The Disposables: Book Two of the Obscurité de Floride Trilogy

By Greg Jolley

In the jungles of coastal Mexico, twelve-year-old Kazu Danser is on the run, his bloody past haunting and attempting to be his ruination. Hot on his heals is journalist Carson Staines, a deadly madman full of blood thirst and greed, determined to first chronicle Kazu's criminal life - and then end it. Staines must nail him down, dead or alive; t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Épouvantail Books, LLC
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781087966939

Greg Jolley

Greg Jolley earned a Master of Arts in Writing from the University of San Francisco. He is the author of the suspense novels about the fictional Danser family. He lives in the Very Small town of Ormond Beach, Florida.

Book preview

Book One:

KAZU & SIPPI

Part One:

Isla de Marrionettes

Chapter One

Angel

The fat, angry sun rose hot and uncaring over Isla de Marrionettes, adding humidity and stirring insects into flight. In the open range, the cattle moved into the shade of the tall jungle trees and the cooler air under the green canopy. The blue Pacific offered no breeze to the island even though a storm was approaching from the south.

Angel ignored the flies dotting her arms and hands as she ignored the ripe, overpowering smell of cattle, dung, and dried and fresh blood coming from the packing house. She could hear the saws and machinery and the occasional alarmed bellow of a steer, along with the harsh crashing of the metal gates and shoots that steered the animals.

The seven-year-old girl was responsible for keeping the cooking fires fed in the camp pressed deep into the jungle back from the corral and processing buildings. Because of her affliction, she wore a veil, a shear cowl made from discarded mosquito netting.

Kneeling in the dirt, she added kindling to the three low fires in a row before the cooking area and the huts where the vaqueros lived. A rocky stream ran along the side of the camp under the tall trees. Behind her was the long table where the older girls prepared the early morning and midday meals.

Flies landed on the fine netting of her veil. She ignored them while stoking each of the three fires. She was in no rush, but she did have to get to her next chore—burying the previous day’s waste after digging a hole back in the trees, away from the stream.

Other children were also at work, even chubby and mean Rafael, who had taken a kick from one of the men the day before for standing around and staring up into the treetops high above. He was sweeping the camp with a brush rake, working in low strokes so as not to stir up dust clouds. He was also humming some odd song learned from the radio, making Angel nervous. Rafael was an abusador—a bully—who often pretended to be in good spirits just before he struck. He was raking and humming a few feet behind her back.

Angel moved further from him to the third fire and kneeled in the dirt, gauging the amount of kindling she needed to add. She and the other children were on their own in the camp cooking area while the women were cleaning the huts and doing other chores, and the men were at work on the cattle ranch.

A group of younger children dashed past and frightened her. The sudden pad of bare feet could have been Rafael approaching and hitting or kicking her. Rafael thought his bullying was to everyone’s amusement. In truth, he was increasingly ignored by the women during the day and the men at night.

Four days before, he knocked two children into the stream and cracked Angel on the back with a tree limb as she ran past him to the kids floundering and crying in the water. It was a given that at some point in the day, he would sneak up and try to steal her veil or pull it up. Angel heard his humming draw around the corner of the long table. He was sweeping toward her, his innocent round face to the outbuildings. He was a good ten strides away on those short, chubby legs. She slid a piece of kindling into the low fire.

There was a fast pad of bare feet in the dirt. He was running, coming straight at her, hands and arms out. He let go of his broom when he was almost on her. It tangled up his feet, and because he turned as he fell, he missed her and clouted the basin of hot wash water on the grill. It toppled and splashed, scalding his legs and feet. Unable to check his momentum, he plunged headfirst into the fire, sending up a spray of embers.

Rafael’s screams were horrible, wild, and loud. Angel grabbed one of his feet and pulled him out. Still screaming, his shirt and hair on fire, he flopped and rolled side to side in the dirt. Angel spun around, looking for an adult, sure they all heard. All she saw were the other children, jaw dropped, wide-eyed, and frozen. She rushed to the long table and lifted the first container of liquid she spotted. Spinning around, she poured the three-gallon pitcher of water onto the moaning and screeching boy.

