Thank you to all who have stuck threw with KENs for 55chapters...each one of you, are the reason I was able to stick it through as we round-up for the finale...only a few more chapters left. Special Thanks to beta-my Friend! norbertsmom is really amazing, patient, smart and incredibly sweet.
Last week that Citizen made another visit and vowed to get the interloper who stole into the top-secret lair...what though Corky has found the paper and it is now in the hands the Mellarks...
Delly looked stunned and frightened, Peeta looked confused, and Rye knew more than what he was letting on. Katniss recalled her mother speaking to Gale's mother about spies in the district. Back then things in District Twelve were the same as they were now, but people suspected the Cartwrights of being spies. When the beatings and whippings died down so did the rumors of a Capitol spy amongst their midst. The paper with the morse code confirmed there was a spy amongst them. Katniss questioned who could it be? Could the spy have infiltrated the rebellion without Madge knowing about it? She didn't have answers but she needed to get word to Madge.
"Who the hell is the Citizen?" Gale demanded, his eyes swept from Peeta to Rye.
Gale's reaction could cause problems. Katniss took hold of the situation. She held up the edge of the comforter revealing a trail of torn paper bags, tissue papers, and some of Peeta's drawings. "Gale, it's the squirrel. The paper came from his den."
Gale frowned then looked under the bed. "He's been lining his den with scraps of paper to keep it warm."
"Exactly, the squirrel found this and brought it here," she said and watched Gale's shoulders relax when Delly slipped her arm around his middle. Katniss was glad she was able to calm Gale down. There was a time before Delly, Gale would have lost it. He would've have accused Peeta or Rye of being the Citizen.
Corky watched them from a distance with his family. They were hidden, hoping the humans wouldn't try to kick them out. Shirley, his better half held his paw. He brought her closer trying to comfort her. Their babies were gripping his hind legs.
Katniss stood up from the floor arms akimbo.
Delly stood by Gale. She bit her bottom lip, her eyes wide with fear. "How did the Citizen come here without us knowing?"
Gale handed the note to Rye and opened his arm for Delly. She, she stepped into his embrace. He swayed slightly to comfort her.
"When our parents were kids, there was a lot of speculation as to who the Capitol spy was. They didn't know the spy had a name. My mom said everyone thought it was someone who came from the Capitol to work in the Justice Building. In those days, people didn't trust anyone and tried to keep to themselves."
"How did that squirrel get in here?" Rye picked up the papers.
"That squirrel saved our lives," Katniss pointed to the paper. "That is proof that we're being watched."
"We need to be careful," Peeta said, filled with concern.
"What do you mean?" Delly was confused.
"Thread was here yesterday. He said he was called because there was an infraction, but when he couldn't find one he arrested Katniss." Peeta quickly spoke covering up the undertones of the talk about rebellion.
"Claimed she couldn't be on this side of town because she was Seam, not knowing Katniss is considered a Merchant." Rye winked at Katniss. "Not knowing the ones who aren't Merchant are us."
"What?" Gale and Delly said at the same time.
"There's an old law that states if your mother is Merchant you're a Merchant." Rye picked up more papers.
"Your mom is a Merchant," Gale said frowning while helping with the cleanup.
"My mother isn't a Merchant. Her grandmother was Seam."
"Wait, you guys are Seam?"
"By law, we are...which is why my mom is so paranoid about the Seam. She's afraid someone will discover the family secret," Rye's voice was filled with mirth.
"It doesn't matter what we really are," Delly spoke up. "To the Capitol, we are nothing but expendable beings. They use us until we no longer have value. Then we are tossed aside to shrivel and die. It's why they sent the Peacekeepers here to come down on us for no reason than to bully us and persecute us for the smallest transgressions because we don't matter to them. We are not Seam or Merchant. We're bugs and they will crush us if need be for their own survival." She turned to Gale. "It's why all of you are part of the rebellion."
No one could say anything as they were stunned.
"I'm not dumb. At school, I saw Thom speaking to Rye. Now, Gale and Thom are best mates, but there isn't any reason Rye should be speaking to Thom as if they are friends. Unless something was unifying them. Seeing all of your reactions confirms my theory."
"Delly," Gale said tenderly. "Are you upset with me? For not telling you?"
"No, but I am scared, Gale." She placed her hand on his cheek.
"Don't worry Dells, we can show you how to pick up Peeta and throw him five feet across the room. This way if anyone intends to hurt this gargantuan snow flower you can defend him." Rye winked at Gale.
