Exodus Chapter Five

Chapter Five
The Call of the Pack


"Child of mine! Your friend is here."

I woke up and looked at the clock, it was six in the morning. That meant Wolf. Nobody else was ever up that early. I was amazed that mom hadn't killed him and tied him to the front door as a warning to others. I looked at my phone. Wolf had texted me five times. I had left my phone on silent and not heard it.

I scrambled into some clothes and ran downstairs to see, not just Wolf, but Owl as well. Owl could get up early to go hunting or fishing or camping, but he generally preferred to stay up late. He looked exhausted too. Wolf looked fine, of course. I wasn't sure that he knew how to sleep.

“We need to go downtown. I'll explain on the way. My dad needs help with something.” Wolf said.

“Mom, is that okay?” I asked.

“Are you going to have some breakfast, or are you going to starve yourself for a good cause like Gandhi?” she asked.

“We have oatmeal bars ma'am.” Wolf said.

My mother shook her head, “Go. It's not like you have much in the way of school right now.”

I pulled on my shoes and followed as Owl and Wolf took off at a jog, tying my shoes in fits and starts trying to keep up.

“You were going to explain what's going on.” I called after them.

“It will easier to explain when we get there Bud.”

'There' turned out to be the center of the downtown area, at the intersection of Second Avenue and Main Street. The place was deserted, no cars in sight and no people besides the three of us.

“Okay, so what's going on?” I asked.

“Wait for it.” Wolf said.

And so we waited in silence and, one by one, three other boys roughly our age wandered to the intersection. Lion first, then Mouse and finally- to my surprise- Skunk. Skunk didn't look any happier to see us than we were to see him as he rode up on his yellow bike.

We all mumbled greetings and got comfortable. The others were clearly waiting for something. I looked at the group in front of me. Skunk was sitting there looking annoyed. Lion and Mouse were talking to each other a little ways from the rest of us. I noticed Russell wasn't there, which didn't surprise me. I couldn't imagine Wolf's Dad wanting help from the Mayor's son.

"So what's going on?" I asked again.

Lion turned around.

"My Dad told me to meet Wolf's Dad out here. He didn't give me a choice in the matter. Said I was going to be involved in important work that I would be proud of when I was older. Which is kind of pretentious."

Mouse nodded, "Wolf's Dad told me that I could help with something important too. He told me we would be laying the groundwork for tomorrow."

Wolf nodded, "My dad didn't tell me that much. He just said for me to bring you and Owl out here to do work. I guess he does feel he has to explain things to his son."

"That's because he has you trained like a good little soldier." Skunk said with a snort.

Wolf's eyes flared for just an instant, and then he said, "That's right. You never got trained like my dad trains me. So yeah. He says, 'jump'. I jump and then ask if he needs me to jump higher."

"That's lame. Why don't you just blow him off?"

"Because he counts the time that I avoided him, and adds that time to my training. And I'm not tough enough to handle that much training."

"That sounds kind of wussy to me." Skunk pressed.

Wolf shook his head, "You think so? When he gets here, you ask him to train you. After that, then we'll talk. That's if your jaw isn't swollen shut."

“This has to do with all the secret stuff that the grown ups are lying to us about. Obviously. I want to see if I can find out what that is.” Owl said.

“Just don’t get my dad angry Bud. I have to deal with him when he’s angry.”

“We’ll all be careful.” Owl said.

“Isn’t your dad one of the good guys? Like trying to help the town and stuff?” Mouse asked.

“I know he thinks so.” Wolf said.

“Guys, can it. He’s here.” I added, and we all looked east down Second Avenue and watched as Wolf’s dad walked towards us out of the cold morning sunrise.

He didn’t say anything as he slowly and deliberately marched up. When he reached us, he deliberately walked back and forth in front of us, eyeing us up. I found myself straightening up as he stared at me. I noticed that we had all straightened into a line, almost like soldiers for inspection. And then I noticed that once we were all in a reasonably straight line, he stopped pacing and stepped back to stand just far enough away to see us all at once.
             
He waited quietly, as we fidgeted, looming like a monster in front of us. Finally, he smiled a hard and unwelcoming smile.

"Boys, this is moment that everything changes. I shouldn't call you boys anymore. You are going to need to be men from now on. Something big has happened in the outside world that is going to change Safehope Bluff, and we men need to be ready to protect our town."

"What do you mean sir?" Owl asked.

"What do you boys know about oil?"

"We use it to make gas for our cars. I know that." As Owl answered, I got very worried. This is what Bart had talked about, this is what Mildred had talked about. We were getting into secret territory.

"We also use oil to make tires for cars, to make plastic, to make pesticides and fertilizers to grow food. Oil runs our world men. Do you know where we get oil?"

"We get it from under the ground or at the bottom of the sea." I said.

"We get it from the Middle East. And from Alberta." Lion added.

"All correct, and one of the countries in the Middle East has reached a point where they can't produce enough oil anymore. They had been lying about how much they had left. And now they're practically out."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means people and governments all over the world are panicking. No country had more oil than this country did, and now we all know that they have lying. Now everyone wants to know if other countries are lying too, and where they will get their oil from now. Countries with oil are trying to figure what to do. Everything is very tense right now and things could get very, very messy."

"What do you mean by messy?" Skunk said. I was surprised he said anything at all.

"We are going to have food shortages, and gas shortages, and maybe energy shortages and similar problems. It will all be temporary, just until governments are able to switch over to other methods of fueling cars and making things like plastic and fertilizers and pesticides. But we men will need to keep a strong hand on the wheel to keep the town safe and calm during a time of shortage like this."

"What kind of strong hand?" Mouse asked.

"Weaker minds tend to panic in times of shortage. People loot and riot and run around like chickens after the axe has fallen. Brother turns against brother, and the soft bodied weaklings cling to the strongest figures around, either from protection or to drag them down. The real men need to be role models and disciplined. They need to be like military officers and keep order. Without strong figures to maintain order, everything falls apart in times of shortage. Without Winston Churchill, Britain would have crumpled during the Second World War. This is like that. We need strong leadership and strong support for those leaders."

"You are my son," He said looking at Wolf, "I know I can count on you."

He looked over at myself and Owl.

"Rabbit, I've known you since you were in diapers, you are ready to be a man. Owl, I can see a man in you trying to get out. When the time comes, I know I can count on the two of you as well. Lion, Skunk, Mouse. I don’t know you boys, but I have been told by men whom I trust that you are ready to become men as well. That’s why you are all here.”

I tried my best to look grateful and excited, not worried and suspicious, "Thank you sir."

The others did the same. I think they were as scared as I was.

"You boys are going to be my soldiers one day. Not right now, not just yet. But you're all becoming men, and we will need real men in the coming days. And so I'm calling on you now. Until the day that I call on you to be soldiers, you will be my scouts and my rangers. And this is where it starts."

"Where what starts? I mean what are we talking about? My dad didn't tell me anything when he sent me here?" Lion asked.

"You have been paying at least some attention to the recent events I hope. The outside world is in turmoil, in crisis. A oil shortage in key countries has pushed the price of oil through the roof. It has set of regional and civil wars all across the developing world and has exposed extensive cracks in many parts of the systems that keep our first world lives so safe and comfy. Governments are trying to cope and deal, but small towns like ours cannot expect help. We will be on our own. And nothing short of exceptional planning and action will allow us to prosper in these times."

"Why is that?"

"Because in times of uncertainty and unrest, those who have are prey for those who who are willing to take. Look at Sumter's Ridge. High unemployment. Very little in the way of infrastucture or resources that can help them weather the shortages brought on by global unrest. Where do you think they will look when their belts get tight and the bellies are empty?"

"So what do we do?" Mouse asked.

"You spread the word. I believe that our town is strong enough to weather the coming storm if we pull together and act like a unit. But people need to undestand the need for action now, before the situation turns bad. Things are still stable, but that stability is fragile. If any surprise crisis pops up, that may break that fragile system beyond our ability to repair. We need people ready before surprises leave us unable to react or adapt. We need to change before it is required."

"I'm giving you all some pamphlets, approved by the city council, to put up around town. Spread them out. Make them impossible to miss. Awareness is critical to preventing this international crisis from spreading to our little town."

I looked at the pamphlets as he handed a bundle to me. I recognised them as being the ones he got approved at the meeting, but something was different. The bottom right corner, which had been noticably blank previously, now had the City Council coat of arms and read 'BY ORDER OF SAFEHOPE BLUFF CITY COUNCIL'.

“Okay men. Let’s get working. I don’t want anyone to tell me that Winter’s girls did better than we did.”

Owl looked up, “Winter’s girls, sir?”

“That’s right. Girls. Power is shifting and we all need to be ready. In times of change we need all the tools that we can get, and even a girl can be useful if she’s set to the right task.”

Owl turned to me and whispered, “ Which girls is he talking about, do you think?”

I shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

We started putting up the flyers. Not really spreading out, but sort of moving as a mass down the street away from Wolf’s dad.

As we got far enough away from Wolf’s dad that he couldn’t hear everything we were saying as we worked, I noticed Skunk had started grinning again.

“All right men. Now it’s time to march out and kill the enemies and build me a really big throne made of factory equipment- we aren’t using the mill anymore so I need a new empire.” Skunk said in an overly deep and gravelly voice.

“Just don’t let him hear you,” Wolf said, shaking his head, “Otherwise, you’ll be part of the throne.”

“Shouldn’t you stand up for your dad? He’s your dad. You know?” Mouse said.

“My dad doesn’t need me to stand up for him. And I don’t agree with him. I do what he says, because he’s my dad. Nobody said I have to agree with him.”

“But you guys have been talking about how things are getting strange. Doesn’t it sound like your dad actually has some real answers? You said the other adults were all lying to us. He’s actually told us stuff.” Mouse continued.

“But is he telling us the truth, or just what he thinks will get us to do what he wants?” Owl added.

Skunk laughed, “Listen to the detective agency here. You guys haven’t got a clue.”

“I’ll tell you what though. I wonder about your dad, he seems to have no clue about girls. Hawk would have hit him if she heard what he said about girls.” Sparrow said.

“My mom would have ripped a piece off him.” I agreed.

“My dad has really stupid old fashioned ideas about girls.” Wolf agreed.

“Hey, speaking of girls, are you still in the dog house with your girlfriend?” Lion asked.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Owl said with obvious discomfort.

“That’s a no.” Lion said.

“So Mister Big Man, not scared of anything, is scared of his girlfriend. Ha!” Skunk pointed and laughed at Owl.

Owl ignored Skunk and kept putting up flyers.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing.” Mouse said, actually stepping between Skunk and Owl, “Have you ever had a girlfriend? Have you ever had a girl even like you? Stop laughing. It's mean.”

“You haven’t either Squeaky.” Skunk said.

“I know. But, I’m not laughing at Owl. You shouldn’t laugh about his girl troubles. Your girl trouble is that you don’t have any girl trouble.” Mouse countered.

“Speaking about girl trouble. I really curious who those ‘Winter’s girls’ he was talking about are.” Owl said.

“I’d say anyone who is afraid of things changing. That’s what Mrs. Winter and Wolf’s dad are all about right? They want to put up walls and protect us from the dangers out there in the big bad world that’s about to go all Summer disaster movie on us. So who’s afraid of losing stuff?”