The water drenched his head and upper body but did nothing to stop his agony. She looked a second time for one of the women, but there were none in sight. Five-year-old Josephina stood a few feet away. Angel called her closer. Taking one of Rafael’s hands, mindful of the charred and boiling fingers, she knelt at his side. While he rocked back and forth against her, Angel took Josephina’s hand. The child was rabbit-eyed with fear but stood still. With their three little hands locked, Rafael’s screams dissolved into a stuttering chant.

Angel raised her veil. With her vision unobstructed, she saw Josephina’s frightened reaction—repulsion—at seeing the plum-colored birthmark that covered the left side of her face. Angel ignored the reaction. She squeezed both Rafael and Josephina’s hands and tilted her head straight up to the sky.

Angel continued staring up into the streaks of blue heaven showing through openings in the high branches and treetops. She held onto their hands, tuning out Rafael’s cries and groans. Josephina was whimpering, and she ignored that as well. Angel stared upward, silent and waiting.

A minute or so later, she felt both children release their grip on her hands. It felt as though they were dissolving, disappearing. When nothing was left of their fingers and palms, she lowered her eyes down through the trees and looked around. As expected, she was kneeling before the fire with kindling in her hands, and Josephina was nowhere to be seen.

She heard Rafael sweeping and humming. This time, when he rounded the long table, she turned and stood. Glaring at him, ready to swing the long fire-stirring stick, she watched his clumsy running feet stop. He backpedaled, seeing her hard gaze, daring him to try. Turning away with a sneer, he began halfheartedly sweeping along the opposite side of the table.

In the distant sky, a deep rumble of thunder came from the storm approaching from the south. Soon the winds would come, along with the rains, drenching the island. Before she went in search of the shovel to go into the vegetation to dig the day’s waste pit, Angel gently lowered her veil.

Chapter Two

Kazu and Sippi

The airbus was struggling, swaying and dropping, the airplane being slapped and shoved around in the angry layers of white clouds and gray mountains of cumulus. Ten-year-old Kazu stared downward from his 2A seat, looking through each brief opening in the storm to the green jungle and the blue Pacific below.

Kazu’s parents and his baby brother were in a clench across the aisle. Sippi was snoring beside him in 2B.

The aircraft’s nose dipped; a food and drink cart rolled by fast, crashing against the pilot’s door.

Sippi opened her eyes and screamed, mimicking the passengers in coach. Kazu flinched and shook his head.

Overdone? she asked.

A tid.

Tid? That’s a word?

Nope. But it’s half of tidbit.

Terri, their stewardess in first-class, yelled at the errant stewardess in coach.

Fuckwit! Oops, Ms. Whatever Your Name Is. You need to lock the fucking, oops, casters!

The stewardess from coach chased after the cart, chanting, I’m so sorry. So sorry. She pulled it back up the aisle and locked the wheels. Standing beside Kazu and Sippi, Terri muttered dick dip under her breath while smiling professionally at the two kids. The other stewardess joined her, all apologies.

The airbus keeled steeply hard to port, giving Kazu a wide view of the jungle a thousand feet below. There were more frightened yells and screams from coach. Sippi didn’t join in this time, as she was busy writing with her fine-tip pen on a Post-it pad, making a few more editing remarks to the open page of Kazu’s latest graphic novel.

The pilot’s voice came on through the speakers. He sounded both confident and reassuring.

Sippi mocked him. Yak, yak, yak.

The airbus leveled off and lowered through the sky, flying low over the jungle ceiling.

Looks like carpet, Kazu observed.

The rolling greenery changed abruptly to gray as the airbus descended to the airfield. Rain and wind were sweeping the runway. The landing was smooth and leisurely, and minutes later, the large airplane came to a stop on the tarmac in front of the terminal.

Kazu reached inside his backpack at his feet and took out his mom’s black Ray-Bans. He put them on, turned, and aimed them at twelve-year-old Sippi.

Hot, she admired.

Reaching over, she took the sunglasses off Kazu and put them on.

Hotter, she said.

She and Kazu held back as his parents and Dan the Baby departed. While they waited, Kazu watched Terri nick a couple of small flight bottles from the service cart, twist the cap off each and drink, one after another.

