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Jix growled, but held his temper. “She’s the one with the answers,” Jix told Avalon.
“What answers?”
“The answers to all of your questions. She is the all-knowing Eastern Witch.”
Avalon, the zit-kid, was still unimpressed. “Never heard of her.” He scratched his volcanic face, smudging some of his war paint. Jix noticed that his paint was slightly different. In addition to the bright streaks, he also had a silver W on his forehead.
“We already know all the answers,” he said. “At least, we will when we have enough coins. You gotta coin?”
Jix shook his head.
“All right, then.” Avalon motioned to his comrades. “Keep the girl in the box, and send the cat-kid downtown.”
The two Neon guards began to push on Jix’s shoulders, forcing him into the earth, making it very clear what they meant by ‘downtown.’
“No!” someone shouted off to their right.
Jix turned to see Jill climbing down from the top of the mansion and she ran to them. One of the Neons tried to grab her, and she elbowed him in the nose, then made a beeline to Avalon.
“I’ve got a coin!”
“Don’t!” yelled Jix. “They won’t bargain—they’ll just take it.”
But she ignored him. “I’ll trade you. My coin for his freedom.”
“Search her,” ordered Avalon, but she didn’t give them a chance. She pulled the coin out of her pocket and held it up to Avalon. He looked at it with suspicion, then cautiously took it from her, holding it by the tips of his fingernails, then dropped it into the pocket of his T-shirt.
“All right, then,” he said. “Send them both downtown.” Then he turned and walked away.
“Push me down, and you’ll never find the other coins!” Jill said. That caught his attention.
“You’re lying.”
“Oh, yeah? I can get you another coin right now.”
He hesitated—and even Jix wondered if she were bluffing, but he decided not to interfere with Jill’s scheme. He watched and waited to see how it would play out.
“Show me,” said Avalon.
The guards plucked Jix, who was down to his knees, back to the surface, and Jill led them all toward the sleeping car, still lying sideways across the tracks.
“That car is empty,” Avalon told her. “We already got all the sleepers out, and none of them will have a coin until they wake up anyway.”
“Not in it,” said Jill. “Under it.”
They all went around to the other side of the car, to see Milos still helplessly pinned.
“Hello, Milos,” said Jill, far too pleasantly to actually be pleasant.
“Switching sides, Jill?” he said. “I am not surprised.”
“He’s got a coin,” Jill announced. Avalon looked at the train car, then at his mob.
“Check his pockets.”
“You don’t have to,” Jill said. “It’s not in a pocket. He keeps it wedged in the laces of one of his shoes.”
Milos moaned, and Avalon pointed at Jix. “You. Go check.” Jix knelt down and reached under the train for Milos’s shoes. Milos kicked and struggled, but Jix was able to get a good hold on his shoes with his sharp nails. He checked the laces of both running shoes and found the coin wedged in the right laces, just as Jill had said. He pulled it out, spared a quick glance toward Jill and held it out to Avalon, holding it in his palm.
