Broken Lands (Benny Imura 6)

She thought about it. “Different guards. The first night it was Trey Williams and Buffy Howell on the rear gate. Karen Peak said that they hadn’t reported any problems. But the other night it was Jimmy Quiñones and Roberto Cantu. They both got hurt, but nothing happened to Trey and Buffy.”

“And that’s something you know but can’t prove,” said Ford. “Logic and supposition don’t always come with evidence.”

“Wish they did,” said Urrea with a sigh. “Now, as for why the Rat Catchers attacked Roberto and Jimmy—we can only guess. You reburied your mother. Maybe that upset their plans, or upset some kind of timetable. They took a risk in bringing her back home, even though it meant having to brutalize the guards.”

“Why, though?”

“Ask yourself the same question,” said Ford. “You told us what the soldiers said. They wondered if Mama had told you something.”

“She was already dead.”

“Yes, she was,” said Ford, his eyes glittering with strange lights. “So what does that suggest?”

“It doesn’t . . .” She stopped. One of the things the Chess Players always stressed in their classes was to avoid knee-jerk reactions. Only considered opinions mattered. She cut a look at one of the many small signs framed on the walls around the classroom. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK. Gutsy was aware of them watching her, and of them following her line of sight. Both old men nodded. “They did something to Mama,” she said after a while.

“Yes.”

“They made her sick. She died because of it. I don’t know how. And I don’t understand why she didn’t spread it. Tuberculosis is so contagious and, sure, we all took precautions once we knew what it was, but before that . . . How come it didn’t spread at the hospital and all through the town?”

“Very good questions,” said Ford.

Urrea frowned. “There are all kinds of mutant strains of diseases. Maybe this was one that wasn’t easy to catch. Just because Mama caught it doesn’t mean it’s something that could have spread quickly.”

Ford gave him a pitying look. “So, after everything we’ve seen you’re erring on the side of a best case scenario? You’ve been out in the sun too long.”

But Urrea stood firm. “No, it has to be something like that otherwise Gutsy would be correct, it would have killed half the town. And, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this was a natural mutation.” He studied Gutsy.

She thought about it some more, then shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, if these people just wanted to kill her, there are a lot of easier ways. They could have come in on a night when the right guards were working and killed her while she slept. Could have killed both of us.”

The Chess Players nodded.

“So . . . maybe killing her wasn’t the point,” said Gutsy slowly, pushing past her heartache and the other emotions that kept wanting to derail her train of logic. “They brought her back . . . brought her back. Twice. If they wanted her to kill me, they could have done it easier. So that can’t be it.” She chewed her lip as she fought to recall the exact words spoken beside her mother’s grave.

Do you think she told her anything after we dug her up?

After.

Gutsy grabbed Mr. Urrea’s wrist. “They did something to her,” she gasped. “They kept bringing her back because they thought . . . they thought . . .” She could not bring herself to say it.

So Mr. Ford did. “Gutsy, I think these people did something to your mother that they thought would reawaken her dead brain. Something that would bring at least that part of her back to life.”

Gutsy looked from one to the other and back again. “But . . . why?”

“It’s all about finding a cure,” he said. “It’s always been about that.”

“That’s not a cure! She was a monster.”

“If it worked,” said Urrea gently, “if Mama had been able to talk with you, if she’d known you, then maybe she would not have attacked you. Maybe that’s the whole point, Gutsy, to find a way to stop the unthinking aggression of los muertos.”

“And why dig up all those bodies in the cemetery?” asked Gutsy. “Why steal the dead?”

Neither of them had an answer to that.

The three of them sat there with the horror of it all surrounding them. To Gutsy it was as if the classroom was filled with ghosts. Maybe Mama’s ghost too. All trying to speak to her, to tell her dark secrets. To tell her truths that were wrapped in broken glass and barbed wire.

After a while, Urrea sighed and said, “As far as Ford and I figure, at least half the town guards are in on it—whatever this actually is. And probably some key members of the town council, too. Otherwise more action would have been taken. We’ve seen how the council reacts to rumors about the hidden lab. They downplay any rumors very quickly. Far too quickly, in my opinion. We’ve thought they were trying a little too hard to dispel those rumors, and there’s no good reason why they should bother, unless they’re involved.”

“So you’re going to need to be very careful about who you talk to in town,” said Ford.