Sparks Fly

Chapter 14

It's my mockingjay.

It makes no sense. My bird baked into bread. Unlike the stylish renderings I saw in the Capitol, this is definitely not a fashion statement. "What is it? What does that mean?" I ask harshly, still prepared to kill.

"It means we're on your side," says a tremulous voice behind me.

I didn't see her when I came up. She must have been in the house. I don't take my eyes off my current target. Probably the newcomer is armed, but I'm betting she won't risk letting me hear the click that would mean my death was imminent, knowing I would instantly kill her companion. "Come around where I can see you," I order.

"She can't, she's—" begins the woman with the cracker.

"Come around!" I shout. There's a step and a dragging sound. I can hear the effort the movement requires. Another woman, or maybe I should call her a girl since she looks about my age, limps into view. She's dressed in an ill-fitting Peacekeeper's uniform complete with the white fur cloak, but it's several sizes too large for her slight frame. She carries no visible weapon. Her hands are occupied with steadying a rough crutch made from a broken branch. The toe of her right boot can't clear the snow, hence the dragging.

I examine the girl's face, which is bright red from the cold. Her teeth are crooked and there's a strawberry birthmark over one of her chocolate brown eyes. This is no Peacekeeper. No citizen of the Capitol, either.

"Who are you?" I ask warily but less belligerently.

"My name's Twill," says the woman. She's older. Maybe thirty-five or so. "And this is Bonnie. We've run away from District Eight."

District 8! Then they must know about the uprising!

"Where'd you get the uniforms?" I ask.

"I stole them from the factory," says Bonnie. "We make them there. Only I thought this one would be for ... for someone else. That's why it fits so poorly."

"The gun came from a dead Peacekeeper," says Twill, following my eyes. "That cracker in your hand. With the bird. What's that about?" I ask. "Don't you know, Katniss?" Bonnie appears genuinely surprised.

They recognize me. Of course they recognize me. My face is uncovered and I'm standing here outside of District 12 pointing an arrow at them. Who else would I be? "I know it matches the pin I wore in the arena."

"She doesn't know," says Bonnie softly. "Maybe not about any of it."

Suddenly I feel the need to appear on top of things. "I know you had an uprising in Eight." "Yes, that's why we had to get out," says Twill.
"Well, you're good and out now. What are you going to do?" I ask.
"We're headed for District Thirteen," Twill replies.

"Thirteen?" I say. "There's no Thirteen. It got blown off the map." "Seventy-five years ago," says Twill.
Bonnie shifts on her crutch and winces.
"What's wrong with your leg?" I ask.

"I twisted my ankle. My boots are too big," says Bonnie.

I bite my lip. My instinct tells me they're telling the truth. And behind that truth is a whole lot of information I'd like to get. I step forward and retrieve Twill's gun before lowering my bow, though. Then I hesitate a moment, thinking of another day in this woods, when Gale and I watched a hovercraft appear out of thin air and capture two escapees from the Capitol. The boy was speared and killed. The redheaded girl, I found out when I went to the Capitol, was mutilated and turned into a mute servant called an Avox. "Anyone after you?"

"We don't think so. We think they believe we were killed in a factory explosion," says Twill. "Only a fluke that we weren't."

"All right, let's go inside," I say, nodding at the cement house. I follow them in, carrying the gun.