shiny spaceship. You can see the lights. Just leaves us out here for as long as it takes him to communicate.”
Alice elbowed Zach and raised her eyebrows, eyes wide.
“Okay,” Poppy said. “We’ll watch out for that.”
“You’ve got real pretty hair too,” Tinshoe Jones said, turning to Alice with a sly grin. His fingers darted out to tug at one of her braids. “Like little ropes.”
Alice jerked back.
“Don’t touch her,” Zach said.
“Oh, possessive, huh? Well then, what if I talk with your sister and leave the two of you alone?” Tinshoe grabbed for Poppy’s arm. She pushed herself back against the cushion and out of the range of his hand before he could touch her.
“Hey!” Zach said.
The man laughed. “You all are real jumpy, you know that? Real paranoid. Well, I’m not gonna talk to the blonde, so you better forget that idea. I don’t like the way she’s looking at me. She’s going to tell you that she’d never hurt anybody, but don’t you listen. She’d hurt you, all right. She’d hurt you and she’d like it.”
None of them were blond. In fact, as far as Zach could tell, no one on the bus was blond. He wondered what it was like to be so crazy that you actually saw things that weren’t there. He wondered if when you hallucinated, the stuff you were imagining was just as clear as regular stuff, or if it was hazy at the edges, so that if you really concentrated, you could tell.
“It’s time for you to sit somewhere else,” Alice told him, drawing herself up impressively, like she did onstage at the school play. “I might not look like it, but I am their sister. I’m adopted. And I don’t want you to talk to my brother like that anymore.”
“Aw, c’mon,” he said, reaching into his front breast pocket and coming out with a small paper-bag-wrapped bottle. “I have a black belt. You’ll need me when the aliens come.”
The bus turned a corner and started to slow. There was a brightly lit bus station up the road. Zach let out a sigh of relief.
“You wait and see. That driver’s gonna roll on out of this bus and leave all of us alone, and when he comes back, he’s going to have a new face. The aliens ride around in his skin. So when he does that, who are you going to tell?”
The rest of the bus was quiet and dark, the only lights in two strips down the center aisle and near the front, where the knitting lady sat. It seemed like a vast distance. There was only the click of her needles and the sound of the man’s voice.
In just a couple of minutes, they would be able to get off the bus, but what then? It was too soon for this to be East Liverpool. This was just a random stop in a random town they didn’t know.
“You be careful,” Tinshoe Jones said, looking right at Zach. “You better not let them get taken. That’s your job as the brother. You the man in the family, and you got to fight to make sure the aliens don’t steal their faces. Aliens like red hair. They take you down in them diamond ghost caves and you never come out again.”
“But aliens don’t live underground,” Alice said, completely incapable of not pointing out when something didn’t make sense. “They live in the sky. In spaceships.”
Zach widened his eyes, trying to signal her not to say anything that would agitate Tinshoe Jones.
The bus stopped, its engine grinding. The door opened and the overhead lights came on, making Tinshoe’s skin look sallow. He took a swig from the paper-bag-covered bottle. Then he stood up.
“Shows what you know. No, the safest thing is for you all to stay right here on the bus.”
They looked at one another.
“I’ve got to use the bathroom,” Zach said.
“Then you go,” Tinshoe Jones said. “I’ll protect these ladies and make sure you got the same face you left with.”
“What if we need to protect him ?” Alice asked, standing up.
Tinshoe Jones shook his head. “You can’t go where he’s going.”
For a horrible moment Zach worried
Alice elbowed Zach and raised her eyebrows, eyes wide.
“Okay,” Poppy said. “We’ll watch out for that.”
“You’ve got real pretty hair too,” Tinshoe Jones said, turning to Alice with a sly grin. His fingers darted out to tug at one of her braids. “Like little ropes.”
Alice jerked back.
“Don’t touch her,” Zach said.
“Oh, possessive, huh? Well then, what if I talk with your sister and leave the two of you alone?” Tinshoe grabbed for Poppy’s arm. She pushed herself back against the cushion and out of the range of his hand before he could touch her.
“Hey!” Zach said.
The man laughed. “You all are real jumpy, you know that? Real paranoid. Well, I’m not gonna talk to the blonde, so you better forget that idea. I don’t like the way she’s looking at me. She’s going to tell you that she’d never hurt anybody, but don’t you listen. She’d hurt you, all right. She’d hurt you and she’d like it.”
None of them were blond. In fact, as far as Zach could tell, no one on the bus was blond. He wondered what it was like to be so crazy that you actually saw things that weren’t there. He wondered if when you hallucinated, the stuff you were imagining was just as clear as regular stuff, or if it was hazy at the edges, so that if you really concentrated, you could tell.
“It’s time for you to sit somewhere else,” Alice told him, drawing herself up impressively, like she did onstage at the school play. “I might not look like it, but I am their sister. I’m adopted. And I don’t want you to talk to my brother like that anymore.”
“Aw, c’mon,” he said, reaching into his front breast pocket and coming out with a small paper-bag-wrapped bottle. “I have a black belt. You’ll need me when the aliens come.”
The bus turned a corner and started to slow. There was a brightly lit bus station up the road. Zach let out a sigh of relief.
“You wait and see. That driver’s gonna roll on out of this bus and leave all of us alone, and when he comes back, he’s going to have a new face. The aliens ride around in his skin. So when he does that, who are you going to tell?”
The rest of the bus was quiet and dark, the only lights in two strips down the center aisle and near the front, where the knitting lady sat. It seemed like a vast distance. There was only the click of her needles and the sound of the man’s voice.
In just a couple of minutes, they would be able to get off the bus, but what then? It was too soon for this to be East Liverpool. This was just a random stop in a random town they didn’t know.
“You be careful,” Tinshoe Jones said, looking right at Zach. “You better not let them get taken. That’s your job as the brother. You the man in the family, and you got to fight to make sure the aliens don’t steal their faces. Aliens like red hair. They take you down in them diamond ghost caves and you never come out again.”
“But aliens don’t live underground,” Alice said, completely incapable of not pointing out when something didn’t make sense. “They live in the sky. In spaceships.”
Zach widened his eyes, trying to signal her not to say anything that would agitate Tinshoe Jones.
The bus stopped, its engine grinding. The door opened and the overhead lights came on, making Tinshoe’s skin look sallow. He took a swig from the paper-bag-covered bottle. Then he stood up.
“Shows what you know. No, the safest thing is for you all to stay right here on the bus.”
They looked at one another.
“I’ve got to use the bathroom,” Zach said.
“Then you go,” Tinshoe Jones said. “I’ll protect these ladies and make sure you got the same face you left with.”
“What if we need to protect him ?” Alice asked, standing up.
Tinshoe Jones shook his head. “You can’t go where he’s going.”
For a horrible moment Zach worried
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