“Neither do hippos,” Ostin said. “But that doesn’t stop them from killing more people than lions and crocodiles combined.”
“Don’t get him started on hippos,” Taylor said. “I’ve heard this.”
“Did you know hippos’ mother’s milk is pink?” Ostin said.
“I warned you,” Taylor said, shaking her head.
“I really didn’t want to know that,” Jack said.
“What’s with the llamas?” McKenna asked. “What are they doing here?”
“They’re guard llamas,” Ostin said. “Farmers use them to protect small sheep and chickens from coyotes and foxes. Llamas are aggressive animals and very territorial. Once they bond with a herd of animals, they get very upset when something comes near them.”
“What do they do, spit on them?” Taylor asked.
“Exactly,” Ostin said. “And scream at them.”
“Llamas scream?” she asked.
“Yeah. It sounds like an amplified rusty hinge,” Ostin said. “Or feedback on a microphone.”
“That’s just weird,” Taylor said.
“Not as weird as pink milk,” Nichelle said.
“I’d run from that,” McKenna said.
“The llama scream or the pink hippo milk?” Taylor asked.
“Both.”
“They’re also good at kicking,” Ostin continued. “They’ll chase a coyote away from the herd and kick it. Some of them will even try to herd the animals together in a group to protect them.”
“I didn’t realize llamas were so smart,” McKenna said.
“They are.”
“Maybe Ostin’s dad is part llama,” Jack said.
Ostin frowned.
“That was a compliment,” Jack said.
Ostin still didn’t smile.
After several winding bends, Gervaso slowed to a stop in front of a large timber archway, then turned off the dirt road down into a decline shrouded on both sides by towering cottonwood trees. The road was lined with a low barbwire fence held up by cedar posts. There was pasture on both sides of the road, with cows grazing beneath the shade of the cottonwoods.
“This is pretty,” Taylor said.
“Welcome to Christmas Ranch,” Gervaso said.
“It doesn’t look as threatening as the last place.”
“It doesn’t need to be,” Gervaso said. “We’re in the U.S. But don’t let it fool you. There are sentries and machine gun bunkers along the road, and missile launchers in silos. You just can’t see them.”
We drove past an orchard of apple trees next to a field of lavender. “It’s nice. I could live here,” Taylor said.
“For a long time,” Gervaso said. “Just like our compound in Mexico, Christmas Ranch is completely self-sufficient and off the grid. We grow our own food, pump our own water, raise our own beef, and generate our own electricity. We even have beehives.”
“I love fresh honeycomb,” Taylor said. “With cheese. Especially with cheese.”
“We make our own cheese as well,” Gervaso added. “From goats and sheep. We keep busy.”
“Do you have more llamas?” McKenna asked.
Gervaso smiled. “No. But we have around-the-clock snipers, so we don’t worry about coyotes.”
We stopped at a wooden gate that was reinforced with riveted steel plating. A man suddenly appeared. I have no idea where he came from. He wore a cowboy hat and boots. “Welcome back,” he said. “You got them all?”
“Every last one of them,” Gervaso said.
The man pushed a button, and the gate opened. “Go on ahead; everyone’s waiting.”
Gervaso drove ahead until the road curved left and turned to gravel, which crunched and spit out beneath our tires, pinging against the van’s undercarriage. We climbed an incline for about a hundred yards past a large open aluminum-topped carport that was filled to the top with bundles of hay.
Then the road split into three different directions: left, straight ahead, and right. We took the right fork up a road lined by white vinyl horse fencing and columnar poplar trees nearly sixty feet tall.
The road opened up into a clearing with a large house and about a half dozen parked vehicles, mostly Jeeps and Hummers. To the left of us was a horse stable and corral, and to the right was a large tarp over a tractor. On the hill below that was an amphitheater with a large outdoor movie screen.
“I think I could live here,” Taylor said again.
