by P. J. Hoover
“I didn’t say that. Don’t say anything!” I scream to Ethan.
Doctor Bingham walks slowly and tears Ethan’s pack away from him. Then he unzips it and starts pulling things out. He’s looking for the Code.
“It’s not in there,” I say. “I told you that we didn’t find it.”
“You told me it didn’t exist,” Doctor Bingham says. “But I think I’ll find the map and go looking myself.”
I have to get the pack from him. We can’t have him finding the map or the center piece of the Deluge Segment. Those could bring him right back to the Code.
“Don’t let him near Mom’s pack!” I scream, and I run for it, hoping to deceive him. She, of the three of us, doesn’t have anything of value in it.
My deception doesn’t work for a second. He reaches into Ethan’s bag and pulls out the circular artifact.
“Now what is this?” he says.
My mind spins. I can’t think of any way out of this. I glance to Ethan, begging him for help.
“It’s a key,” Ethan says. “You have to hold it over the opening of the cave.”
“Ethan, no!” I yell, putting as much anger and betrayal in my voice as possible.
“I’m sorry, Hannah. He’s going to figure it out. Maybe if we tell him, he’ll let us go.”
Doctor Bingham actually smiles. He nods at the four guards who lower their weapons. “Go on, Ethan.”
Ethan sighs. “If you hold it over the opening, it casts a shadow. You have to make sure you angle it just right, and when you do, you’ll see four symbols. Those unlock a secret tunnel. Those are your answer.”
Doctor Bingham narrows his eyes. “Show me.”
“Don’t do it!” I say.
“I have to, Hannah,” Ethan says. He walks toward the edge of the cave opening. I want to yank him back because he’s way too close.
“Step back, Ethan,” I say. This is not part of any good plan. A good plan would be us running away while Doctor Bingham looks for the alleged symbols.
“Ethan is going to show me, or I’ll push him in,” Doctor Bingham says. He raises a hand and rests it on Ethan’s back.
Wait, what! There’s no way I can wrestle a gun from one of the guards. I need to do something else.
I rush forward and grab for Ethan, but my stomach lurches as I realize how close I am to the edge of Krubera Cave. Vertigo hits, and my head spins.
“Hannah!” I hear Mom shout, and she runs for me.
“I’ve had enough of you, Hannah Hawkins,” Doctor Bingham says, and he shoves Ethan out of the way and grabs for me instead. But he misjudges his steps and hooks his foot around the safety rope Adgur and Daur are pulling from the cave. It throws him off balance, and his arms wave in the air as he tries to find something to hold on to. But there’s nothing around, except me and Ethan. The center piece of the Deluge Segment flies from his hands, falling into the mouth of the cave.
Doctor Bingham grabs for me. I shift, and he catches the strap of my pack instead. I lean out, way too close to the edge of the precipice. Things begin to slip from my pockets, falling into the cave below: my phone, my thermometer, energy bars. Ethan grabs hold of one of my arms and Adgur and Daur grab the other. But Doctor Bingham’s weight is too much. Daur tries to reach with his free hand for Doctor Bingham. The straps of the pack rip as panic fills his face. It’s holding on by only a thread, and then finally the straps break, and Doctor Bingham, president and CEO of Amino Corp, tumbles over the side of the crevasse and vanishes from sight as he falls into the mouth of Krubera Cave.
CHAPTER 35
ETHAN PULLS ME AWAY FROM THE EDGE OF THE CAVE.
My legs wobble as I sink to the ground and scoot backward. Mom rushes over to me, grabbing me in a hug to comfort me, but I’m shaking uncontrollably because that had been way too close.
“Another damned body retrieval,” Adgur says to Daur in halting English, as if this is an everyday occurrence. “Daur, you radio the police.”
At the word “police,” my chest tenses, but there’s no way around it. We have to face the real world. Our journey will eventually devolve into nothing but rumors. Teenagers trying to find something that didn’t exist. And Doctor Bingham? I have no idea what the rumors will say about his part in all this.
With the threat of the police, the four guards take off, running, never looking back. They jump in a nearby truck and drive off, tires throwing rocks as they skid away. I don’t know if Doctor Bingham hired them local or brought them from the States. Either way, I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again.
While Adgur and Daur radio the authorities and begin the body retrieval, I wait for the world to settle around me.
It’s a couple days before we can leave Gagra. Even though people have died and vanished in Krubera Cave before, the authorities need our statement. We all make sure that we’re on exactly the same page before we talk to them, saying we stuck to the main path. That we’d never seen either Ethan’s father or tour guide Scott while we were down there. The authorities nod as if this kind of thing happens all the time. But Scott was a local favorite, so there are a couple spelunking societies that want our story, too, just in case they decide to go looking for the two of them. Even if they do, they aren’t going to find him. Scott and Mr. Oliver are beyond the hidden entrance. We consider trying to retrieve the center piece of the Deluge Segment, but decide that it’s safer there than anywhere else. Even if someone finds it, they won’t have any idea what it is.
