sneak peek: divided we fall by trent reedy (excerpt)

8/13/2019 Sneak Peek: Divided We Fall by Trent Reedy (Excerpt)

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T R E N T R E E D Y

A R T H U R A . L E V I N E B O O K SA N I M P R I N T O F S C H O L A S T I C I N C .


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This book was edited by Cheryl Klein and designed by

Christopher Stengel. The text was set in Sabon, with display

type set in Conduit and Grotesque. This book was printed

and bound by R. R. Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The

production was supervised by Starr Baer. The manufacturing

was supervised by Angelique Browne.

Text copyright 2014 by Trent Reedy

All rights reserved. Published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.,Publishers since 1920 . SCHOLASTIC and the LANTERN LOGO are trademarks and/or registeredtrademarks of Scholastic Inc.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans-mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regardingpermission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reedy, Trent.Divided we fall / Trent Reedy. First edition.pages cm

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Danny Wright joined the Idaho Army National Guard toserve the country as his father had, but when the Guard is sent to an antigovernmentprotest in Boise and Dannys gun accidently fires, he finds himself at the center of a

conflict that results in the federal government declaring war on Idaho.ISBN 978-0-545-54367-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) [1. Government, Resistance

to Fiction. 2. Idaho. National Guard Fiction. 3. High schools Fiction.4. Schools Fiction. 5. Mothers and sons Fiction. 6. Idaho Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.R25423Div 2014

[Fic] dc232013016368

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 15 16 17 18Printed in the U. S. A. 23

First edition, February 2014


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This book is dedicated toStaff Sergeant Ryan Jackson

and Staff Sergeant Matthew Peterson,

whose leadership and guidancehelped me understand what it

means to be a soldier.


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No armed police force, or detective agency, or armed

body of men, shall ever be brought into this state for

the suppression of domestic violence, except upon

the application of the legislature, or the executive,

when the legislature can not be convened.

Constitution of the state of IdahoArticle XIV, Section 6


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I am Private First Class Daniel Christopher Wright, I am

seventeen years old, and I fired the shot that ended the

United States of America.

When I enlisted in the Idaho Army National Guard, I swore

to support and defend the Constitution of the United

States and the state of Idaho against all enemies, foreignand domestic. I swore that I would obey the orders of the

president of the United States and the governor of Idaho,

as well as the orders from officers appointed over me,

according to the law and regulations.

But what could I do when my president and my governor

called each other domestic enemies and both issued

me lawful orders to fight against the other? When both

claimed to support the Constitution? When the Army was

ordered to fight against the Army and no place was safe?

I swore to obey the orders of my president and of my

governor. I swore to defend the Constitution. I swore

these things before God.

May God forgive me. May God in Heaven forgive us all.


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Sweeney gave me a little too much lead on the pass. I had to kick upthe speed and reach like crazy. Damn near fell, but I caught the foot-ball before Cal could get his hands on it. I ducked to dodge his try ata one-armed tackle, turned upfield, and ran, snapping each footdown fast as I could. Our safety, Travis Jones, was the only guy whomight stop me. TJ was the fastest guy on the team.

Well, he used to be fastest.He had a good pursuit angle, so I knew I couldnt run right by

him. I juked left and made him stutter-step. Then I figured, What thehell? Jones is a total jackwad. I gripped the ball tightly, put on aburst of speed, dropped my right shoulder, and crunched into his gut.

He groaned and I shoved him away with my left hand. His shoul-der pads clicked as he hit the dry practice field. Then I bolted towardthe end zone. I felt so fast, so powerful, I swear I could have runall the way up Silver Mountain to the west of town.

Coach Shiratori blew his whistle when I had like twenty yards tothe goal line. No way was I stopping. Drill Sergeant McAllister wouldhang right behind me on five-mile runs in basic, shouting, Private,you will run faster or I will kill you! After that, I could always findmore speed.

Wright! Get back here! Shiratori called as I crossed the lineinto the end zone.

Moving, Coach! I shouted. I tossed him the ball on the wayback to the offensive huddle.