“I know! I know!” Skunk said, gleefully waving his hand like he was answering a teacher, “ That would be your girlfriend, lover boy!”

“You don’t know Viper.” Owl countered.

“And neither do you, if you think she wants things to fall apart like you do bush boy. Everyone in the school knows why you guys argue. She wants a white picket fence and you want a no trespassing sign. Why wouldn’t she side with the people trying to keep things the way they are?” Skunk folded his arms and grinned widely at his own logic.

“Who’s been coaching you, moron?” Owl said sullenly and turned away.

Owl walked away from the rest of us and began putting up pamphlets further off. Wolf looked at me.

“Well, I don’t think that could have gone any worse.”

“Hi guys! What’s going on?” Wolf and I turned around and saw Raven with her parents and also Viper walking down Main Street towards us. Raven’s Dad looked lost in some dark thoughts and Raven’s Mom looked concerned. Viper looked like she was trying to kill Owl with her mind.

Sparrow looked over at Wolf and shook his head, “You don’t say that. It’s like calling on the universe to smite you.”

“Or in this case, to smite Owl.” Lion added.

“Boys, what you doing?” Raven Mom asked, as they got closer.

“We’re putting up pamphlets for my dad, ma’am. Something from the council meeting. He told us to put them up.” Wolf said.

“I’m thinking of just ditching these things and leaving, it’s pretty lame isn’t it?” Skunk added.

“You’re too much of a scaredy cat to risk getting in trouble with Wolf’s Dad.” Owl responded.

“He’s not my Dad.” Skunk said.

“No, your Dad thought a bike with a wicker basket was a good choice for you. Maybe he wanted a girl?” Owl said without turning around.

“Boys.” Raven’s Mom did that mother voice thing we all know: the tone of voice that told us all that we should stop and play nice. It worked, Owl and Skunk shut up- although they kept glaring at each other.

Raven’s Dad wasn’t looking at any of us kids. He wasn’t looking at his wife either. He was looking at the closest pamphlet taped to the nearest power line pole. His face was scrunched up like a math test you just found out you failed. As the snarking between Owl and Skunk faded, the other people noticed What Raven’s Dad was doing and things got quiet. In the quiet, Wolf’s Dad walked over.

“Checking on our work?” He asked, as he crossed his arms of his chest and smiled down at the shorter man. It struck me as kind of spooky. Because I knew that Raven’s dad was pretty tall. Wolf’s dad loomed over everyone.
 
"You've changed this from the design we've approved. The pamphlet now looks as though the Town Council is the group behind it, rather than simply having permitted it."

"I am acting within the boundaries laid out by the council."

"What do you mean by that? Because I will tell you what I think you mean. I believe you are confident that your union turned thug army is sufficient to intimidate the people on the council and that you can push boundaries even as you pretend to accept them. I think that your words a smoke screen that are meant only to buy time while you attempt to reshape the situation to your benefit through other means. So, am I right? Is that what you meant to say?"

"I like you. You're smart. You kept the band in line when you were in charge. But you're too limited in your thinking, and too limited in your view of what can and can't be done. I like you, and we don't have to be enemies. Don't make us enemies."

"I didn't realize we were in a situation where people had enemies."

"People always have enemies. If you don't know that, then all it means is that you're making things easy for them."

"What is the purpose of this pamphlet? Where's the value in putting it up? Are you trying to raise awareness and educate, or spread fear and mistrust?"

"Fear is valuable. I don't see it as a negative thing. Fear is what keeps you alive."

"And fear makes people reactive, and easily persuaded to do things that they wouldn't normally agree to do."

"Fear is a very good motivator."

"It isn't very good and providing perspective or guidance though."

"That's what leadership is for."

"Whose leadership?"

"Those strong enough to withstand fear. Those strong enough to be aware of it, but unconquered by it."

“You are trying to speak in shadows. And I’m sure that’s effective most of the time. I’m asking you for a real answer. What do you mean by ‘those strong enough’? Do you mean yourself? I suspect that you do. And that leaves me deeply concerned.”

“And that’s your weakness. You don’t get angry. You get deeply concerned. You stepped down as band chief because you were tired of the infighting. You were doing a good job, and you would have done a better job if you had simply been willing to drag the idiots into line. You’re certainly smart enough that you could have managed it.”

“I have no desire to be a dictator. Particularly within the reservation system. I’ve seen that stereotype play out far too often. I did what I could and then stepped down.”

“And now your support is largely nominal, and your power base is non-existent. Whereas I have a steadily growing power base. Even the the younger generation understands. We have allies everywhere. Even schools children understand that strong leadership is required to protect our way of life."

“You aren’t building a power base. As I said earlier, you are building a reactive mob led by fear. And you are relying on that fear to push your ideas through.”

"Only cowards like you are beaten by fear."

Raven’s Dad shook his head, “Don’t mistake civility for cowardice. And don’t think that this won’t come up at the Council meeting. You’re trying to be Phillip of Macedon. You’re trying to act like you’re negotiating in good faith. But you keep trying to advance during the negotiations. I’m watching you. I don’t like what you’re doing.”

As the parents spoke Viper and Raven had moved, gravitated, slowly over to the group of us boys. As Raven’s dad finished speaking, Viper whispered to us, too quietly for the adults to hear.

 “I think he’s pretty clever.” She said,tilting her head to indicate Wolf's father, “He’s done like Azula from 'Airbender', tell them what they want to here and betray them later."

"Isn't Azula the villain?" asked Owl.

Skunk snorted, "And people think I'm dumb. But that sure sounds to me like I was right. What you do you think Owl? Am I right? I am aren't I?"

Owl didn't say aything.

"Maybe I'm just talking to me here,” Skunk continued “But I think I'm right on this one. Maybe I've been right about a lot of things. People just don't listen, but they know. They know."

Skunk leered at Owl, looking pointedly back and forth from Owl to Viper- who was turning an angry shade of crimson.

I kind of thought Skunk was wrong about Viper. I mean maybe, maybe, Viper was one of the girls Wolf's Dad had mentioned. But we were here putting up his pamphlets and we were also talking to Bart. So even if she was, I figured that it was probably something like that.

But Owl wasn't saying anything and Viper could tell she was being bad mouthed by Skunk.

"So, apparently I'm not worth defending. I defended you, even when we were fighting. So why aren't you defending me?" She said loudly.

"Viper honey, let's keep things polite. Skunk, remember your manners, this isn't a political rally." Raven's mom said.

"Well?" Viper said.

"You don't even know what he's talking about." Owl said.

"You're right, I don't, because you haven't told me."

"It's not important."

"So I'm not important?"

"I didn't say that."

"Yeah, you did. Skunk is talking about me, and apparently, according to you, what he's talking about isn't important. So if I'm not important enough for you to explain things to, or to defend when I'm being mocked; then I guess you're not important enough to spend any more time trying to fix." And with that, Viper turned on her heel, really dramatically, and marched off away from us.

Raven looked at her mom, "Mom I need to go be a good friend."

Her mother nodded, "Let's go then. Skunk, mind your manners. Owl, you need to talk this out later. Dear, we're going."

Raven ran off after Viper. And Raven's mother gently took her husband's hand and headed off. Raven's dad gave Wolf's dad a look that could cut through concrete before he turned around to walk with his wife.

"You can't trust women you can't control." Wolf's dad said, looking at Owl as Raven and her parents disappeared from sight. "You need to bring them in line or get rid of them."

Owl didn't say a word.

"Think it over, you'll understand in time. In any event, I have additional things that I need to put into motion. You men finish up here. I'll call on you later."

And then he turned and head in the opposite direction of Viper and Raven.

"You could not have screwed that up any more than if you flat out called her ugly." Skunk said with a grin.

I noticed a change in Owl's posture. The other kids did too, everyone but Skunk.

Lion turned back to Skunk, "We're friends and all my man. So take this as from a friend. I think you may be pushing things too far."

"What's he going to do, cry on me?" Skunk said with a laugh.

And Owl punched Skunk twice, hard. The first punch smashed across Skunk's nose, spurting blood across the sidewalk and bending Skunk's nose at a weird angle. The second punch buried itself in Skunk's stomach and made him double over. Owl followed it up by grabbing Skunk by the shoulders and driving a knee into the older boy's groin. Owl let go, and Skunk fell to the ground in a limp pile of arms and legs and pain.

“I warned you,” Lion said, “You got no sense of how far you can push people. And some people push back.”

Skunk made several gasping attempts at talking, but couldn't manage to get enough air to make any words.

Owl stood over him, his face red.

"What are you going to do Skunk, cry on me?"

Skunk pulled himself up to his knees.

"I'll make you cry, you cowboy freak." he said, and then pulled out his pocket knife.

He was reaching for the folding blade with his left hand to open the knife, when Owl brought his right foot, cowboy boot and all onto Skunk's hand and drove it to the sidewalk. Skunk let out a scream of pain, and Owl twisted his heel, forcing Skunk's hand to open and release the knife. Owl lifted his foot and sharply kicked the knife into the alley between the diner and barber shop.

"What's the deal Skunk. Are you just trying to make us all as miserable and pathetic as you are?"

An authoritative voice shattered the moment.

"Stop that this instant! Before I call your parents and make them pick you up in my holding cells!"

I didn't look up. I didn't need to. I knew that voice. My mother was here.

"Owl! What on earth do you think you are doing?"
 
Owl didn't respond.

"Skunk had a knife ma'am." Mouse said in the looming quiet.

My mother looked around, and turned back to Skunk, "I don't see a knife. Skunk, is this true? Do you have a knife."

Skunk looked confused and held out both his hands, as if to say, 'what knife?'

"Oh come on!" Wolf said.

"I have as many knives as Owl does." Skunk added, licking the blood from his lips as it dripped from his nose.

I froze, understanding Skunk's meaning perfectly. I saw Owl's hand move reflexively to his back.

Owl shook his head, "I'm sorry. I didn't see a knife. We were just fighting. He insulted my friend and I got mad. I started it. It's my fault, my responsibility."

Skunk grinned.

"Don't you grin like that young man. I am almost as furious at you. I know you. How many times have I had to call your parents about you stealing bikes or worse? So this time somebody else threw the first punch, but don't think I don't know you had a hand in this."

"Thank you ma'am." Owl said.

"Oh no, don't thank me. I know he's a delinquent. But I expect better of you. You're friends with my son, and I know your parents. Don't think I'm going to let you fall through the cracks like I let happen to your father. I am going to watch you and ride you. There is no way I am letting another member of your family waste his potential."

"Mom, don't you normally say that we should stand up for ourselves and our friends."

"Of course I say that, but that doesn't mean beat another boy bloody for name calling. If you don't know the difference, then clearly we need to have a more careful discussion on the matter. And what are you children putting up here, anyway?"

She grabbed the pamphlets from my hands, and stared at them as though she were trying to use heat vision to burn holes straight through them.

"This is not what the council approved. What on Earth are you boys doing putting these up?"

"My dad told us to ma'am." Wolf said.

"And did he explain why he changed this pamphlet from what was approved?"

