues with Kowi and his tribe going on too. So it hasn’t been easy, is what I’m saying. Don’t take his anger personal. I don’t think he’s really angry at you.”

“Kowi was acting like Trip liked me or something, which is nuts.”

“Maybe, maybe not. You’re cute, smart, and tough. All of those things are attractive, especially nowadays. But he didn’t say anything if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No, no, don’t be silly. I’m not asking at all. I’m hoping he doesn’t like me, actually. My life will be a lot less complicated if I only have to fend off Bodo.”

“Why are you fending him off at all?” Peter was looking at me with his head tilted to the side.

“Well, lots of reasons.”

“Name one.”

“First of all, he’s hiding crap.”

“Well, at some point he won’t be. Is there anything else bothering you?”

“Other than the fact that we can’t get intimate without risking me getting pregnant? I don’t know, maybe.”

“Ah-ha. So you do like him.”

I sighed. “Of course I like him. What’s not to like? He’s smart, gorgeous - I mean really gorgeous, Peter. I saw him naked tonight. He doesn’t have a single flaw. Not one.”

Peter leaned in. “Not a single one? I mean, you saw everything everything?”

I answered in a conspiratorial tone. “Yes. I saw everything everything. And he is flawless.”

Peter put his hand on his chest and patted it gently a few times. “Oh, my … be still my heart.”

“Oh, and let’s not forget that he’s funny, nice, and a gentlemen. He could have … well, let’s just say he could have pushed me more than he did … in a … well, when we were in a compromising situation. But he didn’t. He’s big and strong, but gentle too, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I do. I can imagine it, anyway,” said Peter, sighing. “It sounds nice. And I get that you’re worried about things getting heavy and the pregnancy thing and all. But I think I’ve read somewhere that you don’t actually have to do the deed to have some fun.”

I shoved him over. “Shut up. I’m not having this conversation with you.”

He ignored my reticence. “I’m just talking sense here. I mean, life must go on for all of us. You can’t stay a virgin forever.”

“Maybe I should.”

“Why? Why deny yourself the ultimate expression of love?”

“Sex is the ultimate expression of love? I think you’ve read too many romances.”

“Well, I’m no expert. But I think it can be. Since we’re both virgins, I guess we’re just going to have to wait to find out. But I, for one, am not going to hold back, just because the rest of the world sucks right now. When the right guy comes along, I’m going to go for it.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You can’t get pregnant.”

“True. But like I said, you can mess around without getting pregnant. And besides, maybe someday you’ll want to have a baby.”

“Pfft. Yeah, right. Like I’d want to bring a child into a world like this. Don’t be stupid.”

“What’s so stupid about letting the world go on? Letting life go on? Things aren’t so bad for us now, are they? We have a place to live, a family, a pink poodle…”

Buster seemed to know somehow that he was being talked about. He jumped up and danced around, his tail wagging so hard it wiggled his butt all over the place.

I dragged him back over to me. “Come here, Spazmo. Settle down before you pee yourself.” I played with his ears while I contemplated Peter’s words.

He continued. “I think once you get a handle on the canner situation, we’ll find that living here is pretty awesome. We have a place to sleep, clothes, shoes that don’t stink like dead fish, food, and the constant entertainment of male egos gone wild. What more could we want?”

“Pizza?”

Peter laughed. “Okay. I’ll give you that.”

Our heart-to-heart was interrupted by Bodo coming back, making no secret of the fact that he was injured. We both got up and went into the kitchen part of our hut.

“Oh, dat hurts,” Bodo said as he walked towards us. “I bumped my arm on dat tree over dare. I think I need a doctor.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just go lay down on your bed.”

“Are you coming? Becausse I have pain, you know. Bad pain.”

“Sounds like Mr. Perfection is in need of some nursing, Bryn. Why don’t you go help him out?” teased Peter.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Shush. And remember,” I whispered, “no sharing our little secrets, right?”

“My lips are sealed,” said Peter, whispering back.

“I can hear you in dare,” said Bodo from the doorway. “I’m coming in, so you can stop talking about me now.”

“No one was talking about you,” I said, trying to deflate his ego just a little bit. I was pretty sure that letting Bodo’s head get any bigger would create problems for me - making him that much bolder about coming after me. And I really didn’t think I had the willpower to resist too much of an effort on his part.

“Oh, dat makes me sad. You didn’t tell Peter about us being naked in da shower togedder?”

I nearly choked. “Gah! What?!”