Everyone laughed. They couldn't help it. Rye was always so cheeky, but he wasn't Peeta. Peeta was sassy and Katniss liked him for it.
"Wherever the squirrel got that piece of paper from is where the Citizen is hiding," Gale said.
Katniss quietly stated, "We follow him to see where he got this paper."
"Not in this weather. There is a full-blown blizzard outside. We should finish dinner, clean up, and get to bed." Rye rubbed his face.
"Rye is right, we can't do anything now," Peeta agreed and finished cleaning up the room.
"Come on Dells, let's get some wedding cake and pie." Gale held his hand out to Delly and he escorted her out of the room.
"We're going to have to tell Madge." Katniss couldn't mask her worry. So much could go wrong. So many people could pay for acts of treason because of one person. "She needs to know about this. We need to set up a plan to find the Citizen before the attack."
"If our spy is active, there might be others and we need to silence them all," Rye said.
"Until the snow lets up, we can't make a move," Peeta said.
Rye sighed heavily. "We've known about a spy for some time now but we didn't know how to find them. Now we can easily have the squirrel lead us to spy and get rid of them before the attack."
"I'm not babysitting a squirrel," Gale griped.
"No one said you were," Katniss countered.
Rye thought for a moment they were going to throw punches, and despite Gale's height, he thought Katniss could take him. "No one has to babysit the squirrel...we can keep an eye out for him if we see him in town."
"Regardless of Corky, we still have to get the information to Madge." Katniss grinned sheepishly at Gale who nodded in agreement.
"Katniss is right we've got to get this information to Madge and the rebellion."
"What if we can get the message to Haymitch tonight. He does have a way to talk to the other districts and maybe even to Madge." Katniss was trying to come up with a solution. The old Victor hand more resources than they had available to them.
"Guys why don't we use the phone," Peeta suggested.
"You have a phone?" Katniss had never seen the phone in the bakery and she'd been sneaking in and out of the bakery for months. She knew the Justice building had telephones to communicate with the Capitol and they also had machines they used as part of the Central Records keeping. Peacekeepers had a phone in their bunker and so did Cray in his house. Katniss imagined the mayor's house had phones to be able to communicate with the Capitol. She'd never entertained the notion that the bakery would have one.
"Of course, the phone," Rye slapped himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand, "I can't believe we didn't think of it sooner."
"Why do you have a phone?" Katniss was curious about this phantom phone.
"To be honest, we only use it to receive special orders for the Capitolites who travel here for the Reaping or for the Victory Tour. Many of them have special diets or dietary restrictions that they need to be met. It's the same with the grocers. The Sharpies have to make sure to have a lot of weird ingredients."
Katniss was shocked by this underworld. She wondered what type of bread the Capitolites ordered. Perhaps they wanted special cookies or cakes. "So who's going to make the call?"
Peeta raised his hands in the air. "Not me, I'm engaged to a very dangerous huntress."
Rye glanced at Katniss. "Sorry Rye, I've never used a phone."
Peeta's brother blushed heavily. "Fine, I'll call the girl I have a crush on who happens to be leading a rebellion."
Katniss chuckled at Rye's overly dramatic behavior. They left the room and joined the family for dessert. Corky was left behind with Shirley and his children. Shirley pointed to the paper, demanding for more. Corky nodded not wanting to make his spouse upset. After all, he reasoned happy wife, happy life. He ran to the wastepaper basket to retrieve the paper. Humans were very strange. Corky couldn't understand the reason his pet, his pet's mate, and the others looked upset at a piece of paper he and Shirley used for insulation.
With the paper in his paws, he ran to his den. From his peripheral view, he saw the cat staring at him. The cat's muddy yellow eyes looked like he was calculating a plot. Corky would have in the past taken time to have fun with the ugly creton, but he heard Shirley calling for him.
Buttercup watched his nemesis from afar. He had not counted on the stick. His tail swished thoughtfully in the air as he thought about how to catch that fat little treat!
"Buttercup," Primrose called.
Buttercup purred at the sound of her gentle voice. He loved his pet so much. She was his sweet angel. He immediately sought out her arms.
"There you are," Primrose said, gently picking up Buttercup and scratching him behind the ears.
"Amazing," Rye said.
"What do you say that?" Primrose asked, curiously.
"You have tamed a beast!" Rye put his hand on his chest as if afraid. His eyes sparkled with mischief.
Primrose laughed. "Buttercup is not a beast, silly!"
"Really, looks like a very dangerous mountain lion." Rye held his hands up and roared and hissed like a cat. Primrose giggled. It was good to see her laugh and play with Andy and Gale's siblings.
