The Elements Trilogy: The Primaries

Chapter 34: Air

"So when are you gonna teach us to shoot?" I asked Jamie.

"Next time we stop, I guess." He shrugged. He was driving now, and Troy was in the passenger seat, Skylar sitting back with me, still upset about her sword.

"Does anybody have any change?" Evie asked quietly.

"I do, why?" Skylar said glumly.

"I wanna call home at a pay phone."

Skylar sat up. "Can we do that?"

"Well they think we're at a summer boarding school." Diamond reminded her.

"Yeah, but summers almost over," I argued. "September 1st is tomorrow."

"I don't think Mrs. Bryner thought it would take us this long."

"Guys?" Troy interrupted. "Guys, we have a problem."

"Why? What's up?" Skylar asked.

"We're at the Mississippi River."

"So? There's a bridge. Duh."

"That's not the problem. The problem is, the map doesn't take us across the bridge. It's marked "assassin hot spot". Apparently it's swarming with assassins. We have to find another way across."

"Brilliant," Skylar grumbled. "My day just won't stop improving!"

Jamie pulled the car over to the side of the road, and we all piled out. I wandered over to Troy, and he slid his arm around me.

"Where do we go instead?" Diamond wondered.

Troy frowned at the map. "Somewhere a few miles down further. It looks like a port or something."

"So we get some greasy, overweight guy on a boat to take us across? Perfect!" Skylar growled.

Troy looked down at me. "Someone's in a mood." He whispered.

I suppressed a grin, not wanting to get bitch slapped by Skylar, and we all followed her and Jamie down along the embankment.

A few miles later, we reached a small dock, and there was a decent sized boat tied to it. Skylar marched right up to the boat. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah?" Came the answer. A man stood up. A tall, muscular man with skin the color of hot chocolate, and beard stubble, wearing a beanie, and dark brown eyes. He was wearing torn jeans, and a white tank top, and I couldn't help but rake my eyes up and down his body. "Can I help you?"

Skylar's mood seemed to brighten immediately. Jamie's seemed to worsen. "Yeah, I was just wondering if you would like to take me and my friends across the river. We would pay you, of course."

The guy shrugged. "Yeah, why not. I was just about to take a trip myself. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Skylar."

"She's not your sweetheart." Jamie said at the same time.

"How much you paying?" The guy asked.

"How much you want?"

"Twenty bucks a body, and ten per weapon." He jerked his head toward Jamie's assault rifle. I felt Troy pull my shirt down over my pistols in my back pockets so they were concealed.

Skylar gave the guy six twenties, and then turned to me. "How many weapons do we have?" She asked pointedly.

"The rifle. The bow. And the three of you each have two pistols. So eight."

She forked over another eighty dollars in annoyance, and we all started boarding. I was the last on, and the guy grabbed at my butt. "Hey!"

He yanked up my my shirt, and pulled the pistols out of my back pockets. He dangled them in Skylar's face. "What do ya call these?"

"There not loaded," I said quickly. "Empty clips."

He pointedly fired one into the water, and a shot rang out. He angrily threw the pistols at my feet. "Forty dollars!" He demanded.

"Forty! There's only two pistols!"

"Yeah, well I just upped the price! And are you hiding any other weapons? Need me to search you?" He started for Skylar, but Jamie stepped in front of her, hand on his waist, instinctively reaching for his scythe that wasn't there.

"There will be no touching of any of these girls." He said threateningly.

"Yeah? You gonna do something about it if I do?" The guy crossed his arms, and compared to Jamie and Troy, he was huge.

"I just might." Jamie said in a low voice.

Skylar stepped out from behind Jamie. "Look, just take fifty and leave us alone for the rest of the trip, alright?"

The guy swiped the cash from her. "It'll take about an hour and a half, maybe two." He walked away into the cabin, and we all sat down on benches nailed to the floor.

"That was interesting." I remarked.

Diamond scowled. "Why'd you try to hide Evalynn's pistols?"

Skylar sighed. "To save money. We need tents again. And food. But cheap stuff, we need to save money."

Jamie grinned widely. "No we don't." He held up a thick leather wallet. "I swiped this when I walked by him."

"James Shay!" Skylar hissed. She quickly hid it, and looked at him in shock.

"Are we keeping it?" I asked excitedly.

"Not the whole thing, just the credit card," Jamie said. "Nothing too obvious."

"Yeah, cause credit cards aren't obvious." Skylar said, rolling her eyes.

The boat started up, and Diamond turned green.

"You okay?" Troy asked her.

"I get sea sick." She admitted.

I scooted away from her instinctively, and Jamie turned to Skylar with puppy dog eyes. "Can we keep the card? Please, please, pleaseeeeeee?"

She sighed, trying to sound annoyed, but she had a smile on her face. "Okay, we can keep it. But make sure the wallet stays here."

Jamie whooped quietly, and gave Skylar a huge kiss. She blushed, and for the remainder of the trip, no one said a word as the Mississippi River flowed beneath us, and above us, a cloudy gray sky zipped on by.