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Sweeney slapped me a high five. Nice one, man.Wright!Yes, Coach! I shouted as loud as I could. Coach Shiratori

always tried to act like a cold-hearted badass, but I could see amuse-ment cracking through his hard shell when I treated him like a drillsergeant. Truth was, after having the Army mentality beat into me allsummer, I dont think I could have acted any other way.

When I blow the whistle, you stop the play. You wanna runextra, we can figure it out after practice.

Yes, Coach!Wright!Yes, Coach!Whats harder, the Army or football?Coach, this is the Army!Assistant Coach Devins laughed. Thats the best answer Ive

ever heard.But I wasnt sucking up. I meant what I said. I loved this.Shiratori looked at his watch. Right! We gotta wrap it up for the

morning. Get on the goal line. Time for conditioning!Some of the freshmen groaned quietly, but us senior and junior

guys cheered like running was the best possible thing. Thats howCoach liked it. Complain about it: Run longer. Yell and cheer formore, what Sweeney called faking the funk: Coach would let us goearlier. Maybe.

Coach put us on Idaho drills: sprint fifty yards, drop down to doten push-ups, bear-crawl on hands and feet to our right for abouttwenty yards, and then sprint back to the goal line. Five rotations.They were killer, even though I was in awesome shape.

Cal puked. He always puked. Thats how hard he pushed him-self. An animal, that guy.

Coach let us go after his usual end-of-morning-practice lecture:


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drink lots of water, be on time for the evening practice, dont do any-thing stupid. Our cleats thudded and scraped on the sidewalk backto the locker room. The light breeze felt good on my sweat-soakedshirt. Good thing this was our last two-a-day. I needed this comingweekend.

Cal elbowed me. The Army issue you new moves this summer?He rubbed a bruise that wrapped from his big bicep to his stackedtricep. What dyou think youre doing showing up the startingdefense like that?

Riccon, who says youre starting defense, you slow bastard?Sweeney smiled.

Sweeney, you little bitch, Ill crush you. Cal dropped his padsand locked his hands over his cut belly, flexing the huge traps in hisshoulders. Sweeney grinned and then pretended to yawn. Cal pickedup his pads. Seriously, though, Wright, he said. Nice moves, espe-cially burning TJ. The guy looked pissed.

Good, I said. I had no patience for TJ. The guy was an ass-hole, and I knew for a fact that he had tried to put the moves onmy JoBell backstage at last years spring play. Hes not comingtonight, is he?

Sweeney looked around. Dude, chill. I told everybody that Ivegot no action tonight.

We gotta do something, Cal said. This is the last weekend ofsummer. The last summer before senior year.

Yeah, no kidding, I said. We always partied the last weekendbefore school, plus Id just spent a miserable two months at FortLeonard Wood down in Missouri at basic training for the ArmyNational Guard. I needed to relax.

Sweeney pulled me and Cal off to the side and spoke quietly. Mymom and dad took the ski boat down to Coeur dAlene. I got the keysto the pontoon. I told everybody there was nothing going on so we


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can take a small group out on the boat after practice tonight. Jet Skitoo. Grill some steaks. Throw back some beers.

Im in, Cal said.Yeah, I said. Ill be out later. I gotta check in with Mom after

practice.Cal sighed. Come on, man. Really? Cant you Shut up, I said. Wed been over this a thousand times. Mom

had this thing, like a kind of panic attack shed get sometimes. Shedidnt like her routine interrupted, and it wouldnt be good if I wasntthere to greet her when she got home. Cal didnt know how bad shecould freak out because only JoBell and Sweeney had witnessed it,but he should have been used to the drill by now.

We stowed our gear in the locker room and went out to the park-ing lot.

Anyway, Sweeney said, give me a call when you get to the lakeand Ill pick you up on the Jet Ski. He elbowed Cal. You need a rideright now?

Naw, Im good. Got my motorcycle. I have to get to work. Lotof tourists on the lake. Theyll be wanting to rent every kayak andpaddleboat we got. Im hoping those hot blond twins come back. Hecupped his hands in the air. You know, the ones that got great . . .um . . . twins.

Sweeney laughed. Hmm. Sounds good. I might have to bring my Jet Ski over that way today.

Sweeneys parents had struggled for years to have kids of theirown. Finally, they adopted Sweeney from Korea as a baby. They mustnever have gotten over how happy they were to have him, becausethey bought him all the best stuff.