After we’ve quelled as many rumors as we possibly can, it’s on to Moscow, to visit the American Embassy. Since Mom has been off-grid for eleven years, she needs a new passport. Ethan’s phone is trashed, and mine is lost, along with all the pictures I took along the way. So much for bringing images of the scrolls back for Uncle Randall to study.
With a not-so-quick stop into the nearest cell phone store, I’m able to buy a new one. No sooner is my new phone activated, a million messages begin to ping through. There are over a hundred texts and a full voicemail box of messages both from Lucas and Uncle Randall.
“So what’s really up with this Lucas guy anyway?” Ethan asks as we sit there in a coffee shop in downtown Moscow. Mom’s out seeing what she can find to wear since she’s been wearing the same thing for years.
“I told you he’s my best friend.”
Ethan looks skeptical. “How many times did he text you? A thousand?”
“He was worried.”
Ethan shakes his head. “Yeah, okay, you just keep telling yourself that. But he likes you way more than as a friend.”
“He does not,” I say, shaking my head because Ethan’s crazy. Then I dial Lucas’s number.
“Hannah!” he says, and just that like I am firmly replanted in this world.
I promise Lucas that I’m okay. That I will tell him everything when I get back, which should be in the next couple days. I tell him to make sure and let Uncle Randall know. But I don’t tell Lucas about Mom. Not yet.
We left Boston in June, and now it’s closing in on August as we board a private jet in Moscow for our return flight. We have to stop in London, so it takes us nearly fourteen hours to get back, but finally we land at Logan International Airport.
Three people wait for us as we leave the terminal. Lucas is there, holding Castor and Pollux in a pouch around his neck. I can’t help but smile when they poke their darling heads out at the sound of my name. Ethan’s mom is there also. Ethan called ahead and filled her in on most everything, so she would know what to expect. It was only fair that she knew ahead of time that her husband wasn’t coming back. Ethan walks to his mom, who starts to cry, as she shakes her head and hugs her son.
Uncle Randall stands there, too, holding a crutch under his armpit because he’s got a cast on his leg nearly up to his hip. When he sees Mom, disbelief flows down his face like water. He mouths her name and makes like he’s going to move forward, but the crutch and cast make running out of the question. Mom runs to him and grabs her brother in a hug
that makes my heart melt into a puddle.
“They missed you,” Lucas says, pulling the pouch off from over his neck, returning Castor and Pollux to me.
“Thank you for taking care of them,” I say, and I hug Lucas and kiss him on the cheek.
“I missed you, too, Hannah,” Lucas says. “Jeez, don’t do that to me again, okay? Or next time, you have to take me with you. I don’t care what we have to tell my parents. Do you have any idea how many times I tried to text you?”
“Over two hundred?” I say because I’d counted on the flight back.
Lucas cringes. “Was it that many? Sorry, I didn’t realize. But come on. You vanished.”
“I told you exactly where I was going.”
“Which may as well have been another planet,” Lucas says. “No, wait, at least there are satellites out in space. We might have at least had a consistent signal that way.”
I give him another hug. “Thanks for caring.”
Ethan and his mom head home as does Lucas, and Mom, Uncle Randall, and I head to Easton Estate. Back in my own house—my own shower—water pours down on me. I wash away every memory of albino insects, dirt floors, and weeks without showers. Once I dry off and dress, I visit the animals, all of whom, even King Tort, act thrilled to see me. I’ve never appreciated Easton Estate more than I do today.
I want to give Mom her space because she hasn’t been home in eleven years, but she’s already waiting for me when I walk into the dining room.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s touched our rooms since I left,” Mom says.
I shrug, acting like it’s no big deal. “We have enough space. There was no reason to.” The true reason is that I wanted to hold onto my parents in that small way. Maybe it was my subconscious hope that they were still alive.
Mom’s also changed clothes and showered. She motions at herself. “I’m guessing my clothes are totally out of style.”
I bite my lip as I choose my words. “Well, high-waisted jeans are kind of coming back. But the polka-dots have to go.”
I myself am back in my favorite pair of skinny jeans, my pink Uggs, and a black T-shirt that says TALK N Er Dy TO ME.
Mom pulls at the waist of her jeans. “I could borrow some of your clothes until we go shopping.”
“Done,” I say. We are about the same size now.
“You’ve grown so much, Hannah,” Mom says. “And I missed it all.”
“I’m still growing,” I say. “Studies show that females continue to grow until their late teens.”
Mom smiles. “Good. Because I promise you this: You may get sick of me and never want me around again, but I’m not going to miss one more minute of your life.”
