Eliot Strange and the Prince of the People

14) A Kiss Goodbye

I go inside to quickly pack essential supplies for the journey to Stuart. I stuff a backpack with a change of clothes, a water bottle, and two knives and a compass. I follow my dad's advice and pack more than one weapon on my person. I have a penknife in my left sock and one larger blade in my underwear. I tuck my handgun in the back waist of my pants. I put on a pink Hello Kitty t-shirt and hot pink converse tennis shoes. I put my hair in a pony tail and thread it through a mint green John Deere logo hat. I check the mirror, I look about fourteen. I'm a girl getting ready to go to the mall on Saturday afternoon. Perfect. Check. I look unassuming and innocent, just like my dad taught me. I pull my gun out and make sure it is fully loaded. Hello Kitty needs to be ready to blow someone's brains out if necessary.

There's a quick knock on the door, and before I can beat Torin to the punch and tell him I am leaving him first, Torin steps in. He walks over to me and kisses me.

Here's the kiss. The one I have been waiting for since I met him. The one I didn't ask for, the one given freely. The one that says - I will eat you up, but first, let me show you what pleasure there will be before, before I devour you.

The kiss is so damn good, I want to take my own clothes off. Damn you, Hello Kitty, for standing between me and my man.

I tremble just a little. Torin says, "There, there's that."

We look at each other and both say together, "I'm leaving."

Torin notices the bag in my hand. "Good, you are packed and ready. This will be a quick departure. The medics are loading the wounded. As soon as the children are on the road, we can go."

"Where?" I ask.

"For now, Marla has a different grandmother. We are going there now."

"Who?" I ask.

"Clay, Hellman, Tommy, Marla, Steven, and.." he sighs and throws his hands up. "Cindy Lou and Baby Christopher. I could not persuade her to leave with the caravan of children. Cindy says she is my protector. And, she needs to stay round to rescue you and Steven. And she said something confusing about a daddy for her baby."

I smile at that. "She's not wrong. She has saved me a couple of times already."

"And me as well," Torin agrees. "Marla will take us to the new hideaway and then Steven and Cindy Lou and maybe, Tommy, who said he does not want to leave Steven's side again, are going to Pilot Mountain to see if real Canadian soldiers are there or not." When I don't say anything right back, Torin adds, "Might be my way home."

I try to act nonchalant about my prince being so cavalier about catching a bus home with Canadian soldiers. I look away. "Sounds like a plan."

Torin picks up a duffel bag with his one good hand. "So, let me pack a bag as well. And we'll be off."

I don't tell him I'm not going with him. I hate goodbyes.

I slip out the door where Gus is waiting. He nods at me, and we walk to the red jeep. I hope to be gone before Torin knows I'm gone. Just as we step in the car, I hear it. A gun fires, a warning from our lookout on the roof. The shot means danger. Danger approaches.

Has The One Nation Army finally found us?