by Jody Klaire
She shook her head. “You’re insane, you know that?”
She got up and turned away. Then sighed and turned back and strode over to me.
“Insane . . . and a breath of fresh air.” She planted a kiss on my cheek and stalked over to her laptop.
“Tell Lilia.”
Frei sat and raised her eyebrows at me.
“About the kids we lost today. She could help.”
She sighed. “Then she’d ask questions.”
“Then tell someone who can help. You know people.” I smiled a reassuring smile. “You have a lot of folks who owe you favors. I got a gut feeling they’ll be happy to get one over on Crespo.”
“You do?” She looked down at her laptop, a range of emotions too varied for me to pinpoint rippled across her eyes.
“If they know you half as well as I do, they’ll be happy to help.”
Frei cocked her head. “I doubt that.”
“Doubt it all you like but it’s still fact.”
Frei started tapping away. Her energy filled her eyes as she focused on the screen. She couldn’t control what had happened with her group today, but giving her some way that might help was worth it.
“Why German?” I asked.
Frei’s eyes snapped to mine and narrowed.
“Huber is German, ain’t he?” I tried not to flinch under her glare.
She took a breath and eyes softened. “His family are from Germany. The slave speaks what the owner speaks.”
“So Miroslav’s owners are Polish?”
Frei nodded. “Polish American. Huber is German American. Crespo is Italian American and so on . . .”
“So slave trading is a community thing?” Were there Welsh Americans out there needing to be poked too?
“It’s America. We’re all second or third generation something or other.” Frei smiled at me. “Even you have a bit of imposter in you.”
Nan had revealed that I had native roots too. I guess everybody was a mix somewhere along the line no matter where they were born.
“So Huber lives in the States, right?”
Frei sipped her whiskey. I could tell from the twinkle in her eyes that I was asking too many questions. “Baltimore.”
“Have you ever been—?”
“Yes.” She met my eyes. “All over the world in a lot of different cities but yes, Lorelei, I lived in Germany for a while.”
I knew she was finding me grilling her amusing. I wondered how many other people just sat and talked to her.
“That where you met Renee?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t cut me off. “I’ll quit asking then.”
“Yes.” Frei ran her hand over her face. “Her POI was in the city. She liked to spend her vacation there.”
“Renee?” Did she even get vacations?
“No the POI.” Frei held up her hand. “That’s all you get.”
I nodded and pulled a book from the shelves. She needed to contact whoever could help the kids who’d failed and I had done the best I could to lift her spirits. Somehow, it didn’t feel enough. The more I learned, the more I saw how hard her life had been. I wanted to help her. I wanted to take the hurt away.
I sighed.
Maybe I’d never learn my lesson. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.
Chapter 25
I’D BEEN THROWN curveballs before but even I blinked at the way Harrison greeted me the next day. I was sitting in my cupboard of an office. It looked like one of those storerooms that people shoved unused gym equipment into. It had a window, which was nice but the walls were bare brick, cement, and still blobby looking in places.
It was as if whoever built it was in a rush to leave. I didn’t blame them, I felt the same way.
It was weird that stone and brick made up a lot of the buildings. They weren’t the timber frames that I’d come to expect outside Oppidum. That pointed to a European influence if Oppidum’s Welsh roots were anything to go by. It made me want to ask Frei about it.
I shook my head at the funny need to know her better. Sometimes things turned out opposite to what you would have figured in the beginning. I was glad about the change with Frei but I still wanted to help her. I told Nan, hoping she could hear, about it. I meditated on it in prayer, but without my burdens I felt like I was missing something. Like I knew there was somebody on the other side of the line but I couldn’t hear them. All I could do was keep talking and hope.
Normal folks had it hard.
I was torn from my thoughts by the sound of high heels chipping my gym floor. I scowled, wondering when I’d started to think of it as my place.
“Samson? Ah, there you are,” Harrison said as if I’d be any place else during the work day.
