Rebel Nation by Shaunta Grimes Read Free Book Online Page B

Leanne stopped talking and cleared her throat. She looked into the fire for a moment, then turned to Clover. “I’m pretty sure that being here is going to get me killed.”
    â€œKilled?” Clover asked. “By Bennett?”
    Leanne shook her head. “By your father.”

Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.
    â€”JOHN ADAMS,
A DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
, 1787
    â€œI don’t understand,” Clover said. Except, of course, she did understand. Violent criminals from around the country were brought to Reno by train to face the execution squads. Her father was an executioner.
    Apparently, Bennett was prepared to force Clover back into that system. If he was successful, she’d be responsible for going into the future to bring information about those crimes back to the present. She’d travel there through Waverly’s portal in a steam-powered submarine named the
Veronica
after Waverly’s dead wife.
    â€œYou know Frank, don’t you?” Leanne asked. “The train engineer?”
    Clover nodded. She’d met Frank and his daughter, Melissa, on the day Ned Waverly was murdered. They brought goods and sometimes criminals back and forth between Sacramento and Denver on a steam train. “What does he have to do with this?” Jude asked.
    â€œHappiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” Leanne bent her real leg under her and kept her prosthetic foot on the floor. “Do you remember when I said that to you?”
    â€œYes,” Clover said. “Roosevelt.”
    â€œAnd you’ve figured out what it meant?”
    â€œAre you telling me that there are meetings—”
    Jude put a hand on her arm, and Clover stopped talking. She had figured out that the presidential quotes that sometimes showed up in the virtual classified ads, which were the only real communication between cities, were a secret code used to set up rebel meetings.
    â€œYou know what the quotes mean in other places,” Leanne said. When neither Jude nor Clover answered, she went on. “I get it. This is weird. I’m at least as freaked out as you are.”
    â€œOkay, let’s start here, then,” Jude said. “Tell us what you know.”
    Leanne leaned forward, toward Clover, but didn’t touch her. “I know your brother is alive.”
    Jude took Clover’s hand, and she jumped as though he’d put a hot coal in her palm. “Come with me,” he said. “Right now.”
    She let him take her down the hall. He opened the door to West’s room, but she pulled away and took him to her own bedroom instead.
    â€œHow does she know about West?” Clover asked, as soon as the door was closed and only the light from Jude’s flashlight cut the darkness.
    â€œShe could be guessing,” he said.
    â€œI trust her.” And she did. The trouble was, Clover couldn’t decide if she
should
. “She knows about West, otherwise why would she have mentioned him at all?”
    â€œShe only thinks she knows. Or she could be bluffing.”
    A soft knock on the door made Clover jump. Jude opened it to Leanne, who stood with Mango in the hallway. “We just need a minute.”
    â€œFrank told me about West. I also know about Christopher, Marta, Phire, and Emmy. I know that Geena and Dr. Waverly were killed while you were away. I know this is weird, and I’m sorry that you’re upset, but we really need to talk. And I really need you to trust me.”
    â€œFrank told you?” Clover asked. It wasn’t like she knew Frank all that well, but it bothered her that he’d told. “How did he know?”
    â€œHe brings them supplies,” Leanne said. “Just like he did for Waverly for years.”
    â€œAnd you know Frank?” Jude asked. “You talk to him.”
    â€œCan we go back out by the fire? It’s freezing