At the door at the top of the stairs, Kazu and Sippi were pressed back by a wave of humid heat. Wind and rain also washed over them. They descended side by side and followed Kazu’s parents. Unlike the other airbus passengers who moved at a brisk pace for the terminal, Kazu’s parents crossed the tarmac, paralleling the building.

Forty yards away, Carl waited beside the Piper. He greeted Kazu’s parents with affection and gave special attention to Dan the Baby. Carl assisted Kazu’s mom and baby brother into seats in the Cessna.

On the tarmac, the rain began to fly horizontally. Kazu struggled to move quickly, gripping his backpack by the shoulder-strap and putting his head down. Sippi added a dance to her stride before starting to laugh and skip. A gust caught her, and she slipped and fell and shouted.

Can it, boyfriend! she yelled at Kazu as she gathered herself up. She wiped her wet, grimy hands off on her orange smock dress.

I didn’t say a…

Did too. Saw that look.

Kazu stopped, and Terri joined him. She had befriended his parents in the Wichita terminal, ending with her being hired to mind the children during their trip to la Diana. She had vacation time saved up and could use the money. Terri placed an ungentle hand on Kazu’s shoulder and pushed.

They reached Carl and Kazu’s father, who were ignoring the wind and talking and nodding in friendly, familiar conversation, both getting drenched.

When tall, silver-haired Carl saw Kazu, he turned, lowered, and opened his arms. The two embraced, and Carl kissed the top of Kazu’s head, speaking in Spanish.

What a pleasure, my delightful Kazu.

Gracias, Kazu replied and gave the man a tight squeeze before stepping back.

I was explaining to your father that we’ve got a problem with the Cessna. We need to make two flights to the resort. My apologies. I brought the small Piper. The Cessna is under repairs. Of all things, I believe it was tampered with. Anyway, as soon as this storm passes, we’ll take off and—

Terri stepped up and interrupted, The children and I will stay back. I’ll keep a good eye on them.

Kazu’s dad agreed. There really was no other alternative.

Carl hugged Kazu a second time. Kazu looked to his side, grinning at Sippi.

Mi valiente pájaro. Protegerla, Carl told Kazu, looking from him to Sippi.

Yes, sir, Kazu said.

Carl gazed at Terri with disdain. Unlike Kazu’s parents, he had seen another side of Terri on previous stays at the Danser family resort, la Diana—the drinking and recklessness, and at times, strong-handed bossing with the staff.

He clapped his hands and said to Kazu’s father, Off we go.

Terri escorted Kazu and Sippi in through the door to the small private terminal. A few minutes later, the three stood at the window and watched the Piper roll away.

It’s freezing in here, Terri complained, turning away. The air conditioning was cranked, the modern lounge icy and empty.

In Flu Ends Us, Sippi said to Kazu.

What?

Influenza. These climate changes are gonna give us pig flu.

Pig flu?

Swine flu. Pork flu. Bacon flu.

Terri wandered off. Sippi turned and watched her approach the well-stocked and unmanned bar.

This is smart, she said to Kazu. Separating the important people on different flights. Like not letting the President fly with his ferrets…

Ferrets?

Okay. Gophers.

Ten minutes later, Terri crossed to them at the window. The Piper had already climbed into the sky and banked to the south. She was no longer in her flight uniform and seemed like a different woman. Sippi watched her sultry walk and sexy, tired face. She had changed into a floral turquoise and gold sarong that accented her caramel tan. As if by design, Terri’s gold bikini top drew all eyes from her face to the full, buoyant breasts that had their own firm dance.

Your favorite boobs are back, Sippi grumbled to Kazu.

Terri had her cell phone out and was in conversation.

Yes, I understand. If you’re sure, she said.

Reaching Kazu and Sippi, she continued the call.

One second. Yes, I’ll let them know.

Faking a smile at Kazu and Sippi, her eyes turned away as she spoke to both of them.

Change in plans. A friend of Carl’s is going to fly us in.

Sippi ignored that. She was eyeing the cell phone’s blank black screen.

You talk to imaginary people? she asked Terri.

The screen’s broken. Now, let’s hurry.

