The lamp floated higher off the ground, highlighting the holder’s amusement at our surprise. Mattie tapped her foot impatiently, unphased by his appearance.
The hulking man laughed at our reactions and pulled the lap further from his face, his eyes sparkling. “Sorry ‘bout that. They’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. Y’all are a jumpy lot, aren’t ya?”
He held a large hand out for us to shake. “Name’s Maynard. May for short.”
Cove reached out first, shaking May’s hand once before dropping it quickly. “Cove.”
May engulfed my hand in a firm grip. Calluses scraped the inside of my palm, indicating he frequently did some type of physical labor. “Hayden,” I said, slipping my hand from his.
“Good to meet you.”
Mattie pushed her way between us, grabbing May by the shoulder and dragging him over to an empty table at the edge of the basement.
“Sorry, May, but we don’t have time for chatter.” Mattie hefted her bookbag from over her shoulder. Unzipping it, she dumped her loot of old clothes and cloth, scattering them over the table. May followed her good-naturedly, running his hands over the items on the table as Mattie stood impatiently off to the side, her eyes laser-focused on his every movement.
He whistled slowly. “This’ll last us awhile. You got some good stuff this time, Mats.”
“How much?”
He shrugged. “I’ll have to check individually to be sure.”
Mattie’s face fell. At her crestfallen look, May sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can give you some for now and the rest once I find out what it’s worth.”
She looked up at him, her face shining with hope. “You can?”
“I’ll get it now.” He removed his hand from her shoulder, making his way to the stair doors. He pulled a key out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and strode up to the floor above, creaking across floorboards as he moved.
Mattie lifted her head, looking with shrewd eyes at the squeaking path May carved in the ceiling above. She reminded me of my sister around Christmas, listening after dark to hear where our parents might have hidden our presents.
My curiosity got the best of me. “Why are the secrecy?”
Mattie was momentarily distracted, her eyes flashing toward me before returning to their vigil. “You know how we’re not supposed to go into the city?”
That had been made evident recently. “Yes.”
She shifted, rubbing her arm. “Well, it’s more efficient to reuse old clothes and cloth than it is for the seamstresses to make new ones. Most people here wear clothes that have been passed down since the fall. May officially resells used items, so scavengers like me are able to pawn our goods off to him without oversight. There used to be a few more of us, but some of them never returned. May thinks it was the Mayor and added all the extra secrecy to keep from getting caught.”
“If the Mayor didn’t know already, he’s got to be suspicious now,” I pointed out.
She shrugged. “May insists on it.”
A chill crawled up my spine, and I wondered if the other scavengers had been murdered or if they’d decided to abandon this city altogether.
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“Besides us, have you ever met anyone else in the city?”
“Nope.”
Interesting. Nothing she’d said indicated knowledge of other cities–was that the reason she hadn’t ‘disappeared’ as well? Or was there something else going on?
The footsteps pounded down the stairs, and May’s mountainous figure opened the basement door, a black bag in his hands. He handed it over to Mattie, who slipped it open, peeking inside. She poked through it briefly, and I heard the distinct sound of coins sliding against each other.
“Thank you,” she said, pulling the drawstring and shoving it into her backpack.
May used both hands this time to clasp her shoulders. “You’ve been heading to the city a lot recently. Don’t get too reckless. I don’t have any other scavengers yet.”
She looked up at him and smiled cockily. “I won’t.”
May sighed and released her shoulders. “Just be careful, okay?”
Mattie punched him playfully in the side. “You taught me how to take care of myself. I even managed to save these two dimwits from the robots.”
His eyes drifted over to us. “Really?”
Cove only nodded. “She helped,” I added.
Mattie scoffed, moving back to give me a less playful punch in the arm. “You would have been toast if it weren’t for me.”
I rubbed at the new sore spot. “We would have managed,” I said, shooting Cove a glance, which he also ignored. He’d been acting strange ever since we’d figured out where we were, a far cry from his usual self.
“I gotta get these two fed and then get back home before Mom starts to worry,” Mattie said, tossing her backpack over her shoulders to linger by the door.
May placed a hand on Cove and I’s shoulders, his hand comically large. He squeezed my shoulder tightly–a warning. “‘Course. Don’t give her too much trouble, you two.”
