Jack and I followed her out the door and almost ran into Aunt Ruby.
"Tess, you have a lot of explaining to do," she said, grabbing my arm. "Are you okay?"
It said everything that anybody would ever need to know about my Aunt Ruby, that the first thing she would care about, even in the middle of a terrifying town crisis, was my well-being.
"I'm good," I said, giving her a hug. "We're going to figure this out. We have some news, but I'll tell you after this."
Susan turned and pointed at Jack. "I think it would be good if you join me and the mayor for this, considering Jed is your relative."
A muscle in Jack's jaw clenched, but after a moment's hesitation he nodded and followed her to the raised area of the square where anything ceremonial or entertainment happened.
I smiled at Aunt Ruby. "Go ahead. I'm going to stay here. Where are Uncle Mike and Shelley?"
"Mike will be here in a minute or two. We thought it was best that he drop Shelley off at school first. The kids need to keep some normalcy in their lives until we figure this out."
With that, she followed Jack and Susan to the stage. Susan held up a hand and waited for the growing crowd of Dead Enders to quiet down.
"I guess you all know why we're here," the sheriff began, giving the crowd a calm smile. "Another day in Dead End."
"We're with you, Sheriff," somebody yelled.
"Yeah!" someone else called out. "Those fairies can eat dirt!"
A huge, bellowing cheer rolled through the crowd, and I screamed along with everybody else. This wasourtown.
We'd fight for it, no matter what.
Susan punched the air with a fist, and everybody cheered and yelled some more. When they finally settled, she patted the air. "Okay, okay. I guess we toldthem. We're not giving up Dead End to anybody, let alone somebody trying to renege on the town charter. So here's Mayor Callahan to discuss plans, but first Jack Shepherd, great-great-however-many-greats grandson of our founding father, Jedediah Shepherd, has a few words to say."
More cheers, but this time there was a small but noticeable undercurrent of grumbling. I immediately wanted to punch some people, but, on reflection, I understood. Jed had delivered the bad news, and Jack was his grandson. People usually wanted somebody to blame, and Jack was the handiest target. I'd been in the target position before, so I understood, but it didn't make me any happier about it.
"Okay, you all seem to know the scoop, so I only have two things: First, does anybody have any idea where a jeweled, magical dagger might be? We really,reallyneed that dagger. And, second, the Fae will destroy Dead End over my dead, furry body, and—let me tell you this—more dangerous people have tried."
He stepped forward and raised his hands in the air, probably not even realizing what a naturally motivational speaker he was. "AndI'm. Still. Here. Just like Dead End will be!"
This time, cheers and applause were all I heard, and it went on for a good two minutes before Susan got them calmed down enough to hear what Aunt Ruby had to say.
"I support everything Jack and Susan said one thousand percent," my aunt said. "But I also have a duty to this town. So, while our best people are searching for that dagger and trying to negotiate with the Fae queen, another team will work with everyone on contingency plans."
Belle, the retired sheriff's dispatcher, raised her hand. "Contingency plans for what?"
Aunt Ruby took a deep breath and looked around.
"For the complete evacuation of Dead End."
17
Jack
Tess caught my eye and pointed to her car, and I nodded. She needed to get to work. Plus, I needed to get the box—which was weighing on both my mind and my shoulder, seeming to both vibrate and weigh more and more the longer I held it—into her vault, which had a steel door.
My friends Lucky Tremaine and twins Dallas and Austin Fox, all three of whom were former special forces soldiers, stopped me at the edge of the crowd. Tess said Lucky reminded her of a "surfer dude," with his tan, sun-streaked blond hair, and blue eyes, and she'd actually told the twins to their faces that if GQ magazine ever did a muscles issue, they'd be the top pick for cover models, with their "gorgeous dark skin and liquid brown eyes." I'd groaned and rolled my eyes, but I'd been sure they'd secretly liked it, even though it had embarrassed them.
"You need to fill us in, man," Dallas said. "I'm helping Mellie pack up, but other than that, we're full time and full bore on helping you find this dagger."
His brother nodded. "Hundred percent. If it comes to it, we've got heavy-duty weaponry that can even take on Fae soldiers."
I filled them in quickly with the major points. The more they knew, the better the odds they'd find something.
