The whole riverbank smelled like rotting algae with the whiff of something worse. Hummer gave the signal, and Nat’s feet were scooped up, her arms already restrained. She screamed and struggled, but the Bruces just laughed.
They carried her out on to the crumbling bridge support at the edge of the water. Asta watched the cousins fight to control Nat’s writhing limbs, the shape of them dark against the massive, still-bright edifice of Horizons Raceway on the other side of the wide river. Asta considered trying to ambush the mob and rescue Nat, but the two of them stood no chance against the entire gang of cousins.
‘One, two, three,’ they shouted as they swung Nat back and forth.
Asta cringed as they let go, sending Natalia flailing into the river, her scream cut off by the water as she went under. The river was deeper here than Asta had guessed. But as Asta had learned off the piers in Port Veracruz, Nat was as tough and scrappy in the water as she was on land. She would be back on shore in a minute, hopping mad and soaking wet.
Nat resurfaced, splashing and puffing. She was shouting unintelligibly, her fury hot enough to boil the river. She swam against its current and toward the water’s edge.
‘Give me the stick,’ Hummer said. Karol handed him a huge, broken-off branch with splaying fingers that dragged in the dirt of the riverbank. Hummer tucked the thick end under his armpit and trudged to the side of the river and stood on the retaining wall. The end of the broken limb reached far out into the current. He pushed the branch down on Nat’s head, shoving her back under the water. She slipped downstream, and the Bruce cousins behind Hummer jeered at the churning water, chasing the current with Nat in it. When Nat came up again, gasping, Hummer submerged her again.
Asta stepped forward, a feeling of panic rising in her chest. ‘Hey, Hummer! Come on. That’s not—’
‘Keep out of it, Ek,’ Hummer growled. ‘You won. This is what you won. You’re not in there.’
He trotted downstream and waited for Nat to come back up, take one breath, and then he pushed her under again.
‘Hummer! Stop it!’ Asta cried, running after him. ‘You’re going to hurt her.’ She didn’t know what to do.
Hummer dropped the branch and wheeled on Asta. Behind him, Nat came up again and, finding herself unimpeded, swam for the shore. She dragged herself up on the low wall as her uncle barked at Asta. ‘Hurt her? I can’t hurt her more than losing hurts her. You think it’s bad being in that stinking river? We’re all already in that river. We were born in that river. I’m teaching her how to get out.’
‘Screw you,’ Nat said, coming up beside Asta, dripping. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. There were a few snickers from the others, but Nat kept her eyes on Hummer. He looked back, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hat. At last, Nat turned away and walked back up toward the train tracks, shivering in the cold. He did not stop her.
Asta followed, hot with rage.
10
They said no more on the way back than they had on the way there. They rode to the housing units, put the dragons to bed– first Carmine, then Vulture– and then, without discussing it, Asta followed Nat to her quarters.
Asta didn’t know why she was there except that what she had just seen had scared her, and she needed to talk about it.
‘You reek,’ Asta said, once they were inside, the door closed behind them. She was trying for a lighthearted tone.
‘You like it.’ Nat’s voice sounded so small that it broke Asta’s heart.
Asta cocked her head, forcing a smile. ‘Likeit? You smell like a dead frog.’
Nat raised her eyes to Asta’s. ‘Maybe you should put me in the shower and clean me up.’
She didn’t mean it, Asta told herself. She was reeling, just like Asta was. This is what Nat did. She deflected. The flirting wasn’t personal. It was just a coping mechanism, even though acting on it would ruin their friendship. But then, maybe that was the point. Maybe, after what Asta had just seen, Natalia was looking for a reason to drive her away.
‘Come on,’ Nat said, her tone wheedling. ‘You’re no summer peach yourself. You can get clean with me. Or dirty. Whatever.’
‘Nat—’ Asta shook her head.
‘What?’ Nat snapped.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
Nat’s eyes flared with anger. ‘I’m fine, Asta.’
‘Hey. Don’t bullshit me,’ Asta shot back, her own anger rising. ‘You haven’t said two words since the river. We need to talk about it. Getting naked right now isn’t going to make whatever the hell happened tonight better.’
Nat pouted. ‘It couldn’t hurt.’
Asta set her jaw.
‘I’m just saying,’ Nat protested.
