“Yup. A few of those kids were staking a plot right down the hall before I rigged the lights. But they left a few hours ago.” Hank eyed Juliette’s wrist. “What time is it, anyway?”
Juliette glanced at her watch. “It’s a quarter past two.” She saw he was about to ask another question. “In the afternoon,” she said.
“Thank you.”
“We’re going to try and catch up with them,” Juliette said. “Can I leave you to handle these lights? You can’t draw this much power. And get more people to move up from here. The farms in the Mids are doing much better, or they were when I was here. And if you have people looking for work, they can use hands in Mechanical.”
Hank nodded and struggled to his feet. Raph was already heading to the exit, his coveralls spotted with sweat. Juliette clasped Hank on the shoulder before heading off as well.
“Hey,” Hank called out. “You said what time it was. But what day is it?”
Juliette hesitated at the door. She turned and saw Hank gazing at her, his hand shielding his eyes. “Does it matter?” she asked. And when Hank didn’t respond, she supposed it didn’t. All the days were the same now, and every one numbered.
54
Jimmy decided to search for Elise on two more levels before turning back. He had begun to suspect that he’d missed her, that she’d run inside a level after her animal or to use the bathroom and he’d gone right by. Most likely, she was back at the farms with everyone else while he was stomping up and down the silo alone.
At the next landing, he checked inside the main door, saw nothing but darkness and silence, called out for Elise, and debated going even one level further. Turning back to the stairwell, a flash of brown caught his eye above. He shielded his old eyes and peered up through the green gloom to see a boy peering over the rails at him. The kid waved. Jimmy did not wave back.
He headed for the stairs with a mind of returning to the lower farms, but he soon heard the patter of light footsteps spiraling down toward him. Another kid to look after, he thought. He didn’t wait for the boy, but continued along. It took a turn and a half before the child caught up to him.
Jimmy turned to berate the kid for bugging him, but he recognized the boy up close. The brown coveralls and the wiry mop of corn-colored hair. It was the kid who had chased Elise through the bazaar.
“Hey,” the boy hissed, breathing hard. “You’re that guy.”
“I’m that guy,” Jimmy agreed. “I suppose you’re looking for food. Well, I don’t have a thing—”
“No.” The kid shook his head. He had to be nine or ten. About the same age as Miles. “I need you to come with me. I need your help.”
Everyone needed Jimmy’s help. “I’m a bit busy,” he said. He turned to go.
“It’s Elise,” the boy said. “I followed her here. Through the mines. Some people up there won’t let her go.” He glanced up the stairwell, his voice a whisper.
“You’ve seen Elise?” Jimmy asked.
The boy nodded.
“What do you mean, people?”
“It’s a bunch of them from that church. My dad goes to their Sundays.”
“And you say they have Elise?”
“Yeah. And I found her dog. Her dog was trapped behind a busted door a few levels down from here. I penned it up so it couldn’t get loose. And then I found where they’re keeping Elise. I tried to get to her, but some guy told me to scram.”
“Where was this?” Jimmy asked.
The boy pointed up. “Two levels,” he said.
“What’s your name?”
“Shaw.”
“Good work, Shaw.” Jimmy hurried to the stairwell and started down.
“I said up from here,” the boy said.
“I need to grab something,” Jimmy told him. “It’s not far.”
Shaw hurried after him. “Okay. And look, mister, I want you to know how hungry I was. But that I wasn’t going to eat the dog.”
Jimmy paused and allowed the boy to catch up. “I didn’t think you would,” he said.
Shaw nodded. “Just so Elise knows,” he said. “I want to make sure she knows I would never do that.”
“I’ll make sure she knows,” Jimmy said. “Now c’mon. Let’s hurry.”
Two levels down, Jimmy peeked inside a dark hallway; he played his flashlight across the walls, then turned guiltily to Shaw, who crowded behind him. “Went too far,” Jimmy admitted.