“It’s beautiful,” Gervaso said. “But it’s not so great in the winter. We get a lot of snow. Enough to snow us in.”
“I can do snow days,” Taylor said, looking at me. “As long as I have someone to keep me warm.”
Jack smiled at me and gave me a thumbs-up.
As we pulled up to the house, a group of people emerged from the front door onto the deck. Most of the people we’d seen before, but all I really cared about was seeing my mother and Ostin’s parents. We didn’t have to wait long.
Ostin’s mother looked beside herself with joy. My own mother was, as usual, looking calm and happy. She was standing next to Joel.
Gervaso stopped the van. “Welcome home, Electroclan.”
“Home sweet home,” Taylor said. “Wherever that is these days.”
“Home is where they don’t want to kill you,” Jack said.
We all climbed out. Not surprisingly, Ostin’s mother was the first to greet us. She threw her arms around Ostin and began kissing him. Ostin was so glad to see her, he didn’t even look embarrassed. She was followed by Mr. Liss, my mother, and Chairman Simon.
My mother wrapped her arms around me. She had tears in her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” After a moment she stepped back, examining my arms and neck. “What happened? What are those marks?”
I was going to get all technical and say something about Lichtenberg figures, but instead I just said, “I got too electric. It scarred me. It’s on my chest and back, too.”
She looked concerned as she ran a finger over the scars. “Does it hurt?”
“No.”
She threw her arms around me again. “I’m glad you’re safe. I’ve been so worried about you.”
I stepped back. “You were worried about me? I thought you were dead.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Things were crazy for a while. We got an advance warning that the Elgen were going to attack, and we had to evacuate in the middle of the night.” She hugged me again. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”
After we parted, she looked over at Taylor. “Hello, Taylor.”
“Hello, Mrs. Vey. We’ve been so worried about you all.”
My mother hugged her as well. “Thank you for watching over Michael.”
“I did my best.”
“I knew you would.”
My mother then went around and hugged everyone else, stopping at Nichelle, who was standing by herself near the back of the van. She had never seen any of these people before and I guessed felt like an outsider. “You must be Nichelle,” my mom said.
Nichelle looked a little shy. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Nichelle saved our bacon,” I said.
My mother smiled. “Thanks for saving my son’s bacon.”
Nichelle grinned. “I was glad to save his bacon.”
The chairman then stepped up and put out his hand to Nichelle. “Nichelle, I’m Chairman Simon. We’ve been following you for so long, I feel like I already know you. I’m so pleased to finally meet you.”
“That’s kind of creepy, but it’s nice to meet you, too,” she said awkwardly. “Are you the one who sent them to get me in California?”
“It was a decision made by the council, but it was my idea.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“Thank you for making me right.”
“It’s about time you guys got here,” someone shouted.
I turned to see Zeus walking up from around the side of the house. He was followed by Ian, Tanner, Grace, and Tessa. “What took you guys so long?”
r /> We man hugged. “You guys ditch us and then complain we’re late?” I said.
“Ditched you? Man, it was intense. I thought we were under attack.”
“Yeah,” Ian said. “Zeus almost took out one of our own vans before I stopped him.”
“Fortunately no one was hurt,” Gervaso said.
A man I’d never seen before raised his bandaged arm. “What exactly do you mean by ‘hurt’?”
Gervaso grinned. “By ‘hurt’ I meant ‘killed.’ ”
“Then no one was hurt,” he said.
I hugged Ian and Tessa as well. “How’s the ranch?” I asked.
“I love it here,” Tessa said. “It’s awesome.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Ian concurred.
Tanner walked up to me. He looked the best I’d seen him yet. He looked healthy. “Hey, Tanner,” I said, hugging him.
“Hey, Vey-dude. You’re still alive. I was sure you were going down on this one.”
“That’s comforting,” I said. “We almost did. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing all right,” he said. “This place is healing.”
“Healing’s good,” I said.
He nodded. “Yeah. Healing’s good.” He suddenly noticed Nichelle and his expression changed. “I can’t believe she’s here.”