Cal took off and Sweeney looked over my shoulder. Hey,Timmy! he shouted at Tim Macer behind us. You still need aride? The kid nodded. Youre with us in the Beast. Hurry up.


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The Beast was my awesome cherry-red 1991 Chevy Blazer. Shewas way older than I was, but Id spent a ton of money and workedmy ass off to get her fixed up good as new. Better than new. With afour-inch lift kit and the thirty-six-inch super swamper tires, shedrove like a tank. The dual three-inch-diameter electric exhaust cut-out let me flick a switch to run right off the headers with no muffler.Then the Beast would roar louder than a jackhammer. Since it wassummer, Id taken her hard-shell top off in back, so she was basicallyan old-style pickup truck, with no wall behind the cab, a handy benchseat in back, and plenty of cargo room under the roll bar.

My truck aint no taxi, I said to Sweeney. Its bad enough I gotto be your shuttle, now youre making me drive some little sopho-more around?

Chill. Anyway, you have room, and he might be coming with ustonight. He held his hand up before I could complain. As long as hebrings his sister Cassie.

Your new girl?He shrugged. One of them, anyway.I shook my head. That was Eric Sweeney. Always the go-to guy

for the parties. Always scamming on another girl. Sometimes Ithought it would be cool to get with as many girls as he did.

But those thoughts were swept aside when my JoBell led BeccaWells and a bunch of other girls out of the school from volleyball prac-tice. JoBell wore a faded blue-and-white Freedom Lake MinutemenT-shirt and little gray shorts. Her blond ponytail bounced behind her asshe ran. I stared at her. I couldnt help it. She tossed her duffel bag in theback of the Blazer, then opened the passenger door and pushed the leverto flip the seat forward. Hey, babe. Beccas mom needed her car.

Okay if I ride? Becca said as she climbed in and moved to theback. She spread a towel out on the bench seat. I promise I wontsweat your truck up.


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I acted upset, even though Becca was JoBells best friend and a girlId been friends with my whole life. Do I have a choice?

No, JoBell and Becca said at the same time.Sweeney stepped on the right rear tire, grabbed the roll bar, and

swung into the backseat. Timmy Macer did the same thing on theother side, but he was clumsier.

Whoa! I shouted as he was about to sit down.The hell you think youre doing!? Sweeney yelled at him.Timmy stood up straight and about fell out of the truck when he

tried to take a step back. What did I do?I shot Sweeney a look. Id told him I didnt want to give this kid a

ride. You damn near sat on my hat. I held out my hand and wag-gled my fingers until the kid handed it over. It was a golden-white furfelt cowboy hat with only a couple dingy spots that Id been meaningto clean for a long time. I curled the sides of the brim a little.

No bull has ever bucked him off while he was wearing his luckyrodeo hat, Sweeney said. And you almost crushed it.

I held the hat over my heart. I would have had to kill you,Timmy.

And thatd be a shame, said Sweeney.Sorry, Timmy said. He looked so serious, like hed just shit his

pants. I didnt know. JoBell reached over and squeezed my knee. I love you, she said

with amusement in her eyes. But sometimes youre too much.We all laughed, and I flipped my hat on my head. Even the kid

relaxed and forced himself to chuckle with us.What are you laughing at!? I shouted, eyeing Timmy in the

mirror.Danny, Becca said. Leave the poor kid alone.I turned the key, and my trucks three-hundred-forty-horsepower

350 V8 roared to life. I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling the


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torque of the engine shake my body. She growled like a chained ani-mal waiting to be released, with the power to claw through anything.Im not gonna lie. She was the most badass truck in Freedom Lake.She was the Beast.

JoBell leaned forward to switch on the radio.

Thats country! When I lay it all down

I work hard for my money and I love this little town

When them city slickers come, asking what its about

I pick up my guitar and I sing and I shout

Thats country!

Ugh, how can you listen to that crap? JoBell said.Thats a good song! I said. Hank McGrews newest.

JoBell fiddled with the dial until she landed on the news. Her oldman was a lawyer with a small private practice in town. Id had sup-per a bunch of times at their house, and he passed every meal bybringing a current topic up for discussion. The two of them could getpretty intense when they debated, so JoBell liked to go in prepared.

