Chapter 3

"The Black Market?" I rubbed my hands up and down my bare arms, trying to chase my goosebumps away.

It was so much colder here than it was in the mall. And so much darker. The only lighting came from a few portable camping lamps. And the air was heavy and damp, thick with the scent of soggy cardboard and old vegetables.

"Today's Black Market," Kylie clarified. "The market moves around a lot. It's the only way to stay ahead of the Watchers."

"Kylie," I whispered, pulling her around a concrete pillar because a creepy old lady was staring at us from behind a rack of leather jackets. "What are we doing here?"

"Picking up a few supplies. I need to get them to some people who don't have free reign of the Fortress's many districts. I was going to duck out of the conference center sometime during the day to do it. But then Ms. Featherdale sent us off alone, which works out just perfectly, don't you think? I just had to ditch Bronte first." She laughed. "Because she would definitely not be down for something like this."

"Something illegal, you mean."

"Exactly!" Kylie said in that same cheerful tone she'd used to tease me about Kato. "It will only take a sec, I promise. We'll make it to the florist with plenty of time to spare. We'll be back at the conference center in no time, and then we?—"

"Kylie, stop," I said, cutting her off.

She winced. "I was talking too much again, wasn't I?"

"No. Well, ok, yes. But that's not why I stopped you." I waited for her to meet my gaze. "I just wanted to know why you brought me here? This is an illegal market. How do you know I won't turn you in?"

Her smile returned. "Oh, I know I can trust you, Savannah. You are a rebel at heart. You understand that sometimes the rules are wrong and unfair and have to be broken. You get it. The Government didn't choose you, so you went to the spirits for magic."

I wondered if she would be so trusting if she knew my full story.

"And then you rushed in to help those people at the Tournament when the Black Knight attacked," she added.

The Black Knight.

The name stuck in my mind, like a bee caught in a pool of honey. Back in Bayshore, my old classmates Sean and Finn had mentioned the Black Knight. They'd said he gave them the idea to sneak into the Forbidden Zone. The Black Knight had tricked them, and they'd ended up cursed.

But was that the same Black Knight who'd attacked the Tournament yesterday?

"Besides, someone here already vouched for you, Savannah," Kylie said, completely unaware of the big bomb that had just gone off inside my mind. "Now, come on. We can't keep them waiting!"

She grabbed my hand again and pulled me deeper into the Black Market, leaving me wondering exactly who in this dark place had vouched for me. I didn't know many criminals—or any criminals, for that matter.

Past a pair of women selling blankets and towels, Kylie stopped at an inelegant makeshift ‘counter' formed out of old, dented shopping carts and lots and lots of duct tape. A stack of wooden crates stood as high as the very tall, very blonde middle-aged woman standing beside it. She had two customers—one woman dressed in burgundy, the other in tan—and when they turned around to face us, I gasped.

"Mom?" My eyes grew so wide, I thought they might pop out of my face.

Mom slipped something into her burgundy bag, which perfectly matched her burgundy Mixer uniform: a long lab coat and loose pants. "I'm so glad to see you, Savannah." She wrapped me up in a hug. "How are you? How's Dante?"

"We're fine." I stepped back. "But, Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Helping the people who can't help themselves."

That was basically my mom's motto in a nutshell. And it was always getting her into trouble. So my own mother was the ‘someone' who'd vouched for me? Mom wasn't a criminal at all. She was just someone who couldn't stand to see other people suffer.

"You sure make friends fast," I commented, scanning the busy Black Market.

I only hoped she knew what she was doing, getting involved in all of this.

Mom grinned at me. "Speaking of friends, this is Elandra." She indicated the woman dressed in a tan jumpsuit.

"My mother," Kylie added.

Right. I remembered seeing her at the Tournament yesterday, standing with my mom.

"We're collecting supplies for the people the Government has cast away. They call them deserters." A crinkle formed between Mom's eyes. "But they're just people who didn't want to die—or, worse yet, be cursed."

"Lydia is helping us out." Elandra smiled at the woman standing on the other side of the tangled shopping carts.