Chapter Three

Terri and the Pirate

The other Piper was parked among other small craft at the private tie-downs at the south end of the airfield. Terri led the way, pulling her rolling suitcase. The winds had let up some and the rain was backing off.

Come on, you two, she told them. Try to keep up.

Kazu and Sippi followed. A tall, wide man stood at the side of the airplane. His oversized Hawaiian shirt was unbuttoned over a black and white striped T-shirt. He also wore plaid cargo shorts, white socks, and black boots.

Looks like a drunken pirate, Kazu said to Sippi. If dressed by clowns.

Sippi smirked.

The man had a buzz-cut and wore amber aviator shades. The sunglasses were aimed at Terri over his unshaven face and scowl.

As they drew near the aircraft, Terri turned and looked at Kazu and then her suitcase.

Load it, she instructed.

Kazu looked to the big, strong-looking pirate.

He’s a pilot, not a baggage handler, Terri prodded.

The old Piper PA-22 was tan and orange and showed signs of neglect. The door under the roof wing was streaked with oil and the body and windows were grimy.

Kazu used the wing strut step to climb up into the airplane and, with a struggle, placed Terri’s heavy suitcase in the tight cargo area behind the jump-seat that he and Sippi would be sharing.

The pirate climbed in next, then Terri, taking the co-pilot seat. Sippi was last and joined Kazu on the cramped jump seat.

While the pirate went through his pre-flight checklist, Kazu looked out onto the wet tarmac. There was no more rain, but gusts were stirring the puddles and the Piper itself.

Should we wait a bit? Kazu braved.

It’s slacking. What are you, a pilot? the pirate said in a dismissive gravelly voice.

Since I was nine. Carl’s been training me.

Carl?

Terri used her elbow.

Right. My friend, the resort pilot.

Sippi took Kazu’s hand and leaned close, and said, He’s wearing a gun. I saw it when he climbed in.

The engine started and all conversation was impossible. Kazu nodded to his best friend and stared at the back of the pirate’s head.

They taxied out, and during a brief wait, Terri turned in her seat and handed Kazu and Sippi headsets. They donned them and Kazu worked the control knob on the cloth wire. He found the channel that allowed him and Sippi to talk without interrupting the pirate or Terri.

As Kazu expected, the small four-seater struggled to lift off, taking to the air sideways and revving loud. Sippi’s hand was warm and moist and locked on his. He watched the end of the airfield approach as they climbed into the sky, wings rocking.

Passing over the airstrip’s light towers, the airplane turned north and flew straight.

Kazu had made many trips to and from la Diana with Carl, who gave Kazu flying lessons whenever a cargo run was made for the resort. He wasn’t allowed the stick if they had guests on board and he had yet to learn take-offs and landings.

Kazu changed the headset dial. He politely interrupted the pilot.

La Diana is south.

We’re gonna circle the ass-side of that weather front, the pirate said, glancing at Terri.

Sippi turned the headset dial in Kazu’s hand and said to him, That smelled like a lie.

The Piper banked, turning true north.

Kazu looked at the compass display on the dash and then out his window. The sky to the west was the familiar, tropical blue. They could have made it.

Sippi rested her head of blasted blonde hair on Kazu’s shoulder and squeezed his hand. Kazu squeezed back and studied the view through the windshield.

Ten minutes into the flight, he watched the pirate raise a plastic bottle full of ice and dark liquid and take two great big sucks on the straw. Terri twisted the cap off a tiny bottle of clear liquid and drank it off with one gulp. She downed two more in quick succession.

Kazu leaned on the jump seat again to see out the window. Their northern flight was aimed straight at low, mean cumulus.

The dim bulbs are drinking alcohol, Sippi said in their private headset channel.

Kazu turned to Sippi and considered her lovely, concerned gaze. They both heard the click and brief spray of static as the channel changed.

Kazu, this isn’t personal, just unfinished business that needs to be wrapped up. It was Terri.

Kazu sank into his seat and shook his long, straight black hair. He and Terri had a secret and troubled history. His parents were unaware of what Kazu had experienced with her.

Unfinished business, chilled his heart. On the family wheat farm in Kansas, there had been a kidnapping attempt that went bad for the couple trying to steal Kazu or his baby brother, Dan. There had been gunfire, of which Kazu had been part of. What had stayed clear in Kazu’s mind after it was all over was the time he had seen Terri with the kidnappers.

