Sneak (Swipe Series)

tonight.”
    “Logan, don’t be stupid about this. I’m giving you your ticket to Beacon. You could at least give me a few hours’ trust in return. Haven’t I earned that much?”
    Logan wasn’t sure.
    “Come on,” Bridget said. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
    5
    It was midafternoon. Tyler and Meg were chopping wood like maniacs while Jo supervised. In the stable, Eddie was feeding the horses and talking to the stallion, updating it on the morning, as if Eddie had made a new friend. Rusty and Dane were in the coop, gathering eggs and giving fresh water to the chickens. And in the barn across the cornfield, Mama and Papa Hayes were showing Peck and Blake how to milk the farm’s only cow.
    “I hope you know how much it means to us that you’ve taken us in. It’s been a rough month,” Peck said. And he and Blake shared a look while Blake switched his full bucket for an empty one.
    Papa Hayes nodded and gave the cow a little pat. “It’s been a rough month for all of us, Peck. But for you especially, we know.”
    “You kids were helpful in looking after the Fulmart,” Mama Hayes added. “We always did appreciate that, and we’re happy to repay you for it. Besides—we sure can use the help around here.”
    “Of course,” Peck said.
    Blake brushed his hair back with his forearm, taking a break from the milking and looking disgustedly at his hands. “You know . . . Mama . . . I’m happy to be doing this . . . or whatever,” he said, clearly not happy with it. “But I just have to ask . . . I mean . . . what exactly are we doing here? This farm’s pretty meager. It isn’t even yours . . .”
    “It’s for show.” Mama nodded. “The corn, the animals . . . in case DOME comes looking. Jean would much rather do without the hassle, but, well . . . Jean doesn’t much like taking chances, and having us around is risky enough even with all of this here as distraction.”
    “Jean?” Blake asked.
    “The owner of this land. She’s Marked. But she’s on our side.”
    Papa leaned down and examined the milk bucket. Then he gave Blake a nod, and Blake didn’t hesitate to stand up and be done with it. “Jean never was much interested in farming,” Papa said. “This farm was her husband’s love, but it was his alone.”
    “Papa and Robert were in the States War together,” Mama said. “Fought many battles, side by side.”
    Papa nodded and untied the cow from its post.
    “But when Lamson took over, they took . . . different paths.”
    “Proverbs 2:12–13: ‘Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,’” Papa said distantly. “From men ‘who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways.’” Papa laughed softly to himself. “Robert, you old fool . . .”
    “You have to understand,” Mama told Blake. “This here was a family farm. How many generations, Papa? Three? Four?”
    “Four,” Papa said.
    “Four generations. This land belonged to Robert’s great-great-grandfather. You have to understand how long that had been . . . the history there . . .”
    “Oh, stop making excuses for him! The man chose poorly and that’s that. Ain’t no accounting for life’s poor choices.”
    “Well, anyway,” Mama said. “When Lamson came along . . . when he teamed up with Cylis like that . . . it was either take the Mark or lose the farm.”
    “‘Can’t sell crops without a Mark,’” Papa recited. “‘Can’t own land, can’t sell crops’. . . . How many times did I listen to those excuses?”
    “Jean never wanted it,” Mama said to Blake. “Like Papa and me, Jean knew something wasn’t right about Lamson, about Cylis, about their whole scheme . . . didn’t sit well with any of us. But this farm meant the world to Robert. So he and Jean Pledged, along with just about everyone else.”
    Papa sighed. “When Robert died a couple years back, Jean found us out on Slog Row. Said she had some ideas on how we might be able to use this land to help the Markless after all.”
    “Help the Markless?” Blake laughed. “With what? Milk? ”
    Papa was smiling now. “Come,” he said. “Gather your friends. I’d like to show you something.”

    Outside the farmhouse, two large oak trees stood, bigger than any the Dust had seen in Spokie, and bigger than any of them normally imagined trees to be. Peck had rounded everyone up, and the group looked at those trees now.
    “What’s the biggest advantage the Marked folk have?” Papa Hayes