The Fleece Job (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Chapter 22: Back to the island

Jason

"This is insane," to be fair my dad says that a lot. It's like his favorite way of starting a conversation.

"You're the one who taught me the rules," I say, folding my arms. The rest of-- I guess my extended family --are bickering and calling parents and convincing said parents that they're capable of functioning in a safe manner.

"Jason—,"

"What is your first rule of being a man?"

Quietly, "Never take something that someone can't afford to lose---but Jason---Jason as I am understanding this very convoluted story you didn't actually take anything--,"

"I took myself—away from her. And you didn't see her face, dad---she couldn't afford to lose me," I sigh, "I'm sorry. But I have to go back. It's not her fault—I have to make sure she's okay."

"If you get hurt," he has his face in his hands.

"Dad, I'll be fine," I sigh like I didn't jump off a ship with a chainsaw in my hands in the last forty eight hours. "I'm just going to go back and talk to her."

"If you get hurt---if you are arrested----," he sighs.

"I'll be fine, dad, seriously. Trust me. I can do this."

I am shocked my dad allows me to go. I think it has something to do with giving up on me but I'm not sure. Ev's mom offers to give him a ride but he declines. Ari and Reese's dad leaves them with strict instructions to not bring anyone back from the dead while he tries to plead Ari's case for immortality.

Bronte does, in fact, have a dirigible. One that is invisible. We take that back to the Argo which is still moored off the coast of the island. That involves Bronte and Cassian leaping off the side of the dirigible multiple times because they can fly and it makes them happy. Their siblings (Hugh and Peter) beg them to stop. They do not.

We plan to take the Argo back to California with most of us on it, so that we can at least leave it at port in California for Bronte's sister who apparently is the one who gave it to us to begin with.

It's late by the time we get to the island, and our plan works better in the light of day. So we wait out the night on the ship. Hugh is very proud of himself for having enough t-shirts for all of our new members.

Angelica, Ev, and I all migrate to the top deck to talk. Angelica is quiet like our dad, and tends to hang about Zephyr or Bronte. She follows us now, though. Ev brought chips. 

We move at dawn but, none of us feel like sleeping. Penny did, Penny was fine actually. So were Cassian and Peter, not their first time in police custody apparently. Hugh's twins are impossible to tell apart, but they're mostly interchangeable. They spend most of their time trying to walk off the ship, playing/fighting with Cassian and Peter, and bickering between themselves, and stealing whatever it is Hugh has in his hands and hiding it from him.  It's very sweet, especially since he really doesn't get mad at them over it.

Zephyr spends most of the trip letting shy children hide behind him (Angelica), feeding Zag to get him to comply with demands, and sulking in shadows starting at his cellphone. It's very sad and I think someone should worry about him.

"So, for simplicity purposes, we refer to our dad as our shared dad. I have a personal mom, and Jason has a personal dad," Ev says, sitting down completely incorrectly on a piece of lawn furniture.

"I live with my moms. They're technically my aunts---but my dad left me there when I was a baby," Angelica says, quietly, sitting down cross legged on a chair. She put on a too-big Argonauts t-shirt that looks more like a dress on her, leaving Zephyr the only hold out wearing his own clothes (a black hoodies that the 1980s want back). Penny even put on a long sleeved t-shirt because her other clothes got ruined at some point, I think in the river she and Ev died in.