The next day everyone regroups at Easton Estate. Chef Lilly makes the best meal in the entire world, including Spanakopita and Lentil-Barley burgers. And even though it’s only lunchtime, she makes S’mores Cake-In-A-Jar for dessert. Lucas has three servings. I sit with Ethan on one side of me and Lucas on the other in the dining room, and the three of us make the most awkward small talk because neither guy seems to be willing to accept the other. That’ll have to change. They’ll have to get used to each other because I have no plans of letting either one out of my life. Mom, Ethan’s mom, and Uncle Randall also traipse through awkward conversations as Uncle Randall and Mrs. Oliver fill Mom in on all the discoveries and technology that’s come about in the last eleven years. Mom excuses herself halfway through lunch and doesn’t return until we’re just finishing up. I don’t think much about it except that everything must be a little overwhelming to her.
“We need to hide the other two pieces of the map,” Mom says once she returns.
Uncle Randall fixes an eye on her. “Are there any more copies we should know about?”
Mom lets out a deep sigh. “I don’t know why I made the copy. I wasn’t supposed to. But something told me I should. I never told anyone about it, not even your father.”
“I’m glad you did,” I say.
“Me, too.” Mom turns to Ethan’s mom. “Amy, you’re going to have to part with your piece.”
Mrs. Oliver’s eyes go wide. “It’s my only link to Stephen.”
Next to me, Ethan tenses up. “It doesn’t matter, Mom. We have to hide it. It’s the right thing to do. Dad would want us to. He would insist.”
“I know,” she says. “But it’s still … I just don’t think I’ll be able to bring myself to do it.”
“I’ll do it,” Ethan says, and it’s so nice knowing that he is totally in my camp now. That I can trust him completely.
Mom nods. “And what about the piece at Amino Corp?”
Uncle Randall runs a hand through his hair. “It won’t be easy to get it, but we’ll figure out a way. Maybe I can pull strings with Harvard and filter a private purchase through that way. If Amino Corp is on the edge of bankruptcy, they might be willing to part with it.”
“Good,” Mom says, and then she kind of wavers and sinks into a chair.
“Are you okay?” I ask, rushing over to her side.
Her face is pale, and her hands are shaking.
“I’m fine, Hannah,” she says.
Ethan’s mom comes over to join her. “You’re not fine, Laura,” she says, and their eyes meet, as if some kind of understanding passes between them.
“What?” I say.
“Your mom,” Amy Oliver says.
“What about her? Somebody needs to tell me something right away because if there’s something wrong with my mom, then I need to know.”
Mom lets out a small laugh. “There’s nothing wrong with me, Hannah. I promise. If anything, I’ve been healed.”
“Healed from what?” I ask. Mom wasn’t sick, at least not that I ever knew of.
Mom’s eyes soften. “Hannah, did you ever wonder why you were an only child?”
I shrug. “I always figured that you and Dad didn’t want any more kids. Or didn’t have time to have any more kids.”
She shakes her head. “No, we did want to have more kids. A brother or a sister for you. But I was never able to. I couldn’t get pregnant again after I had you.”
Things are starting to come together in my mind. “What are you saying, Mom?”
She rests a hand on her stomach. “The Code of Enoch. I think it healed me there at the end.”
My eyes widen. “You’re pregnant?”
She nods. “A final gift from the Code. You’re going to have a baby brother or sister.”
It’s amazing news. Something I never could have even hoped for. I hug her, but then worry that I’m putting too much pressure on her stomach.
“It’s okay,” Mom says. “I feel great.”
“You’ll have a stomach to match mine,” Uncle Randall says. “Having a broken leg can put a real damper on any type of physical activity. The only place I’ve walked is back and forth to the kitchen, it seems.”
He pats his stomach for effect, which, now that I look at it, has paunched out just the smallest bit since we left.
“But that said,” Uncle Randall goes on. “I have been doing quite a bit of reading. And studying. And you wouldn’t believe what I’ve found.” He stands up and uses the crutch to walk to his office. I help Mom up, and we all follow.
Uncle Randall hobbles to the circular table in the center of the room. It’s strewn with papers and ancient books.
“What have you been up to, Randall?” Mom asks, walking over to the table. Her color is returning, and I remember that pregnant women can get nauseous during their first three months.
Uncle Randall’s eyes are wide and filled with excitement. “I met with someone when we went to Turkey.”
Memories of Uncle Randall and his secretive meeting return to me. I’d nearly forgotten.
“I saw you. In the hotel restaurant, meeting with some woman. She gave you something. Some kind of package.”
“You were spying on me, Hannah?” he says, narrowing his eyes.
“You were acting suspicious,” I say.
“What do you expect?”
“I expect you to do exactly what you did,” Uncle Randall says. “Be observant, which you were. And yes, she gave me something.”
He pulls a small carved wooden box from his pocket and sets it on the table but doesn’t open it.
We all gather around so we can see. Light seems to emanate from the box.
“What’s in it?” I say.
Uncle Randall smiles. “It’s not so much what’s in it as what should be in it.”
“Which is what?” Ethan says. He’s studying the box, trying to read the symbols.
“Which is what we need to find next,” Uncle Randall says. And without another word, he opens the box.