“Daniel,” he said with a smile approaching warmth.
Sebastian’s lips tightened further as Daniel confirmed himself. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t a friendly look. I tried to sit up straight and say something to defuse the tension but instead I slipped and fell forward. Daniel and Sebastian both jumped forward to catch me but bumped into each other instead.
Mrs Cole tutted and helped me up by my arm. “So, Mr Cole, we have some sick children to help, do we?”
“Seems that way,” Mr Cole answered.
“All right then. I’d best get this one upstairs. Seb, you can feed them. There is bread and cheese in the kitchen. Mr Cole could you give me a hand please?”
The Coles slipped their arms under me and lifted. I blacked out.
~*~
When I woke my head was nestled in the most comfortable cushions I’d ever felt, plumped up to perfection. Sunlight peeked through lace curtains. I was snuggly, warm, and above all – clean. The heat from my forehead was gone and my ankle had been strapped up tight. It still hurt but the warmth from the cut had faded. Mrs Cole sat by my bed reading a novel.
“You had a fever,” she said matter-of-factly.
“How long have I been sleeping?”
“Two days and nights,” she answered.
I sat up fast and my head spun. “Two days? Why didn’t someone wake me?”
“You needed it. Sit down now. You need even more rest to let that ankle heal. You’re lucky you found us when you did. And I’ve stitched up the wound on your arm too.” She shook her head. “In my day girls did what they were told and didn’t get into trouble like that.”
“Thank you,” I said, touching my arm gently. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
“Don’t mention it, dear.”
The bedroom door opened and Angela bustled through in a new dress. “Mrs Cole I’ve changed the bedding in the master bedroom and… Mina, you’re awake!”
I smiled. It was good to see her. “I am.”
She dumped a pile of clean bedding below my feet and leaned across the bed to embrace me. “Finally! You had us all worried. Sebastian and Daniel have been fighting over who mops your brow.” She rolled her eyes. Mrs Cole raised her eyebrows and shook her head. “We all thought you were going to die for a little while. It was scary.”
“You look so pretty,” I said. She really did. She wore a floral dress with long billowing sleeves that was delicate but still practical, the hem-line finishing just below her knees. She wasn’t wearing her headscarf and the curls framed her face.
Angela curtseyed and Mrs Cole beamed. “Pretty as a picture. They belonged to my eldest daughter. She died before we even moved to Area 14 but I just couldn’t bring myself to throw them away. I’m so glad I didn’t because now they have a new purpose.”
I remembered Sebastian telling me about Eve, the pregnancy and the involvement of the Resistance. There was something off about Mrs Cole but I couldn’t put my finger on it. She was kind enough. She tended to my wounds when I was vulnerable. She even seemed to care about Angela. There was a slight vagueness about her which reminded me of Angela’s mum. Yet a Blemished woman would never be married to a man who worked in London so she could not have had the Operation. I watched her as she smiled warmly at Angela.
“It’s amazing here, Mina,” Angela gushed. “They have cows and horses and chickens.”
Mrs Cole chuckled. “Angie has been helping me with the chores. She’s a grafter, this one. A real hard worker.”
I smiled nervously. Only Theresa called her Angie. “Sounds great.”
“I know,” Angela mused. “I hope we never leave here.”
“Me neither, dear,” Mrs Cole said.
A chill ran down my spine.
46
MRS COLE SET down hot soup with a smile and left. I was still in bed. Angela had gone to help set up for dinner, leaving me alone apart from occasional visitors – as though I was a patient in a hospital. Daniel seemed tense during his visit and told me not to trust the Coles, but I wasn’t sure if it was just the jealousy talking. Sebastian popped in, but he had to get back to farm work. The only real company I had was Splicer, a tabby cat missing half an ear and with burrs stuck in his fur. He padded up and down the bed, rubbing his tatty head against my arms. I heard the others laughing to private jokes and ate my soup unenthusiastically, the warmth made me sleepy and I drifted into a settled slumber.
