“Sure,” the girl said, but Jonah had the impression that she was just trying to get away. She followed the gangly boy into the cave.
Jonah watched the next few kids, watched the way Mr. Hodge seemed so determined that each kid touch the rock, that each hand linger on the rock for at least a couple of seconds. It reminded him of something from a movie, a scene he couldn’t quite remember. It was a movie he’d watched at school, in science…the one about that horrible epidemic maybe? Oh, yeah—when the scientists went into their laboratories, where all the deadly viruses were kept, they’d had to place their hands on a scanner to get in, to prove who they really were.
There couldn’t be any dangerous viruses in the cave, could there? Not with it hanging open, the air circulating freely…
Jonah saw his mistake.
“Katherine!” He spoke softly, through gritted teeth, because Mr. Hodge was looking back at him, looking at all the kids coming down the hill.
Katherine turned her head—maybe it would just look as if she’d heard an unusual birdcall and was trying to listen more closely.
Jonah pretended to trip, stumbling against Katherine’s back.
“That’s a hand scanner!” he hissed in her ear. “Like fingerprinting! They’re checking our identities, making sure we really are the babies from the plane, I bet. Whatever you do, don’t touch that rock! Just pretend.”
He watched Mr. Hodge pressing another kid’s hand against the rock, forcing the kid’s palm flat against the stone.
Jonah changed his mind.
“No,” he told Katherine. “Run! Run back to Mom and Dad, tell them we’re in danger, tell them to come and save us….”
Katherine shook her head, nervous red spots standing out on her pale face.
“What could I say that they’d believe?” she whispered. “No. I’m staying with you.”
Jonah thought about grabbing his sister, holding her back, dragging her away to Mom and Dad and safety. Or just bolting himself. The muscles in the backs of his legs tingled, wanting to take off, all but screaming, Run! All the adrenaline in his body seemed to have pooled there. It was like the moment in a basketball game when every cell in his body seemed to know, Time for your breakaway…go! Now!
But what about all these other kids, the ones he and Chip had never gotten a chance to warn? The ones stepping so trustingly into the cave? The ones marveling so stupidly to Mr. Hodge, “Oh, you’re right! It is cold!”? The ones who were actually giggling?
How could he leave them behind?
The kids in front of him kept stepping up to the rock, then into the cave. The kids behind him pressed forward, trapping him and Katherine and Chip between them and the stone wall, the rock, and the cave. Even if Jonah decided to run now, he couldn’t.
The girl in front of Jonah moved up to the stone wall—it was Andrea Crowell; Jonah recognized the braids from behind. She pressed her hand firmly against the rock, tilted her head to the side, deliberating. She turned to Mr. Hodge.
“Does it have something to do with oxidation levels?” she asked.
Behind Andrea, Katherine held her hand toward the wall. Only Jonah was in a position to see that she didn’t actually touch it, that she kept a millimeter of air between her fingertips and the rock.
She stood like that for a long time, then slipped past Andrea into the cave while Mr. Hodge was explaining to Andrea, “I don’t know; I’m not a scientist. I’ve heard the explanation, and it might be something about—what did you call it? Oxi—oops, hold on there, young lady, did you touch the rock?”
He was talking to Katherine now; he’d seen her trying to slip past.
“She did—she took forever,” Jonah complained. “Isn’t it my turn now?”
Quickly, probably hoping that nobody would notice, Mr. Hodge looked back toward Gary, who was watching from the end of the line. Gary gave a small nod, and Mr. Hodge let Katherine past.
Jonah stepped up to the rock. His knees were trembling now; all the adrenaline seemed to have drained away.
Had he just saved his sister—or doomed her?
TWENTY-SEVEN
They were all in the cave now, lined up on four rows of benches in a surprisingly large, open rock room. One dim lightbulb glowed overhead, casting ghostly shadows on everyone’s face. Mr. Hodge had handed off “feel the rock” duties to Gary right after Chip entered the cave, so they hadn’t had a chance to whisper to any of the other kids. Jonah was feeling jumpy again. He’d picked the seat closest to the exit, and he had a plan: if anything happened—any strange odor arising out of the deeper part of the cave he couldn’t see into, any sound of an airplane, anyone showing up with ray guns or futuristic sunglasses—he’d grab Katherine and Chip and take off running. He’d go for help.
Nothing could happen as long as he sat close to the doorway out. He was sure of it.
From his vantage point, Jonah could see Gary standing by the mysterious spot on the rock wall outside. Gary touched the rock with one finger, then stood there staring, his eyes narrowed, concentrating. Then he touched the rock again, a quick brush of his forefinger. He turned and walked into the cave.
“Is that everyone?” Mr. Hodge asked.
“All good,” Gary said, which was a strange answer.
“Very well, then,” Mr. Hodge said, smiling.
Gary nodded.
Jonah heard the noise first, a sort of grinding that seemed to be coming from just the other side of the rock wall. Or maybe, inside the rock wall. He peered out through the entryway, blinking at the sunshine that filtered down through the trees. And then the sunlight seemed to narrow, to dim.
The entryway was closing.
“No!” Jonah screamed.
He threw himself toward the opening, toward the last rays of sunlight.