Cove’s hand drifted up until it hovered over May’s, twitching. His magic flared, and I shot him a warning glance. Catching himself, he dropped his hand down, the presence of his magic fading with it. May let us go, giving us a last little shove towards the door. Cove took the shove gracefully, bringing his shoulder forward with it. While I wasn’t quite as graceful, I was getting used to my shoulder being shoved and was only knocked slightly forward.
Mattie opened the doors, letting a cool breeze creep inside to steal our warmth. I pulled a medium-sized jacket out of my handy backpack as we exited, nearly spilling the entire thing. I shoved the rest in and zipped up the bag before shoving my arms into the jacket, sighing at the instant warmth that covered them.
Cove and Mattie continued, unphased by the evening chill. She led us to a bustling building in the center of town, where multiple fires burned in pits outside, bringing light to the people eating at the exterior tables. Uncertain glances were cast our way, and the roar of conversation dulled to whispers as we passed. We ignored them, striding through the door and placing our orders to the bartender inside, leaving the cats to cause trouble outside the gate.
We ordered food to go, and soon enough, food wrapped in clean corn husks was handed over and shoved unceremoniously into Mattie’s bag.
Mattie led us straight to her house, marching through others’ backyards and waving at the exasperated neighbors as she passed. The windows of her house were dark; the curtains pulled tightly shut to keep the fire-lit room as warm as possible for the evening. No lock adorned her door, and Mattie pulled it open unhesitatingly.
She left her shoes on, so Cove and I did the same, following her into the dim and sparsely decorated interior.
“Mom! I”m home! I have a few guests for you!”
A skinny, hunched figure–Mattie’s mother–straightened on the other side of the room, her hand tightening on her cane. The fire warming the food she’d been tending to cast her shadow nearly entirely across the room, its flickering embers catching and dying out on a fire-proof rug at her feet.
“Mattie!” The woman croaked. “I was beginning to worry!” She scolded. Her gaze landed on Cove and me, and all the color immediately dropped from her face, her hands trembling.
“I found these two while hunting for more firewood today. Dad already knows, but they’ll be staying with us today before leaving early tomorrow morning.”
“Your dad knows?! Does that mean the Mayor does too?” Her mother asked, her voice shrill and uncertain.
Mattie paused, concerned. “Yes? The mayor was the one to ask us.”
What should have been a reassuring statement by Mattie only made her mother panic more. Unable to calm the poor woman down, the confused and terrified Mattie ushered us and the cats into a small and cool, but not cold, room on the side, containing a wardrobe, carpet, bed, and small bedside table as the only decorations. Mattie lit a lamp for us, then apologized, saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she’d react like this. Don’t worry; I’ll talk to her.”
She shut the door firmly behind her.
Cove plopped onto the bed, the mattress creaking underneath his weight as he plopped off his boots. I stood there awkwardly, unable to block out Mattie’s mother’s voice as it carried through the thin walls of the house. “Those two strangers–what did they tell you?”
Mattie’s response was harder to discern, and only her low, reassuring tone carried into our room. This time, when her mom spoke, I couldn’t make her words out, either.
I eyed the small bed, where Cove already sat, then the carpet on the floor. Hesitantly, I removed my boots, nearly knocking myself over, and prodded at the carpet with my foot. It was surprisingly soft. Relieved, I dropped to the floor and sat on the soft, furry rug, facing the absent Cove.
“What’s been up with you today?” I asked, stroking the fur on Ani’s back.
Cove shook his head. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
Silence fell over the room. I tugged on the strands of fur beneath me with one hand, running the other over the purring Ani.
Mattie returned a few minutes later, blankets in hand. “I’m really sorry,” she said, handing them off to me. “It might be best if you two just stay in this room until morning. The outhouse is there,” she pointed through the window to a porter-potty-shaped building in her backyard “if you need to use it.”
I thanked her and set the blankets to my side, within reach of Cove if he stretched.
She shook her head and shrugged. “It’s what anyone would do.”
The warmth and light disappeared when she left, leeched out by Cove’s strange mood. I divvied out the blankets as best I could, saving extra for additional padding between me and the floor. I ended up cozier than I expected, Ani and Ranch both electing to act as my furnace. Sleep came easy.