Freefall by Anna Levine Page B

dance.”
    Lily swivels her hips. “You don’t look like the mambo type.”
    I roll my eyes. “Mambo? Me? No. Modern dance, some jazz, ballet.”
    â€œNow, that I can see. You’re one of those Sugarpear Fairies.”
    Carolina giggles. “Sugarplum Fairy,” she says. “I danced in The Nutcracker when I was in grade six. One of the toy soldiers.” She does a few steps.
    â€œAnd from the way you’re still going, I’d say they left the windup mechanism inside you,” says Argentina through a cloud of cigarette smoke.
    Carolina bats at the smoke.
    â€œOkay, girls,” says the commander. “It gets dark pretty fast around here. Number Eighteen will bring back the stretchers. The rest of you find your gear and start setting up camp. I’ve arranged a schedule of your shifts of guard duty throughout the night, which you will pass from one to the other. I expect you to be at your post on the hour assigned, and don’t let me find one of you even thinking of drifting off while on duty. Understood?”
    I straighten up the equipment and then head over to the pile of duff el bags.
    â€œI actually brought The Alchemist with me,” says Carolina. “As if I can keep my eyes open long enough to read.”
    â€œOr have the energy to lift the page.”
    The pile gets smaller. I’d borrowed Hila’s navy blue backpack. It was the biggest one we had in the house. She used it when she went to camp. Navy blue is hard to see when there’s so little light.
    There are three bags left in the pile.
    Lily takes one and trudges off . “It wasn’t that heavy when I packed it this morning.”
    Pigtails takes the next.
    Carolina grabs the last one. “Whew,” she says. “For a second I thought it was lost.”
    There is none left.
    But that’s impossible. My bag has to be around somewhere.
    Mine must have tumbled off to the side. Pigtails lends me her small keychain flashlight. The wind has picked up from the east. It’s a sharp, thick wind carrying sandy grit. I raise my arm to shield my face.
    â€œDid anyone see my sleeping bag?” I shout. “Or my backpack?”
    There are a few mumbled replies; none of them sound encouraging. It’s got to be here somewhere. I’ve got everything inside my bag. My toothbrush. A hairbrush. Hila gave me a pack of antiseptic wipes.
    â€œDidn’t anyone see where my stuff went?” My voice quivers on the edge of hysterics.
    The tent is up. Noga struggles with the last pole, trying to straighten out the peculiar slant. Like moles, the girls have buried themselves inside. I’m alone. It’s dark. There is a chill in the air that seeps in through my shirt and inside me. It must be dangerous to be out here on my own.
    â€œCommander?” I tap on her tent.
    â€œCommander?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œMy backpack is missing. I don’t have a sleeping bag, a sweater, not even my hairbrush. What am I supposed to do?”
    She pokes her head out of her tent. I see she has already rolled out her sleeping bag and unzipped it. Her two scribes are lying down.
    â€œWhat do you want me to do about it?”
    â€œI don’t know.” I can hear my voice breaking. “I put it on the bus with everyone else’s stuff. How am I supposed to sleep?”
    She looks at me with her cold, green glare.
    I clench my teeth to keep from trembling.
    â€œWhat do you want me to do about it?” She reaches for her radio. “I can call the base and tell them to come get you and take you home, if that’s what you want.”
    She stares me straight in the eye. She doesn’t even say it as a challenge. She doesn’t care if I stay or go. Why should she? There are others who can take my place.
    â€œWell?”
    I don’t know if that’s what I want. I’m too tired to think straight. My head hurts. My mouth drops open but the words stay stuck