“You guys were naked in the shower, Bryn? You kind of glossed over that part.”

I glared at Peter. “Hello? Secrets? Remember?” I turned to Bodo. “I was not naked, Bodo, and you know it. You’re the only one who was naked.”

“Well, that explains it,” said Peter.

“Explains what?” I asked, exasperated.

“How you know he’s utter perfection in the body department.”

“Peter! Shut up!”

Bodo laughed. “She really said dat? Oh, dat’s cool. I like dat. I am perfect. Dat has a nice sound.”

“I did not say you were perfect, idiot.”

“Peter said you did. He’s not a liar, dat Peter. He tells da truth.”

“I said your body is perfect. That’s it.”

“Oh,” he said, immediately sounding disappointed. “But not my mind. Oh, dat’s sad. Dat’s very, very sad.”

I felt bad. He really did sound depressed now. “I didn’t say your mind isn’t attractive. I just happened to be talking about your body at the time.”

“So you are saying dat you do find my mind attractive, den?”

I was being backed into a corner and didn’t know what to say. Bodo’s head was already big enough. “No comment.”

“Dat’s not a no!” said Bodo, back to being full of himself again. “I can take dat, Bryn. Dat’s not a problem. You like me, I know dat. Pretty soon you will say dat I can be Mr. Bryn. Dat will be my birthday present dis year.”

He passed by us and went into the bedroom area, lying down on his back and putting his good arm behind his head. The other remained at his side. “Somebodyyyyyy …,” he called out. “Bodo is hungryyyyyy.”

I looked at Peter. “You do it. I’m liable to shove it up his nose if I have to wait on him.”

Peter chuckled. “Your wish is my command, Mrs. Bodo.”

“Ha, ha,” I said, refusing to rise to his bait. I didn’t want to say anything else and have him analyzing my tone and deciding that I sounded as if I really kind of liked the idea of being officially attached to this German nutcase.

***

My first order of business when I woke up was to go talk to Celia. I was happy to find Coli there with her when I arrived, after only getting lost twice on my way. When I’d first come to the swamp a few days ago, everything looked the same to me, but now I was able to tell some of the trees apart and I was recognizing different patterns to their arrangement, making it easier to find my way around.

“Hey, Celia, what’s up?” I asked as I walked past Coli and approached her bedside. She was sitting up and actually looked pretty good, all things considered. Coli stayed outside the hut, allowing us some privacy.

“Well, I’m still missing part of an arm,” Celia said sarcastically, not even looking at me.

“If that’s supposed to make me feel bad for you, it’s not working,” I said. Truth was, it did remind me how much crap she’d been through, and I did feel bad for her about that; but I knew the last thing she needed right now was pity.

“You’re too much of a hardass to feel bad for me.”

“Not true. I didn’t mock your mom’s shell art when I could have. That’s my soft side keeping my mouth shut.”

She finally acknowledged my presence enough to glare at me. “I see your softer side has taken a vacation today, though.”

“Yeah, well, we can’t be marshmallows all the time. I knew a girl one time who could swing a mean baseball bat. She taught me that.”

Celia smiled absently and then went serious again. “That girl is dead.”

“Nope,” I said, refusing to give into her pity party, “that girl is sitting right here in front of me and is about to help me lay plans to annihilate some bad guys.”

I sat down next to her, cross-legged, searching her face. “I’m not going to play the poor Celia game with you every time I see you now. It’s over. We’re past it. If you want to cry about your terrible life, pick someone else other than me to whine to. My job is to get you back on your feet and kicking A. And I need your help with figuring out how to take these guys down.”

“You suck, Bryn.”

“Yeah. So I’ve heard. So tell me … how many canners were in that group that was keeping you and the other kids?”

She answered me in monotones. “I saw eight.”

“How old are they?”

“The oldest was probably eighteen. The youngest about twelve. The meanest one was probably about seventeen.”

“So the oldest wasn’t the leader?”

“No. The oldest one was kind of dumb or something. They called him Brick, as in brick-head. He mostly just did what he was told. He was the muscle. His job was to …” She put her head down, unable to finish her sentence.

I finished it for her. “He was the one who took the kids and hurt them, right?”

She nodded her head silently, a tear tracking down her face and dropping into her hands below.

“Okay, what about the others? What did they do?”

She took a deep breath and said, “Some of them just stayed quiet, doing whatever Loco told them to do. Others were really loud and wild. Like really wild. Like crazy.”