Isle of Man

CHAPTER 17

Bad News, Worse News



It’s long past dark when the knock comes at my door.

Getting up from where I lie on the bed, I move to open it, only to remember that I can’t because I’m locked inside.

“It’s locked,” I call out, turning to flop back on the bed.

A key turns in the lock, the door swings open, and Jimmy steps in. I bounce up, thinking that we can make a run for it, but the door closes and the key turns in the lock again.

“Riley let you in?”

Jimmy nods and hands me a sandwich wrapped in a cloth. “I brought ya some dinner. Got a flask of warm tea here, too if you’s thirsty.”

“Thanks,” I say, unwrapping the sandwich and tearing into it, realizing I haven’t eaten anything all day.

Jimmy walks to the window and looks out. The window is black against the night sky, and I can see Jimmy’s reflection in the lamplight on the glass. He looks sad for some reason. I talk at his back in between bites.

“We have to find that marble hand and get away from here now. Maybe you could see if it’s still in the statue room. Or did Finn take it somewhere? And there’s a secret passageway for feeding the stoves, but they’ve locked me out. If you try from your room, you might be able to open it for me. Let me show you where the panel is.”

Jimmy turns around.

“I dun’ wanna leave, Aubrey.”

“What do you mean, you don’t want to leave?”

“I mean, I’m happy here.”

“What? Come on ...”

“I am,” he says. “For the first time since ... well, ya know, since the cove ... I feel like I fit somewhere.”

“You’re talking crazy.”

“I’m crazy?” he asks, stepping closer and pointing at me. “That’s what they’s all sayin’ ’bout you. Said you lost it in there and tore up that statue.”

“You know that isn’t true,” I say, upset that I even need to defend myself to him.

“But you did.”

“Did what?”

“You broke up that statue.”

“Yes, I did. I was trying to find the encryption key, Jimmy. Remember? The whole reason we came to this stupid island in the first place. We didn’t come for games and girls.”

“Is that what this is about? You’s bein’ jealous?”

“I’m not jealous of stupid Bree.”

“Who said anythin’ about Bree? I meant yer jealous of me. That I did so well today in the games.”

“Why would I give piss about some stupid game? And why do you even care about a game, either?”

“Because it’s fun,” he says. “And because it feels good to be good at somethin’.”

“Well, whatever. I’m not jealous of anything, Jimmy. I just wanna get the damn encryption key and go home. What is this sandwich, anyway? Deer meat. Ugh.” I toss it aside.

Jimmy sits beside me on the bed.

“That’s jus’ it,” he says. “It ain’t home back there, Aubrey. And it ain’t home for you no more’n it’s home for me. You cain’t tell me it is.”

“My people are trapped underground, Jimmy.”

“Yeah, I know it. But you coulda let ’em up when we was back there votin’ and ya didn’t.”

“You can’t be serious,” I say. “You’re really thinking about staying here? On the island?”

He nods.

“I wish you’d think about it, too.”

“And just leave Hannah back there alone?”

“She dun’ like me anyhow.”

“But the drones, Jimmy. Think about the drones.”

Jimmy jumps up from the bed and turns to face me, his gray eyes flashing with anger.

“I do think ’bout ’em. Every darn day, Aubrey. Ya think I forgot that they killed my family?”

“Well, we have a chance to stop them with this key.”

“That’s great,” he heaves a sigh. “But it’s too late for my family. And it’s safe here. There ain’t no drones here.”

“What about the serum? Have you thought about that?”

“What serum?” he asks.

“The longevity serum, remember? What will you do living here with people who don’t have it, Jimmy? You wanna end up like Finn? Feeding your own daughters to sharks?”

“I dun’ understand what yer talkin’ ’bout.”

“The serum!” I shout.

“Are you sure you ain’t feelin’ funny?”

“The serum! Back at the lake. Remember?”

“I remember you bein’ upset ’cause Hannah snuck it while we was gettin’ the boat, but what’s that got to do with me?”

“You took it, too. That same night. In the shelter.”

“No, I didn’t,” he says.

“You didn’t?”

“No way.”

“But Hannah showed me the syringe.”

He shakes his head.

“I dunno what she showed you, but I didn’t let nobody put no needle in me.”

Then it hits me like a wave of cold water. Hannah showed me an empty syringe all right, but it could easily have been the one she’d used to inject herself with. She lied. But why? So she could keep the third syringe of serum to study in her lab? Does it even matter why? Suddenly, leaving her back there doesn’t sound so bad. But then the true horror of the situation sinks in, and my face flushes with blood. Jimmy hasn’t had the serum, which means he’ll die, and I won’t. The thought terrifies me.

I leap to my feet and pace the small room.

“We’ve got to get back, Jimmy! We’ve got to get you that serum. Don’t you see what’s happening here? Finn is somehow connected to Dr. Radcliffe. He’s old, he has to be. You saw the skulls. I mean, how old was his daughter? And we can’t trust Hannah, either. She lied about the serum. She sent that damn antimatter along. And now you’re going to die on me, Jimmy!” I grab him by the shirt. “You’re going to die!”

“Whataya mean I’m gonna die?” He looks frightened.

“Not now. But in seventy or eighty years, you will.”

“Maybe they was right about you losin’ yer head.”

I pull him to me and hug him tight

“I don’t want you to die, Jimmy! Not without me.”

“Maybe get some rest tonight,” he says, hugging me back uncertainly. “We’ll talk some more tomorrow, okay?”

“Tell me you’ll go back with me.”

“I can’t tell ya that right now.”

I release him and turn away.

“Fine. Just leave me alone, Jimmy. I’ll figure a way out of here without you.”

“Aubrey, listen to—”

“I said get out!”

Jimmy drops his head and walks to the door. He raises his hand to knock, but stops and turns back first.

“They ain’t bad people here, Aubrey. I told Finn you’s under some stress. Told him ya never meant no harm to nothin’. He said they’ll let you out tomorrow when you’s cooled down some.”

“Gee, thanks for vouching for me. Now get out!”

Jimmy knocks on the door. A few moments later the door opens.

I hear Riley say: “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy says, slipping past him into the hall. “He’ll be fine tomorrow.” Then the door closes and the key turns in the lock.

I’ll be fine tomorrow? Screw you!

Alone again, I spend hours looking out the window at the camp. People gather around their fires, telling stories or playing music, just as they did the night before. But everything seems somehow different to me now. Like the world is a party and I wasn’t invited. Why does everything I think I know always turn out to be wrong? I can’t trust Hannah now. At all. I don’t know where Jimmy’s coming from anymore. I’m not even sure this encryption-key treasure hunt isn’t just some big joke Radcliffe is playing on us from beyond his watery grave. And I can’t see how Finn is connected to the Foundation, either. He’s so very different from Radcliffe. And he seems to love his people.

But what’s killing me most is the thought of Jimmy getting old and dying without me. No way can I let that happen. Ever. There’s no doubt that I have to convince him to come back with me now. I just hope that Hannah still has that serum.

Late in the night I hear the door creak open and then shut again. I sit up in the dark, wondering who’s in my room. Then Junior jumps onto the bed and licks my face. I know Jimmy let him in to comfort me. I scratch Junior’s ears, and he lies down beside me and falls right to sleep. How great it must feel to be a dog—or, as in his case, a fox—and to not have to worry all the time. To eat and sleep and play and love and just always be in the moment. Seems to me the human brain comes with a curse. Maybe Jimmy was right not to take the serum.

I keep telling myself that I don’t need to have it all figured out right now. Tomorrow’s a new day. Isn’t that what people say? Just for tonight I’ll try to be like Junior and sleep without dreams. I can always worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.