Fif15teen

  Chapter 14

  Law 41

  Watch Your Back

  The mud war waged into the wee hours of the night. Inevitably groups of tired boys traipsed slowly off toward the River Femten in hopes of cleanliness or something close to it. Akeem, Gideon, and Doc were among the last few to call it a night. Layers of mud made Akeem feel like a long-entombed, ancient Egyptian pharaoh. He was nearly mummified by mud. It caked his nostrils, gummed up his ears, and oozed into crevices he refused to discuss with the other boys. He was covered so thickly that it was difficult to move his limbs.

  He spotted his backpack leaning against a tree and laughed. Once it had been the dirtiest thing he owned, but now it shone brilliant red in the never-ending mounds of nearly black mud. He grabbed it and held it away from his body as he trudged with the others toward the river.

  The drying mud made his skin itchy and the reek of it made him want to run screaming until he found water. He held back and took his time with the others. He didn’t want to get lost in this unfamiliar neck of the woods. The sky was beginning its leisurely turn from obsidian to indigo as they marched through the trees. The boys moved their tired bodies with as much stealth as they could muster, but any living creature within a mile radius would have heard them coming. They left the trees and came upon a wall of green corn.

  “We’re nearly there,” Doc whispered as they entered the cornfield. They emerged a short time later on the bank of a dark glassy river. The River Femten drifted into a rounded cove at the very tip of Dog territory. Large trees with crooked and twisting branches reached toward each other like witches’ fingers and shaded the cove. Although the cove was in Dog territory, it was close enough to Angel country to be dangerous. A waning moon and a million stars glimmered down on them as they clambered along the eroded bank and over several rocks before reaching the water’s edge.

  “Let’s make this quick, lads, I feel the chill of Angel breath on me neck!” Gideon said before splashing into the river. The others followed solemnly, far too exhausted to protest. Akeem waded in fully clothed. He reached a hand down to the riverbed and came up with a fist full of sand. He scrubbed his skin, clothes, and hair with it. He remembered seeing someone do the same thing on a survival show he once saw and was surprised and pleased by how well it worked. The other boys immediately followed suit. Although it would take several more dunks in the River Femten before they would ever be truly clean, the boys staggered out of the river and flopped onto the rocky shore.

  “It is not safe to rest here,” Doc said while looking around. The sky was brightening now, and the stalks of dark green corn were coming more into focus with each passing minute.

  “I just need to rest a few seconds,” Akeem muttered as he flopped down on the pebbly sand.

  “Just restin’ me eyes, Doc.” Gideon mumbled before drifting off to sleep.

  “Someone may have to carry me back,” said the boy named Mouse.

  “Never gonna happen,” said another boy sleepily.

  “I’ll carry you, Mouse,” Doc offered, as he slid to the sand and braced his back against a jutting rock. He lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes hard with his fists. “All right then, just a few moments. I’ll keep watch.”

  “I’ll keep watch with you, Doc!” Mouse volunteered and staggered over to where the thin boy sat. Doc welcomed him with a smile.

  “You’ll keep me awake won’t you, little Mouse?” Doc said behind a monumental yawn.

  “You bet!”