Its beak is a brilliant shade of yellow, and its head is masked in white. The rest of its body is deep brown. “That’s a bald eagle,” I say, proud of myself for knowing.
“So it is.” Harper lowers her arm and the eagle hops off onto the ground. It’s holding something in its right foot. Upon closer inspection, I realize it’s a large fish. Harper points to the catch. “Clean it so we can cook it over the fire.”
The eagle drops the fish and slices it open with a razor-sharp talon. Then it proceeds to rip out pink, fleshy entrails with its beak. I might be disgusted if I weren’t so happy that Harper’s Pandora knows how to scavenge food. No wonder the others travel with her.
“What is its name?” I ask.
“RX-13.” She taps its head once. “Hatched less than an hour after the race started.” Harper holds out her hand to Dink, and he offers her the stick he’s been drawing with. She spears the cleaned fish and holds it over the fire, smiling. “You should see the things she can do.”
So much for my theory that her Pandora hasn’t displayed any capabilities. I want to ask her exactly what RX-13’s skills are, but I’d rather not admit Madox hasn’t shown any himself.
My Pandora is struggling against me. I’m not sure whether it’s to run from the eagle or to check her out. I decide to take a chance and put him down. I’ll have to at some point, I reason. As soon as he’s on the ground, he races toward the oversized bird and barks. I can’t help wondering why both M-4 and RX-13 understand their Contenders, but Madox doesn’t understand me. I refuse to believe anything is wrong with my Pandora. Even if there was, I wouldn’t care. He’s mine, and I’ll never be sorry that I’m the one who got him.
I watch my Pandora try to make friends with the bird. He barks and pushes down on his front legs, asking her to play. In response, RX-13 sweeps a wing back and knocks him across the campsite. He squeals and runs toward me. The bird chases after him — half flying, half jumping — and snaps at his tail. An overwhelming need to protect my Pandora slams into me as I scoop Madox up and glare at the bird. Harper doesn’t seem to notice what’s happened. She’s too busy cooking the fish.
Madox lays his head against my shoulder and I keep an eye on RX-13, who looks as if she’d like nothing better than to clean him, too. When I realize Dink is eyeing Madox, I say, “Want to hold him?”
The boy looks at Caroline, and when she nods, he does, too. I walk around the fire, wondering how they got it started with all this damp wood, and place Madox in his arms. The black fox reaches up to lick the boy’s chin and the boy giggles.
Thinking I should say something to Caroline, I ask, “Is he yours?”
A strange expression shadows her face, but it quickly vanishes. She offers me a warm smile. “No, we’re just traveling together.”
I rock back on my heels and smell the scent of fish cooking. “Is your Pandora hunting, too?” I ask, trying to keep the conversation rolling.
Caroline looks at Dink, then shakes her head. “We lost our Pandoras early on. Mine died after a day, and his never hatched. Isn’t that right, Dink?”
The boy nods and continues playing with Madox. I wonder if his name is really Dink. Maybe he gave himself a new identity at the start of the race. Seems like something an eight-year-old would do. The woman on the device never mentioned if we had to cross the finish line with our Pandoras alive, so I guess we don’t. But I can’t imagine doing this without Madox.
“So all of you travel together?”
Caroline shrugs. “Until we near the end.”
I smile. “I thought about doing that. Finding others to partner with along the way.”
“And so you did,” Harper says from behind me. Her voice is teasing, and she grins when I glance at her. Then she turns her attention back on the fish. Pulling it from the flames, she lays it along a flat rock and instructs RX-13 to slice it into six pieces. I’m wondering why we need six when two more people appear from the brush.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The two boys look like copies of each other. They’re both on the short side — only a few inches above five feet — and have oversized ears and red hair. I glance at Dink for reference, then decide these boys must be about thirteen years old. One carries a spear in his hand, and the other is holding something above his head and waving it around. A collective gasp springs from the group when we realize what he has —
A bright blue flag.
“I found it,” the boy holding the flag cries.
The twin next to him jabs an elbow into his side. “We found it.”
“Whatever. Same difference.”
Harper crosses the campsite in a flash and holds out her hand. The boy lays it in her palm and mock bows as if she is their queen. “Where did you find it?” she asks.
“Not far from here,” he says. “We can show you.”
Harper turns and inspects the flag in the fire’s light. I can see it clearer this way, and I notice the flag isn’t really shaped like a flag at all. It’s more of a long and narrow strip of cloth. Harper grins and wraps it around her hand. Then she unwraps it and hands it back to the boys. “Show me tomorrow,” she says. “Tonight, we sleep.”
“We can wear it, right?” one of the boys asks Harper.
“Split it,” she answers.
I’m not sure what they’re talking about until I see them tearing the fabric lengthwise. They each take a piece of the blue flag and tie it around their upper arms. Then they dance around the fire. So that’s why people remove the flags? To wear them as trophies?
“Have you seen anyone else wearing the flags?” I ask.
The boys stop dancing and look at me. “Who’s this?” they ask together.
“Her name’s Tella,” Harper answers for me. “She’s a Contender. She wants to travel with us.”
Though I never actually said that, she’s right. I’d rather be with a group than go this race alone anymore. “Nice to meet you.”
“You haven’t met us,” one says.
“Not yet,” the other finishes.
“I’m Levi,” the boy with the spear announces. He elbows his twin. “And this is my brother, Dick.”
“Yeah, my name’s not Dick. It’s Ransom.”
I laugh and the boys seem pleased.
“Want to meet our Pandoras?” Ransom asks.
Though I’m not sure I can handle any more strange animals tonight, I say, “Sure, bring ’em on.”
“Yep-yah!” Levi jabs his spear into the air while Ransom walks to the edge of the bush and calls out. It isn’t long before the vines rustle and two Pandoras stroll toward us, one after the other.
The first is the largest raccoon I’ve ever seen. Its eyes are cloaked in black, and its tail is striped black and white. The rest of its fur is gray. Its whiskers twitch as it hurries toward Ransom. “This is DN-99,” Ransom says, bending down to run his hand over the raccoon’s back. “He’s hella cool.”
Behind the raccoon is a much larger animal. It’s built like a huge deer but has great, curling horns above his eyes. A ram, I realize. Levi steps forward. “And this is G-6. And he’s cooler than DN-99.”
“You wish,” Ransom says.
“Where’s your Pandora?” Levi asks me.
Almost as if the other Pandoras are responding to the question, they move toward Madox. The raccoon, DN-99, reaches up on Dink’s legs and sniffs Madox. The ram looms over all of them and presses his muzzle closer. I’m hoping these Pandoras are nicer than RX-13. In case they aren’t, I start to stand.