Chapter 38

"And over there is where we keep the horses," Caroline was saying. I sighed, rolling my eyes at her. That dumb lady actually thought I was interested in her stupid farm. Maybe I would be, if I was three years old like Angel.

Angel. And the rest of the flock. I had to get back to them. Sure, maybe I still wasn't able to fly yet, but I had to find a way.

"Max!" I thought I heard Angel say. Great. Now I missed them so much that I was hearing things.

Then someone tackled me from behind. I winced in pain, as my injuries were definitely not healed yet. But all of that didn't matter as soon as I saw who was hugging me.

"Nudge! Gazzy!" I exclaimed, hugging the two younger kids. "How did you find me?"

"Well," Nudge started. "Angel started singing 'Old McDonald Had a Farm' so Fang said we had to go east and then I saw you!"

"Riiiight," I muttered, completely confused by her explanation. I looked up to see Fang running towards us with Angel in his arms and Iggy following very closely behind him, listening to his footsteps.

I grinned. "Hey, Fang. Iggy."

"Max, who's that lady?" Gazzy asked, pointing at Caroline. Oh….right. I'd forgotten about her. She was just standing there with her hands over her mouth and her eyes wide as she stared at everyone's wings. I sighed in exasperation.

"That's Caroline. She…uh, helped me. I guess," I explained, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Helped you?" Nudge asked. "How?"

"It's kind of a long story, but I got hurt. I'll explain it to you later," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

Iggy rolled his eyes. "That's just like Max, always getting herself in trouble."

I laughed, elbowing him. "Missed you too, Ig."

"Come on," Fang said, shifting Angel in his arms. "Let's get out of here."

"You're leaving already?" Caroline asked, frowning. "Max still isn't healed enough to leave. She should really-"

"I'm fine," I said, seriously starting to get exasperated with this lady. "We don't need your help. I know you want to help, but I'm fine."

"Do you have a family?" she asked softly. "A mom or dad?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Of course we do."

Caroline shook her head. "Max, you can trust me."

There was a part of me that wanted to say, Alright, I'll trust you. Thanks for helping me. But the stubborn eleven-year-old part of me came out instead.

I turned my back on her. "I can't trust anyone."

Letting go of Nudge and Gazzy's hands, I looked around at the rest of my flock. "Come on. Let's go."

Fang nodded. "Right."

Hoping that I'd be able to get off the ground this time, I unfurled my wings, then got a running start, without looking back at Caroline or anyone else. My wings faltered at first and for a second I thought I would crash to the ground, but then I beat them faster and began rising higher. The rest of the flock wasn't far behind. Although every time I flapped my wings my whole body ached with pain, I was back up here in the sky, with the people I loved the most.

Caroline was far below, looking up at us. I shook my head, glancing away. Sure, she'd been annoying….but she'd helped me out. If it wasn't for her, I might still be lying unconscious in a field somewhere.

I hesitated, then yelled, "Thanks for everything!" and waved frantically at her. At first I wasn't sure if she'd heard, but then she looked at me and smiled, waving back.

Maybe outsiders weren't as bad as I'd thought. I mean, Jaz was the most annoying person in the world, but she'd helped me out too.

"Max, are you going soft?" Iggy asked, laughing.

"No way!" I yelled, shoving him to the side. He just laughed some more and flew above me near Nudge, who was babbling to Gazzy about horses or something.

"It's good to have Invincible Leader Max back," Fang smirked.

I rolled my eyes at him, but then grinned. "Whatever. It's good to be back."

"You have a lot of explaining to do!" Nudge yelled from somewhere about me.

I sighed. "Oh…. that. It's a long story."

"So Daisy's dad is still out to get us?" Nudge asked when I was done explaining.

I frowned. "He nearly killed me. Which means that…" my eyes widened. "The School isn't trying to get us back. They're trying to get rid of us." Well, we were their possibly most successful experiments ever, and we'd escaped. For all I knew, they'd made a new and improved version of us.

The thought made me shudder.

"Alright, here's what we have to do," I said, frowning.

"Great, one of Max's plans. Those always go well," Iggy teased me.

"Oh, you shut up!" I yelled at him, frowning. "Anyway," I continued. "We have to find a way to get rid of Daisy's dad. Once and for all."

"How?" Fang asked.

I thought about it, then smiled. "I think I have an idea."