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Julian shook his head. "This is a small town, River."
I raised my eyebrows. "A small town full of murderer arsonists? Because that's definitely what we look like."
"Also," Theo added, pointing at the hens cradled contentedly in the crook of each of Julian's arms, "them."
"Trust me," Julian said. "We'll be fine."
"Why do so many of your bad ideas start like that?" Theo grumbled.
Strangely, though, Julian appeared to be right. We walked to the inn, and although the woman at the desk did a double-take at our appearances, she accepted Theo's credit card and handed us a key.
"You have got to be the most karmically-gifted person on the planet," Theo said, frowning at Julian as he unlocked the door to our room. "Do things always just kind of…work out for you?"
Julian seemed puzzled by the question. "So far," he said.
"Vanessa will be here in less than two hours," I said, checking her location on the map. "Out of my way, you two. There's a shower calling my name."
"What. The hell. Happened?"
As the door to our room clicked shut behind her, Vanessa stared first at me, then Theo, then at Julian. Although we'd done our best to clean up, my lip was split and swollen, and Theo had a black eye. There were shiny pink burns on both of Julian's arms, and Theo's long scrapes were visible above the collar of his shirt.
When neither Julian nor Theo made any move to answer, I let my breath whistle out from between my teeth. "It's a long story."
Her stunned gaze came to rest on me. "And what the fuck is up with your eyes?"
"Oh yeah." I put up a hand, attempting to shield my red eyes. "Um…like I said. Long story."
"Then it's a good thing we have an eight-hour drive ahead of us," Vanessa said, still staring at me.
I winced. "I don't even know if that's enough time," I muttered.
"Probably not." She made a face, tearing her eyes away from me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm—" I broke off. Was I okay? I wasn't even sure what that meant at this point.
Vanessa pointed at Julian. "Where's Luca? And who's this guy?"
"Luca won't be coming back with us." I tried unsuccessfully to keep my voice from trembling. "And this is Julian. He will be coming back with us." I glanced at him, adding, "Right?"
He raised one shoulder in a shrug and lifted his pack from the floor. "Nowhere else to go."
“I…” Vanessa opened her mouth and closed it again, then shook her head. Finally, with one more concerned glance my way, she threw up her hands. "Well, let's go then. The sooner we get moving, the sooner you can tell me what could possibly explain all of this."
It didn't take long to load the remnants of our camping gear into the back of Vanessa's hatchback. She eyed Theo's burned, bruised face and Julian's makeshift bandages as they heaved sleeping bags into the trunk. "Do I…need to stop at a hospital on the way?" she asked.
"No, we're okay," Theo assured her. "We just want to get home." He gave her a tired smile. "Speaking of which, give me your keys. You're not going to want to be driving when you hear everything we've got to tell. Trust me."
She handed over the keys, watching as I shoved the last bag into place and slammed the trunk. She only balked when Julian lifted the speckled brown hen and placed her on the backseat.
"Whoa, wait—you can't bring chickens with you," she said.
Julian straightened up, the white hen still in his arms. He looked at me. "If they don’t go, then neither do I."
I shot Vanessa a pleading glance. "V, please."
She opened her mouth, closed it again, then finally rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Julian sat beside the brown hen, then scooted over and placed her on his lap. Theo took the wheel, and I slid in beside Julian, laughing a little as the white chicken flapped her wings and clucked at me.