He looked all around him. Rye was looking at a glimpse of the future. Seam and Merchant together, bonded by love. His mother sat quietly next to Lavender and Hazelle without a sour look on her face. She spoke to the women as if they were her equal. A few months ago this would have never been possible.
His gaze turned to his little brother who is clearly besotted with the girl of his dreams. He watched Delly sit on Gale Hawthorne's lap. She laughed at something he whispered into her ear. The look Hawthorne gave Delly was of total adoration. Gale was totally whipped. Rye slipped his hands in his pocket. The spirit of the district was alive and it thrived despite the oppression of the Capitol. Separated they could be defeated, but together they were indomitable. Rye excused himself and went downstairs to the bakery. The phone was located in his father's office.
Sitting behind the desk he nervously practiced his greeting. "Hi, Madge!" His voice sounded juvenile. He deepened his voice, "Hello Madge."
"You sound like a creep," Rye muttered to himself.
The phone mocked him. What do you say to the woman you had a crush on, he wondered. The same woman who was running a rebellion. Madge was amazing and Rye had no idea how to speak to her. He liked her for so long, and when he joined the Rebellion he thought they would get closer. As time passed the Rebellion became the most important part and his admiration for Madge grew.
Before all of this, he would have said some cheesy line to start the conversation going. He wouldn't have been nervous because he didn't care. Now the fear of rejection was prevalent because of his genuine feelings.
Grabbing the handset, he put his finger on the number and rotated the dial clockwise until his finger came to the metal stop. He removed his finger and the dial went back to its original position. There were plenty of modern phones like those in the Justice Building, the bakery sported a rotary phone that did not require electricity. The wire from the wall jack provided the small current is needed to operate. He dialed the number D12-62967.
"Hello?"
The handset nearly fell from his hand, he didn't expect Madge to answer. " Ah, hi…Madge." His voice cracked, he sounded like a thirteen-year-old self instead of an eighteen-year-old experienced guy.
"Rye," Madge's voice sounded warm and curious.
Rye rubbed his face, he could feel it grow hot. "So I guess you're wondering why I'm calling you?"
"Actually, I am."
Rye quickly thought and said, "Well, it's about your book the one you love so much."
"Oh," Madge breathed.
"Yeah my brother and I were discussing the book and he swears there is a spy in the book."
"Rye, there isn't a spy in Romeo and Juliet." Madge sounded outraged.
He hoped she would get that he was speaking about the Citizen. "Well, Peeta swore that the spy was giving messages to Mercutio."
"Mercutio?" Madge sounded like she wasn't following along.
Rye tried once more, "Well that's what Peeta believes. I've tried to set him straight. I told him there was no spy in Romeo and Juliet. I told him Mercutio was Romeo's friend, but Peeta insisted Mercutio was a premier Citizen. A kin to the Prince. He insisted Mercutio had nefarious reasons when he incited the fight. I couldn't deny Mercutio was a pot-stirrer. A well-hidden one, a friend of the seat of power. Because of him, everything went kaboom."
"Kaboom," Madge chuckled.
"Well yeah like an explosion."
"Rye you can't equate everything to an explosion."
"Oh, but their lives imploded because of Mercutio. Peeta was right, he had direct access to the prince and because of him, everything went south. You know the more I talk about it the more plausible it becomes that the prince put a spy amongst the gentry to keep a close eye on them. Perhaps Mercutio did send messages to the Prince."
"So he's the premier citizen, with an ear to the Prince."
"Mercutio was an agent of the Prince. A spy who was watching Romeo and wanted to make the divide between the Montagues and the Capulets deeper. The prince benefited from keeping them divided. Causing explosive and deadly occurrences to occur." Rye continued, "Like the explosion outside of the House of Barona." Rye knew the city was Varona but he said it with a 'B' sound so it had the initials of the HOB.
"House of Barona," Madge repeated softly. "Do you think Romeo found out?"
"Suppose it wasn't Romeo."
"Is it still snowing?"
Rye frowned at the quick change of topic. "Yes, it is."
"Too bad you can't come over tomorrow."
The conversation was fake, but it didn't stop his heart from beating sharply in his chest. "I can bring cookies. Don't worry I will not cause the oven to explode. I've baked these cookies before."
"It's too cold outside. You recall our President warned us of the unparalleled weather phenomenon starting tomorrow night."
"I can come over as soon as the snow stops," Rye said.
"That would be nice, I love your cookies." Her voice became soft, kinda like the way Katniss' voice softened whenever she spoke to Peeta.
