“Sit down a minute,” Hotshot said. He took her arm and guided her toward the smelly cot.
She tried to pull her arm from his grasp, but he was too strong. “I’m tired of sitting. I want to go outside. It stinks in here.”
“Well, you can’t.” He pushed her toward the cot.
Eva was wishing more and more she’d never come with him. She thought he was her friend, but he wasn’t acting like it. Leia said friends helped one another. Hotshot wasn’t helping her at all. “I want to go home and see my dad.”
“Your dad will be coming to get you soon.” Hotshot drew the back of his hand across her cheek. “It’s too bad you’re a dummy, Eva. You’re so beautiful.”
Eva’s cheeks got hot. “I don’t like it when people call me a dummy. Leia says people who call others names are weak themselves and are only doing it to make themselves think they’re bigger than they are.” Hotshot’s face got red, and his eyes got all squinty. He squeezed her arm hard enough to make her cry, but she gritted her teeth instead. She wouldn’t cry.
“Why don’t you just shut up?” He shoved her away, then stood and stomped to the window. When he turned back around, he was smiling his normal smile. “Here comes your dad now. Earlier than I expected, so it’s a good thing you weren’t as affectionate as I’d hoped.”
Eva’s eyes widened when he took a gun out from behind the waist-band of his shorts. “What are you doing with a gun? They’re bad.”
“They’re useful. Just sit down and shut up.”
Skylarks warbled in the trees around the clearing. The ancient fishpond was dry of water-and of people. Rushing up the path from her grandmother’s cottage where they’d left the bike, Leia hoped to see her father soon. “Let’s try the cabin,” Leia suggested. She ran ahead of Bane and Mano along the path to the old cabin.
“Slow down.” Bane rushed to catch her and grabbed her arm. “We can’t go rushing in like a Swat team. There’s too much at stake. Your father and sister both might be in danger.”
She knew he was right, but nervous energy strummed along her veins, hurrying her steps. The urgency she felt clouded her thinking. “Just hurry.” She caught sight of Mano’s face. Beads of perspiration dotted his forehead, and he was pale.
“I’m so stupid,” Mano admitted. “I was so worried, I forgot breakfast. I remembered a few minutes ago, but I don’t have anything with me, not even glucose tablets.”
“I don’t have anything for you to eat either.” Leia often carried hard candy in her purse, but she had left it behind on the ship. She had no homepathics with her either. “We cleared the food out of my grandmother’s house, but the clinic will have glucose tablets. Go there and get some.”
“Call someone else to go with you. You need backup.” Mano’s voice was anguished.
“There’s no one to call. We’ll be all right.”
“I’ll rush back as soon as I eat. Call me in half an hour.”
“Can you get back by yourself? You don’t look good,” Bane said.
Leia wondered the same thing. A hypoglycemic reaction was nothing to fool around with. “You’d better go with him, Bane. I’ll just go watch the cabin. I won’t go in until you get back.”
“I’ll be fine,” Mano insisted.
Bane took another look at his brother’s face. “No, you’re not. She’s right.” He turned to Leia. “You should be the one to go with him. I don’t know anything about medicine. I’ll wait for you.”
She started to protest, but he held up his hand. “I’ll just observe from the trees. I promise. I’ll call Mano’s number in half an hour to see where you are. Try not to worry. I’ve got it under control.”
“We’ll hurry.” Everything in her wanted to shout no, but she knew it made sense. Mano was probably feeling bad enough with-out a temper tantrum from her upsetting him even more. She watched Bane disappear into the forest, then she and Mano went back down the trail toward town.
“Sorry, Leia. I’m such a dork.”
“No, you’re not. It was an upsetting morning. Let’s just get you feeling better.” Were his hands trembling? She picked up her pace when she realized his hands had a slight tremor. He was a big guy. If he passed out on the path, she wouldn’t be able to cart him to the clinic. They passed the rest of the trek in silence.
They reached her grandmother’s yard. Mano was sagging against a tree. Sweat ran down his face in rivulets, and the tremors in his hands were more pronounced. She grabbed his arm and started to help him to the sidecar. He collapsed into the seat and closed his eyes. She slung herself onto the bike and drove to town at seventy miles an hour. A nurse met her at the clinic door and rushed for some glucose tablets. She ran back to the sidecar and gave them to Mano.