LOT'S MOUNTAIN

CHAPTER FORTY: Old Stories and Not-so-Great Solutions

Grim's still waiting for me to come up with a brilliant idea, but I got nothing. It's getting even later. The three ladies are still doing whatever they have to so we can try one last time to get Jamie back, but nobody's saying how we're going to do it.

Grim leaves a few times. Each time he goes, I'm worried as hell that he won't come back. But he does. Each time he won't tell me why he left or what's going on. He just says we need to find a way to keep the humans safe.

Things are getting worse. More monsters have moved out, and more of that weird brown grass has spread out by the lake's edge. I hope that Diane is still near the lake. They wouldn't send a human out in this mess, especially a healer, but soon the lake won't be safe either.

When Grim pops up the next time, he looks real bad. He isn't hurt, but there's something in his eyes ... he's seen something pretty horrible.

I don't ask because I know he won't tell me.

All he says is, "There's gotta be a way to keep humans safe."

"Maybe some of the monsters know a way?"

"No. Most of them never really think about how to protect people. But we'll find a way. I know we will."

Shaking my head, I sigh. "Well, we're running out of time to find it." Then I add, "When we find out a way to keep humans safe, you can hang out with us. You know that, right?"

"I want to stay with you guys. I really do," he whispers.

"Good," I say. I'm grinning. Why isn't he?

Grim looks down. "The Old Bone Woman'll need me to fight."

I feel like someone just sucked out all of my insides. Grim in a war? I think about him eating candy bars and popping up in my room. Yeah, I've seen him with the Mourner and be kinda kick ass ... but in a war filled with monsters that'll rip him apart faster than you can blink an eye?

"Then I'll be wherever you're gonna be," I say. Does he really think that I'm going to tuck tail and run or just hide while he's stuck fighting an army?

"I want you safe," Grim says as he stares down at the water. We're still up on a hill, so we have a pretty good view of a lot of things near the lake. The girls are still playing with Po. The Huntsman's off with Deirdre somewhere, but the rest of the Hunt's down where the reeds are real thick and the dark water's sucking at the shore.

The Hunt sticks real close to each other. The curs thrust their muzzles up in the air. They know the fighting's close. Real close.

"Ever think that I don't wanna be safe?" I finally pipe up.

"When we find out how to keep the humans safe ... you're going to stay with them, okay? You are," Grim urges me. "Dylan, I know I've said things are real bad, and I've shown you some of it. But after things really get started ... we've just got to find a way to keep you humans safe."

You humans. He doesn't mean anything bad by it. But I think I'd rather have Dennis Dawson punching me again than be reminded how useless I'm gonna be pretty soon. I want to be able to fight. I can make a black dog disappear, but that won't do much when there are a ton of monsters coming at us.

"Have you ever been in a war before, Dylan?" Grim asks. At first I think he's picking a fight, you know, to make me mad so that I storm off or something. But when I don't answer, he just says, "Me, neither. I've seen them, though, and they're really awful."

If Bill were here and I was looking as scared as Grim, I know what he would do. Bill isn't here, but I am. I sling my arm around Grim's shoulders.