Overnight violence and vandalism have marred the second

day of protests in downtown Boise as police struggle to

maintain order. Dozens have been arrested, and several

officers have been reported injured, including one in serious

condition after sustaining a head injury.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, JoBell switched stations.

From NPR News, this is Everything That Matters . Im David

Benson. The Federal Identification Card Act would provide a

high-tech replacement for flimsy paper Social Security cards,


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saving millions of dollars by streamlining and simplifying

access to federal services and providing easy proof of legal

eligibility for employment.

So, Timmy, Sweeney said. We were thinking that tonight Shh, quiet! JoBell said. For a sec, anyway. I want to hear

whats going on.

It was a hard-reached compromise, a rare spark of unity in an

otherwise deeply divided nation. Now, as NPRs Molly

Williams reports, the law faces bipartisan, but not

necessarily united, criticism from both progressive and

conservative groups.

Sweeney leaned across the center console and spun the radiodial until he found some music. Enough of that already. So bor-ing. He flopped back into his seat. So, Timmy, were taking myparents pontoon boat out on the lake tonight. You and Cassie wantto come?

Becca groaned. Oh, come on, Eric.Sweeney held his hand up. He had tried to get with Becca for

years, but she wouldnt go for him. That was unusual, since most ofthe time when Sweeney had his eye on a girl, hed find a way to makeit work out. Still, Id seen Timmys little sister, and part of me hopedSweeney wouldnt be her introduction to high school and high schoolguys. I caught Beccas eyes in the mirror and shook my head.

Shes just a freshman, Becca said. Shes a nice girl.Timmy must not have heard Becca, or else he didnt understand

or care what she meant. Sure! If our parents will let us. But youreally want my sister to come?


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Oh yeah, Sweeney said. Shes friends with JoBell on the volley-ball team and all.

Leave me out of this, Eric, JoBell said.Okay, kitten, Sweeney said.She turned around in her seat to face him. Call me any more

sexist names, Eric, and Ill make sure you never ride in this truckagain. I have some pull with the owner.

Sweeney grinned and put his hands up in surrender. JoBell reallydidnt like the nicknames that Sweeney often made up for her, but atthis point her anger and even Sweeneys sexism was mostly an act, agame the two of them had been playing for years.

After we dropped Timmy, Sweeney, and Becca off, I pulled theBeast over in front of JoBells big brick house. She squeezed my hand.Wish you didnt have practice again tonight.

Yeah, I said. Its the last two-a-day, though. I looked down.Last two-a-day of my whole life.

She put her fingers under my chin and made me look at her. Yousound all sad, like one of the old-timers at the coffee shop whosits around reminiscing about the good old days of high school.She leaned forward and we kissed. I could taste her favorite spicygum on her tongue. She kissed my cheek and then my neck, and tin-gles rippled all the way down my body. But these are the goodtimes. She gave me a quick kiss on the lips again and kept her faceclose to mine. And they are never kiss going kiss to end.

I looked into her warm, happy eyes. I love you, I whispered.I love you more. She unbuckled her seat belt. This is senior

year and, yeah, lots of things will be changing. But this shepressed her hand over my heart for a moment and then held my handover her own is forever.


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I laughed a little and gently slid my hand up her neck and aroundthe back of her head to pull her close one last time. Then she climbeddown out of the truck and pulled her duffel from the back. I watchedher jog up to her porch. She stopped at the door and waved, thenwent inside. My chest ached the way it did whenever JoBell left, but Istarted the truck and drove to the shop.

I parked off in the grass like I usually did to let customers use thedriveway. The faded sign squeaked as it swung in the breeze. I couldhardly read SCHMIDT & WRIGHT AUTO on it anymore. It probablyhadnt been painted since before Dad died. I dropped three quartersinto the old pop machine that sat between the two open garage doors,hit the button, and pulled a Mountain Dew out of the slot.

Look who finally shows up! Schmidty said. I laughed. He spunaway from the desk in his dusty old swivel chair. My dads longtimebusiness partner now my partner was taking his lunch breakwith his daily ham sandwich and iced tea. He took a drag on his ciga-rette. How was practice? Coach still bustin your balls about notbeing in his precious weight room this summer?