Lydia's smile stretched wider. "How ya goin'?"

Her greeting was decidedly Aussie. It was something you didn't hear that often nowadays, not even here in the Fortress. Our Government liked to keep the world pretty vanilla. All across the world, in every surviving pocket of civilization, people pretty much all talked the same, lived the same, and ate the same. The New World was big on conformity.

From clothing to jobs to food, the Government carefully controlled and classified everything. They'd assigned everyone a job class with a pretty self-explanatory—but totally boring—name. Just from her clothing, I knew Lydia was a ‘Distributer', someone who distributed essential goods to the population.

People didn't actually get to choose what they got distributed to them, and Distributers like Lydia didn't get to choose what people got either. Or at least they weren't supposed to. I guess working at the Black Market was kind of a side job for her.

Like everyone else in the New World, Distributers didn't get to choose what they wore either. They always wore pink. Lots and lots of pink. Lydia's uniform consisted of a full pink skirt, a fitted pink sweater, matching pink heels, and a pink cloth headband that framed her face. Whenever I saw the Distributers, they reminded me of pictures I'd seen of women from the 1960s.

When Lydia spoke again, she'd switched to vanilla-English. "I was just telling Alara and Elandra about my new arrivals." She spread her arms wide, indicating the goods at her stand. "I have one item, in particular, that you will find very interesting, Alara." She plucked something black and slender from one of her boxes. "Utility belts. Very practical. I just started making them. This is the prototype. What do you think?"

"It looks just like the ones the Watchers wear," I commented. "Only way cooler."

Lydia beamed at me. "Such good taste. Like mother, like daughter."

Mom's gaze slid past the tower of contraband cupcakes. She focused on the belt, looking pretty tempted. "I'd love one, Lydia. But another time. Right now, I'm looking for string. Do you have any?"

Lydia set her prototype utility belt back into the box. "I just got some in actually. How much do you need?"

Mom passed a backpack to her over the counter. "As much as you can discreetly fit inside this bag."

Lydia took Mom's backpack. Then she turned and headed over to the nearby concrete column where she'd parked piles of additional supplies. She started sifting through her stacks of boxes. Meanwhile, I tried not to fidget with the lopsided wheel dangling from one of the shopping carts. Being surrounded by revolutionaries made me nervous.

"And I need some gardening tools!" Kylie added. "For the outcasts living out past the Village. They're expanding their vegetable garden."

Lydia waved at Kylie in a sign of acknowledgement.

"The Village?" I pictured the map of the Fortress I'd memorized a few days ago. "But that's pretty far from here, and the train line doesn't run to that district. Are you really going to walk all the way there?"

"I'll take the train to the Cross. Then I'll run the rest of the way," Kylie said brightly.

"My Kylie is the fastest runner on Earth," Elandra told me.

Kylie laughed. "That's not even true. I'm definitely not the fastest."

"Sure you are." Elandra wrapped her arm around her daughter.

Kylie ducked away. "Cut it out, Mom! You're embarrassing me in front of my friend."

Elandra pulled her back in. "Deal with it. It's what mothers do. We love our children too much to ever let them go."

"Great." Kylie winced. "Hey, Lydia! How's it coming with those garden tools?"

Lydia popped her head up from the stacks of boxes. "Sorry, Kylie. It looks like I'm all out. You should try Marlow. He just got back from a salvage operation."

Elandra nudged Mom toward me and Kylie. "I'll take care of the string, Alara. You go with the girls to see Marlow. He'd love for you to stop by." Her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"What did she mean by that?" I asked Mom as we followed Kylie deeper into the garage.

"Nothing. Elandra is just being ridiculous," Mom laughed. She turned her face away from me, but not before I caught a glimpse of her flushed cheeks.

"You've certainly met a lot of people in just a few days," I commented.

Mom's reply was to start humming.

Ok, there was definitely something going on here.

"Who is this Marlow anyway?" I asked her.

I'd no sooner said the words than a very enthusiastic voice exclaimed, "Good morning, Dr. Winters!"