Rye didn't want to make it more than what it was. He knew she knew this was about the rebellion. Yet Rye couldn't stop hoping one day Madge would see him less of an ally and more of a love interest.
"If you must know, and if you tell Peeta I will deny it, he makes the best cookies. And the best bread, the best cakes, cupcakes, fritters, pastries-"
"Ouch!" He laughed. "My pies are spectacular!"
"Why don't you bring one tomorrow before the storm starts. I'll be the judge of just how good or not your pie is," Madge saucily said.
"Challenge accepted." Rye then said, "I will be the premier baker in the district."
"The premier baker," Madge laughed.
"Yeah. I just want to make sure though if I bring a pie over if that would be considered a traitorous act. As we have to follow the example in Romeo and Juliet."
"I guess I could be Romeo and you can be Juliet."
Madge heard Rye's dry laugh. "So I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sure," Madge said.
Rye imagined her twisting the phone cord in her fingers. Her mind quickly thinking about how to get more information out of him. Then it struck him she too was conveying a secret message.
"So tomorrow huh," he paused, "I'll make sure to let my family know I'm headed over to you."
"With the pie," Madge insisted.
"Wouldn't dream of coming over without it." Rye's legs shook.
"See you tomorrow."
Rye hung up the phone. His hands shook. Madge's encrypted words. She'd given him important information. Getting up, he walked upstairs. He tried to compose his face so that no one would be able to see his true reactions. Rye wasn't sure how to tell everyone.
As he entered the family dwelling area he heard laughter and it struck him. For the majority of his life laughter was hidden. His mother wanted her boys to be serious, so much so his older brother never laughed and had no sense of humor. Laughter was a strange thing but a welcomed one. Rye glanced at his family, this was the calm before the storm. His father looked so happy sitting with the Hawthorne kids laughing as they played charades.
His mother laughed and nodded at something Hazelle said to her. Rye decided to eat some pie and enjoy his time with his family.
Later that night it was determined that all of the boys would sleep downstairs in the bakery, A cot was set up for Andy downstairs as well as he didn't want to miss out on the fun of a sleepover. Titus stayed on the sofa upstairs. The extra bed in the attic was brought down into Peeta's room. Katniss and her family would take one bed and Hazel and Posey would take the other. Gale and Delly would have Rye's room once Rye finished changing his sheets and cleaning up.
"So what happened," Gale and Peeta both asked at the same time.
"I gave her the information."
Peeta and Gale glanced at the other.
"And what else did she say," Katniss urged.
Rye looked down "The cold's coming quicker and we're attacking tomorrow night instead."
The reality of the attack being pushed up settled on everyone's shoulders.
"I am glad we had tonight," Peeta said putting his arms around Katniss.
"It's a good thing we've got our weapons from the forest," Katniss muttered.
"Come on guys, let's all get a good night's sleep."
Everyone settled in for the night. In their room, Gale didn't want to leave Delly's side, but he had signed up for the rebellion. He didn't want to risk losing what he had. However, there was a real chance that if they didn't try they could lose it all. The Jacksons of this world were corrupt and willing to do whatever it took to get their way.
Delly sighed and snuggled deeper into him. His hands gently brushed her hair away from her face, his heart contracted, he loved her so much. He held her closer never wanting to let go but knowing he had to if he wanted a brighter future with her.
Outside in the hallway, Katniss snuck out of Peeta's room. She sighed the moment she saw Peeta waiting for her in the hall. Delly's father was sleeping in the living room softly snoring. They fell into each other's arms. Her gut clenched with anxiety. The plan was simple, infiltrate the Peacekeeping Compound right as they bunked in for the freeze and disable the HVAC's. The other building contained a fireplace and would house the Peacekeepers that aligned themselves with the rebellion. If they were caught they would have to fight.
The thought of fighting wasn't pleasant. Fighting meant there could be deaths on both sides and some that would be because of her hand. "I don't know if I can do it Peeta. Take someone's life?"
"Neither do I, all I know we can't continue to live in fear."
Katniss nodded. "I wouldn't want anyone else with me but you."
Peeta kissed her sweetly and it helped calm her nerves down. Tomorrow they were going into battle and there was a good possibility Peeta could be hurt or killed. The reality of her dream where Peeta was maimed by a Capitol invention. Even though there were Peacekeepers who were going to fight on their side, there was Thread to think about. Thread would not have any qualms about killing. In fact, after they had embarrassed him in front of the camera crew, he would gun for them to make an example out of them. Katniss held on tighter. Tomorrow may be brighter, but it wasn't promised.