“Stop, Frida,” he said. “August? Tell me. Tell us.”
August pulled out the can opener and handed it to Frida. She took it and squeezed the handles. She wanted the story, too, Cal saw.
“No one but me was supposed to have contact with Sandy and Bo,” August said. “I’d told Micah about the boy, and we’d agreed to keep him to ourselves.”
“Why?” Cal asked.
“Why not? Who would benefit from that information?”
“You wouldn’t want everyone thinking they could just start a family out here,” Frida said.
“When Sandy told me she was pregnant, I delivered a large canister of protein powder and a stethoscope and a kit to read her glucose levels. I had to risk a lot to get that to her. Without me, and the stuff I gave them—traded, my ass—there would have been no kid. Sandy would’ve hemorrhaged during birth. Even if they both survived that, the kid would most likely have died his first year.”
Cal wondered if Micah knew what August had done for the Millers, or if keeping it from him was part of the risk.
“Peter went to see the Millers, without any of us knowing. Well, Anika knew. She requested he go.”
“Was he angry when he found out about Garrett?” Cal asked.
“Like you wouldn’t believe. He came back demanding to know why he’d been kept in the dark. He was in the morning meetings, after all, and Micah had always claimed to be totally transparent with him. He and Micah spoke privately, I don’t know what was said. But it apparently hadn’t totally appeased Peter because he came to me.”
“In private?” Frida asked.
“He wanted to talk about the Millers coming back to the Land, with the two kids. It was absurd. Seeing Garrett must have flipped a switch in him—made him think about Ogden.”
“What then?” Frida asked.
“Peter left the Land again, not long after we’d spoken.”
August was now looking beyond them, as if waiting for someone to stop his story.
“He returned the next day. He wouldn’t talk about it with me. He flung himself into things after that. Into morning meetings, governmental concerns. Even Micah’s ideas.”
“The plan,” Cal said.
“What plan?” Frida asked.
“Nothing,” August said.
“What is it?” Frida asked. She was looking at Cal.
“Just, you know,” Cal said, his heart clanking in his chest. He couldn’t tell her, she’d freak out. “Micah wants to build more Forms.” It was a feeble lie, but it was all he had.
“Yeah,” August said. He was talking to Frida, but his eyes were on Cal. “Peter got really into security issues.”
Frida said nothing.
“Micah was angry when Peter returned the second time,” August said. “They were in the tree house for over an hour, easy. Whatever happened on Peter’s visit had Micah worked up. The next thing I knew, I was saddling up Sue, and Micah and I were going to Sandy and Bo’s.”
“Anika said my brother never went to see them,” Frida said.
“She’s right. He rarely spoke of them. He acted as though they were like any other settlers in the area. But when Peter came back from that second visit—”
“What changed?” Frida asked.
“Bo had seen something,” August said. “He told Peter he didn’t want him coming around anymore, that he was confusing Jane and Garrett. I guess it was Sandy who finally interrupted Bo and called Peter a traitor.”
“For what?” Cal asked. “What had Bo seen?”
“He’d taken to exploring by himself, way beyond the familiar territories,” August said. “He’d seen a Pirate.”
Frida shook her head. “But I thought the Pirates were gone, that you guys fixed that problem?”
“I wish it had been that easy,” August said. “They still roam the wilder areas. They don’t come anywhere near the Land or the settlers I’m in contact with, and they definitely stay away from Pines.” He gripped the seatback that faced Cal and Frida. “They hold no real threat to us anymore, and there’s a reason for that.”
“So if they aren’t a threat, why does it matter that Bo saw one?” Frida said.
“It matters because the Pirate wasn’t alone,” August said. “He was with your brother. Doing a trade, I’m guessing. Bo said they were smiling like old friends, though I’m sure that’s Bo embellishing. Micah views his relationship with the Pirates as purely business—believe me, there isn’t a kinship there. They’re afraid of him, and they also depend on him, for supplies. A year or two ago, Micah killed one of their men. The kid was talking back, swaggering. Micah did it just to make sure they knew who was boss.”
Cal waited for Frida to say something, but she was silent, staring at the mottled whirl of the seat upholstery in front of them.
“Let me guess,” Cal said, “none of the original settlers on the Land know about this business relationship.”
“Only Peter.”