“She’s cool,” I said.
He looked at me as if I were crazy. “Nichelle’s cool?” he said. “No, she ain’t. We have history.”
“Look,” I said. “Hatch has made all of us do things we’re not proud of. You can understand that.”
For a moment Tanner was speechless. Then he nodded. “You’re right, man.”
“Forgiveness is part of healing. Just let it go. What happened with Hatch stays with Hatch.”
Tanner looked a little ashamed. He nodded again. “That’s good advice, Vey. Thanks.”
We briefly hugged again. Then I looked over at Grace, who I knew the least of all the electric kids. “How are you?”
She smiled. “I’m good.”
“They’re taking good care of you?”
She nodded. “They’re treating me like gold. You’re going to like it here.”
“I hope we get to stay awhile,” I said.
“Me too. Welcome home.”
“Electroclan,” the chairman said loudly. “Welcome to Christmas Ranch. I am certain you’re exhausted from your travels, so if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms.”
We grabbed our bags, then followed the chairman behind the ranch house, where there were two log cabins more than thirty feet long.
“We’re staying in bunkhouses,” Zeus said. “Women in that one, men in this one.”
“See you in a minute,” I said to Taylor. We quickly kissed, then split up. My mother led the girls over to their dorm.
The two bunkhouses looked the same, with stained log siding and a pitched, olive-green tin roof. Inside there was a loft that ran over two-thirds of the ceiling, looking out over the front. There were bunk beds extending out from the walls running the length of the room, four sets of two on each side, sleeping sixteen people.
The chairman said, “You can grab any of the bunks along the wall that don’t already have sleeping bags on them. Or, if you want to sleep on the loft upstairs, that’s available as well. There’s no mattresses up there, but it’s carpeted with thick padding. And there’s plenty of extra quilts and pillows.”
“How do you get up there?” I asked.
“That wood ladder at the end of the room,” he said, pointing. “That door next to the ladder is the bathroom. There’s a shower in there as well, but there’s only one bathroom per house, so please keep your showers to a minimum.” He stepped back toward the door. “That’s it. If you have any questions, you can talk to any of the staff inside the main house. Also, I know it’s late for lunch, but we have sandwiches and chili for you in the main house. If you’re hungry, come over. They’ll be closing the kitchen in about an hour. But there’s always snacks.”
“We’ll be right over,” I said. “Do the girls know?”
“Your mother will tell them,” he said. “You’ll have some time to wander around the grounds. We’ll have dinner around six; then we’re going to have a meeting.”
“Where?” I asked.
“In the big room in the main house. We’ll ring the bell when it’s dinnertime. So don’t eat too much, or you won’t be hungry later, and we have fantastic dinners.” He looked us over. “You have no idea how happy we are to see you.” He walked out.
Ostin, Jack, and I climbed the ladder to the loft. The ceiling was low, maybe six feet at its pinnacle. There were gabled windows that looked out over the property.
“This is nice,” Ostin said. “I wonder how long we’ll be here.”
“A long time, I hope,” Jack said.
After a moment I said, “I wouldn’t get used to that idea. You know that just when we get comfortable, Hatch will do something crazy. If he hasn’t already.”
“That’s his way,” Jack said.
“Crazy freakin’ moron,” Ostin said.
Jack and I grinned.
“Crazy freakin’ moron,” I repeated.
We piled our bags in the corner of the loft and laid out some quilts and pillows; then Ostin, Jack, and I climbed back down and went over to the main house to get something to eat. The only one in the kitchen was a woman stirring a pot. She was tall with long silver hair.
“I’m going to go find the girls,” Jack said, walking back out.
The kitchen was small for so many people, and most of the counters were covered with food.
“It smells good in here,” Ostin said.
“It’s garlic,” the woman said, smiling. “Garlic always smells good. Except on your breath.”