"No, but Raven's dad got in a fight with my Dad about the changes on the paper too. My dad said that the change was okay. Raven's dad didn't seem to agree though. It was almost as though Raven's dad was fighting with him. I've never seen him like that, like he was actually angry." Wolf said.

"Of course he's angry. Your father is claiming authority he doesn't have. And you boys are helping him do his dirty deed. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Should we have disobeyed a grown up, a parent?" Owl said.

"You shouldn't have to be in a situation where you would need to ask that question. Damn!" She kicked a nearby street light, "I'm sorry boys. I'm not angry at you. Okay, that's wrong. I'm furious with at least two of you. But I'm more angry at the way people around here are acting, and I was taking that out on you."

"That said, you and I are going to have a long talk about proper ways to stand up for our friends tonight young man. And if I see either of you boys fighting, heaven help you. And heaven help you if this mythical knife actually shows up."

"And furthermore, you're right. I shouldn't be angry at you for obeying an adult. But I don't think any of you will be very proud of this moment when you grow up. You need to think about what you are doing and whether or not what you are doing is the right thing. Too many people end up doing far too many things they later regret because they were doing what they were told to do."

“Do you want us to stop?” I asked.

“No, you finish doing what you agreed to time. I want you to grow up to be a man of your word. But you pay attention to what you are agreeing to do in the future. I’ll see you at home. And Skunk? Owl? I will be speaking with your parents. So expect a long conversation when you get home.”

My mother headed off as abruptly as she had arrived. Nobody spoke. Everyone was silent now, even Skunk- who quietly retrieved his knife before going back to putting up pamphlets. Eventually the pamphlets were all taped up to buildings and lamp posts and power line poles and whatever else was in the city center that packing tape would stick to. After we finished, the other boys wandered off. Skunk with a smug grin, and Mouse and Lion with off had good byes.

“Well, that went well.” I said, once the three of us were alone.

“Did anything that could go wrong, not go wrong?” Owl asked.

“Well, Viper could have slapped you bud.” Wolf said.

“I would have preferred it.” Owl added.
   
“So the problem isn't what's happening? That isn't what the adults are hiding. We know it's to do with oil suddenly being harder to get and how that's acting like dominoes in all sorts of other stuff in Professor Tuttle's spider webs as some people try to protect themselves and some take advantage and some panic.” I said.

“The problem is that everyone is still hiding things from us. So if that isn't what they're hiding, what are they hiding?” Owl asked.

“Well, it has to have something to do with everything else, I mean the stuff that we thought they were hiding. It's just a more secret part of that stuff.” I said.

“So maybe the secret is that the adults aren't sure that we can get through this. Like, everyone is going to starve and they don't want us to know, 'cause we'll worry.” Wolf said.

“No, they've talked about that. I mean, nobody has said 'we're all going to starve', but people have done the whole hint so strongly we know what you mean thing. So that's not a secret, people just don't like to talk about it.” Owl said.

“Okay, well what are the adults keeping from each other? What are secrets they aren't just keeping from the kids? Maybe it's that.” I said.

“Oh, that's not good. That's what the secret is. Everyone has their own plans on how to get through this, and they don't agree with each other. The secret isn't a secret, its lots of secrets. That's why everyone's arguing, everyone is fighting over how to get through what's happening.” Owl said.

“So we were right about there being teams. But this isn't a race I don't think. This is fight.” I said.

“No bud,” Wolf said, “This is more than a fight. This is a war.”
             
I didn't do much after I got home besides think. I had wanted to watch the news, but my Dad was watching hockey. And so I went to my room and play 'Oregon Trail' on the computer to try and clear my head. And then my mother was calling us all for dinner.

The Pinchens were yelling again tonight. Nobody commented as we ate our dinner. My mother was the Chief of Police and I wondered what it said about her that she just kept eating like nothing was wrong.
Mrs. Pinchen was yelling something about her husband being crazy and paranoid. And then she stopped yelling, mid sentence, and suddenly we were eating in silence again.

And I knew that Mrs. Pinchen would be wearing sun glasses in Winter again tomorrow.

Exodus Chapter Four

Chapter Four
Three Questions

"What do you mean?" Professor Tuttle asked.

"Huh?" The question seemed to confound Skunk.

We were all sitting in cold grass at the park outside city hall. The air was letting us know that it was late autumn, and we could see our breath whenever we had to answer Professor Tuttle's questions.

Professor Tuttle smiled gently down at Skunk, sitting uncomfortably before him. Skunk had tried to sit at the back of the group, but Professor Tuttle had insisted that all kids in the back move to the front so that they could hear better.

The professor continued.

"You asked why we still have school if the school is closed. That is a tremendously vague question. I can't answer it properly without knowing what you are actually asking me. So please refine your question. What do you mean?"

Skunk looked at the grass. He squirmed uncomfortably for several long minutes while Professor Tuttle stared at him calmly.

Finally Skunk looked back up at the Professor.

"Well, we don't have desks. And I don't understand why we're even pretending to still be going to school."

Professor Tuttle nodded, "You suspect there is no value in what we are doing, and so you don't understand why we are doing it. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, I guess that's it."

"And how do you know there is no value in what we are doing?"

"How do I know?"

"Indeed. Your question assumes that there is no value in the method we are currently using here. If you are wrong about there being no value, then your question is unnecessary. So, if you would please, tell me how you know that there is no value?"

"Well there are no desks. So we can't write on anything or take tests or do class work. If we can't write tests or class work, then we can't get our marks and then we can't get report cards. So what's the point then?"

"So if I understand correctly, you believe the value in school is in the report cards? Is that correct?"

"Well, yeah. How else do we know if we've passed?"

"So, to restate your question. Since the only value that you can see in school is in receiving report cards to pass to the next grade, you don't understand why we would continue with classes when we no longer have desks to write on and tests for me to use in grading your work. Does that sound correct?"

"Uh yeah."

"Good, now where is the value in your question?"

"What do you mean?" Skunk asked.

"Excellent question!" Professor Tuttle exclaimed, pleased, "I mean, that what value are you hoping to find in asking your question? Are you hoping to persuade us to a particular action? Are you looking to enlighten a misunderstanding. What is the point in asking your question?"

"I, uh, was hoping that you might let us all go early. So we, you know, didn't have to be here."

"Aha, so the stakes are very high indeed. The purpose of your question is liberation for you and your classmates. Yes?"

"Umm, yeah. I guess."

"So, I assert that there is value in this form of schooling. I assert that you will get just as much, perhaps even more, from this form of schooling than from traditional schooling. Now, what must you do in response to my assertion?"

Skunk sat, staring that the professor like an wild animal caught in the sudden glare of porch light. The professor, for his part, just waited. This was Professor Tuttle's specialty, waiting. He never felt the need to answer his own questions. Once he had given enough hints, as he saw it, he simply waited until we puzzled it out. He would answer questions, and the like. But he was not afraid of making us squirm.

Viper put her hand up.

"Yes Viper?"

"What do you mean by 'just as much, perhaps even more', sir?" Viper asked.

Profesor Tuttle smiled.

"I mean that because you are not distracted by papers and marks, and you are not trapped taking notes, I can have a real conversation with all of you and draw lessons out of you. I can help you teach yourselves how to think, rather than simply train you by rote."

Viper considered this for a moment, and as she did Raven raised her hand with a grin.

"Professor Tuttle, how do you know that works as well as regular school?"

"I know it works as well, if not better, because you are asking me intelligent questions right now, that you would never have asked me reading out of a book. You are clarifying your thinking through three simple questions, and forcing me to explain myself and defend my position. I know, because you are asking me."

I looked at Skunk. He was glaring at the girls. I couldn't tell if he was relieved not to be on the sport anymore, or angry that they were now the center of attention- or both.

"Okay, but Professor, where's the value in all that? I mean, so what?" Viper asked.

"You will not be in school forever. If I teach you by repetition and punishment, you may not continue to seek learning when you leave school. I will then have failed you. You will know facts, but you will not know how to think. I want to free your minds, give them wings."

This actually generated a murmur amongst the children.

"Knowing how to ask questions has been today's lesson. And to honour that first question that started everything, I am ending class here. I achieved my goal of teaching you how to ask useful questions, and you have achieved your goal of having less boring school time. Have fun, pretend you're doing an assignment if an adult sees you. After all, you will not be in school forever."

As the class broke up, I picked out the gang from the crowd. I could see Owl watching Viper awkwardly. It was insanely obvious that Owl really liked Viper. But did Viper like Owl? I couldn't tell. Somedays she sat and leaned against him with her eyes closed. Somedays she ignored him or argued with everything he suggested, even if she had suggested the same thing earlier. I liked them both, they were both my friends- but some days I felt sorry for Owl. He really liked Viper, and it seemed as though she kept changing her mind.

"Penny for your thoughts Bud." Wolf said, ambling up beside me.

"Viper and Owl," I said, "You think she likes him?"

"Yeah, of course she does."

"Then why does she act so weird sometimes?" I asked.

"My dad would say she's a girl and that explains it. I think she likes him because he's cool and doesn't care about adult rules and says what he likes, because he thinks he doesn't need what the adults keep trying to make us learn. But she wants him to be all of that and still fit into her Ken and Barbie dream house fantasy with a white picket fence and a happily ever after. And because he won't be both, she gets frustrated and then gets mad at him."

I looked at Wolf in mild surprise.

"What?" He asked.

"How did you figure that out?" I asked.

"That was what my mom was like with Dad before she died. She thought the army guy was cool, but she expected him to be army guy when she wanted and good husband when she wanted. And he didn't know how to be both. He couldn't flip a switch and swap between them like she wanted. They argued about that. I remember the arguing. Owl and Viper argue the same way."

I nodded. It was easy to forget that Wolf was smart, because he didn't advertise it like Russel or Viper. But he was.

The gang joined up as the rest of the kids wandered off to enjoy the day.

"What did you make of all that?" Owl asked us all cautiously.

"It's weird that he would talk about all that, " Viper said,

"Like he's trying to warn us without saying it outright."

"All the adults are hiding stuff, we know that now." I added.

"But he was hinting about breaking down of relationships, one that hold whole communities together," Raven added, "It's really creepy."

"I say, let them fall," Owl said, "Everyone is so keen for me to take my place in that big ugly spider web, and it just feels like getting caught, with the spider at the center of the web sucking my guts out. Let the webs fall. Then nobody can tell me not to be hunter."

"And then what will happen to the rest of us mister big bad hunter?" Viper said, her face reddening, "I can't hunt. My family doesn't hunt, or fish, or garden. Raven's family would be fine. You and your mom would do fine. What about my family? What about Rabbit's? Or Wolf and his dad? Why can't we just fix it?"

"How do you know that this can be fixed?" Owl said, "I don't think whatever Wolf's Dad and Winters are doing in the school gym is about fixing things. If it was, we'd be seeing people working on it. Their keeping it secret, because people wouldn't like it if they found out. That's why you keep things secret. We know Wolf's Dad thinks things are going bad. And he isn't talking about fixing, he's talking about preparing for some big disaster, like an earthquake or something. If the adults are preparing like they don't think this can be fixed what will we do?"