Coach had been kind of a dick when I first started practicebecause he had this idiot idea I hadnt worked hard enough at FortLeonard Wood. Naw. Ive been blasting right by all the best guys.

Schmidty raised a bushy eyebrow as the Buzz Ellison talk showmusic came on the radio. Is that right?

I even laid out TJ today. You shouldve seen Hang on now. He flicked his cigarette ash in an old coffee can.

Shut up, and let me enjoy my show in peace. He pointed to theHonda Civic GXE in the far bay a natural gas/electric hybridwith solar assist. Someone had some money and really cared aboutcutting emissions. You want to get started? Schmidty said. Oilchange and tire rotation. He called cars like this dirty hippie cars.Wouldnt touch them.


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I went over to the far bay as Buzz Ellison returned from a com-mercial break.

Welcome back, all of you true patriots. Youre listening to the

one, the only, Buzz Ellison, the last bastion of truth and

freedom in a very troubled America, broadcasting live coast

to coast from Conservative CentCom in downtown Boise,

Idaho. The number to call if youd like to be on the program

today is 1-800-555-FREE, thats 1-800-555-3733. More

reports are piling in from across the nation about people who

just arent buying El Presidente Rodriguezs party line about

these government surveillance cards. We have protests on

campuses in Florida, Texas, Iowa, and, of course, a chaotic

situation right here in Boise.

Buzz faded into the background as I went to work. Schmidty andBuzz got all fired up about politics and how Democrats, liberals,and the government were supposedly destroying America. JoBellsometimes argued the exact opposite. I mostly let them all spin on.Politics werent my thing.

Yeah, Buzz! Thats exactly what Ive been saying! Schmidtyspat out bits of his sandwich as he yelled at the radio. I had to laugh.Id told him over and over that he should have his own show. Areyou listening to this? he asked me.

I hadnt been, but I paid attention now.

These are sad days for America. First, terrible unemployment

at 18 percent. Federal debt off the charts, a federal government

shut down over budget disagreements earlier in the year.

Now this. I dont even want to think about whats next. Well,

but I already know. More big government. Remember what


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Ronald Reagan warned us about, patriots, when he said,

Government big enough to give you everything, is also

powerful enough to take it all away.

Yeah! Give em hell, Buzz! Schmidty shouted. Buzz rolled on.

People might ask me, But Buzz, if everyone hates these

new cards, why did the bill pass? Well, thats the problem!

There are people out there . . . I have people on my phone

lines right now waiting to disagree with me, people who are

willing to overlook all the drawbacks in this boneheaded idea.

These idiots are out protesting in the streets too. Its an

absolute mess.

Schmidty stood up and stretched, his stained T-shirt rising toexpose the bottom flap of his big sagging belly. He downed the restof his iced tea and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.I dont know why you signed up with the National Guard. This aintthe same country that your father died defending.

This was like the hundredth time he had said something like that.I dont know why he didnt get it. As soon as Id heard that a kidcould join the Army National Guard at seventeen, I begged Mom tosign the permission form so I could enlist right on my birthday andship out to training two days later. It was the perfect deal. The Guardwould pay for all the auto tech classes I needed to really expand thebusiness, even the advanced tech stuff for working on these newerhybrids, compressed natural gas vehicles, and second-gen solar-assistsystems that Schmidty couldnt stand. With my Guard pay from thesummer and the money Id been saving, Id be able to buy Schmidtyshalf ownership of the garage when he retired in a couple years and setup a real future right here in Freedom Lake.


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photo from my nightstand. It was taken last summer after Id wonfirst place in the senior high school division for bull riding. In thephoto, me and JoBell were leaning against a white wooden fence, myarm around her. Id been riding so much that summer that my brownhair was bleached nearly blond. I was sweating a little and there wasa streak of dirt on my cheek, but JoBell just smiled at me.

