Rush: Chapter 17

After a while I got up and began moving, but my mood didn't change. I was still pretty torn up, but I headed for Arthur's makeshift home anyway.1

I hoped that Arthur would be around. After all the moping I had done recently, I somehow thought that Arthur couldn't put a smile on my face, no one could.2

As I walked to Arthur's, I decided to go for a run. I hadn't run for fun in a long time, and I needed it. I climbed on top of small buildings and continued on from there, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, vaulting, rolling, sliding, everything that cleared my head and honed my senses. Everything that made me feel free.3

My run ended when I found Arthur outside of his building. He was talking to a tall blond girl. She looked to be about my age, but her golden hair fell around her in a mass of curls. I could tell by her tattered clothes that she was probably one of the kids Arthur looked after, but I was surprised that she would only wear a simple shirt and skirt in her situation. Her knees and elbows were scraped, but her smile was bright.4

It was kind of touching, the way Arthur smiled at her. It wasn't the least bit creepy, like one would imagine it to be, given the situation. Instead, it looked more like a father watching his daughter go off to her first day of school.5

I was standing on top of Arthur's building, and the girl looked in my direction. I wanted to have a little fun with Arthur, so I made a shushing motion with my hands, and she nodded with a slight smile, and left.6

I ran and jumped, landing directly in front of Arthur as I rolled. He jumped back and even shouted a little, but when he saw it was my he said, "Christ, girl. You're gonna give me a heart attack."7

"You have a heart?" I said sarcastically.8

"No, I lost it in Nam," he said jokingly, even though his voice showed no hint of sarcasm. "Where's Lance?" he asked.9

I paused before answering. I knew he was going to ask me, but it was still hard. "He, uh, turned against me."10

"What do you mean?"11

"He was leading the NLA to me."12

"Did you off him?"13

"No. But if he tries to find me again, I will, so if he comes by here, you can tell him that."14

Arthur ran his hand through his ragged hair. "Geez, I never would've guessed. I mean, it's not like I wouldn't have put it past him; the kid can get pretty desperate sometimes, but he's usually more loyal than that."15

"I guess he's only loyal to the people that actually matter to him," I said bitterly.16

"Scarlett, I just gotta say, I'm sorry. Lance is just..."17

"You don't have to say anything."18

"Right," he said. There was a long, awkward pause before he asked, "Did you come here for a reason, or did you just want to tell me that?"19

"Yeah," I replied. I had almost forgotten. "I was attacked again, and I think I figured out the codename of one of the people that attacked me," I said as I took the list out of my pocket.20

"Who?"21

"The Ninja. What do you know about her?" He didn't say anything, so I began to fish money out of my bag.22

"No charge for this one, with Lance and all," he said. I had to give some respect to the old guy for this. "The Ninja. Well, let's see. She was a sneaky girl, very important in the jailbreak. I think she was married to The Agent, the one that turned the rest in. I heart The Agent, Francis Scotch, tried to get her freed along with himself when he turned the others in, but the cops wouldn't go for it, so only he went free. It's kind of sad, really."23

After hearing this, I was pretty sure The Agent was the sniper. I didn't know why the others would work with him if he turned them in, but I also didn't know what they wanted with my dad, so I wasn't about to rule anything out.24

"Do you think The Agent is involved in all of this?" I asked Arthur.25

"Hard to tell. He did turn them in, but after all this time, he could have a number of reasons for coming back. Blackmail, old friends, poverty, still hates the government, you name it. But if he wasn't working with them, The Ninja would probably know where he is. If you could get her to talk, then you could find The Agent, then he'd probably help you if he wasn't helping them already."26

"It's brilliant," I said. I had a game plan, and it didn't involve waiting to get attacked. All I had to do was capture The Ninja. Then, I could interrogate her to find out where The Agent was.27

The only question was, how would I do that? I needed some sort of trap, but I couldn't think of anything to bait it with that wouldn't put me in harm's way.28

I wracked my brain, thinking of anything, but as soon as they saw me, they'd start shooting. The Ninja would probably have that sniper with her too, and that complicated things even more.29

"Scarlett?" Arthur said. I realized I had been staring into space.30

"Thanks for the info," I said. I began to leave, but he called after me.31

"Sure you don't want to stick around for lunch? I could heat up some soup if you like," he said.32

I turned around and looked at him. "Goodbye," I said with a smile.33

"And Scarlett?" he called after me again.34

"Yes?" I called back, turning around.35

"You're going to be alright," he said.36

"Thanks," I said as I left.37

As I walked down the alley, I realized something. The soup was a generous offer. Arthur was nice to me, which was a first. I was touched.38

I began to think about Arthur. It almost seemed that in light of Lance's turning on me, he was trying to make it up to me. It was like he was taking me in as one of his own. Like he was looking out for me.39

It was a single kind gesture that, after being surrounded by conflict and pain, brought a genuine smile to my face.