"Listen to yourself. If this can't be fixed, and we don't even know what this is, and if we're talking about Professor Tuttle's spider webs, then things breaking and not being fixed means factories can't send stuff to the stores, so there is nothing in the stores. It means we can't buy anything. Not video games. Not toys. Not clothes. Not food. What do you think we're going to do if this can't be fixed. It has to be fixed!" Viper said. She was getting really angry, but I don't think Owl noticed. He was still smiling.

"Then I guess you'd have to learn how to hunt and fish and stuff like that, huh?" Owl retorted, "You think I wouldn't teach my friends?"

"And what if I don't want to learn your stupid hunting stuff? What if I want Professor Tuttle's spider webs to stay where they are? What if I want that, huh? Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean nobody likes it? Maybe some of us want a real job, with a real house, and a white picket fence!"

“Why would you want that?”

“Because its nice, you get to have a family where people are nice to each other and care about each other. You get to help each other and do your part and then enjoy success together. It's not about the white picket fence or the house or lawn with the flower garden, it about the family- the house and garden and the white picket fence are what they make.”

“But your family isn't nice to each other. Your brothers treat you awful. Your dad acts like your purpose is to entertain his boys. And your mom  doesn't seem to care about anything besides looking good. They make you do most of the chores, and they tell you that you're more suited it. Which is lame. When was the last time the brats cleaned anything but their rooms under threat of death? How is that the happy little dream you just described? ”

“Maybe I think I can do better than them, okay! Every time I want something, they think I shouldn't. Maybe I want that house and that family so that I can show my family that they suck and make them realize that the should have appreciated me! I can't do that from a cabin in the woods. If I do that, then they get to laugh and think I'm pathetic!  I don't want that! I want something that I can show off and prove I'm worth more than them!”

"And what if I don't want a life where people are telling me what to do every day, all day? You want to get a job and work until you're dead, fine! Go ahead!" And now Owl looked angry.

"You sound like Peter Pan, except you can't fly and there is no Neverland! Grow up Owl!"

"I am grown up, everyone else just wants to stay babies!"

"So I'm a baby now am I cowboy hat boy? You look like Woody from Toy Story, and I'm the baby? Well fine! Go play your baby games, I'm not playing."

And with that Viper stormed off. I think she was crying.

"Fine then!" Owl yelled after her. And then he stalked off towards Main street.

The rest of us looked at each other. Finally Raven spoke.

"You ever get the sense that you missed part of the conversation?"

Wolf and I shrugged, Russell had just walked over, “What did I miss?” he asked.

“Everything,” Raven said, “Boys, get the cowboy. I'll go have girl talk with Viper and we'll see if we can fix this."

And with that Raven started after Viper, leaving us to chase Owl. He wasn't at the Mr. Pickle Diner, which was our normal hang out, so we headed for the Fauntleroy Place Mall. It was the only other place that he could possibly be. Owl was sitting in the food court when we found him, staring at his Happy Meal action figure.

"What's up?" I asked as we sat down beside him.

"I don't know." Owl answered, "I mean what's the point? I'm in the seventh grade and I have five years of school left, and then four more years if I get into college. But I don't know what I would go to college for anyway. I don't want any kind of job that I could get. I don't want to work in an office or be a construction worker or a doctor or a nurse or a teacher or a lawyer or anything people want me to be. I just want to be a hunter and I just want to be free."

"That sucks. So be a hunter." Wolf said.

"Then I'd have everyone thinking I was a little kid afraid to grow up like Viper said. And I'd always be arguing."

I shook my head, "Everything adults say to us these days is a lie. So lie to them. Why care what they think?"

"That's just it. This place sucks. All the adults are boring and doing boring things that they hate. And here we are being told to do the same stuff too, and if we don't then we get told to grow up. And I hate it. It's all so fake. There has to be something more than this, I just can't figure out what it is. And I see the adults suddenly scrambling, and see the cracks that they're trying to hide and I think it's great. I think we should just let it fall."

“You don't think you can find a place for you that would make sense? Like a wilderness guide or something?” I asked.

“I don't. Can you see me leading dumb city people around? I can't imagine finding any place for me that won't either drive me nuts or make me look nuts.”

“You can do it,” Russell said helpfully, “You're awesome. People like you can do stuff like that. When I watch Star Trek, I realize that my destiny is to beam down to a planet with people like you in order to die spectacularly, so that you can do awesome things," Russell said with a chuckle.

Owl shook his head, “"But Viper is kind of right. How many people couldn't manage, if everything I hate just went away. It would be awful. I mean seriously, people would die. But the grown ups are all lying to us."

"So what do you want to do? The truth. What do you want?" I asked.

"I want something real. Everything here is worthless. I want to find something better."

As we were talking, I saw Hawk and her friends, Sparrow, Lion, Maize and Mouse, watching. They were cool and we generally liked them. They were like us, in the way that they hung out together. We weren't friends, but our two groups got along.

I knew Sparrow and Maize the best. Sparrow was the only kid who looked as nerdy as Russell, but Sparrow did the cool nerd. Thin, with a knowing smile and dark brown hair that would not stay combed. Sparrow wore black square glasses that looked geeky as you could imagine. He dressed in brown skinny jeans and normally wore a blue t-shirt with a pair of 3-D glasses on it. He said that owned more than one, but I think he just wore it a lot. Maize was tall and had really long straw yellow hair like Rapunzel. She wasn't pretty and wasn't ugly, but had this amazing smile that made you feel great to be around her. She always dressed in greens and pinks. Maize and Sparrow were a couple, and had been for as long as I could remember. They were best friends as little kids, at ages when boys didn't play with girls and girls didn't play with boys. They never started dating, they just kind of always were together and everyone knew that was how it would stay. They got in fights every now and then. And one they broke up for a whole week, they even both went on dates with other people during that week, but by the next Monday they were together again. That's just how they were.

Mouse was huge. A mountain of a guy. At thirteen he was almost as big as Wolf's Dad. We called him Mouse, because he had a tiny little voice that squeaked when he was nervous. Mouse loved physical activity, but hated being social and hated talking in front of others. I don't think Mouse was dumb, but he was so quiet and self-conscious that he sometimes made people think he was about as smart as a brick. Sparrow and Mouse got along well. You see that sort of big guy and little guy friendship in movies and stuff too, well it worked just like that. Mouse was Sparrow's brawn. Sparrow was Mouse's brain. Hawk and Lion were everyone's attitude.

Lion wasn't as big as Mouse, or as tough looking as Wolf, but he was big and tough and he had a swagger like Owl. The big difference between Owl and Lion, was that I always kind of thought Lion wanted people to see him look cool, and Owl looked cool because he didn't care if people saw him. Lion liked to be the hero, and liked to be the big man. He was on the football team and the basketball team and track and field team, and was always wearing a sports jersey or a sports t-shirt. He didn't have a girl friend, but made a big show about going on dates with girls, and leaving flowers for them where other people could see them.

Hawk was almost as tough as Wolf, and the sort of girl that normally wouldn't be popular. But Hawk was pretty, not put together pretty like Viper or girl next door pretty, like Raven. She was tough pretty, and she could be cool, but she could also be a little bit of a bully. She had an eye for weakness and liked to pounce on it. She was looking right at Owl, and I could tell what she was thinking. And sure enough, she marched over to our table with a big hungry grin on her face.

Hawk squared off in front of Owl. I had noticed that Hawk always seemed to argue with Owl. But despite never seeming to agree, Hawk always seemed to want to talk to Owl. How come all the girls wanted to talk to Owl?

"So, girlfriend troubles?" Hawk asked, her grin getting even bigger as she spoke.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Owl answered.

"Could have fooled us. What'd you do? Bring her a dead squirrel instead of flowers?"

"She's not my girlfriend. I don't bring her flowers. We were fighting about what's happening in town with the adults acting all creepy."

"Oh really?" Hawk said, "Do tell.

"Why what do you care?"

"Oh come on. They closed the school. The Professor is talking about how fragile everything is. Wolf's dad is all Darth Vader beside Mrs. Winters like she's Emperor Palpatine. It's not like we don't see the same thing you see. So what were you fighting about?"

"About what it means. I think it means everything is going to fall apart and we'll all to survive on our own- no supermarkets and internet and stuff. Viper thinks the same thing, but she thinks we can fix it or save it- or maybe she just hopes we can and I hope we can't"

"Why would you hope that we can't fix it?" Hawk said, a weird look on her face.

"Because I can't stand the idea of getting a job that I hate and working at it until I need a cane and then sitting in a rocking chair mumbling to myself while nobody visits me."

"If you hide in the woods too much, the Ogre lady will get you and feed you to her crows," Lion said.

"Right, and I totally believe in the boogey-man too." Owl retorted.

"So what should we do then, instead of getting jobs? Live in a trailer like your dad the drunk and go hunting once a month?"

Owl's face hardened and he spoke very quietly, "Don't call my dad a drunk."

"Why not?" Hawk looked genuinely surprised, "He is a drunk and everyone knows it. You know it. I've hear you call him an alcoholic. What's the problem with me calling him a drunk?"

"I like you. But if you call him a drunk again, girl or no girl, I'm going to set your teeth free." Owl was very quiet now.

Hawk looked really angry too now, her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched.

"Are you saying you wouldn't hit a girl normally? Is there something wrong with being a girl? Do you think we're weaker or something? Do you see any flowers in my hair, you cowboy hat wearing little freak? Do you see me wearing pink or playing with dolls? I'll tell you what. You want a fight? I'll show you how a real girl can fight."

The two of them were staring at each other. I watched as Lion and Mouse tensed up, and could feel the change in Wolf, although his posture didn't change. The whole group was wound like a spring. And then we all heard Viper's voice across the food court.

"Hey! Back off!"

Viper came stalking up, with Raven in tow and pushed herself between Hawk and Owl. She put her hand on her hips and glared up at the taller girl.

"You mess with Owl, you mess with me too." Viper said.

Hawk smiled at the Viper "Well that's cute. But come on! Do you really think that you can fight like I can? Do you think you can beat me in a straight fight?"

Viper shook her head.

"Of course not, my mom is a florist and dad has no time for girls. I haven't got a clue how to fight. But I am a girl. And my mom taught me how to do my nails. Sharp and hard with acrylic lacquer. I know how scratch and gouge. I know that you would win in a fight, but how many soft bits do you think you would lose first?"

Hawk stopped, and took a half step away from the smaller girl.

"That is the lamest thing I've ever heard."

"Then why did you take a step back?"

Both groups were quiet for a long time. Finally hawk broke the silence, "Fine, whatever. Just remember Romeo, flowers not dead squirrels." Then she winked, turned on her heel and marched off the with others behind her. As Hawk left, Viper spun around and glared just as hard at Owl.

"You jerk! I'm gone for twenty minutes! What were doing?"

"Uhm... getting in a fight?"

"We were fighting! Us! Why were you fighting with her?"

"Now I'm lost."

"And I was coming back to try and fix things! Fine, see what I care."

"What did I do this time?"

Viper stared at him so hard I thought Owl was going to melt. He definitely looked like he wanted to. Finally Viper turned and walked away with her shoulders tensed in quiet fury and Raven following behind her.