I carefully put the photo down and opened the drawer to mynightstand, reaching all the way to the back until I found the littleblack box. For about the millionth time, I looked at the golden ringwith its single diamond. It was a whole quarter carat, and it cost afortune, but JoBell was worth it. I knew we were way too young toget married, but maybe in a year or so we could get engaged. Then,when I had enough money to buy the shop from Schmidty, Id bemaking enough for us to live on. It could work. It really could. I ranmy finger down the glass over JoBells image.

Hank McGrew cut into the silence from my COMMPAD, anolder Samsung Cloud II. Hey, partner, you got . . . a text coming infrom JoBell. Hanks digi-assistant app didnt run so well on a mea-sly three gig and cellular. I picked up the comm.

Hank, put it up.In the window at the lower right corner of the screen, the image

of Hank McGrew gave a thumbs-up and then disappeared. The textblinked on-screen: Hey babe. Becca and me are at the lake. Where are you?

From outside came a high-pitched noise and the crunch of tireson the gravel driveway. I hoped that wasnt Moms car. From thesqueaking sound, it needed something. Hopefully it was only belts.

I looked out my window and sighed, then tapped the TEXT but-ton and said, At home. Mom just got here. I tapped SEND .

Yeah. Hurry up. I want to have fun tonight.

I grinned. Keep your panties on. Ill hurry.Her text came back. No panties tonight. Only the bikini. Come get it.


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Danny? Mom called from downstairs. Nothing to calm hotthoughts about JoBell like Mom shouting. Danny? Where are you?The shadow, that panicked disconnect from reality, was creepinginto her voice worse than it had in a long time. Mom didnt handlestress very well, especially when she was away from home. I alwayshelped her relax when she got here. Id have to move quickly.

Yeah, Mom I started to yell when Hank came back onmy comm.

The National Guards calling, buddy. Thanks for ser . . . vingyour country.

What could the Guard be calling about? Drill wasnt until nextmonth.

Danny! I heard a glass break downstairs.Mom, hang on! Im here! I shouted as I tapped in to the voice

call. Hello?Danny! Mom was nearly to shriek mode. The shadow almost

had her now.A deep voice came from the comm as I reached the bottom of the

stairs. Private First Class Wright?Yes, I said. Mom had her hands up in front of her chest, pick-

ing at the skin around her fingernails and taking little steps as sheshuffled around the living room. The shards of one of her ceramichorse knickknacks littered the floor by the end table. This isWright, I said into my comm.

Oh! There you are. Mom rushed over and hugged me tight. Islipped my arm around her and rubbed her back in the way thatsometimes calmed her down. At first I didnt think you were here, andthen I started to get nervous so I accidentally knocked the horse off

PFC Wright, are you listening? This is Staff Sergeant Meyers.The voice came louder over the comm. I turned away so Mom

couldnt hear Meyers and held the comm away from my mouth. I


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have a call, Mom, I said to her. Into the comm I said, Roger that.Go ahead.

Rattlesnake. Rattlesnake. Rattlesnake.Rattlesnake. Three times. The phrase was only used for one pur-

pose. It meant our Guard unit was being activated.My heart thumped heavy in my chest. Getting this code now

didnt make sense. My unit, the 476th Combat Engineer Company,was already deployed to Iran. They left before I even went to basic.The only soldiers who drilled at the 476th armory outside of FarragutFalls were new privates like me and prior service transfers from otherGuard units soldiers who had moved to the area and switched toour company after most of the others had shipped out. They couldntbe mobilizing us now.

I slid out from Moms hug, smiling and pretending I was almosthappy, like I was talking to one of the guys. Go My mouth sud-denly felt dry. I licked my lips. Go ahead, I said to the sergeant. Icovered the mike on my comm. Mom, have a seat in your chair. Illmake you some tea. A hot cup of chamomile tea always helped relaxMoms nerves. She shuffled to her recliner as I slipped into the kitchen.

Private Wright? said Sergeant Meyers. You there? Prepareto copy.

Yeah. Go ahead. Im here, Sergeant.This is your mobilization call.I wedged the comm between my ear and shoulder as I filled the

teakettle and put it on the stove. Iran or Pakistan?Negative, Sergeant Meyers said. By order of the governor of the

state of Idaho, you are hereby ordered to report to your duty station,476th Engineer Company armory, no later than eighteen hundredhours this evening. He sounded stiff, like he was reading from some-thing. Uniform will be MCU Multinational Combat Uniform.You will receive further instructions upon reporting for duty.