The days following our arrival at Cole’s Farm went by in a blur. People called into my room at regular intervals. Mrs Cole fussed over my ankle insisting that I kept the weight from it. Daniel shared my concerns about Angela who had bonded instantly with Mrs Cole. He told me how she always changed the subject when he tried to discuss leaving.
“I’m worried she’s becoming too attached,” he said the following afternoon. “She’s replaced her mum with Sebastian’s.” He grimaced as he said Sebastian’s name. I’d gathered that they hadn’t exactly become the best of friends. “She loves it here.” He leaned closer from the chair by the bed. His eyes were thunderstorms again, worried. “There’s something weird about them, the parents. Her in particular. The other day she started calling Angela, Eve.”
“That’s the name of Sebastian’s sister,” I said.
“The weird thing was that Angela didn’t even correct her.” He pulled at his hair. Daniel’s foot tapped an anxious rhythm and I found myself wanting to take his hand and calm him. “Him I don’t trust. He has his wife running any little errand for him, fetching drinks, making food. He gets people twisted round his little finger. He has me and Sebastian working on the farm. It’s good honest work. But there’s something…” he trailed off and sighed. “I dunno. It’s like he knows how to control people.”
I nodded.
“And he asks about you all the time. Where you’re from, your dad’s name… all kinds of stuff. I try to change the subject but Angela just answers all the questions. You know how she is.”
I did. She loved to chat. In the first few days I met her she told me more about herself than any of my school-mates at Area 10.
“Daniel?” Mr Cole called from downstairs. “We’re milking Bessie. Want to join us?”
He rolled his eyes and said to me. “See what I mean. The worst thing is… he makes you think it’s your idea.” He turned and shouted through the doorway. “Coming!”
“At least we’re safe from the Enforcers here,” I said. “Don’t worry, as soon as my ankle is fixed we’ll go. How long ‘til we have to go to Matthew’s set up?”
“Three days,” he said. “I’ve checked a map. It’s about half a day’s walk from here. We can stick to the woods too. We don’t have to go back into Area 14.”
“That’s good.” I took Daniel’s hand. “Thank you for looking out for me.”
He grinned. His lopsided smile was back.
My chest felt warm after he left. I shook my head, knowing that I had to pull myself together.
As soon as Daniel left Sebastian popped his head in the doorway. “Hey, you free for another visitor?”
I smiled. “Sure, come on in.”
“It’s so good to have you here,” he said, settling himself down on the bed next to me.
I laughed. “You’ve said that to me like a hundred times now.”
The sun poured in through the window, highlighting reddish-brown streaks in his dark hair. He was beautiful but it didn’t seem to have the same effect on me anymore.
“Well, every time I say it, I mean it. So how are you today?”
“I’m fine. Your mum insists on me staying horizontal though.”
“I bet you’re bored silly.”
I laughed. “Maybe. But I should be fixed up soon. Then we have to meet my uncle’s people.”
Sebastian sighed. “You’re still going?”
“Of course I am. I have to get to the Clans and find my dad,” I exclaimed.
“Because your uncle told you?”
“Yes.”
“The uncle who you didn’t even think existed? The one who turned up on the same day your dad disappeared?”
“Yes,” I said sternly.
“Mina, when are you going to realise that you are better off here?”
There was something in his tone that I didn’t like. “When are you going to realise that you don’t know what’s best for me.”
“You’re so stupid,” he snapped. “You believe some creepy guy who turns up and pretends to be your uncle––”
“He is my uncle. He knew stuff about my dad… he got arrested to save us!” My anger caused my palms to tingle and a book fell from the bedside table.
“That’s what you think,” he continued. “You moon over that Blemished boy when you could be with me. You could have a nice life here. It would make everything complete.”
“What are you talking about?” I said slowly.
“Mum wants a girl here. I want a girl here. I want you here.”