I watched Owl carefully. He was hurting, I could tell. He liked Viper an awful lot, and she liked him- but they kept butting heads. He wanted to be like Davy Crockett and live away from cities, but even his mom didn't think that was a good idea, and she was on his side.

I kept trying to get a sense of what was bothering Owl. He seemed to want to be more than what the town and the adults would allow. We wanted to be more and more in a different way that people expected. How do you explain to your parents that you think everything they want for you is a dumb idea?

Maybe our parents felt like this when they were kids. If so, they must have given up. And that was why Owl was hurting. He didn't want to give up, but He didn't know how to win.

"Most girls are a waste of my time. Even most of the girls who are worth being friends with can get on my nerves." Wolf said as we sat.

Owl winced. I knew Wolf had been trying to show solidarity with Owl, but Wolf really was oblivious to girls and to relationships that guys had with girls.

"Like father like son." I answered.

"Not really Bud. My dad does think girls are worth his time. He just doesn't think they're, I don't know what he thinks girls are. I can tell he likes girls, he just kind of think they should walk into the kitchen and stay there. I don't think that. I just know that I never seem to have anything to say to most girls. Nothing they talk about matters to me. And I can't be bothered to pretend. I'd rather talk to my buds. So I don't have a girlfriend. That's fine."

"What about Viper and Raven?" Owl asked

"They're girls who are buds."

"That simple?"

"Diggity."

“And how does that help me with Viper right now?”

“I don't know. She's a girl and she's a bud. Maybe she wants you treat her like just a girl, or just a bud? I don't know.”

I shook my head, "This is always easier in the movies."

Owl's head popped up at that. "No, this is exactly what happens in movies. The guy always ends up in the dog house with the girl. So I need to go apologize. "

"Bud, in the movies the girl always wants the guy to explain what he's apologizing for. You don't know what you did wrong. None of us do. If you try and go apologize now, you aren't going to have the right answer and she's going to get mad at you again, or even more- whatever, right?"

Owl's face twisted in concentration and then he said, "Maybe Hawk was right. Maybe you're right Wolf. I should treat her like a girl, not a 'bud', and I should get her flowers. I can't go wrong there. Girls love getting flowers, and I've never got her flowers before. That's the right thing to do in a situation like this. That's what guys do for girls, right?"

"Okay, I follow your thinking. But there is a big problem you missed." I added.

"What's that?" Owl said.

"You're going to have to buy the flowers from Viper's mom."

The color drained out of Owl's face, "She has assistants. Maybe she won't be at the shop yet."

"That's a long shot bud."

"It's my only shot, let's run and maybe we'll be lucky."

We headed towards the flower shop, following Owl as jogged along. I got the sense that he was hoping that if he moved fast enough there would be a better chance that Viper's Mom wouldn't be back in the shop yet. Owl hit the shop window well ahead of me and Wolf. As he looked in, his shoulder's slumped and he kind of deflated. I didn't need to look in the window to know Viper's Mom was back in the shop already. As we caught up, I looked in to confirm what I knew. There was Viper's Mom behind the counter.

"It's okay, Bud." Wolf said, "We'll find another way to do this. We could pick her wild flowers, they're still pretty. Right?"

"Her mom's the florist, she'll know I picked them in the woods. And I think that's kind of the problem. This will work because its not be doing some backwoods thing. Wild flowers will just maker her angrier I think."

"So what are you going to do?" I asked.

Owl was quiet for a moment, and then he said, "I'm going to buy her flowers."

And he walked into the store. Wolf looked at me helplessly. I could tell he had no idea how to back up Owl on this plan. I didn't really either. I watched Owl head over to a flower display and begin looking at flowers. I was trying to think of how to help him, and then I saw him looking at the white tags on the bunches of flowers. He didn't look happy. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his nylon wallet and tore open the velcro seal. As he was counting up money and comparing it to different bunches of flowers, I realized that Viper's Mom had noticed him. She had a look on her face I didn't know what to do with, a kind of righteous anger and contempt all rolled together. She looked like a woman about to swat a bee that had just stung her.

"He doesn't have enough money to buy anything, or anything good anyway." I said to Wolf, "Do you have any money?" I didn't have a wallet myself, but I had some mone in my inner front pocketon my blue jeans- which I pulled out as I asked.

"Maybe a dollar or two." Wolf said and he dug around in his own pockets.

"Good enough," I said, and I walked in with Wolf behind me.

Viper's Mom was talking to Owl when we arrived.

"I think its adorable that you're trying to buy flowers for my girl, but do you really think that she's going to be impressed by something she's had to work with all her life. My husband doesn't know half as much about flowers as I do. I wouldn't trust him in a flower store alone."

"So, you think I should buy her something else then?"

Viper's Mom seemed to consider this and then shook her head, "Flowers are the only thing that likely to be in your price range. And even then just barely. If you tried to buy something else, it would end up being really cheap. Even with my cheaper flowers, you aren't going to be able to afford much with what you've got."

I didn't like how Owl was being treated. I held out my hand, palm down and when Owl noticed and opened his own hand in response, I put all my money into his hand. Wolf handed Owl his own handful of quarters moments later. Viper's Mom seemed to be able to count up everything as we handed to him, because she nodded.

"Okay, well with your friend's charity, I can at least get you some carnations. They're called the poor man's rose. But they're cheap and still very pretty, so you get a lot more for what you pay for than you would on fancier flowers. I have these ones in yellow, that's a sweet color."

"They look nice." Owl said cautiously.

I was thinking this through. Viper's Mom was being mean, but she was also right that we didn't have a lot of money, and Viper would know how much we spent either way. Owl looked and me and Wolf. We both shrugged our shoulders to say, 'Your guess is as good as mine.'

"That sounds good. I'll buy as many as I can with this." Owl said, placing the cash on the counter.

I didn't like the way Viper's Mom was smiling as we left the shop, but once outside I got distracted by the commotion that was taking over the streets. Groups of mostly men, generally dressed in flannel plaid shirts and blue jeans were walking through the the streets handing out sheets of paper to everyone who hadn't noticed quickly enough to steer clear.

I saw a stray sheet of paper on the ground beside us and picked it up.

"Support Community Self Sufficiency in Difficult Times." I read aloud.

"In these times of economic and political uncertainty, when all families are feeling the pinch from the rapid changes sweeping the globe, every town must consider itself and island and a fortress against the chaos of the outisde world. We must band together as a community and stand together as one. We need strong leadership and clear direction. Resource shortages are inevitable and will be felt most keenly by small communities not considered 'essential' by big governments far away. What will you do to protect your families? What will you do to protect your future? Show support for strong local leaders at the Town Council Meeting tonight."

"That sounds bigger than people have been telling us. Again." Owl said.

"Adults lie bud. Get used to it." Wolf said.

"My Mom doesn't lie to me." Owl objected.

"All adults lie. Most of the time they do it 'cause they think its for your own good, but all adults lie."

"I see the girls," I interrupted, "Mr. Pinchen is talking to them. And I think we should help."

I pointed and Wolf and Owl looked to see Mr. Pinchen talking to the Raven and Viper in the doorway of the Mr. Pickle Diner. The Mr. Pickle Diner had been around almost as old as the town itself, Mr. Pinchen had apparently started talking to the girls as they tried to leave the Diner and was now blocking them from escaping as he talked, angrilly it seemed, and waved one of the papers at them.

"The girls look scared." Wolf said.

"Of course they look scared," I added, "Everyone in town knows Mr. Pinchen hits his wife. I'd be scared with him glaring down at me."

"Then get ready to be scared, because we aren't leaving them on their own." Owl said.

As we got closer we could hear Pinchen speaking loudly to Raven.

"And you tell your no good dad of yours that he isn't welcome at any council meetings any more if he knows what's good for him!"

"My dad is on the Town Council, so why wouldn't he be at the meeting?

Raven's response seemed to throw Mr. Pinchen off and he paused for a second before he responded, "Well he better stay home, if knows what's healthy for him."

We pushed our way between the girls and Mr. Pinchen.

"Are you threatening her dad or her, Mr. Pinchen?" Owl asked.

Pinchen's eyes narrowed and he said, "I'm not threatening anybody. I'm giving out good advise so that nobody ends up in a situation that they might regret."

Owl grinned, "I heard somebody else talk like that recently, only he was a school bully trying to keep his threats unofficial so he could say he hadn't actually threatened anybody. It's a lame move that didn't fool me when a school bully pulled and and doesn't fool me when the town bully says it."

Mr. Pinchen wiped his thumb across his nose, like he had with Wolf's dad- and I got the impression we were standing in harm's way. I don't think Owl noticed. I know Wolf didn't care.

"Kid, I don't like you calling me a bully. I tend to take personal when people insult me and my honor."

And then Owl did it.

"Your wife wears sunglasses too often for you pretend you have honour."

Mr. Pinchen's eyes widened and his face went beet red. "What you saying, you little cockroach?"

"You tell me. Nobody wants to talk about it in front of us kids, but I get the feeling everyone in town knows what I mean."

I realized that other adults were watching now, even the other men handing out pamphlets were looking uncomfortably at Owl and Mr. Pinchen. Owl was trying to make it too public for Mr. Pinchen to go further or even continue. It was a good idea, but looking at Mr. Pinchen, I got the impression that he was too angry to think straight at this point. Owl was a tough kid, but Mr. Pinchen was a big full grown man. Wolf might be able to take Pinchen, but probably not before he did a number on Owl.

And then a familiar voice cut through the crowd.

"The boy has your number Pinchen."

I looked to see Mildred Sanger stepping through the crowd to confront Mr. Pinchen.

"Did you know that was why I never dated you? Because you were a bully. You were a bully then, and you're a bully now. You thought you could get with the hippie girl; and when that didn't work, you spread gossip about me. It must have galled you that I would date so many different boys, but not you. But the thing is, Pinchen, I can spot a bully a mile away. And now, so can everyone else in town. Well done."

And with that Mildred began slowly clapping her hands in mock approval. Mr. Pinchen looked around at the crowd that was now watching us. He wiped his thumb across his nose, and then seemed to change his mind. He expression shifted from angry to cornered and began looking around left and right. Finally, without saying a word, he turned away from us and from Mildred and stalked down a side street where the Mr. Pickle Diner and other local businesses kept their dumpsters.

Mildred turned to face us. "What were you thinking? Provoking a bully for no reason is foolish."

Owl looked surprised, "You have to stand up for yourself. Don't you?"

"Standing up for yourself is important, but so is picking your battles. If you stand up against somebody who can push you over, then at least make certain that you gain something from the fall. That man is not self-aware enough to act like decent human being, especially when he's angry. And you were trying to make him angry. He doesn't think rationally then. I've grown up watchin him treat injuries to his pride like physical wounds. And this is usually cause by people pointin out how short sighted and moronic he is, and then he hurts them. He isn't smart enough to think through what's happening. Taunt him and he will treat it the same way he would if you stabbed him with a knife. And you were taunting him."

"But I was right. wasn't I?"

"You were smart enough to be right about the fact that his wife wears sunglasses on cloudy days, and stupid enough to call him on it without a back up plan. Don't lose by insisting on being right when being right doesn't work."

Mildred stopped then, and seemed to be considering something. We waited.

