Houston Run

Chapter Nineteen

Two months later the Family celebrated the arrival of their missing members with the biggest bash ever held at the Home. After imbibing enough wine to drown a horse, Sherry publicly declared she was chaining Hickok to their bed and not letting him go for a week. She did not live up to her word, however, as the gunman was seen three days later walking rather stiffly around the compound.

Melody and Roger were formally accepted into the Family. After Melody recited her pledge of Loyalty, the Family women collectively presented her with a welcoming gift consisting of three hand-sewn outfits.

No one could quite understand her reaction, though, when she actually hugged the clothing and kept saying, over and over again, “Thank you! Thank you!”

One month after their return, Blade and Hickok officiated at the induction of three new Warriors and the creation of a new Triad. Bravo Triad was formed, and its member Warriors were the only three male mutants in the Family. Lynx was ecstatic, Gremlin expressed genuine happiness, but Ferret was oddly reserved. Later that night, while Blade was patrolling the east wall, he saw Ferret standing by himself in a secluded section of the Home and gazing up at the stars. He distinctly overheard Ferret ask aloud: “Why me?”