Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 5.7: No Ordinary Robbery

"Look out!" Marci did her best to push Liz and Wendall out of the way. They and the other students ran for cover as Rachel flew directly for the ground.

Marci, having no idea what the S.T.E.E.D. used for fuel, braced herself for the inevitable explosion. Instead she heard Rachel say, "Whoa, horsie."

Marci peeked upwards and saw Rachel pulling back on the remote-control harnesses. Rachel slowed the S.T.E.E.D. just enough to bring it in for a landing on the campus sidewalk.

The S.T.E.E.D. hit the ground with a loud clank. It threw Rachel forward slightly, but she managed to stay seated atop it.

Rachel hopped off the S.T.E.E.D. and withdrew one of the prototype guns. Future Girl emerged from the sky above. Rachel had one gun aimed at the students and a second aimed at Future Girl.

"For the one millionth time, I just want to talk," Future Girl said.

"This is the Temple," Rachel said. "You're all working for the Temple."

Future Girl floated downward and landed on the sidewalk facing Rachel. The cowgirl didn't lower her weapons.

"I'm a killer," Rachel said. "Don't think I won't kill them."

"See their faces?" Future Girl said. "See their fear? Are they really your enemies?"

"Not one move."

Future Girl remained calm, her voice soft and even-tempered. "You traveled all over the West by yourself. You met all kinds of people, and you've stared down some of the worst people. You must know the difference between real fear and someone trying to trick you."

Marci and Rachel's eyes met. The cowgirl stared intently. Neither of them blinked.

Rachel lowered her guns and holstered them.

"I seen that fear in my mama and daddy's eyes the night the Temple's people killed them."

Future Girl walked forward until she stood right in front of Rachel. She put a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"You're going to be all right. Now, can we talk?"

Rachel exhaled, looking suddenly tired. "I'm confused."

Future Girl looked over the crowd and pointed at Liz. "Your name is Liz, right? Can we borrow your room?"

* * * *

Liz's roommate had dropped out of school after getting mono earlier that semester, so Liz had the room to herself. Future Girl had Liz lead her and Rachel there. Marci came along, saying she wanted to stay with Liz during all this. Wendall followed as well, because, as usual, he went everywhere Liz went.

Future Girl and Rachel set the S.T.E.E.D. in the hall outside Liz's room. Then they had their meeting. The other students that had watched the fire and eventual confrontation apparently trusted Future Girl so much that when she asked politely for them to return to their rooms, they did so. Marci marveled at how Future Girl had earned the student body's trust after only a few months.

"Yep, I'm Rachel Redmond," she said, after taking a few seconds to look around the room and marvel at the electric light on the ceiling. "Been a while since I heard that name. After my mama and daddy died, folks started calling me Rachel the Red. Never much liked that name, neither."

"I hate to ask this," Future Girl said, "but how did your parents die, exactly?"

Rachel sat down on Liz's bed without being invited. "At first, we thought it was the Mexicans. But that's ridiculous. The Mexicans ain't killers. They're devoted to family and the make the best damn food I ever had. No, the people who came onto our land that night set out to frame the Mexicans."

Rachel removed her hat and set it on Liz's bed. Marci could see a slight reddish tint to the girl's brown hair.

"As I ran out into the rain, hearing the gunshots that killed my mama and daddy, I crawled under a bunch of bales of hay, shivering in the wet cold and, yeah, with fear. I heard one of the sonsabitches say, 'All praise to the temple,' and I knew this weren't no ordinary robbery."

Future Girl sat on the bed next to Rachel. Marci and Liz sat on the room's other unused bed. Marci's heart quickened at the thought of a young girl's parents dying.

"They set fire to the house first, then the barn. They rode off. I crawled out of the barn as it burned all around me, I kicked open the doors just as the roof fell in. It's a right miracle I weren't burned. I sat down in the mud, in my white nightgown, and watched my house burned. The cold, cold rain hit my naked arms, making me shiver, but the house and barn kept on burning. I must've fallen asleep after a time, because when I woke, the sun was out, and there were two black spots on the ground where the house and barn used to be. All the horses were gone. I started walking toward town when a neighboring farmer saw me took pity and let me ride on the back of his wagon into town.

"The sheriff asked me a bunch of questions. He didn't believe my story and said it was the Mexicans done us in.

"An old widow in town took me in and taught me to sew and to cook. I made me some money by sewing scarves and patching blankets for folks traveling through. The local gunsmith had a thing for girls my age. I offered him my few dimes and batted my eyes like girls do, and bought myself a pair of six-shooters and some ammo.

"Now, my mama and daddy were educated folk who taught me well. Iknew 'temple' meant 'church,' so I started asking around the local church. Theydidn't know nothing 'bout no temple, so I knew I had to get out of town. Igotta travel, I thought, and find someone who knows about this here Temple."

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Next: Riding down to Blueflower.