Terri’s head rotated, her reddish eyes narrowed, and her smile pulled back, revealing her fine, sharp white teeth.

Unfinished business.

The airplane was slapped sideways. Unlike the earlier airbus, which had weight and heft behind its momentum, the Piper was little more than a toy.

Kazu and Sippi were jostled together. He turned from Terri to his window. The vibrant blue Pacific Ocean changed abruptly to a rocky cliff followed by gray rock and low grass as the Piper flew at a tilt.

Where are we going? Kazu asked, turning from the view.

Terri was still facing him over the top of the co-pilot seat, struggling with something at the pirate’s side.

The airplane took a harsh starboard shove from the weather and Terri toppled to the left.

Should I scream? Sippi asked.

I think so, Kazu said.

She did. Terri flinched and pulled one side of her headset from her ear.

That’s enough of that bullshit, the pirate shouted.

The Piper found its balance, as did Terri.

Kazu aimed his eyes right at Terri and demanded as best as a ten-year-old could, his voice trembled with anger, What’s going on?

Terri raised a handgun from the pirate’s side and showed it to Kazu.

Darling… she said, … shut the fuck up.

The airplane tilted, the pirate growled, and Terri fell to her side and from view.

With the Piper’s wing pointed down, Kazu saw treetops passing so close they were almost within reach. The airplane was buffeted and tilted further so that the wingtip pointed straight to earth. Seconds later, its leading edge struck the top of a tree with a spray of aluminum pieces. The Piper rolled over, and the cabin became a madness of screams as everything not bolted or strapped down took swirling flight.

Kazu pushed on Sippi’s back and forced her head to her knees.

The windshield was struck. Glass fragments bounced and clacked in the wind inside the cabin. Terri started chanting. No, no, no! The pirate was cursing and praying. The Piper took another hit and began to tumble, minus half its overhead wing.

The airplane’s fall toward the earth was slowed as it cracked and came apart against tree limbs and branches. It cartwheeled, the prop spinning and chewing. There was no explosion, just the parts of the airplane spraying outward and down into the jungle.

Chapter Four

Worse than Asleep

Angel wore a single discarded man’s work boot on her right foot when she dug the daily waste pit, so as she came back down the path through the jungle to camp, her stride appeared hobbled. After placing the shovel in its place in the tool shed at the edge of the camp, she looked out to the cattle field in the distance beyond the dense trees and foliage and the camp. The meadow was uneven and green and empty. The cows were in the shade of the trees. Beyond the ranch, the compound was set back in the cool trees—little showed save the guards inside the tall fence. Down to her right were the corral and ranch buildings and vaqueros and armed guards. The generators and meat packaging machines were running inside the long building, and the sounds and smells carried to where she stood. The breeze reaching her was a foul blend of blood and fear and death.

To clear her mind of the daily slaughter, seven-year-old Angel looked up into the blue sky. It was her only friend and, over the past five seasons, her comfort, her madre. Angry clouds were boiling to the south, but straight up, the blue was open and inviting.

She saw the airplane come out of the clouds, flying low and leaning hard. She couldn’t hear its struggle, but it was clear the plane was in trouble, flying way too low and downward into the treetops on the edge of the jungle. It was also coming in from the wrong part of the sky for the airfield a mile back in the jungle. She watched the leaning airplane silently enter the treetops and hit one, sending off a spray of parts before disappearing.

The vaqueros and guards in front of the corral and long building hadn’t noticed as they were going about their work as before. Angel looked into the camp. The women and children were busy with their midday chores, all heads down.

Angel wanted to run into the jungle, find the wreckage and see if she could help. She hesitated, having been beaten twice for wandering from her assigned area of the camp. She also knew better than to approach or speak to any of the men in the camp or the vaqueros or the compound guards with their pistols and rifles.

No one had paid her any attention since she left with her shovel an hour before.

A little longer won’t be noticed. She hoped.

With that, Angel removed her shovel boot and headed back up the path into the trees. Forty yards in, she turned to the west, the direction she believed the airplane had fallen.