“You need me for somethin’?” I kept my voice as respectful as I could but after witnessing her irritation when the kids didn’t fail, I had no time for her.
“About yesterday . . .”
I sat back in the chair and folded my arms. If she was going to chastise me for it, she was going to see why a certain Doctor Serena Smarty-pants Llys had once found me so prickly.
“Well done.”
That made me stare like she had performed a ballet in a mascot outfit. “’Scuse me?”
Harrison nodded. “Wonderful work. Dislike selling to Crespo, too cheap.”
Didn’t stop her from selling five of Frei’s group though.
“He get much luck yesterday?” I tried my best to unclamp my teeth but it was no good. Either she’d think I was in severe pain or planning to string her up.
Harrison took a step backward, confirming the latter. “Five from Locks alone but she has a difficult task, you understand.”
“So there’s . . .” I raised my eyebrows for her to answer how many of the age group were left.
“Twenty-one.”
“What happened to the other two?” Frei had told me before we arrived that there were thirty. Harrison had said that Crespo had taken seven. Even with my inability at math, I know that meant we were missing two . . . somehow.
“Sawyer’s group. Shame they turned on each other. Terrible mess of the floor. He’d been so pleased too.” She shook her head, I could tell more about the mess than the loss of two young lives.
It took all the resolve I had not to hang my head. I couldn’t. I wasn’t meant to care. I was supposed to be a vicious criminal. “Don’t care. Mean, mean vicious criminal,” seemed like a constant dialogue in my head.
“Lost some good money then.”
Harrison nodded. “But he doesn’t have your skill with them. Slaves rarely have that kind of intelligence.”
Her tone made me frown. “What do you mean?”
Harrison glanced back to the gym and then to me. A gossip. She reminded me of Mary Goss from back in Oppidum which made me want to poke her.
“When they . . . lose their edge . . . the owners send them to train others before selling them off to men like Crespo.” She glanced at the door. “Locks is the exception of course. No doubt he would have preferred her close.”
“You think?” I smiled as best I could without snarling. I wanted to say, “No, she didn’t end up as nobody’s mistress. She became a hero. She saves kids. She cares. In spite of what you did to her, she still cares.” Instead, I tried not to growl and stared out my window instead. Didn’t help much, it needed a clean. In fact, somebody had written in the thick brown gunk covering it, “clean me.” Probably Jed.
“I can’t imagine why he would want her stuck here. She’s the best. A waste if you ask me.” Harrison sighed, her nasal voice grating at me. “Megan is probably behind it.”
“So what’s the issue between her and Sawyer?” My curiosity wanted me to dig deeper about Megan. Frei said she would be trouble but I didn’t want to ask Harrison. I didn’t want her to think I cared too much. Frei and Sawyer was a safe topic. Anyone could see what he thought of her.
“Oh, one of her legendary moments.” Harrison crept closer and perched on the edge of my desk with a reverent grin.
“He’d been sent to steal something by his owner Forsythe . . .” She glanced at me as if to check I was keeping up. “They fell out over a poker game.”
“Makes sense.” Nan was intense about her card games. I guessed criminal folks took that one step further.
Harrison nodded. “So, Sawyer breaks in. He sneaks to the bedroom only to bump into Locks.” She shook her head with a smile. “Locks was there to steal back the winnings that Huber had lost.”
The thought made me smile too.
“Sawyer tried to attack her. He was found hours later hanging upside down from the balcony.” She chuckled. “No one knew how she pulled it off but needless to say Forsythe got rid of Sawyer that same day.”
I had a feeling I wouldn’t find the next part so funny. “So what happened to him?”
“Sold,” Harrison said with a wave of her hand. “Spent years cage fighting for Crespo. Too old now of course.”
“So he’s bitter and twisted?”
Harrison nodded. “But he’s always been bitter and deranged.” She stood up and tapped her ever present tablet. “She’s got some tales that Locks.”
