Kat turned over on her air mattress and fell off it onto the rocky floor. She was immediately awake. Izzy's Brother was standing over her. "Is it morning?" she mumbled, getting to her feet. "No. But the sun will rise pretty soon. So ... yes, I guess. Anyway. I have to show you something." He put a hand on her back and steered her towards the stairs that went up, opposite the other ones. Sora opened her eyes when she heard Izzy's Brother talk, and she saw them leaving the room. She got up and followed at a distance. The stairs wound up a long ways until it opened up onto the top of a cliff. A river flowed up here, and fell over the edge. The sun was just beginning to tint the horizon a purple color. It was a nice place up here, despite being five feet from a drop of 100 feet. "What's going on?" Sora asked, impatient. Izzy's Brother turned around. "I didn't bring you up here." He turned to one of the guys standing at the edge of the cliff. "What do you suppose that is, Taven? It's not an animal." "Well," said Taven, "it has four legs and swims in the pool down there. Me thinks it wants to get into our cave. Jackson and Jett are waiting with their rifles." "Shall we shoot?" Izzy's Brother turned to Kat. "Yes!" cried Sora. He glared at her. Then he turned back to Kat. She sighed. "Oh, fuck it all. You better not." "So you know what it is? Why can't we kill it? You never mentioned it before?" "I don't think he knows anyone is here, actually." Kat crept closer to the edge to get a better look. "He's probably lured here." "Ah. Does he know of your burden?" "Of course. He used to carry it." Izzy's Brother grimaced. "I still don't know why you'd want to keep it in your mouth. Is he looking for it?" "Maybe. It's precious to him. But that's not what I was talking about." "What the hell are you talking about then?" "He's looking for food." Izzy's Brother looked down at the pool. CAC was holding a small fish and nibbling at it. "Disgusting. Doesn't he get sick from that?" Taven sighed. "He is still trespassing. Can we please shoot him?" "Aargh!" Kat grabbed her hair, wanting to yell "yes, yes!" at Taven. Instead, she said, "Joe wouldn't have wanted you to. Besides, he's our travel guide." Izzy's Brother rolled his eyes. "Now I've heard everything." "Just ... just let me go down and talk to him. I don't want him wandering off." She looked down the side of the cliff and started to lose her balance. She stepped back. "How do I get down?" Taven led her quickly down the stairs to the foyer. He secured a rope and hooked her into a harness. She rapelled down the side and walked around to the pool. She could hear CAC hissing. "Yummy fishies. Stupid girls. They left us for those bad men. Man sluts, we bet they are. Dirty girls and their dirty ways. Maine is raising dirty peoples." Kat shuddered at his voice. Then she grew angry. She could just give Jackson and Jett up there a signal, and she wouldn't ever have to hear that voice again. But she knew that she owed CAC. And Joe had said something about him before, even though she couldn't remember what it was. She sighed and stood up straight. "CAC!" she yelled. His head turned sharply in her direction. "Get your arse over here right now! Why'd you go and leave us like that, huh? You promised, and then you left. I outta smack your butt for that!" He frowned. "You went away with new friends. We bets you smacked their butts a lot. Whore." "Don't you talk to me that way! There are people waiting to kill you, if they find you here. So get your fucking ass in gear and come on!" He skulked and slowly came over to her. Then he looked into her eyes and sniffed her. Kat winced. He smelled like rotten fish. "OK, we go then," CAC said. "We brought Grand Am." "Not right now. We need Sora. And I need sleep." She turned around and started pulling him along. "Something's there!" CAC cried. "Bad Kat. Tricksy!" Taven came out of the shadows and grabbed CAC. "Let's go." Kat almost said, "Don't hurt him," but she didn't care if Taven was being rough. Taven was hot. She wondered if he had a girlfriend. Stop it, she told herself. You have way more important things at hand. Another guy was standing by the cliff with rope and harness in hand. Two others were in the foyer, waiting to pull them up. Taven strapped CAC in the harness, and the two guys pulled him up, although none too gently. Kat went up next. Taven helped her into the harness and she noticed he smelled like Armani cologne. Her heart skipped and her stomach got all nervous. He was so close to her ... And then she was in the foyer, remembering what was going on. CAC was cowering in a corner while three guys stood watch over him. Taven came up and called down to the guy on the ground. "All right, Cade!" Izzy's Brother, Sora, Jackson, and Jett had just come down the stairs. Izzy's Brother went over to CAC. "What's your name? Where are you going? What's your business?" CAC looked up at him. "No name, no business. We are lost, precious." Izzy's Brother glanced at Kat. She was looking at Taven, who was standing at the far side of their half-circle around CAC. "Kat." She looked at him. "Huh?" "I give him back to you. Do what you will." "But you didn't even say what you're going to do with us." "Ah ..." Izzy's Brother looked at his guys around him. "Well, I guess you're fee. Just don't ever, ever come back to the Vermillion Cliffs, or ... or you'll be sorry. Are you taking this ... thing then?" "Oh, I guess." Sora rolled her eyes and sighed. Izzy's Brother turned back to CAC. "Where are you leading them?" CAC did not speak. Kat spoke for him. "He's bringing us into Nevada. We went through by Vegas, but the way was closed. He said there was a road by Oasis." Izzy's Brother could not think of what to say next. "Whatever. Taven, take him away. But