“If she needs anything else,” the woman said, “I’m more dan happy to help.” From a two-inch crack in the door, she smiled in at me one more time, and then the door closed, cutting us off.
“If you want a bath,” Atticus said, stepping into his boots barefooted, “then let’s go before the water gets cold.” He didn’t even bother to lace the boots up and tie them.
I grabbed a little makeup bag I carried my personal toiletries in and left the room without discussion.
While Atticus sat outside next to the door in a chair reading a magazine, I set the toiletry bag down on a shelf and slipped out of my clothes. Something caught my eye as I hung the dress on a nearby hook: a tiny piece of folded paper lay on a square tile floor piece. I bent over and took it into my fingers, unfolding it slowly, glancing over my shoulder at the door where Atticus sat reading his magazine on the other side. I looked down into the handwritten note I immediately knew had been written just for me. It must’ve been hidden within the folds of the dress.
My heart raced as I read:
Meet me on the lowest floor of the building near the back exet where the water fountins are within ten minutes of Atticus leeving his room when the next scouting party arrives in the street come prepared to leave I have your sister wit me she’ll be waiting for you
I raised my eyes from the paper, cautiously looked over my shoulder again.
I could practically taste my freedom!
Crushing the note in my fist, I looked around the room for a place to hide it, settling with a loose strip of crown moulding that ran along the base of the wall. Crouching, I pried away the end piece from the wall and tucked the note behind it, patting the strip back into place.
I washed up quickly, even though I’d intended to take my time soaking in the water until it turned cold; I got dressed, and then stepped out into the hall.
ATTICUS
I was surprised she was already done. I set the magazine down on the chair in place of myself and escorted her back to my room without a word.
I couldn’t put my finger on it but Thais seemed different after her bath. She was quieter, and she appeared anxious as she stared off at the wall in my room. And instead of burying her face in a book, the way she did every night before she went to sleep, she gazed out the window. Her incessant conversation attempts ceased to exist. And she stopped talking about her sister, which was noteworthy. Eventually I ignored it, despite instinct kicking me in the back of the skull; instinct gave way to acceptance, and I no longer cared.
Two more days passed, and I heard my friend, Peter Whitman, on the other side of the door alerting me of a scouting party that had just arrived.
THAIS
My heart froze when I heard the news muffled through the door. I kept my eyes on the book in my lap, afraid to look up at either of them for fear of the anticipation all over my face giving my secret away. I pretended to read, but I didn’t see the words. All I saw were scenes: me slipping out of the room and hurrying down the stairs; meeting the woman by the fountains on the lowest floor; seeing Sosie again for the first time in weeks and me running into her arms and us escaping together. My heart beat against my ribcage in an eager and restless rhythm; my breath was heavier, and the blood rushed into every limb as if racing to get from one side of my body to the other.
It was time. I was going to see Sosie again.
We were going to escape!
17
ATTICUS
Strapping my gun holster around my chest, I paused suddenly when I felt something amiss on the nightstand. Sliding my gun into the holster, my eyes remained fixed on the things scattered atop the small bedside table, the random items that had always been there, and the one item that was no longer: a pocket-size book on pill identification. It had been there last night, sitting next to the small glass globe lantern, its top left corner poking from beneath a magazine.
“It’s Marion’s party,” Peter Whitman said. “Looks like he’s two soldiers and two horses short this time—can’t wait to hear why.” Peter laughed lightly.
“Yeah, that should be an interesting story,” I said, but it was only a filler response as my mind was off on another plane.
I wanted to believe that the missing book was nothing to be worried about—Thais read a lot, after all—but my instincts were kicking me again, and I couldn’t ignore them this time.
“I think that guy is a douchebag,” Peter said. “If he has anything to do with it, you’ll be overlooked as Overseer and he’ll be taking your spot.”
“I know,” I said, still with my back to the room, centering my attention on the nightstand and its contents.
I opened the drawer. A magnesium fire-starter was missing, I noticed right away.
Thais was still sitting on her cot, her nose buried in a paperback. Why is she so disinterested in Peter’s presence? I knew then that something was going on. She’s planning to run…
“We should get down there,” Peter spoke up.
“Peter,” I said, “I need you to go down ahead of me and keep them busy—better yet, just fill in for me until I can—”
“Wait—what do you mean?” Peter’s eyebrows bunched in his forehead.
Thais’ head shot right up from the book, further confirming my suspicions she was hiding something. She wasn’t interested in anything we had to say before; now it was like something had stung her.
I went over to my desk and grabbed my inventory notebook and put it into Peter’s reluctant hand.
“Fill in for you?” Peter argued. “Are you crazy?”
“I won’t be long. You can handle it; it’s nothing you haven’t seen done dozens of times before.”
“Yeah, but—.” Peter sighed. “This won’t look good on you. If you wanna become Overseer, it’s not exactly the time to be running late or calling in sick—you wait until after you get the job to start slackin’ off, man.”
Thais’ demeanor continued to shift: she looked back down into her book; her fingers shuffled the pages nervously.
“I’ll be done as soon as I can,” I said, and then escorted Peter to the door. “Just tell them I’m indisposed at the moment—they’ll get over it when the supplies start coming off the horses.”
“The citizens will, sure,” Peter pointed out, “but Marion and his party won’t, and you know it.”
“I’ll figure it out.” I ushered Peter into the hall and then shut and locked the door after him.
I looked at Thais immediately. She wouldn’t raise her eyes, but she knew.
Investigating the rest of the room, I took in everything no matter how important or insignificant. In a red milk crate pushed against the desk, a small plastic box that contained emergency fishing gear items was gone; a roll of snare wire that used to sit on the bookshelf was gone; my military sewing repair kit that sat on top of a stack of magazines was also gone; a knife sharpener that hung from a nail had disappeared, and my aluminum canteen had also mysteriously joined the other missing items.
My room may have been messy and unorganized, but I knew where every single thing in it could be found.