Page 29 (1/2)

POPULATION 5,243

"Welcoainst theand recognize a dilapidated barn, an old sign for apples, a green pickup still for sale A war comes over my entire body Of all the places I’ve ever lived, Paradise has been my favorite It’s where I acy It’s where I fell in love But Paradise was also where I adorians Where I had my first real battle and felt real pain It’s the place where Henri died

Bernie Kosar ju rate He shoves his nose through the small crack in his , and he sniffs furiously at the familiar air

As we take the first side road on the left andsure we’re not being followed, finding the best and least conspicuous place to leave the SUV, we go over the plan once ht back to the car and we leave Paradise iht," I say

"We don’t o We leave"

I know she’s referring to Sarah, and I bite my lip Finally after all these weeks on the run, I’m back in Paradise and I’m told I can’t see Sarah

"Got it, John? We leave? Right away?"

"Lay off already I knohat you’re getting at"

"Sorry"

Sam parks the SUV on a dark street under a maple tree two s take their first real breath of Paradise air and I instantly want to go back to hoas, back to Halloween, back to co on my couch next to Sarah

We don’t take any chances of losing uarded car, so Six opens the back door and lugs it onto her shoulder Once comfortable, she makes herself invisible

"Wait," I say "I want so out of there first Six?"

Six reappears and I open the Chest and retrieve the dagger, slipping it into the back pocket of my jeans "Okay Now I’m ready Bernie Kosar, buddy, are you ready?"

Bernie Kosar transforms into a small brol, and he flaps his way onto a low branch of the maple tree

"Let’s do this already" Six picks up ain

Then we run With Saood pace, I jue of the nearest field After a halfthe way the branches break off rass whip my jeans I look over my shoulder often, and Sa over logs, sliding under branches There is a noise beside er Six whispers that it’s just her I see a swatch of grass part down the middle and I follow

Luckily, Sae yards separating each neighbor I stop just inside the lip of the forest when his house comes into view It’s a sles, a thin chi the backyard Six materializes and sets down my Chest

"That it?" she asks

"That’s it"

Thirty seconds later, Bernie Kosar lands on h a line of brush and stands next to us, out of breath, his palhs He looks up at his house in the distance

"How are you feeling?" I ask

"Like a fugitive Like a bad son"

"Think about how proud your dad would be if we pull this off," I say

Six turns herself invisible to run reconnaissance, checking the shadows of the nearby houses, the backseats of every car on the street She returns and says everything looks okay, but there are soht Bernie Kosar flies away, perching hirabs Sam’s hand and they turn invisible I tuck the Chest under my arm and quietly follow theoes over first, then Sam I toss the Chest over and clirown shrub, and I survey the backyard and its trees, high grass, a big tree stu set, and an antique wheelbarrow on its side There’s a back door on the left side of the house and two dark s on the right

"There it is," Saht was a tree stu out of the middle of the yard is actually, upon closer inspection, a wide stone cylinder Squinting, I see a triangular object sticking up off its top

"We’ll be right back," Six whispers to Sam

My hand in Six’s, I turn invisible and say, "Okay, Eagle Goode Guard that Chest as if my life depends on it Because it does"

Six and I carefully walk through the high grass towards the well, and then kneel in front of it Nuh twelve on the left side and another one through twelve on the right, zero at the top--and the nurip the asp

"What?" I whisper, raising my eyes to the dark back s

"In the ain, and ht in my throat They’re faint and easy to overlook, but in the nize the nuh three because they match the scars on my ankle, but the others are new to ain?" I ask