***

Angel smelled the airplane before she saw it. The strong fumes of spilled fuel drew her through the branches and bush to the base of a rock clearing with a few patches of sunlight in the wild grass. Climbing up the rise, she spotted pieces of tangled and torn aluminum scattered about. Fuel was splashed on the rocks and grass. She didn’t see the airplane itself until she stood in the center of the clearing and looked up. The craft had lost its wings and was on its side, high up in the trees and thick crossing branches. The remaining body of the airplane was silent.

She climbed limb to limb to the airplane, to where it was just overhead. Studying the strong bough holding the craft, she made out a path of hand and footholds up along its side. Minutes later, she had climbed high enough to see inside. Urgent voices were speaking in English, coming from a headset that lay on one of the front seats. She ignored them and looked at the man behind the steering wheel.

He is worse than asleep, she whispered.

Because the door was missing, she climbed onto the leaning passenger seat, gripping the steering wheel for balance. A length of bent aluminum was punched into the man’s chest and his shirt and pants were drenched in blood. She heard new voices coming from back in the jungle, from different directions, the shouts and calls of men trudging. Frightened and wanting to run, not daring to be found there, Angel prayed for a few seconds. She climbed further inside until she was beside the man. Before she took his hand, she raised her veil back on her short, cropped black hair.

Leaning over him, she looked out his window and up into the trees. There were scratches of blue sky showing in the green and dark tree trunks. She gripped the man’s hand tightly and reached back without thinking, as if Josephina was with her. She tightened her fingers around the other girl’s imagined hand, looking deep into the swaths of blue sky appearing in the treetops.

The man moved. His head shuddered. He didn’t speak and she gripped his hand tighter, waiting to be whisked back to sometime before.

An angry voice called out from somewhere below, followed by another. Angel held on, praying for a return to a previous time. The man rattled in his tilted seat, and she looked down from the sky with a child’s sadness. His eyes opened, alarmed and wide, and stayed that way after he returned to death.

Two male voices called out to each other very close to the clearing. Angel released the man’s hand and clambered out of the aircraft and down through the limbs. Dropping the last few feet to the ground, she landed hard on the rocks and grass. Hearing where they were coming from, she turned in the opposite direction. Lowering her veil, she ran from the clearing and into the green shadows.

Chapter Five

The Dead Pirate

When the falling Piper stopped crashing and cracking downward, Kazu and Sippi were gripped together in a tight ball, wedged tight in the cramped jump seat. They clung to each other, Kazu’s chest over Sippi’s head and shoulders. The engine died after tearing itself apart, the prop blades dug deep into the meat of a pressing tree trunk. The following silence was complete. Neither Kazu nor Sippi moved or spoke, locked onto one another.

A minute later, the dead quiet was shattered by static and an urgent voice coming from one of the headsets in the front seats. Kazu heard someone moving about in the cockpit. Looking up, he saw Terri leaning over to the pilot.

She took his headset and yelled at the voice on the radio.

Shut up and listen! He crashed the damned plane.

She got a rip of static for a reply before being asked, Your location?

Fuck all, come and get me. Use your radar, you dolt.

The voice on the other end was joined by a second. This one asked, You have the package?

Dead or alive, they’re here. She cut in, By the way, dick wit, I’m hurt.

The two male voices exchanged a stream in Spanish, ending with the mention of the pirate’s real name—Dwight.

Terri interrupted their frantic babbling.

Your Señor Dwight is now Señor Deceased. I’m out of here. Bring me a doc. And painkillers. Big strong ones.

Terri unstrapped as the radio conversation and questions continued. Where the windshield had been, there was a view of thick crossing branches. She picked out her handholds and perches and climbed out of the wingless airplane.

Sippi struggled to rise and sit up. Kazu held her still.

Wait, he whispered.

If you’ll tell me why.

Kazu sat up high enough to see Terri disappear down through the branches before answering.

We need to get away from her.

Kazu?

Shssh.

No shssh, Kazu, take a whiff.

He did and said wide-eyed, Gasoline.

Rocking back on the seat, he helped Sippi sit up. You first. Quickly.