“You’re trying to trap a girl? What is this? Some sick way to get grandchildren?”
“What’s wrong with wanting grandchildren?”
“Nothing. But you’re trying to force this life on me! And I don’t want it,” I snapped. “Get out of here.” A flash ripped through my mind and the door swung open violently. “Get out! NOW!”
Sebastian looked at me and then the door, his face a picture of agony. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I just… I’m sorry.”
He ran out of the room. Mr Cole, who had been crossing the landing at the same time, looked at me with curiosity.
“It’s strange how the door opened,” he said, fixing me with his eyes, “and yet the two of you were nowhere near it.”
I felt a trickle of cold sweat on my neck. “It is strange. Perhaps one of the windows is open.” I forced a bright smile.
He frowned. “Perhaps.”
And then he disappeared.
~*~
I got out of the bed and dressed into my old clothes. They hadn’t been washed and I had to find them out of the back of a wardrobe, it was as though someone didn’t want me to find them. My ankle felt fine to walk on. I peeled back some of the dressing noticing how the bruising had faded and the angry red had died down. It was time to leave. I walked across to the bedroom door and turned the handle. The door wouldn’t budge.
“Hey,” I shouted as I banged on the door. “Could someone unlock the door?”
Why would they lock my door? I moved to the window and saw Sebastian and his father having a tense conversation. Sebastian’s arms flapped up and down and his dad straightened his back defensively. Angela, Daniel and Mrs Cole were nowhere to be seen.
“Mina?” shouted a muffled voice. “Mina, are you awake?”
“Yes!” I ran over to the far wall. “Daniel?” I pressed my ear to the wall.
“Is your door locked?” he said.
“Yes. Is yours?”
“Yes, I’m locked in too.”
“What about Angela?”
There was a pause. “No.”
“Why would they lock us up but not Angela?” The realisation hit me. “Angela is in on it.”
“Yesterday I tried to persuade her that we had to leave and she got upset. I think she went to Mrs Cole and… the next thing I know I’m in a locked room.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No,” he said. “I think they drugged me. Don’t eat anything they give you.”
“Okay.” I thought about how much I had been sleeping, how tired I’d been. “Maybe they’ve been drugging me too, all this time. But I don’t understand––”
“Me neither,” he admitted. “But we have to get the hell out of here. Is there a window in your room?” He hesitated. “Do you think you can unlock the door with your gift like you did with Murgatroyd’s gate?”
“Probably,” I said.
“Are the Coles outside?” he asked.
I rushed to the window and back. “Sebastian and his father are.”
“Angela and Mrs Cole will be downstairs. If Angela was up here we’d hear her,” he said. “Okay. Try it. But lock the door immediately after. We need to use it at the right time.”
I ran over to the door. It didn’t take long to muster the energy after a replenishing sleep. The lock clicked open easily. I clicked it locked and then ran back to the room.
“It worked,” I said.
I heard Daniel sigh. “That’s good. Now we just need to come up with a plan.”
47
I WATCHED THEM out of the window, my nose pressed against the glass, Sebastian and his father. Mr Cole pointed and yelled. Sebastian, with his head low, moved in the direction of his dad’s finger, carrying out his orders, whatever they were. I moved back to the door and listened. There was movement on the stairs, the slow plodding movement of Mrs Cole. I ran back to the bed and slipped under the covers. I pulled them right up to my chin and then rolled on my side to feign sleep.
She turned the key in the lock and the handle rattled. I heard the slight squeak of the hinges before her feet shuffled across the carpet. She paused for a moment and then placed a tray carefully on the bedside table. She hesitated again and I felt her eyes on me, watching. The moment hung in the air for what felt like hours. Eventually her feet shuffled away and the door squeaked shut. I waited for the lock to click and listened for her footsteps on the stairs before I jumped out of bed. I ran over to the wall.