My frightened gasp was met with a round of chuckles. Then a man peeled out of the shadows. By his side was a large, wolflike dog with fur that was a mixture of silver, black, and white hairs. The dog immediately moved toward me.

I dropped to my knees and used both of my hands to scratch it roughly behind its ears. "Well, hello, Marlow!"

"Actually, I am Marlow." The man cracked a crooked smile. "That beautiful lady is Wolf."

"Nice to meet you, Wolf."

She let me shake her paw in greeting. And then she winked one of her big blue eyes at me.

"She likes you," Marlow commented. "Miss Mini Winters."

"Actually, my name's Savannah."

"Well, Savannah." Marlow's gaze flickered between me and my mother. "Has anyone ever told you that you look exactly like your mother?"

"Yeah." I rose out of my knees, to my full height, which unfortunately wasn't all that impressive. "Only every person who's ever met us."

He shook his head. "It's uncanny."

I shrugged. "That's what you get when your mad scientist mom clones herself and grows you in a lab."

Marlow's eyes bulged. And Kylie made a startled choking noise.

"Kidding," I told them.

"She acts just like you, Dr. Winters," Marlow commented to my mom as I snatched a yellow tennis ball off one of his boxes.

Wolf panted with excitement.

I grinned at her. "You love playing catch, don't you?"

Her tail swooshed back and forth like a hyperactive pendulum.

"Well, she did ‘catch' my boot this morning." Marlow lifted up his foot to show the chew marks etched into the leather.

"Good girl!" I told her, which elicited an amused eye roll from Marlow.

"Oh, yeah, your daughter is exactly like you," he told my mom.

I tossed the tennis ball up in the air and caught it.

Wolf let out a happy bark. Her big blue eyes locked on to the ball in my hand. And the moment I tossed it, she shot off after it like a rocket.

Marlow chuckled as Wolf returned and dropped the retrieved ball at my feet. "How can it be that my dog already loves you more than she loves me, Savannah? She's only known you for a few seconds."

"I have a way with animals."

I pitched the ball clear across the garage. It bounced off a thick concrete pillar and ricocheted hard. Wolf pursued it, yelping with excitement. A few of the traders cried out in surprise as she barreled through their stands, nearly knocking them over.

Marlow watched his dog, chuckling. Then he turned his attention to us. "What can I do for you today, ladies?" he asked. "I had a good haul yesterday."

"You're a Scavenger, aren't you?" I said.

The well-worn trekking outfit was a dead giveaway. Fitted t-shirt, frayed hiking pants, mud-stained jacket. They were all printed in an ugly green-brown camouflage pattern: the uniform of the Scavengers.

The Government regularly sent its Scavengers beyond the town walls to collect abandoned things from the World That Was. It was a very dangerous job because there wasn't just treasure out there; there were cursed creatures too.

"What's it like out there, beyond the wall?" I asked him.

"Dangerous. I'd say too dangerous for nice girls like you…" His suddenly-serious gaze swept up our black sports outfits. "…but those are the threads of Apprentices. Soon you will be Knights. And then you'll see what's out there, whether you want to or not." He cleared his throat, his smile returning. "But we're here to discuss my fabulous wares. On my last trip, I found a very stylish pair of heels in just your size, Dr. Winters." He gave his brows a slow, suggestive lift.

"I told you before, Marlow. Call me Alara."

"Of course, Dr. Winters." He smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes, grumbling something about "scoundrels".

He winked at her.

Mom folded her arms across her chest. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Of course not." He winked at her again.

"He totally is," I told my mom.

Chuckling, Marlow reached into his bag. When his hand reappeared, a pair of glossy, fire-engine-red stilettos were dangling from his fingertips.

For the teeniest, tiniest second, Mom looked tempted, but then she waved the shoes away. "Too impractical."

"At least try them on."

"No. We're here for something else." She nodded at Kylie.

"Garden tools." Kylie swung her backpack off her shoulders. "I need garden tools."

"I have two pairs of garden scissors and a hand shovel. What can you offer in trade?"

