Where the Lost Things Go

Falcon and Tiger

   "Please, get to bed," Pippa said, feeling exhausted. She hadn't told anyone about Morgan, which was bothering her a great deal. 

 "I want Naomi," Daisy fretted, clutching the doll she had found during the day, bobbing up and down on the mattress. 

  "Shut up and go to bed," Frances said, looking up from her battered copy of Treasure Island. 

 "Could you tell her a story maybe?" Pippa asked.

 "Sorry, I'm at a really exciting part." Frances said, rolling away with her nose in the book. 

 "Where's Naomi?" Daisy whined.

 "She's not here," Pippa said irritably. She had no experience with younger children, and Daisy acted in ways she couldn't predict. "She's not your mom." 

 "Why not?" Daisy asked. Pippa sighed. 

 "Just go to bed. You too, Frances." She reached for the flashlight that Frances was using to see the words on the page. 

 "No, it's mine! Stop it!" Frances wrested the flashlight from me, which she yielded quickly. Where on earth was Naomi? It was dark, the whole camp in their shelters for the night, still, there was no sign of Naomi and Judah. 

  Just as she was thinking this, Naomi crawled into the shelter, smiling softly. "Are you listening to Pippa, honey?" she asked Daisy.

 "Naomi!" The little girl wriggled in delight, lying down instantly, to Pippa's disgust. "I missed you."

 "I was only gone for a little bit," Naomi said. "Frances, don't read too late, you'll strain your eyes."

 "What were you doing?" Frances asked bluntly. 

 "I went for a walk," Naomi said, tucking Daisy's blanket around her. 

 "Right." Frances closed her book, using one of Pippa's drawings of Jo March as a bookmark. "How did it feel? I heard that the first time hurts, how did - " 

  "FRANCES! There are little ears here, including yours. How old are you, ten?" Naomi looked furious. 

 "I'm twelve, dummy," Frances said nonchalantly. 

 "There is nothing happening, Frances. Just shut up."

 "Bloody spoilsport," Frances muttered as she rolled over on her stomach. 

 "Go to bed!" The younger girl muttered rebelliously, but finally subsided. 

 The next morning, the four girls slept longer than they normally did, only waking up when there was a clatter outside the shelter. Pippa sat up slowly, then crawled over Naomi's body to go outside. 

 "What's going on?" 

 Maria, a girl around her age who lived in the shelter next to hers, pointed. "Angelica from the Falcons showed up and wanted to talk to Judah."

 "What did she want?" Pippa asked, watching the Falcon leader standing with Judah a little ways off. They seemed to be in deep conversation. 

 "We don't know," Maria said. 

  They saw Judah coming their way, Angelica walking at his side. "Pippa, where's Naomi?" he asked. "I need to talk to her."

 "Inside the shelter," Pippa said, and watched as Judah plunged through the blanket door, Angelica following after a moment's hesitation.

  "Naomi, Angelica wants us to try and undermine Morgan," he said without preamble, his voice weary. 

 Naomi stared at them, her hair tousled and her eyes sleepy. "Say that again," she said, gently lifting Daisy off her lap. 

 "Morgan needs to pay for the children she's killed," Angelica said, her voice bitter. "Your clan doesn't understand, none of the others do either, but she took three from ours. Three! All for her sick rituals that don't even work. She knows how I feel about her, so she takes them to make my clan weak and scared. She wouldn't take someone from you, Judah. She still wishes you had stayed with her."

 "She can go on wishing," Judah replied, shaking his head. "I agree with you, Angelica, I really do, but would she do if she found out we were helping you try to overthrow her? Where would my clan be?"

 "What if she takes some of our kids?" Naomi said, cuddling a drowsy Daisy closer to her. "I couldn't bear it."

 Angelica sighed. "It's a risk, but if the Falcons stand alone, we will fall, every one of us. She has the biggest clan, AND the Lions and Eagles are allied with her. Please." She stared intensely at Naomi and Judah. "Help us."

 Morgan's voice floated through Pippa's mind. 'I'll crush her....I'll crush them all.' 

 "They'll crush you," she found herself saying. The older kids looked up at her in surprise. "She spoke to me," Pippa said softly. "She knows that you're going to rebel, Angelica, and when you do, she'll be ready."

 "We can't help you right now," Judah said. "It's too dangerous."

 Angelica rose, looking defeated. "I thought more of you, Judah," she said. "You too, Naomi. I thought you cared."

 Naomi looked stricken, and Pippa knew that she did care, but she wanted to protect her children first. 

 "I'll take my leave." Angelica left the shelter, brushing past Pippa as she did. 

 "We should have helped her," Naomi said when she was gone. 

 "It's too great a risk," Judah said. "I don't agree with Morgan, but a revolution is not the way to solve this. We could solve this peacefully if either she or Angelica would be reasonable, but - "

 "Angelica is out for revenge," Naomi sighed. "I hardly blame her." 

 Pippa remained standing by the entrance, her heart filled with forboding.