“She’s gone,” I whispered. “She didn’t deliver you food?”
“No,” Daniel replied. “She wouldn’t risk it. I’m too strong, I could overpower her easily. I’m guessing they would wait until the farmers are done in the fields and then he’d be in here with his gun making sure I don’t try anything.”
“Sebastian and his dad are still outside.”
“Good,” Daniel said. “Are your things in your room?”
“No. Only my clothes.”
“You’ll have to get to Angela first – she can tell us where they are.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“What are we going to do if Angela doesn’t want to come with us?”
Daniel paused. “She will.”
“She’s under their spell, Daniel.”
“We can’t leave her here. These people are crazy.”
“To us they are. Perhaps to her they will be nothing more than a loving home, the kind of home she wants to have,” I said.
“She’s my sister. I can’t give up on her.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I’m sorry. I won’t give up on her either. But we have to give her the choice.”
“Listen, Mina,” Daniel said his voice firmer now. “I love Angela.” He said awkwardly. “You know I do. She’s my little sister.”
I thought of my conversation with Angela in the woods and cringed.
“Do you think they would look after her?” he said after a pause.
“Yes,” I replied. “I really do. That woman looks at her like she’s the reincarnation of her dead daughter.”
“Ok,” he said. “We’ll go to Angela. We’ll give her the choice and then she has to make up her own mind. She’s not stupid. She knows what’s going on here. She’s a lot more grown up than you think. I know she’ll make the right decision.”
I nodded to myself. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Just get me out of here. You’ll have to find Angela and you’ll have to be quiet about it. Silent.”
“I got it.”
“Good luck,” he said.
“That sounds too much like good-bye,” I said with a gulp.
“It’s not good-bye because I know you can do it. I believe in you.”
~*~
The lock clicked back. I eased the door open a crack and pushed my eye to the gap. It was clear. Carefully, I opened the door wider, just wide enough to slip through. I was barefoot, carrying my shoes, so I moved silently along the carpeted landing. I had no idea where to find Angela. The most logical place w
ould be with Mrs Cole. Downstairs someone laughed. I peeked through the banisters to see Angela and Mrs Cole folding laundry. Angela touched Mrs Cole on the arm and the woman returned with a beaming smile. Persuading Angela to help was going to be difficult. I waited for Mrs Cole to leave and then I padded down the stairs.
“Angela?” I whispered.
She looked at me with wide eyes. “What the hell are you doing down here? You should be upstairs. Where’s Daniel?”
“In his room. I have to get him out. Angela, we have to leave. She’s got us locked up. It isn’t safe.”
“I know,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
She took my arm and led me into a corner of the room. She leaned forward and spoke quietly. “I mean that I know we can’t stay here. As soon as I knew they locked you up I’ve been looking for a way to get the keys from her. But she’s so guarded. I’ve been working her down, trying to persuade her to let me deliver you both the food, but she’s clever and she doesn’t trust me enough yet.”
“Oh, thank God,” I said. “I thought you were with them.”
We heard footsteps.
“Quick, in here,” Angela hissed.
She pointed to a store cupboard. I climbed in with the mop and dust pans. She put her finger to her lips and closed the door. I watched them through the slats in the wood. Angela turned back and began folding up a shirt. Mrs Cole bundled into the room, still smiling. I spotted the keys on her belt.
“Now, dear, how do we fold shirts?” Mrs Cole asked.
Angela neatly displayed her talents and Mrs Cole smiled.
“That’s right, dear,” she said. “You’re really getting the hang of it now. Tomorrow I will show you how to iron a crease into trousers.”
“I’d like that,” Angela said. I hoped that it was only me who noticed the tremble in her voice.
The front door opened, letting in the howl of the wind outside. Mr Cole stomped into the lounge, still clutching his rifle.
Mrs Cole tutted. “Really, Vincent. Take your boots off in the house.”
She was ignored by her husband. “Enforcers are on their way.”
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