"Do you box?" She asked Owl finally.

"Not really. My da.. my parents taught me how to fight, but not really formally."

"I box." Wolf said.

"When Mohammed Ali beat George Foreman, how did he do it?" Mildred asked.

"He tricked him. He acted like he was going to try to beat Foreman with power, the way Foreman liked to box. But then he acted like he was tired really early and just defended himself for a bunch of rounds. And nobody knew what he was doing until Foreman started to get tired for real 'cause he was trying to beat Ali so hard; and then Ali started fighting again. Ali had tricked Foreman into tiring himself out and then Ali got him when he was tired."

Mildred nodded, "People win by forcing other people to play by the wrong game or the wrong rules. Whenever you see people who can't seem to win, you are looking at people playing the wrong game by the wrong rules. The big guy wants the little guy to 'fight fair'. But what is fair? Generally fair is that set of rules that favors the people in charge. What we call cheating in school, is more accurately called changing the game to your own advantage."

Russell's eye's lit up, "It's the Kobayashi Maru Test!"

Viper rolled her eyes, "The what?"

"It's a test in Starfleet Academy. The final test before graduation. And it's impossible to win, no matter what you do, the test is designed to make you lose. It's there to see how you deal with failure and to figure out what kind of person the Captain is. It's not supposed to be winnable, but Captain Kirk did beat the test, and he did it by reprogramming the computer. In the new movie he gets in trouble, and in old movie 'The Wrath of Khan' they tell you that he got an award for it."

Mildred chuckled, "Getting in trouble is more likely. The powers that be rarely look favorably upon those who find holes in the walls they have built."

Mildred stopped and looked around at the people still watching.

"I think you all need a Mr. Pickle Super Burger. My treat."

"I just ate." Viper said sheepishly.

"Then you can have a desert. Let's go." Mildred said with finality.

We sat down in the Mr. Pickle Diner and Mildred looked at us intensely for a moment before speaking.

"Children, I came looking for you on purpose. It wasn't an accident that I was here. I came to tell you that you should stay away from these gatherings. times are difficult right now. And most of all, you should steer clear of Bartholomew's mind games."

Owl looked surprised, "But aren't you supposed to be on his secret tribe thing too?"

Mildred sighed, "Bartholomew is a smart but immature young man who never really grew up. He sees things clearly at a distance, but fails spectacularly are realizing how understanding how his plans and schemes can hurt other people or get them into trouble."

She pointed at Wolf and myself and then Viper, "None of your parents would approve of the idea of you working with Bartholomew, and I don't like the idea of you children lying to your parents. The near future is going to be difficult enough for everyone to manage as it is."

Raven nodded, probably at the idea of not causing problems for the parents, even though hers hadn't been named. Owl on the other hand seemed to be focused on something Mildred had said, he was quiet but very obviously thinking about something and so Mildred and the rest of us watched him and he got his thoughts straight in his head. Finally Wolf spoke.

"Spit it out bud."

"Okay, fine. Mildred? Why won't any of the adults tell us what's going on. Something big is happening and all anyone will do is talk about it indirectly or say its complicated. What's the big secret? Can anybody tell us straight?"

Mildred smiled thinly and leaned back into the plastic and vinyl padded booth seating.

"The straight answer is that we have lived as though there is no tomorrow for so long that we've started to run out of what we need. And so, because we've lived like there is no tomorrow, tomorrow is starting to look less and less inviting. A lot of things have happened recently. Several countries have been forced to admit that they lied about how much oil they had, for instance."

"Why would they do that?" Viper asked, "It seems kind of stupid."

"Oil isn't something that the planet is making more of any time soon. And so people have had to balance using and selling oil against their ability to find more oil or figure out how to reach the oil that they couldn't reach before. One group of countries agreed to only sell a certain amount of oil. How much they could sell was based on how much oil each country had all together. And now people have realized that several countries have been lying about having more oil than they really did, so that those countries could sell more oil than they would normally have been allowed to sell because of the agreement."

"So are we out of oil?" Raven asked.

"No, the problem is not that we have run out of oil. The problem is that because there is now known to be a fair bit less oil than was previously thought to be. This means that the price of oil has gone up dramatically. It may even have gone up higher than it should have, but people sometimes panic, more often when money is concerned. This has lead to other problems. The agricultural industry needs oil to make pesticides and fertilizer, and the agricultural industry is already having problems of its own. Weeds and insects are getting strong enough to deal with pesticides. The farming practices are damaging the landscape and making farming harder and harder. Climate change is adding complications with shifting weather patterns and more extreme weather. And so the increase in the price of things the agricultural industry needs at a time when it is already having problems is causing problems with the cost of food and the ability of the industry to grow as much food as we need. And the problems are rippling out like waves."

"That sounds pretty bad." I said.

"It is. And things like this have happened in the past, where problems combined. Sometimes- such as in Rome or the Mayan Empire- these problems were strong enough that the ripples shook whole nations or empires to the ground. Other times, the problems were horrifying but people could overcome them, such as World War II and the Great Depression. Sometimes the problems are merely shocks or scares, such as the Energy Crisis in the 1970s, and then things go back to normal."

"Which one is this?" I asked.

"It's always hard to say at the beginning, because a lot of it depends on how people respond to the crisis. Of course it also depends on how much of the problem is real and how much is part of the game."

"The game? What game?" Wolf asked.

"Much of what we buy and sell and do is a game. Our money only has value because it is useful for people to agree that has value. What do you think money is?"

We were all silent. I tried to run it through in my head. I couldn't figure out what she was asking. Money was just money. That was like asking what the color red was. As far as I could figure, you could point at either and say 'that was money'. But how would you explain it otherwise?

Finally Mildred answered her own question.

"Money is an agreement. Money is method of measuring value. Money is used to measure value the way a ruler is used to measure height or length. If Owl hunts a few rabbits with his mother, and decides he wants to buy a burger here at the diner, what should he do? Without money, he could offer one of his rabbits, but if Mr. Butters doesn't need or want any rabbits, then Owl is out of luck. But if Mr. Butters and Owl and everyone else in town agree to use money to measure value, then Owl can go to somebody who does want rabbits and they can agree on how much the rabbits are worth. That person can then give Owl money for the rabbits, and Owl can use that money to buy a burger from Mr. Butters here at the Diner. But the money is just a way of measuring value and spreading it around."

"And that's a game?" Viper said, somewhat nervously I thought.

"Yes, because people can play games with that money and never actually add any real value to game, like Owl adding rabbits. And when people spend too much time playing the game with money, they frequently forget that the money is not the game, and that underneath the money and the game is the real world. And the real world will always trump the game. So what happens with our little crisis and panic will depend on how people respond to it, and how serious the real world situation is underneath our very big and very fancy game. But although it is important that you understand this. It is equally important that you do not complicate the job that your parents currently face in dealing with this little crisis. Do not complicate it by wrapping yourself up in Bartholomew's schemes. Do not complicate it by picking fights with angry panicky adults. Stay out of the way, so that your parents can work and fix this little crisis effectively."

“I don't understand something.” Raven said “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course. I'm a teacher. That's why I'm here.”

“Professor Tuttle's spider webs. All those places connected so that we can all get the things we need, clothes, cars, food, TVs; it seems really fragile. And you talking about how we need oil to run so much of it, and talking about people overreacting and panicking and stuff over problems like there being less oil than they thought- not even us being out of oil, but less oil. And you know how they aren't making more oil, and how all of what we're doing is hurting the planet.”

Mildred smiled thinly, “ I understand you're trying to wrap your head around the subject, but that is quite a collection of run on sentences. Raven, what is your question?”

“Why did adults let it get like this? Isn't building a system that's really fragile and making it run on something we can't get more of kind of stupid? Didn't they know problems would show up.”

“It's a problem of scale,” Mildred said.

“What do you mean?” Raven asked.

“Humans lived in small villages of one to two hundred people for over two hundred thousand years. And during that time, they primarily used resources that would grow back; such as trees and plants and animals. And during that time, they thought of time in units such as seasons and years and the time it takes the moon to go from full moon to full moon- that's where the month comes from. They lived and thought in these very small scale ways.”

“But how does that make us act so weird now?” Owl asked.

“When the new ideas that led to modern civilization became to spread across the globe ten thousand years ago, the human mind wasn't prepared to look at it in the proper scale. When your village is two hundred people, all of whom you know and most of whom you are at least distantly related to, it is hard to imagine a city of millions, let alone a world of billions. When everything you have ever used grows back, it is hard to think about resources that could conceivably be used up forever.”

“How do you know all that?” Viper asked.

“Much of it is my own speculation, but I base it upon modern research. I can lend you the books if you like.”

“So we screwed up because we didn't know how to look and see what would happen?” Raven asked.

Roughly speaking- yes. The problem hasn't gone away. The scale of life on earth, and specifically human life on earth makes empathy difficult. we cannot help everyone, because we are one person and and there are over seven billion humans on the planet. How do we identify with so many people without over simplifying there lives?”

“I don't know, “ I said.

“I don't understand what this has to do with what Raven asked. I mean, okay, but so what?” Viper said.

Mildred nodded, “The 'so what', is that there are not enough resources for everyone to have enough. There is not enough time for everyone to have a turn. What are we to do? Don't hand wave away, this is the real issue. Even once we adults deal with the current crisis, the problem will still remain. No magic technology or new breakthrough will come along and change the basic fact. There is not enough to go around, and there are too many of us.” Mildred said staring hard at us.

“There has to be a way. I mean, we've always found one before haven't we?” Viper looked wide eyed as she said this.

“That is the prevailing hope amongst adults. That some solution must be hiding right around the corner that will allow us to keep living this way and avoid having to face the limits of reality. If you think of the earth as a box. We spent a very long time using on a small amount of the space, with many other things also sharing the box with us, but even so there was plenty of room in the box. And then we began to add more of ourselves to the box. Eventually we started fill the box, and even started to throw other things out of the box to make room for more of us and things we like having in the box. And we've been very successful with this strategy. But the one fact that isn't changing any time soon is the size of the box.”

Wolf cleared his throat, “How much room is left in the box? For us I mean? Have you guys left anything for us kids?”

“I don't really want any of that space in the box.” Owl said.

“You're being stupid now!” Viper said, “The box she's talking about isn't cities and house and jobs, its everything on Earth, idiot. Even if you do live in a cabin in the woods with your bear skins- alone- you're still in the box. Unless you have a log cabin rocket ship your still in box.”

Mildred sighed, “That is precisely the problem. If there is to be space you for your generation, then I believe that my generation will have to make very significant sacrifices.”

“That doesn't sound fair.” Raven said, “I mean. You said this started way back when we were just starting civilization, like before Ancient Egypt and stuff right? It isn't any more your fault than ours, right?”

Mildred smiled thinly, "It is more our fault, because we helped the problem grow without addressing it as we should have. But don't worry, I'm comfortable with this path. A teacher is always a martyr to a certain extent. I am willing to sacrifice my life for your future. I feel responsible for the future you end up with, and so I am willing to work towards helping you regain your rightful inheritance. I do not believe that good teachers retire. They just run out of gas. All of the best teachers I have known have worked themselves to ruin. They gave themselves to their students until there was nothing left to give. Sometimes I worry about this, and sometimes and am pleased by this. In the end, I just hope that I have done enough so that some of my students will validate my sacrifices and those sacrifices yet to come."