Sippi turned around on the seats and struggled to open the door, finally kicking it halfway open. Climbing out fast, she found a foothold in the trees. Seconds later, she grabbed a limb and lowered herself from view. Kazu followed, desperate to get away from the airplane.

The smell of spilled fuel was pungent and eye-stinging. Their hands and shoes fought to grip on the slick branches. They climbed their way down through the tree to the ground, somehow neither of them slipping and falling.

Below the destroyed Piper, the rocky clearing was drenched with fuel. Sippi looked for a sign of Terri. Not seeing her, she crossed the rocks and grass and entered the jungle shade. Kazu following, stealing one look back. There was Terri, twenty yards behind, facing the other direction. She was holding a phone to her ear and talking as she climbed over a fallen tree trunk.

Boyfriend, Sippi hissed over her shoulder. Kazu caught up with her, and they entered the dense vegetation. Sippi climbed and twisted through brush and vines and rocks a good ten yards deeper into the dark before stopping abruptly. She turned to Kazu and pointed to the ground.

Lay down.

Okay. Why?

She didn’t answer but laid down. He did the same, watching her. She began running her hands over her body, neck, and head.

Do the same, she asked.

Kazu began searching his own body for signs of injury.

I’m hella sore, he said.

Same, Sippi agreed. Look me over.

Kazu sat up and examined her from her shoes to her brow. He looked into her eyes and frowned before looking away at the thick foliage around them.

This sucks, he said sadly. I don’t see your arm anywhere.

Isn’t that funny.

I think so.

So do I.

She clenched the front of his T-shirt and pulled herself up. When they were eye to eye, nose to nose, she whispered, Hey, boyfriend.

Hey, girlfriend.

We did an airplane crash. A first for me.

Same.

The sound of brush being pushed through came from their left. Both of them froze and looked in that direction. Ten feet away, a child in weary clothing moved past, the little girl’s face covered by what looked like a funeral veil. She was hurrying, climbing over rocks, grabbing limbs for balance. Seconds later, the child disappeared in the direction of the airplane wreck.

Normal, right? Kazu said.

Cough.

Kazu stood and followed. The little girl began climbing to the stricken airplane.

No! Don’t! he called to her, not caring if Terri heard, fearing a fire starting any second. One spark was all it needed.

If the girl heard him, she didn’t slow or hesitate. Up she went, higher and higher. When she reached the fuselage, all he could see was a few feet of the airplane—the open door and the pilot’s side window.

Come back down, he called up, You’re gonna get yourself killed.

Ignoring him, the girl climbed inside.

He made out the dead pirate’s head, the left side of his face centered in the side window. After a painfully slow minute, the pilot’s head jerked. His eyes opened, wide and round, and stayed open, his head perfectly still. Seconds ticked before his chin dropped, but his eyes remained open, staring at nothing.

A minute later, the girl appeared, climbing out of the airplane’s side door and out into the tree limbs.

What did she do? he asked himself, watching her make her way down through the tree limbs. Seeing her nearing the ground, he returned to Sippi.

Whatcha see? Sippi asked.

A dead pirate.

We knew that.

Yes, but he woke up. Briefly.

Generally, the dead don’t wake up.

That’s what I thought.

Where’s the kid with the veil?

Climbing down from the Piper.

Sippi stood quickly. The dim bulb. The gasoline. Go help her.

Kazu agreed, squeezed Sippi’s hand, and started out. He hurried five feet away and froze.

Male voices were approaching through the jungle from different directions. They sounded angry and breathless. Staring across the clearing, Kazu watched the child appear under the airplane and run off into the dense green cover.

Terri reappeared to the right. A soldier was at her side; his rifle was aimed at her.

Oh, I like that, Sippi whispered.

Think they’re good guys?

That’s my bet. Anyone pointing a gun at her is my new friend.

Without another word, the two retraced their path from the shadows to the edge of the clearing. Terri saw them and barked at the soldier. He turned his rifle on them.

Wish that hadn’t happened, Kazu stopped moving, raising his hands.

Same.

Two other soldiers stepped from the left side of the clearing. Behind Kazu and Sippi, a weapon cocked. They had not heard this soldier sneak up on them. Sippi raised her hands as well.

In the heat and sunlight,