The Journey Home (16 page)

Danny came and joined them at the kitchen table, under a dangling giant hornet made from chrome and repurposed computer components. “What do you think?” he asked, jerking a thumb at it.

“The sculptures are amazing,” said Jake.

“You can find a lot of good stuff in the city, if you know how to look,” Danny said. “It's a sin what some people throw away. Such a waste.”

That sounds familiar,
Jake thought. Despite being in the city, Danny and Jola weren't so very different from them. They were using survival skills to get by too.

“We made these,” he told Danny, pointing out the
fringed leather jackets he and Taylor wore. “Tanned the hides ourselves.”

“Seriously?” Danny whistled. “Impressive.”

“Dad always says we have to use the whole deer,” Jake said. “Nothing gets wasted.”

“I see where you're coming from,” Danny said with a slow nod. “The city's like a wild place too, when you live like we do. You have to know its ways. What's safe to do and what's not.”

“Dad hates cities,” Taylor put in. “He says they're poison.”

“Well, a lot depends on your point of view,” Danny said, grinning. “I couldn't live a nine-to-five life, wearing a suit and tie. That'd kill me. But here it's different. ‘Welcome to the jungle. We've got fun and games.' ” He twiddled on an imaginary guitar, and the boys laughed.

The laughter died as Jola appeared in the doorway. Her fingers were bloody.

Taylor leaped up from his seat. “Is he . . .”

Jola smiled.

“Good news, boys. Cody is going to be fine.” She put a tiny ivory-colored object down on the table. “He lost a tooth, and his hind leg's sprained, but he's a tough little cookie. He'll pull through.”

Taylor whooped out loud. Jake leaned back in his chair, sagging with relief.
Thank God.

“But,” Jola said, “and it is a big ‘but' . . .” She went to wash her hands in the sink while she talked. “He needs to
rest up and get better. That means he can't run around after you. He needs to travel in a pet carrier or on a car seat.”

Jake and Taylor exchanged horrified glances. “But we need to get to Pittsburgh!” Taylor said.

“Pittsburgh?” Danny echoed. “I thought you guys were from round here.”

“Got someone to drive you?” Jola asked.

“No,” admitted Jake. “We were going to get the train.”

Jola gripped the edge of the sink and let out a long sigh. “Okay, let me give it to you straight. If you try to take that dog with you all the way to Pittsburgh, he might not heal up properly. Sorry, but those are the facts.”

“But what else can we do? We can't leave him here!” cried Taylor.

“I can't believe I'm saying this, but . . . yes, you can.”

“You'd do that?” Jake asked, stunned.

“Sure. I won't turn away an animal in need. I'll look after him until he's better, if you need me to, and you can pick him up in a week or so. I like the little guy. He's a fighter.” She splashed cold water onto her face and toweled off. “Or you can take him with you and run the risk of his leg never healing right.”

“That's a really tough decision,” Jake said, frowning.

“Yeah. But, it has to be your decision. Not ours.”

Jake turned his face away. He already knew what he had to do.

19
Danny drove like he was playing a video game. Jake and Taylor were flung this way and that as Danny threw the truck around tight bends, racing to reach Union Station in time to catch their train. Fortunately, Jola had taken Draco the python out before they'd climbed in.

“Aww, come on, Grandpa, get out of the way!” Danny yelled at a slow-moving driver in front of him. “We're on a mercy mission here!”

Jake glanced at Taylor, hoping to see him grinning in excitement. But the boy just sat, unsmiling, letting the motion of the truck jostle him around. It was as if something inside him had broken.

“Hey, champ,” Jake said. “It's going to be okay.”

“No, it's not,” Taylor said.

“You heard Jola. Cody will be fine. He just needs to rest up.”

“We left him behind,” whispered Taylor. “It was my fault. I should have been holding him . . .”

Jake understood now. No wonder Taylor had been so quiet since they'd left Danny and Jola's apartment. It wasn't just the sorrow of abandoning Cody. It was guilt.

“Don't talk like that. You aren't to blame. You know who is?”

Taylor shook his head and sniffed.

“Valenti. He sent those two creeps after us. He threatened Mom, and it's his fault Cody nearly got killed. We're going to make him pay.”

They were both flung forward, then back, as Danny brought the truck to a screeching halt outside Union Station. Jake smelled the acrid tang of burning rubber.

“Got you here in one piece!” Danny yelled triumphantly.

“Mostly,” Jake said, rubbing his neck.

“Okay, guys. Train to Pittsburgh leaves in ten minutes. Look, here's our card—it's got everything on it, phone, address . . .”

“Thanks—” Jake began.

“No time for long good-byes,” Danny cut in. “You guys gotta go, go, go!”

Jake and Taylor piled out of the truck, waved to Danny, and ran into the station. Jake was glad he'd counted out the money for their tickets in advance. Pulling out the entire
wad of money would have attracted a lot of attention, especially looking as wild as they did.

He bought the tickets from a surly attendant who didn't even look up. “You'll have to hurry,” the man said, even as it took him forever to punch in the purchase on his screen. “You don't get no refund if you miss your train.”

“I get it,” Jake said, snatching up the tickets the man finally doled out.

Four minutes to go. They hurried through the crowds, hunting for their platform.