Somehow that seemed even heavier than the rest of the conversation, which kind of scared me. "Now that said, I'm pleased by your interest in the current little crisis. But, this is our problem not yours. It will be your problem soon enough. Until it is though, leave it the adults. Leave Bartholomew to his quaint little conspiracy theories and stay out of the way. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

We nodded in agreement and Mildred seemed accept that. She stood up and went to the counter to pay for the burgers.

"I'll see you all in class." She said, and then headed out of the diner.

We sat in silence and finished our burgers in silence. I didn't know what the others felt like, but I felt like I'd been kicked in the shins. Mildred was leveling with us more than any adult had, but she was still locking us out of what was happening. And more and more, I didn't like that. I got the feeling from everything we had learned, that things were going to get a lot worse. And I was starting to agree with Owl, that I didn't like depending on other people for what I needed. I wasn't sure I trusted the adults to handle things now. They didn't seem to know what to do. I didn't either, but trusting the adults to handle things seemed crazy when I looked at how they were acting.

I don't really know how long we sat that there in the diner, but nobody had said anything for a long time. Then there was a knock on the window. We looked up to see Hawk and her crew. Hawk glared and pointed at Owl, and then they marched to the door and walked in to our table. Hawk put her hands on the table and leaned over Owl.

"Okay Freak. My moms just about got in fight at the grocery Store. They took me down to the grocery store to load up on canned food and there was already a crowd. It was like Christmas shopping meets boxing night in the ravioli aisle. One of my moms almost gave Mrs. Pinchen another black eye over canned beans. Mrs. Pinchen called them 'degenerate collaborators'. Mr. Greer was limiting how much everyone could buy in one go. He called it 'rationing', and made my moms put a bunch of the stuff that they did get back instead of buying it."

"Okay that's freaky." Owl said, "But why are you telling me?"

"Because you Freaks seem to know more than the rest of us kids. And we want to know too, or I'm going to help you scam the tooth fairy."

Owl looked at Viper, who wouldn't look at him and clearly still wasn't talking to him. He looked at me. I shrugged. He looked at Wolf who nodded. And then he looked at Russell, who shook his head; and Raven, who nodded.

I could see Owl thinking about it.

"Here's the deal. Adults are splitting into teams for this big bad doom they think is coming for us. And we don't like all the teams and the sneaking. And so if we're going to tell you anything, we need to know where you stand."

"We're standing on the side of not liking secrets and not liking it when adults treat of like morons." Sparrow said, stepping forward.

"I just don't like feeling helpless." Mouse said, standing beside Sparrow.

"It always kids against adults. And we're kids, right?" Lion added.

“Russell?” Owl asked.

“Yeah, tell them.” Russell said.

“It's a bunch of adult stuff.” Owl said, “Basically, its those spider webs Professor Tuttle talked about. A bunch of the spider webs that connect oil and food have been messed up, and all the dumb things that adults have done to the weather and the environment are making things worse. Like, a lot worse.”

“And that's why my mom's nearly got in a fight in the grocery store?”

“Yeah, basically.”

Mouse was silent as the rest of us spoke, but I noticed that he seemed to want to say something.

Finally Raven said, "Mouse, what do you think?" Raven was nice that way.

Mouse said, "I kind of think this is good. I mean, if all Professor Tuttle's strings are breaking, then we're going to start running out of stuff if we keep using it as fast as normal. Don't they ration stuff during wars and things like that? Won't this help?"

"I don't like the idea of somebody who gets to tell me what I can't have." Owl said.

"But what if they're right?" Mouse insisted.

"What if they're wrong?" Owl asked.

"If they're wrong then we've been cautious for nothing. If they're right, then they'll have saved the town from starving." Viper said.

"Maybe." Owl said.

"If they do it right." Hawk added.

“And that's sort of the problem right now,” Raven said, “Adults aren't acting really smart. Everybody is panicking, and running around. A bunch of groups here in town are trying to plan for when whatever is happening gets worse. The big problem there is we don't know who's right and they aren't working together.”

“Okay, so who are the teams?”

"Wolf's Dad and Mrs. Winters are one team, most of Pulp and Paper guys seem to be with them and a bunch of the shop owners from Main Street too. Russell's dad and the town council seem to the other team. I mean, we haven't talked to them yet, but that's what Wolf's Dad seems to think. And the problem for us, is that while they're fighting, we can't tell which side is right or if both are or nobody is.”

“Okay, so I get all of that. But why didn't you want to tell us that in the first place?”

Owl looked a me and Wolf. I could tell he was thinking about Wolf's Dad and the scary speech. Owl looked at Russell and Raven- Viper pointedly looked away. I knew he was trying to find a way to explain things that wouldn't reveal our talk with Batholomew or with Wolf's Dad.

"In stories like this there's always a traitor." I said.

"Like Lando in Star Wars." Russell added.

"And I can't tell if we're the traitor. All of this is creeping me out." I said.

"We aren't traitors. Spies. We're spies." Viper said.

“I can deal with being James Bond.” Lion said.

“Unless we aren't James Bond. We might be the bad guys.” Viper said.

"So which side are we on? I can't tell." I said.

“Whichever side is strongest? Because that side will be able to protect people.” Mouse said.

“I don't like the idea of needing other people to protect me.” Owl said

“And besides, bad guys are normally stronger in the movies,” I said, “So that doesn't tell us anything. What other way can we tell which side we should be on?”

“Whichever side is nicer.” Raven said.

"Whichever side's right." Lion said.

Owl still hadn't worked up the nerve to give Viper the flowers by the time we left. He wasn't afraid to bait a grown man into a fight, but couldn't work up the nerve to apologize to a girl he liked. We went our separate ways just before dinner time and headed back to homes.

I lived with mother and my father in a two story house with yellow siding a white picket fence and red tulips where other kids have a front lawn. We never had a dog or a cat or any real pet. I never had brothers or sisters or anyone except my parents. My mother was the Chief of Police. My Dad ran a local Travel Agency.

We had a little TV and basic cable, and our computer was so old I couldn't play any games on it that were any good. The house was always tidy, with white walls that my mother called oyster and taupe and eggshell, and long silly shag carpet that my mother raked when she was at home.

My mother was Rose. I won't tell you her last name, because that might help you find my old name. And like I said, I'm not him anymore and who I was is still a secret. My mother was Rose and she was nice and pretty and gentle and everything a mother was supposed to be. She was slim and graceful with strong eyes that could freeze you in tracks. She was the local Police Chief and I know everyone said she was tough, but that was and understatement. My mother was a crowbar in a bouquet of roses.

I got home to TV dinners cooling on the counter, which was never a good sign.

My mom caught me as I was staring at the TV dinners- which always meant we needed to eat in a hurry, usually some sort of town council thing.

“Come on kid, eat up, you know what TV dinners mean.”

I nodded and sat down at the kitchen table to gobble down soggy breaded chicken fingers and soapy mashed potatoes with something that the packaging assured me was gravy.

I was finishing my milk when Mom stuck her head back into the kitchen.

“Hurry up. You dad has the car warmed up.”

So when she needed to go somewhere then we took the car, just not when I needed to go somewhere. I nodded and threw the packaging into the garbage and then hustled to the front door and put my shoes on. My mother pushed me out the door and into the car, and we headed to the town hall.

When we got there I was surprised to see that the meeting had started without Mom, which just didn't happen. As we walked in, Wolf's Dad was pacing back and forth in the front of the room, talking loudly. I sat in my usual place in the back of the council room and Mom took her official spot at the front, while Dad settled down roughly in the middle. Wolf's Dad didn't miss a beat as we entered.

"I don't care if you don't like me. You have all heard about what the States did to the offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico today. You saw what happened to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. You saw Russia withdraw from practically every foreign market to protect domestic sales," he said.

"And prices will stabilize. The economy will recover. You do not need to beat the drum so loudly." Mayor Tailor said.

"Oh really? This affects everything about our lives. We are one very isolated little community. This affects everything transported here by truck, meaning everything that isn't already here in the first place."

"Downturns happen: the great depression, Germany after World War One, the OPEC energy crisis in the seventies. None of things herald the end of civilization." Mayor Tailor took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"But the dustbowl in the midwest literally did wipe towns off the map, displaced families, starved people out of house and home. The great depression destroyed lives. Germany was vulnerable to the world's most infamous dictator as a result of the economic downturn. Just because none of these things marked the end of civilization, doesn't mean they didn't mark the end of individual communities, or even whole regions or nations." Wolf's Dad seemed to be warming up to the topic, as though he was enjoying explaining just how bad the situation really was to everyone else in the room.

"And what would you have us do? We already have your emergency supplies stocked in the old Mill and the School. Do you want to occupy more buildings for an emergency that hasn't even hit us yet?" My mom said, giving Wolf's Dad her best 'don't be ridiculous' look.

Mr. Wolf looked around the table with disgust.

"Mr. Blackwell how's your gas station doing for fuel reserves?"

Mr. Blackwell said nothing.

"Mr. Greer how are you doing with your backroom at the Grocery store."

"We're really low. Suppliers aren't sending everything we order." Mr. Greer admitted.

Mr. Wolf turned to Raven's dad, "How are the people on the reservation doing?"

"The government has been delaying their usual support lately." He answered, although he didn't look uncomfortable when he said it, like the other adults had.

"Who here still thinks the emergency hasn't hit yet? We are getting rumblings now, what do you think will happen when this hits full crisis. Do you really think the government and the big city suppliers will care about a small out of the way town like us when they start running out. Hell, they're already hanging us out to dry."

Nobody said anything.

"If we are going to get through this. We are going to need to plan and prepare, so that we can weather what's already coming."

“So what are you suggesting?” Mayor Tailor asked, as he put his glasses back on.

“We have some back ups in place, and some reserve resources. Mostly this is due to myself, the union and some kindred spirits at the local school. That's a good start, but it won't hold. We need to look at putting a plan into practice to increase the reserve stores we already have. Part of that is going to mean austerity measures, and rationing. Nothing ridiculous, the opposite in fact. We just need to prevent people from acting ridiculous. We've been playing like there's no limits we need to accept for decades. Our parents knew how to live reasonably. We need to look back to their example. We also need to protect the social fabric and remind people not to be ridiculous. I've been getting reports of people stealing gasoline from their neighbours, and fights at the grocery store.”

“You've been getting reports?” My mom said, with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, I have. And I think we, the city, needs a larger official or even semi-official presence to remind people to behave like neighbours. I propose and volunteer the Pulp and Paper Union as a volunteer citizen patrol.”

My mom sat upright in her chair and Mayor Tailor shook his head.

“It will give an official presence throughout the town that will have a calming effect, and help us remind people to behave less like spoiled children and more like responsible adults.” Wolf's dad continued.

“Your men are not trained for police duty.” My mom said, shaking her head firmly.

“Of course not, and I wouldn't presume that we can do your job, but we can be a firm presence that prevents you and the rest of the force from being necessary. We can give you the leeway to deal with the larger complications and surprises that are already popping up. We aren't looking to replace you, Rose. I am proposing something to help you concentrate your resources more effectively. Surely you've noticed the increase is crime these last few months?”