“No wonder he wanted to hold onto her.”
Harrison nodded again. This time with enthusiasm. “If I had that kind of money, I’d buy her myself.”
She’s worth more than you could ever understand, I thought as I smiled up at her. As a human being alone, she’s priceless.
Still, Harrison would never understand that. To her I was talking about some pedigree animal with a bit of spirit.
She fired another “Well done” my way and tottered off as I stared at the brickwork.
Two things rolled around and around in my head. One, we’d lost nine kids somewhere along the line. Two had died and seven had been sold into who knew what.
I still had all eight from my year group. Frei had lost five which left her with five. Sawyer had one left, and Jones two. Renee and Owens had five. Two of those were the supposed genius Kevin and Miranda the love-struck super nerd. We were only half way through the term.
I had a feeling that Frei had known the pass rate for the year all along. I could understand why she hadn’t told me. It was one of those horrible realities that you best understood if you were living it.
Who, in modern society, would ever believe such places like this still existed? Who would listen? She said that’s why she hadn’t told Renee. That Renee would go after these people. That Lilia would go after these people. I wanted to go after them myself but I knew from Serenity how things weren’t clear cut. Guards there did despicable things. I’d learned not to speak out. I’d learned to stay quiet.
I couldn’t let my group get shunted off to who knew where, I couldn’t. No matter if Jäger stood in my way or not. There was no way I could keep my mouth shut and watch it happen. It wasn’t in me.
In the deepest core of my being, I prayed that would never ever change.
Chapter 26
ANYBODY WHO KNEW me well would know that I didn’t get visions. Having dimmed burdens meant that I thought I would be free of all the fire and fury of nasty flashes and dreams for a while too.
And that’s kinda what they were. Three different types in my experience. The flashes—like ripples of thoughts, emotions, things that someone was going through. The deep flashes—like I was living the experience with that person—and then there were the terrifying dreams.
I knew what most people thought. Well, all those things sound a lot like visions.
I didn’t see it that way. I got a snippet or two, sure. I got flashes and pictures but I wasn’t my mother. She was welcome to the scary stuff. Actually, I kinda found myself feeling for her a little bit. I didn’t know how she wasn’t locked in an institution.
On rare occasions I had seen something that might be construed as a vision to somebody else. When that happened, I thought a lot about my mother. I thought about how strong she must be to bear that weight on her shoulders.
Getting one vision was bad enough but getting one vision and a flash in the space of a few minutes was not in my rule book.
I was meant to be free of it all.
It was unfair and downright mean.
Real mean.
A week after the mid-terms, I was running my guys through their usual regime. Everybody was buzzed at passing and a new belief had filled them. There were some furtive glances and hushed whispers about the kids who’d been taken away.
Tension built throughout Caprock but to their credit, my group was using it in a positive way. That same tension was poised to bubble over into panic. I hoped my group could keep focused on what they could do and forget what they couldn’t fix.
I’d been busy during the week, trying to help Frei not to freak out herself. Her guilt felt heavy around her whenever I stood near. It was hard to know how to make that better. I hoped that the people she’d contacted helped those who were in Crespo’s grasp.
In class, the kids were all on their bikes, me on mine, spinning. I can tell you now that I hated spinning. I’d rather row or cycle like a normal person. I hated the noise the weird bikes made. I hated feeling like if I slipped, I’d chop my toes off. Then there was the size of the things. I looked like I’d stolen a bike from kindergarten. All I needed was training wheels and tassels and I would be good to go.
On our third “climb” I felt my stomach drop as if I’d fallen out of bed.
Kevin. Miranda. Tied up. Taken. A hand on Miranda’s shoulder. Its wrist bore a gold Rolex watch. Blue face. White gold. Distinctive.
“You okay, Miss Samson?” Jed shouted over the buzzing. “You need a break?”