“There it is!” Taylor said, pointing toward a sign at the other end of the station.

The concourse was teeming with people studying the departures board, buying snacks at kiosks, and greeting friends. Jake and Taylor zigzagged through the crowd, skirting around weary travelers wheeling suitcases and pushing strollers.

“Excuse me,” said Jake, navigating past a large family saying a tearful farewell to an elderly relative.

“Final boarding for the Capital Express, stopping in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC,” came an announcement over the loudspeaker.

“We're going to miss it!” cried Taylor as they sprinted toward their platform.

As they neared the platform, a small vehicle pulling a luggage cart piled high with suitcases barred the way. It had stalled in front of the platform entrance, completely
blocking the passage. Jake looked frantically left and right, but there was no room to squeeze past. There was only one thing to do—

“Jump!” shouted Jake, leaping onto the cart and scrambling over the baggage. He didn't even look behind him to see if his brother had followed his lead.

“Hey, what do you think you kids are doing?” shouted the man driving the luggage cart.

“All aboard!” called the loudspeaker.

Jake ran to the train. His heart was pounding so hard, it felt like it would shatter his rib cage, but he didn't stop. He could hear Taylor panting and gasping as he ran behind him.

The last time they'd run to catch a train, it had been a freight train out of Pittsburgh; now it was one going in the opposite direction. Both times urgency had coursed through Jake's veins.

He sprinted up to the train, yanked open the carriage door, and climbed on board. Hauling Taylor up behind him, he panted with relief as the train guard blew his whistle and the train lurched forward.

“Phew!” gasped Taylor, clutching his side. “Pittsburgh, here we come!”

Later, after they'd found their compartment and stowed Jake's pack, the boys sat munching burgers they'd bought from the dining car. Jake tore off a piece of meat without thinking and felt a sudden pang of loss. He'd meant to feed
it to Cody, but their little terrier wasn't there. Sharing food with the dog had become second nature to him.

“Man, I still can't believe we made it,” Taylor said, chuckling. “That was a close call.”

Jake shrugged. “We've made it this far. I wasn't going to let a stupid luggage cart get in the way of us getting on the train. Not after all we've been through.”

“Yeah. Remember that time when Cody . . .”

Taylor's voice trailed off. He yawned.

Jake sighed, stood up, and folded the seat down to make a bed. “You can sleep if you want. We've got a long way left to go.”

“What about you? Don't you need to sleep too?”

Jake looked out the window at the dark countryside, with the white moon high above. It was lighting their way home, to their mom, and to Valenti. He had to be ready to meet that threat.

“Not yet,” he said. “I've got too much on my mind.”

Later, Jake sat writing in his journal while the train rushed on toward Pittsburgh. Taylor lay curled up on his makeshift bed, snoring, a pillow in his arms the way he usually cuddled Cody.

When they got to Pittsburgh, they'd need a plan. They had to be ready to face Valenti and his men. Jake knew it wouldn't be easy, but he and Taylor were hunters. They knew how to track and trap prey in the woods. Now they just had to figure out how to do it in the city.

20
“Jake, wake up!”

Bright light was in Jake's eyes. He blinked and jerked upright. “Where are we?”

“Pittsburgh! We're home!”

Home.
The word had an electric effect on Jake. Suddenly he was no longer tired. The train was slowing down, almost at its final destination.

“I woke up an hour ago,” said Taylor, “but I let you sleep.”

They packed Jake's bag one last time and hurried to the door. Passengers were already waiting to disembark.

When the train finally stopped and they could step out onto the platform, the strangeness of it all hit them. They were finally home, among old, familiar sights—but there was a strangeness about it. Somehow it felt smaller.

They took the bus back to their old neighborhood. Jake took out Marty's phone, thinking maybe he should call the house and let their mom know they were coming, but then he tucked it away again. Valenti might be there. Better not give him a warning.

Together Jake and Taylor walked back down the route they knew so well. Thick gray skies had settled overhead, and a bone-chilling wind whistled over brown lawns and down empty streets.

“Where is everyone?” Taylor asked as they passed the church and the houses of neighbors.

“School? Work? Staying warm indoors? They're not all outdoor types.”

That reasoning, though, didn't keep the knot out of Jake's stomach as they turned onto their old street and caught sight of their house.

As they approached, Jake looked at it closely. Little had changed. White paint still peeled from the wooden siding, and a few more slats had fallen off the wooden fence, but it was basically the same old house they'd left five months before.

So why does it feel so different?
Jake wondered.

“It doesn't look like anyone's home,” Taylor said.

“Only one way to find out.”

Slowly Jake walked up to the ragged screen door that Bull had torn off in a rage right before the boys had left home. Taylor hesitated at the foot of the steps, and Jake could tell that he, too, was afraid of what they might
discover. But Taylor took a deep breath and climbed the stairs one at a time. He knocked.

Nothing happened.

“Try again,” Jake said.

Taylor banged on the door more loudly this time, but again there was no response.

“I don't hear anyone moving inside,” Taylor said. “Maybe she's out?”

Jake didn't think so. “Let's go round the back. Maybe we can—”

Taylor hopped back down the steps, and they began to walk toward the corner of the house. Suddenly, though, they heard the front door squeak open behind them.