"I'll give you a bottle of my new special shampoo in exchange." Mom's gaze flitted to his messy dark hair. "You look like you need it."

He set his hand over his heart. "Ouch."

Mom's response was a slow, smooth, single-eyebrow lift.

"Is this the new shampoo you just created?" I asked Mom.

She nodded.

"You should totally take that deal," I told Marlow. "That shampoo is awesome. It smells like roses."

His gaze lifted, like he was imagining the scent.

"It will go splendidly with this whole metal-and-mud aroma you have going on."

He stared at me for a few silent moments, then turned to my mom and flashed her a big grin. "She clearly gets her spunk from you."

"She certainly does." Mom wrapped her arm around me, pulling me in closer and mussing up my hair.

Kylie got the gardening tools, Marlow got the shampoo, and I got to watch my mom make puppy dog eyes at her new friend. Wow, a lot could happen in five days. Mom had joined the revolution and found herself a new boyfriend. Dante would tease her terribly when he found out.

"We should get going," I told Kylie.

Mom caught my hand. "Before you go, I have something for you."

I waited, watching as she thrust her hand into her loose coat. "Walkie-talkies?"

"I'm sure you're feeling isolated, in that house all alone."

"Nevada talked to you, didn't she?"

"She's worried about you," Mom told me. "She senses you're feeling overwhelmed and it's no wonder! You're finding yourself so often in danger now. I want to remind you that you can always come to me for support, but of course I realize that stubborn teenagers prefer to confide in their friends. That's what these are for." She handed me the pair of walkie-talkies. "So when you're in your house, feeling scared or alone or overwhelmed, you can call Nevada and ask her to visit."

"Thanks, Mom!" I hugged her, my eyes stinging.

"Those look familiar," Kylie commented as I tucked the walkie-talkies into my backpack.

"Your mom kindly offered to make them for Savannah," Mom told her. "She's quite talented."

"Yeah, she can make anything. One time, when I was little, I had my heart set on trying ice cream, which isn't something we get to have in the Blue Mountains. So she built me an ice cream machine!" Kylie smiled fondly.

"She really loves you, Kylie," Mom told her.

"And yet I never got that pony I always asked her for," Kylie laughed, linking her arm in mine.

Just as we hurried away, a crowd of kids swooped in. They swarmed Marlow, begging for treats. And like a post-apocalyptic Santa Claus, he started pulling old, neglected toys out of his big goody bag.

"He's pretty cool for a mercenary," I commented to Kylie as we squeezed out of the garage, leaving the Black Market behind us.

"He cares about people," Kylie replied. "Those of us who care have to look out for one another, no matter the rules. It's the only way our world will change."

"That sounds like what the Rebels say. Do you know any of them?"

She shook her head. "No, we run in different circles, you know. They tackle the big problems. We help people who are struggling with the little ones."

Something in her eyes told me she was struggling with more than a few problems herself.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

"Fine." She swiped her hand across her teary eyes. "All of this just reminds me of him."

"Him?"

"My dad." Her smile wobbled. "He was cursed a few years ago."

"I'm sorry."

She clenched her fists. "Ever since that happened, well, we've been doing everything we could to help the people that the Government has failed. Just like they failed my dad."

"It seems like you and your mom are pretty close."

Kylie nodded. "She's all the family I've got left."

"That's not true." I offered her a smile. "The Knights are our family too. And together we can change the world."

She returned the smile. "You know, Savannah, your optimism is strangely contagious. And it would be nice to have a big family." She clasped my hands. "And a sister." She cast a tentative, pleading look my way. "And as sisters, I was hoping you could do me a favor?"

"Cover for you while you deliver the supplies to the deserters," I guessed.

"They're depending on me. I can't turn my back on them. The world already has."

"Go," I told her. "I'll take care of the florist."

"Thank you." Her smile was as bright as the summer sun. "You really are the sister I never had, Savannah."

I watched her run off, and she sure did move fast. I only hoped she was as stealthy as she was quick. Because if the Watchers found out what she was doing, her dream of becoming a Knight would be over.