Bookie Paige [COMPLETED] [UNEDITED]

Chapter 10

Shadow was released back to us after another hour. The doctors are reluctant, but I did end up connecting my fist with a sniffer of, as it turned out, the director of the hospital, and we were free.

Now we were hailing a bus, with newly hacked ATM money in our pockets. We were headed to Florida, ugh, the longest trip ever. But it was across the country from California, where two of us had almost died. And we had our old safe house there. Plus the kids wanted to go to Disney World. Which they had somehow convinced me to agree to.

Sneaky children.

We were at edge of Cali, all of us eager to get out of this death state. Shadow was fine, even thought that only been a week since our hospital visit.

Visit. Not a very good word.

More like catastrophe.

Hospital catastrophe.

Sounds good to me.

"When is the bus gonna be here?" Rain whined, jumping around as usual.

"Yeah, Bookie, read the future!" Zip encouraged.

I signed and complied. "Ten minutes."

"Ten!" Ivy exclaimed. "That's forever!"

I shook my head. "We're gonna be on that bus so long, you're going to wish it hadn't come at all."

They pursed their lips, and I inwardly grinned. Note to self: Laugh later.

Exactly ten minutes later, the bus groaned and wheezed to a stop, its doors opening slowly for us. A craggily old man missing a fair amount of front teeth scowled at us.

I almost laughed; he looked like he might say, "ARGG!" any minute now. He even had a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. Grandpa Blackbeard scrutinized us, and gestured for us to climb aboard. We did, and his bus fit him perfectly!

The seats were covered in what looked like old leather, torn and ripped. There were skulls, hopefully not real, hanging from the roof. A green parrot, who looked half crazed, flew rapidly around the area of the bus, screaming, "Pirate!"

Just as I suspected.

We took the spots at the back of the bus, trying to avoid the stares of the old people who looked just like Captain over there.

Except these people had hooked hands, and peg legs, and eyepatches. And they were all weary ratty leather clothing.

* * *

We lasted about an hour. Then the oldest of the Pirates shuffled to sit not a foot in front of where Ivy and I shared a tattered seat. But she didn't face the front of the bus. She faced us.

I raised my eyebrows and stared her down.

The old lady, who had a red-feathered eyepatch over her left eye, scowled at me. Ivy, looking determined, held her hands, palms up, on her lap. The beginning signs of thick branches twisted out of her skin. I shot her a look, and they disappeared immediately, though her hands didn't move from their position.

"What might you children be a doin' here on ol' Jacken's ship?" She asked in a cracked voice. It sounded like gravel being scraped on cement.

"Well, ya ol' hag!" I started, getting up and making my best pirate face. She looked about ready to strangle me. "Us youngins are headed to they grand state of Floor-ee-da! YAARG!"

The woman gawked at me, taken aback. "Well my my, child! Aren't you a sassy as a sea lion!"

That did it. I made a "YAARG" sound again and reached forward, grasping her shoulders. She stared at me, and then wrinkled her face and tried to pry my hands off.

I dug my fingers into her skin, making her grunt in pain. "Listen here, Haggie!" I spat, truly annoyed. "You're gonna get your old lady self up and you're gonna go tell that old man Jackens to stop this bus or we're gonna do some serious damage to his ship!"

The old lady swallowed and tensely nodded, waving her hands to the other old people, who were nervously shifting; giving us glares.

The old lady shuffled forward and whispered to the bus driver, who immediately stomped on the brakes. We didn't wait for the buss to wheeze to a stop, but rather clambered out the windows.

Then we ran.

Away from a bus.

That was chasing us.