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She had calmed down a little bit, but shed freak if she knew Idbeen activated and had to go on duty. Yeah. Sweeney was hop-ing I could meet him. Take his boat out. You know, fishing andeverything.

Drinking?What? No, Mom. Trying to catch some fish. Maybe play a little

poker.She didnt look completely convinced. Sure. Okay. If youre

staying late, dont be driving.Sure. I took a few steps toward the door to the hallway, then

stopped. This was the absolute wrong time to be called up. Yougoing to be okay?

Go. She waved me away. Have fun with your friends. Youwork too hard taking care of your crazy old mother.

I crossed the kitchen in three big steps, put my arms around her,and kissed the top of her head. Youre not crazy or old, Mom.

Go on now. I love you. She patted my hand as I pulled away.Danny? she said as I reached the door again. Be careful tonight.

I nodded and headed toward my room to get my uniform. Backin the kitchen, the boiling kettle began to scream.


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As you can see, Tom, Im quite close to the disturbance, andwhat began as a protest against Governor Montaine signing the billto nullify the Federal ID Card Act has quickly expanded into counter- protests about a host of issues. Excuse me, sir, can you tell us why youre protesting today?

Yeah, Ill tell ya. Look, I dont care about any stupid ID card law.Im pissed because the government needs to know were sick ofthis, man! Mr. Big Shot Governor so busy talking up new jobs inIdaho, building COMMPADS and electronics in Boise and Idaho Falls.I applied there. Didnt get the job. I cant even afford a comm! Tiredof this!

Come to the Coeur dAlene gun show featuring locallymanufactured Castle Firearms! Under Idaho law, if youre an Idahoresident and buy locally manufactured weapons, federal guncontrol laws do not apply to you. So take advantage of thisopportunity to purchase an AR15 or other quality, locally made fire-arms. Theres even an air rifle range for the kids! This Saturdayat the

Climbing three positions to number five on the country musiccharts, heres Hank McGrew with his latest hit, Rise Up:

Old Merle got home early from the factory today

His wife put on the dinner, said, Itll be okay

For you and me, six kids in our family

Well, Ol Merles daddy taught him to judge from right and wrong

Said, Life will sometimes drop you, but dont stay down for long

Youre an American, not an Ameri-cant


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And when the next day rolled around, Merle went down to

the mill

No jobs that day, but he wont give up

And you know he never will

Cause the Eagle carries the Sword of Justice in her beak

She lands and stands proud on the church steeple peak

As the flag flies over this town . . .

Oh, you cant keep America down

of Democrat senators threatening to filibuster a defense

appropriations bill unless their unemployment package is brought

to the floor for a vote. The Republican leadership countered, saying

the soaring federal deficit would not allow

With the last of the phase-one pipeline system complete, the

New Plymouth natural gas compressor station went online today,

making western Idahos recently discovered extensive natural gas

resources commercially available for the first time. A spokesman at

the plant says that phase two, scheduled to begin within the year,

will focus on distributing natural gas to commercial filling sta-

tions for use in cleaner-running natural gas automobiles. Lynette

Jatherine, KTVB Boise News.

As president, one of my chief responsibilities is upholding the

law. Nothing is more sacred to me than our rights as Americans as

provided for by our Constitution. During my time in the Senate, I

worked to limit the warrantless surveillance power of the National

Security Agency, begun under President Bush and expanded there-

after. As president, I put an end to the practice started by President

Obama and continued until my administration, of using drones or


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other means to kill American citizens without due process. I did

these things because I respect and cherish our Constitutional

rights.

So yes, the new federal identification cards will contain a lot of

personal information in order to streamline access to federal ser-

vices, and it is precisely because these cards will contain such

information that they contain a chip allowing their location to be

tracked. If one of these important cards is lost or stolen, it can

quickly be located. I understand why people, including those in

Idaho, might be upset about the federal governments ability to

track the location of these cards, but I promise the American people

that the location of any federal ID card would never be tracked

except at the request of its owner, or with a proper warrant issued

by a court of law.

sneak peek: divided we fall by trent reedy (excerpt)

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