“Is that for lunch?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “It’s dinner. I’m making Italian. This is my Bolognese sauce. I’m also making meatballs and spaghetti. The chairman asked for something special since we’re having a celebratory dinner tonight,” she said.
“What are we celebrating?” I asked.
She looked at me with an amused smile, then said, “You, of course.” She put a lid on a pot, then stepped away from the stove. “My name is Lois. I’m the cook. If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Where are you from?” Ostin asked.
“I live in town,” she said. “In Orderville, just a few miles north. But I was born near here in Kanab. It’s about twenty miles from here. It’s where we do most of our shopping.” She gestured to the food. “We’re having sandwiches and chili for lunch. Help yourself.”
There was a sandwich bar with roast beef, sliced turkey, pastrami, and salami, and chicken salad with grapes and walnuts in it. There were all kinds of vegetables—tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, jalapeños—and at least four kinds of spreads.
On the next counter there were plastic bowls filled with coleslaw and potato salad, and a cooler filled with ice and drinks—soda, juices, and bottled water.
Ostin and I grabbed paper plates and made sandwiches, then sat down at the table to eat. Jack, Abi, Nichelle, Taylor, and McKenna walked into the kitchen about five minutes after we’d started eating.
“Not waiting for us?” Taylor said.
“Sorry,” I said with a full mouth. “I didn’t know if you were coming.”
“Of course I was coming,” she said. “There’s food, isn’t there?”
Lois introduced herself, then handed them all plates. They made sandwiches, got bowls of chili, and then came over and joined us.
“I think my mom must have made this potato salad,” Ostin said. “It’s definitely her recipe.”
“As a matter of fact, it is,” Lois said. “So is the chili. How is it?”
“It’s good,” Jack said. “But it’s not very hot.”
“I’m sorry,” Lois said. “I forgot to turn the heat back up. I can warm it up if you like.”
“No worries,” McK
enna said. “I’ll take care of it.” She put her hand above Jack’s bowl, and her hand began to turn bright red. Lois stared in amazement. It took less than ten seconds before the chili was bubbling. Almost habitually, Ostin handed her a bottle of water.
“Thank you,” McKenna said. She quickly downed half the bottle.
“That was amazing,” Lois said. “I was told that you kids had special abilities.”
“You have no idea,” Nichelle said.
Jack took back his bowl of chili. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure,” McKenna replied.
Taylor had made herself a chicken salad sandwich that looked really good.
“How is it?” I asked.
“Beats swamp eel,” she said.
“My shoe beats swamp eel,” Jack said.
“How’re your rooms?” I asked.
“It’s just one big room,” Taylor said.
“. . . and one bathroom,” McKenna added. “That’s not going to work for twelve women.”
“There are two bathrooms and showers in here,” Lois said, smiling. “You’re welcome to use them anytime.”
“Thank you,” McKenna said.
Zeus and Tessa walked into the room. “Hey, guys,” Zeus said. “After you eat, we’ll take you on a tour of the ranch. We’ve got ATVs.”
“I think you should walk,” Lois said. “It’s much nicer. There’s a nice path down to the pond.”
“There’s a pond?” McKenna asked.
“It’s more like a small lake. You can swim if you like. There’s also a canoe. It’s just down at the end of the dirt road behind the bunkhouses.”
“Just watch out for rattlesnakes,” Tessa said.
“Rattlesnakes?” Ostin said, looking suddenly afraid.
“We found one yesterday,” Tessa said. “It was huge, like five feet long.”
“A Mojave Green,” Zeus said. “Pretty wicked.”
“What’s a Mojave Green?” I asked. I turned to Ostin, who now looked even more terrified. The only things that scared Ostin more than an empty refrigerator were sharks and snakes.
“It’s bad news,” Ostin said. “Only the most venomous rattlesnake in the world. Not only does it have the usual venomous proteins, but it’s venom also contains a presynaptic neurotoxin. Think cobra, man. Be very afraid.”