“Yes, there has been a mild upspike,” My mom said.

“And we can expect it get worse, as things get worse and the resources get tighter. I don't want to wake up one day and find my neighbors at each other's throats because we didn't allocate our resource as effectively as we could. We need you free to focus on the real problems. Adding a larger volunteer force can achieve that. Can we put it to a vote?”

Mayor Tailor looked around the room, sighed and then nodded.

“All in favour of increased peace of mind through my proposal? And those in favour of happy thoughts and procrastination?”

I counted the hands. It was close, but not that close.

“It looks like you and the union are cleared to volunteer.” Mayor Tailor said flatly.

“But let's be clear about the extent of this,” My mom said, “I don't want to see a single weapon. I see one, the person who brought will be banned from further participation at a minimum. I don't want you stepping beyond the role of moral guardian. You are not police officers and are not employees. You may intervene as a normal citizen would only. You are to contact my people if a real officer is required. Understood?”

“Of course, that's exactly my intention.”

Wolf's Dad smiled politely, but something seemed off about the conversation. The rest of the meeting was boring. I knew it was important. Wolf's Dad got permission to put up flyers or pamphlets of some fort, but I didn't catch much of what that meant. Mostly though, they were looking at how to get extra food and stuff into town, to refill stocks that were getting low and to build up the stores that Wolf's Dad had already set up. I kept day dreaming, because the conversation was so boring, but I remember the big thing being nobody knew how to get much in the way of stuff. People could still get little bits here and little bits there, but other communities and businesses and everyone were doing what Safehope Bluff wanted to do- put stuff in storage for when they ran out. So everyone was suddenly trying to store stuff for the winter, and there didn't seem to be enough to go around. It wasn't a nice thought.

Eventually the meeting ended and people started filing out until it was Mayor Tailor and my Mom, our two families. Russell had been at another table all night, so it was only when the room was pretty much empty that I saw and waved to him. He waved back and walked over as our parents started talking heatedly.

"You ever get the feeling that you're walking into a trap." Russell asked.

"You sound like Han Solo: 'I've got a bad feeling about this'. What are you feeling? Like somebody is setting us up."

"More like somebody is setting up our parents. Your mom and my dad. It feels like everybody is fitting our parents with nooses and telling them that they're neck ties.” Russell said, “I wish I could help my dad, give him some sort of advantage. Dad isn't pushy enough and doesn't fight hard enough. He needs somebody to play bad cop for him, do his dirty work for him."

"I don't know about dirty work, but my mom can totally do bad cop when she needs to."

I had just said that when my mom practically yelled at Russell's dad.

"I can't believe you conceded to let them patrol!"

"What was I going to do Rose? They out number your men five to one. If I didn't give them permission, what would we do if they decided to go out anyway? It would make us look powerless. And right now our power is tremendously fragile. He's right about the supplies. He's right about people being edgy. He's right about crime being up. We can't take that kind of a credibility hit. Better to give them permission, than to have them take it."

"But now they have official sanction."

"The town does like the volunteers. People have told me that. Them being visible makes people feel safe. Break-ins are up. You know that. People are blaming the Sumpter folk and the people from the Reservation. We've always had friction with Sumpter, but the relations with the Reservation have always been really close because of strong leadership on their side. We don't normally see that kind of racial suspicion. That's new and not in a good way. We are balancing on a knife edge here Rose. All these pleasant small town folk that you and I have to manage have prejudices and fears sitting beneath their polite smiles and this crisis is fanning those fears and prejudices into flames.”

Over the next few days I noticed some changes I hadn't picked up on during the meeting. The Community Center and ice rink closed. That made sense to me, given what the town council had discussed. But I also noticed a bunch of strange vehicles that started parking there. I didn't recognize some of the people in the cars, but most of them were part of the Pulp and Paper Union.

The council also started rationing electricity use by the town. Every other street light was left turned off during the night to reduce how much electricity the town was using. All of the buildings that the town ran had the hours that they were open shortened.

Other than that though, the next couple days were pretty normal- except for school and the fact that all the adults were still completely on edge. But then one morning, I saw a copy of The Bluff sitting in our mail box. The Bluff wasn't delivered without the Safehope Newspaper, and that only happened once a week.

Bart was leaving us a message. I sent a text to Wolf. He'd got the same delivery. A few more texts confirmed that everyone had. And so I headed out. Still without my bike, but I headed out.

I waved at Mrs. Giller as I walked down the street. She was buried in a pile of cats as usual. The cats lolled around on her lap and shoulders demanding attention. I never knew how many cats she had. It was as though the number changed if you tried to count them.

I didn't wave at Mrs. Pinchen as she exited her house. Mrs. Pinchen smoked non-stop and would insist on talking for a really long time if you made eye contact. I didn't like having smoke in my eyes, so I didn't really say much to her. Today she was actually smoking two cigarettes at once, both clenched together in her teeth. And she had a pile of canvas bags that she was carrying to the car. She seemed to be running late for something.

I passed Mr. Nottingham's house. He was our vice principal. He was raking leaves in his front yard. It looked like he was finished but he kept raking like he wasn't sure what else to do. I guess without a school to run, he was kind of at loose ends. He didn't look up, and so I didn't wave. He jsut kept raking the grass, and I got the impression that he was going to rake until there was nothing but dirt left on his front yard.

I passed hawk's house. Hawk's mothers both worked at the local library and were round bouncy ladies who were exactly like what you would think librarians would look like- hair tied back, cardigan's -the works. They were unloading books frantically from their car as I passed, and I waved. They waved and then returned to their work.

Everyone seemd a little off, except Mrs. Giller- a little higher energy and little nervous tension that seemed to be present everywhere I looked. There was something in the air. 

I arrived at Bart's office. And I could see Wolf and Owl were  already there and talking. Owl had a backpack on.

“Bud, you should have done this days ago. Are they even still good?”

“They look okay, I looked up on the internet. Carnations last a long time for flowers, and I kept them in flowers and cut the bottoms of the stems like it said on the internet. So they still look okay.”

I walked up, “You still haven't given Viper the flowers? She'll know the flowers are old.”

Owl looked nervous, “They still look okay.” he said again. And then, he turned and looked over my shoulder. I turned and saw the girls coming around the corner. Owl made a cutting motion with his hand and we nodded.

“Hi guys,” Raven said.

“Hi Wolf. Hi Rabbit.” Viper said “Special delivery huh?”

“Yeah,” Owl said. Viper ignored him and kept looking at us.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Diggity,” Wolf said.

“Then let's go talk to the crazy crusader.”

I shook my head, “Russell isn't here yet.”

“Fine.” Viper said, and put her hands on her hips.

“Did Russell do something wrong?” I asked.

“I'm not mad at him. I'm just mad at men.”

“I'll stay out of the way,” I said.

“Diggity.” Wolf agreed.

Russell arrived a few minutes later, huffing and puffing- having clearly run here.

“Sorry guys. My dad and and Wolf's dad were arguing about who controls access to the food and stuff he stockpiled.”

“I'm sure Bart will want to hear about that.” I said.

We all kind of nodded at that and headed to the upstairs office.

“Ahah! My agents arrive.” Bart said with a horrifying grin, “What have you heard?”

Russell and I took turns explaining and recounting the events of the meeting. From the look on Bart's face, I was pretty sure that he had heard all of this before, probably from Russell's Dad and Raven's parents. But he seemed to like hearing it, and so we kept talking. When we finished, it was Wolf who spoke.

“Why is my dad going so heavy? Why him and not somebody else?” Wolf asked.

"Mr. Wolf is a man on a downturn,” Bart said, “The Mill is closed and the local union makes ends meet doing construction work, teamster work and other heavy lifting trades sort of jobs. Their standard of living is going down."

“Okay, but my Dad does like girls. Why would he be doing all of this with Mrs. Winter.”

“That I don't know.” Bart admitted.

“Okay, but why would our school principal be helping Wolf's Dad on this stuff- because she really does seem to be helping him big time. Like they're partners or something.” Viper asked.

"Mrs. Winter is conspiracy nut. A zealot. She believes that civilization has been usurped by the hidden illuminati world leaders and that they are planning to purge the world's population. She's a right wing control freak."

“So what? I mean what does that have to do with why she's helping Wolf's Dad?”

“It means she sees any crisis as an opportunity to put things back to the way that she thinks that they should be. And that's kind of her thing as I understand it. Mrs. Winter's husband left her years ago. He was seeing another woman, although as far as I know, nobody knows who the other woman was. And it hurt her. Ever since, she's been crazy about trying to keep thing neatly ordered and all in a row."

“That's creepy.” I said.

“It is creepy. But that's the point. And that's why I need you guys to keep your ears open and help me keep Russell's dad informed. Mrs. Winter and your dad are making a play for increased power and influence here in town, and I don't think that will be a good thing. So I need you to be on the look out for what we can use to keep things out in the open. The truth likes being out in the open, so let's keep it there.”

We headed down the stairs and Russell started talking.

"We spy for everyone else, but not for my dad." Russell commented.

"Bart tells your dad what we find." Owl said.

"We hope." Russell countered.

"So tell him yourself." Wolf said.

"I need to do better than that. I need to actually give him an advantage."

"That's what we're trying to do."

"We need to try harder."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I put a hand on his shoulder and nodded to him. He nodded back and gave me an unhappy smile. At least we both seemed to understand the feeling.

We exited Bart's office and I could see that Owl was nervous. Viper seemed to notice too. She kept shooting him looks, but I couldn't tell if she looked hopeful or dismissive. Finally Owl unzipped his backpack and took out the carnations.

Raven's eyes widened.

"Look. I wanted to say that I'm sorry. So I got you some flowers." Owl said haltingly.

Owl held out the flowers cautiously. He waited and we watched. Viper, for her part, stared at the flowers like they were made of stinging nettles. Then she took the flowers and threw them at Owl.
Do you know what yellow carnations mean? They mean rejection!"

"I didn't know they mean that. They were just pretty. "Owl stuttered. I'd never heard him stutter before.

"And cheap! You bought the cheapest oldest flowers that you could find and didn't even bother to find out what they meant!"

"Hey, I tried to get them right. Your mom told me to get those ones."

"And you believed her? My mom hates you. You know that. You are so stupid! And why on earth would you think that flowers would fix things in the first place. You're still not listening. This is just a way for you to keep playing in the woods. We are done!"

Viper was crying again. She turned and walked very deliberately away.

Owl sat down slowly on the sidewalk. He didn't seem to be looking anywhere in particular. I sat down beside him, Wolf stayed standing.

"You know," Owl said slowly, "The only thing I really wanted from the whole 'get a job, get a house' thing was being with her."

"Bud, she's mad. People get mad and break up all the time. You aren't even old enough to drive yet. You can fix things up."

"I don't know. Everything I do seems to make things worse."

"That's why I don't deal with girls. They just seem too hard to understand. They don't come with manuals. Diggity?"

"Then how come I can see what I did wrong so clearly after I do it?"

I shook my head, "That's nothing to do with girls. That's just life."