don't hurt him. And watch him." Taven and his muscular arms took CAC away up the stairs. Izzy's Brother turned to Kat. "I think you're downright stupid to be doing this," she said. "I really don't think you should go through that pass." "What do you know about it?" "Not a lot. We don't go up north anymore. But there are rumours. Oasis used to be a nice city, but it has turned to evil now. Nine Riders reside there." "Where else could I go?" "I don't know. I just don't think Joe would want you going that way." "Oh, fuck Joe. What does he know anyway?" He was starting to piss her off. "Fine. We'll fix you breakfast and you can go your own way." "Wait!" exclaimed Kat. He turned and looked at her. "Couldn't one of your guys come with us? Like a bodyguard? Taven, maybe?" "No." He looked at her like she was crazy. "We do not go that way for anyone." After breakfast, the girls and CAC rapelled down the cliff (with the help of Taven, of course) and followed CAC to the Grand Am. "There's hardly any gas in here," Kat said. She turned to CAC, fire in her eyes. "What'd you do?" "We've still got the credit card." Sora dug in the glove box. "Or ... we don't." Kat stared even harder at CAC. "What. Did. You. Do?" He wouldn't answer. Kat turned forward again. Then she hit the wheel and cussed as long and loud as she could. After a couple minutes, she started up the Grand Am and headed down the road. They stopped in Hurricane, Utah for ... gas, even though they weren't sure how they were going to pay for it. "Oo, a connecting McDonald's," Sora exclaimed. "I have an idea. I saw it on 'The Simple Life.'" "You watch that?" Kat got out and started filling up the car. She only put $10 worth in. Sora got out. "Yeah, this will work. Well, it did for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Do you suppose we're good-looking enough?" "I'm not sleeping with anyone." They parked the Grand Am in front of the conveinence store and locked CAC inside. Although I don't see what good that did. But anyway. They told the lady at the conveinence store checkout they were going to get something to eat before paying for the gas ("Kat's hypoglycemic; she needs food right away") and walked through the doorway to McDonald's. "I'll have ..." Sora was looking at the menu, "a #7, a #2, a grown-up Happy Meal, a fruit-n-yogurt parfait, a Bliz--excuse me, McFlurry--Oreo--and a strawberry shake. Kat?" Kat was dumbfounded. She didn't see how this could possible work. "Uh, just a double cheeseburger and small soda." The total was somewhere up in the $15-20 range. Kat reached in her pockets. "I have a dollar." She laid it on the counter. Sora looked like an idea had just hit her. "Oh! The rest of the money is in the car. Sorry. Hold on." She took the keys and started out the door. Kat grabbed a french fry. Some of the food had already arrived on the tray. No point in letting it get cold. Before she knew it, she had eaten Sora's fries and half of her own cheeseburger. And she had filled the glasses with soda pop. Sora came back in. She laid some change on the counter. "There you go." The cashier stared at it. "That's only ... 22 cents. You still owe about 16 dollars and 86 cents." Kat realized what they were doing as she stared at the half-eaten burger in her hand. She forced a laugh. "I forgot to tell you where I put the money. My bad." She grabbed her soda and went out to the Grand Am. CAC stared at her. "What do girls think they're doing? Trying to get arrested?" Kat took a drink. "Shut up or we won't bring you any food." When she was finished, she went back in the Mickey D's, only to remember she didn't bring any money. "Uh ... CAC ate the money. That dog eats everything." The manager came up. "You girls are going to have to find $16.86, or I'm going to have to call the cops." Sora grabbed Kat's hand. She walked up to a table full of teenage guys. "Excuse me, guys, but could we borrow 17 dollars?" She kind of twirled her hair. One guy looked at Kat. She thought hard. "Uh ... yeah, could we please? You can have our phone numbers, and the numbers of our friends." One of them took out his wallet. "5 for the redhead," he said, throwing a Lincoln on the table. Kat took a napkin and wrote her (fake) phone number on it. "Anyone else?" asked Sora. A guy with a 'fro took out his wallet. "10 if I can have yours and 3 of your friends'." Sora wrote down her (fake) number, plus Mimi's (real), and Kari's and "Giselle's" (both real). A blonde threw a 20 on the table. "Just because I feel sorry for you. Don't blow it on cigarettes." Kat smiled and took the money. "Oh, we won't." Her and Sora walked to the counter. "Why'd you give them mine?" she whispered. "I couldn't think of anyone else." They paid for their food, took the leftovers in a bag, and walked next door to the convienence store to buy some cigarettes and lighters. And to pay for their gas. CAC grabbed the food out of their hands when they got back in the Grand Am. "Hey yo, I get the Blizzard," said Kat. "And I want the parfait." Sora took it from him. "Have the #7 and a strawberry shake. No wait, I ate the shake." They stopped that night in Garrison. Their full tank was getting low again. "I'm not doing what we did at lunch," Kat said as she reclined the driver's seat. "How much do we have left?" "Like, 2 dollars." Sora tried to get comfortable in the seat. "Let's set up a kissing booth, or something." "A kissing booth." Sora snapped her fingers. "A car wash! We can say the money's going to charity!" "Well, there's gotta be an auto repair shop around somewhere. Maybe they'd let us do it there." "Exactly!" Sora put her feet on the dash. "But I'm going to try to sleep now. This is going to be uncomfortable." |
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| The Two Cities part six |