Sneak (Swipe Series)

four of them: together, they’d made the fisher’s symbol.
    “River kids, are ya?” the man asked.
    “That’s right.”
    “It’s a long ways from the nearest anchor. And it’s late. You three must be tired.”
    “Yes, sir,” Dane said. He was swaying a bit even as he said it.
    “All right. Down you go, then.” And the man slid the plank over and onto the grass. “ Rivergoers! ” he yelled to all the folks looking on from various other spots across the valley. “ We’ve guests tonight! If you would,” he said more quietly to Dane, who trailed the other two, and the man pointed to the plank.
    He then turned and walked down the steps, Hailey and Logan and Dane following, and Dane replaced the cover behind him as he did.

    “Weather’s not safe in these parts. Hasn’t been for years,” the man said. “Plus we’re not too far from the Beacon sprawl. Can’t risk DOME’s satellite eye, and anyway, can’t abide the harsh climate. Hurricanes, hailstorms, heat waves, fires, frosts . . . you name it, we’ve had it. Don’t know what to make of that, except that this community here is better off underground. Keeps us cooler in the heat, warmer in the cold, drier in the wet, and safer in any raid attempts.
    “My neighbors and I,” the man continued. “We’re too old for this life of ours not to be at least a little less risky these days. Not like you kids.”
    The four of them—Logan, Hailey, Dane, and the elderly man—sat at a little wooden table with two burning candles on it. The room was carved right into the dirt of the ground, with floors and walls irregularly shaped around rocks that must have been too difficult to remove.
    Through an archway at one end of the room, a woman entered, carrying a candle in one hand and a heap of blankets and pillows in the other.
    “You Rivergoers get younger every year,” the woman said. “Hard to believe.” And she joined them at the table.
    “Kids, this is my wife, Tabitha. Married thirty-seven years, now, Tabby and I.”
    Hailey smiled and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Tabitha.”
    “Pleasure.”
    And Logan and Dane followed suit.
    “My name’s Hans. You can call me Papa if you’d like.”
    “Hans is good,” Dane said. And the man shrugged and nodded.
    “I’m Logan,” Logan said. “These are my friends Hailey and Dane. We were told by our last captain that we might be able to use the Potomac branch that runs through here to make it the rest of the way to Beacon.”
    Tabitha frowned, nodding slowly. “That’s true,” she said. “It’s only a couple hundred miles to the City Center hill. A few rough water spots along the way, but you can get out and walk past them if you really need to.”
    “We’re experienced canoers,” Logan said. “If that makes any difference.”
    “It does,” Tabitha said.
    “So . . . it’s true, then?” Hailey asked. “You have boats here? Somewhere in this village?”
    “No.” Tabitha frowned. “But it’s true that we make them, for fishers like yourself. If we’re convinced Beacon’s the right place for you to end up.”
    “It’s not for everyone,” Hans said. “Not in the least.”
    Logan frowned. He looked at Hailey and Dane, who shrugged in a “go ahead” sort of way. “Well,” Logan said. “What do you folks know about Acheron?”
    2
    “ Acheron ?” Hans said. “What do you three have to do with a place like that?”
    “You’ve heard of it, then?”
    “Well, sure. You’re not the first who’s come through here looking for it. Place is the stuff of legends.” He laughed. “You might as well be looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Or the lost city of Atlantis. Or the Loch Ness Monster . . .”
    “The Loch Ness Monster doesn’t have my sister,” Logan said.
    And the man sobered up quickly.
    “We think Acheron’s the name of a prison. I went through quite an ordeal to get that information, so I’m inclined to believe it’s not just the stuff of legend. Hans,” Logan said. “We’re breaking my sister out.”
    “No can do,” Hans said. “No, sir. Nooo, sir. We’ve heard stories of folks who’ve gone into Acheron. Sure, here and there over the years. But nothing has ever been uttered of folks coming out .”
    “Hans . . . Tabitha . . . if you do know anything about the place . . . anything at all . . . it’d be a great help to us. We know a name, but . . .” Hailey looked at Logan and shrugged. “That’s about it.”
    “Well,