Aggie’s mouth quivers and for a horrifying moment, I think I’ve made an old lady cry. “It’s not what you think. It’s not like we have a choice.”
“He’s got Stella,” Dottie says, her voice flat. “And he’s going to keep her unless we do what he says.”
I knew there was something suspicious about all of this. It all felt like too much, all at once. A hostage makes sense. He’s got their friend and that’s why some of their stories don’t quite line up. I don’t feel that Dottie and Aggie are malicious, but some of the ways they’ve been acting have seemed cagey for sure. “Did he push you two towards us? Told you where we were?”
Dottie nods reluctantly, and Aggie just looks utterly deflated, her mouth pulled into a permanent frown. Dottie continues, “He told us to go make friends with you. See if you had anything worth taking. We’re supposed to report back to him. Give him a signal if you’re worth stealing from.”
“And are we?” Rabbit asks. I can hear the betrayal in her voice.
“Of course not. You’ve got a dragon! He’d be an idiot to come steal from you,” Dottie scoffs. “And you’ve been real nice to us. It would have been easier if you guys were jerks. I don’t feel too bad snowing someone if they deserve it. But it’s the fact that you’re nice that throws things off.”
“And the dragon,” Aggie says, uncharacteristically solemn. She sits down on the floor of the open van, as if all the energy has left her body. “He protects you. Feeds you. I bet he’d protect and feed us if we stayed, too.”
“I don’t know that I want you to stay,” I point out, angry. “Not if you’re putting me and my daughter at risk.”
“And the cats,” Rabbit adds. “Murr loves his cats. I love them, too. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
“We’re not interested in harming the cats,” Dottie begins.
“You might not be but what about this jerk?” Rabbit retorts.
“His name is Curtis,” Dottie says. “And I don’t know how he feels about cats. He’s more interested in electronics. And Stella, of course.” Her mouth purses and she looks over at Aggie again. “He’s not going to give her up without a fight.”
“”Not if he wants to breed her,” Aggie agrees, her tone mournful.
My daughter sputters. “Wait, what?”
I frown to myself, too. I’ve been picturing poor old Stella as some gray-haired little granny, too fragile to take control of a bad situation or too small to fight back against this Curtis guy. “He’sbreedingher?”
“Well, yeah, he wants to. I mean, she’s too stupid to care,” Aggie says.
“That’s not nice,” I say automatically.
“It’s true, though,” Aggie continues. “She doesn’t care who’s in charge as long as she gets fed, but he’s got plans. He thinks he’ll make a fortune selling the little ones in the forts. He’s justgonna keep her locked up and breed her until she can’t breed no more.”
“That’s awful,” I say, revolted anew at how terrible people are in the After.
Aggie grimaces and scratches under her wig. “Well, yeah. He’s not a good guy. He saw we had Stella and took her from us. I just want her back.”
Dottie nods, holding the blanket tightly against her. “She deserves better.”
“Of course she does. No one should live like that.” I’m picturing the poor woman myself. It sounds like she’s mentally disabled and in the hands of an awful man who’s using her. I’ve heard of some horrid things in the After but breeding a woman really takes the cake. I press my palm to my forehead. “We’ll rescue her. What can you tell us about Stella?”
“She’s five,” Aggie says, choked up. “And just the happiest girl you can imagine.”
My brain explodes.”What?”
“She’sfive?” Rabbit cries.
“And she’s got three legs,” Aggie adds. “And the biggest jowls you’ve ever seen.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. My mental picture has gone from an old woman to a tiny child and now just fritzed out entirely. “Wait a moment. Stella’s not a human?”
“What? No! She’s my dog,” Aggie declares. “He’s holding her captive to force us to do his bidding.”
CHAPTER 34
DAKOTA