He was being a cocky jerk. I shook free the picture and flashed him a smile. My fingertips were white on the grips. “For that, let’s all keep climbing.”
I glanced at Miroslav on his recumbent bike but he gave me a thumbs up. I could always count on his support.
The rest of the group let out groans, muttered snide remarks Jed’s way, and glared at him. Jed responded by fixing his gaze on me. “Beat you to the top.”
Ever the jock. It was hard not to like him.
I pushed it, enjoying the feel of the sweat trickling down between my shoulder blades.
Another picture.
Smash.
I hit the floor.
“Miss Samson?”
I snapped open my eyes. I’d been out. I didn’t know how long for. Jed was over me, face ashen. I hauled myself up. The room swayed as I did. My neck shot pain right down to my fingers and toes. My heart launched into a sprint. I held onto Jed and turned to Miroslav.
“Sit down. I need to think.”
The rest of the group looked at me and at each other. I didn’t have time to explain. I’d passed out. Why? I needed to remember.
Bam.
I hit the floor a second time. This time my whole body shook. I blinked up at the ceiling. Ouch.
“Jed, keep everyone inside. Keep together.” I hauled myself up and launched into a sprint. I didn’t turn to see if he nodded. Instead I hurtled out into the sun. Heat sucked the air from me. I ran. Legs burned from it. Frei. I hauled myself up the porch to her building and burst through into the icy cold corridor. Left. A long row of rooms. Right. Much the same. In front. Double doors. She’d been in there before. Climbing. I cradled my head.
“Come on, where are you?”
Rope smells filled my nostrils.
I ripped open the double doors. Climbing wall. Girl on the floor. Frei over her. She met my eyes as I ran over to her.
“Saw it happen.”
She nodded and turned back to the kid. Wide-eyed, staring up at the ceiling like I’d done.
“She was pushed.” Frei’s tone sounded heavy with a hurt from deep inside her.
“Neck,” I mumbled.
She nodded. “There’s nothing you can do. They’ll just take her outside.”
Shock flew through my system. “What?”
Frei’s eyes were warm, she stroked the kid’s forehead, speaking
to her in another language. “Broken neck. They won’t pay for that. All we can do is stay with her until they arrive.”
Tears threatened to rumble out from me so I took deep breaths. I looked up to the ceiling and put my hands on her, praying that I could fix her.
I needed to fix her.
“You can’t,” Frei whispered as the other kids left us, not even casting a backward glance in our direction. “It hurts you.”
“I don’t care.” I shut my eyes. Held my hands there but nothing. No heat, no movement.
“I guess we now know what burden was taken away?” she whispered, tears cracking her voice.
I kept trying, over and over but nothing would budge. I met the girl’s eyes. “Do you want my help?”
Frei touched my arm, drawing my hands away. “She doesn’t speak English.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. “Won’t they at least examine her?”
Frei nodded. Her eyes misted. She cleared her throat as if trying to regain control. “A medical team will do a quick check here but they’ll find what I did and follow protocol.” She stared up to the ceiling for a moment as if to compose herself. “To them, she’s worthless.”
“Not to us she ain’t.”
Frei looked back down at the girl and talked to her once more. She sounded so soothing, so gentle. The kid was comforted by her, I could feel that. She felt safe with her.
“Why did they push her?”
Frei’s eyes grew icy and she flicked her gaze away. “My arrogance long ago.”
That answered everything for me. “Sawyer.”
She nodded. “His group, yes.”
Bitter and demented. That’s what Harrison had said. I added coward to that. He’d used kids to do his dirty work. “Does she know . . . does she realize?”
Frei shook her head, smiling at the girl. “I told her it’s just a precaution. All falls need to be checked out. She’ll be fine.”
The medics strolled in and Frei forced me to move back. They took their time, not out of care but more to answer the tick-box form they had on their tablets.
Frei stared into space, frozen. I knew that look. I’d worn that look. I glanced from the medics to the kid and back to Frei. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let them carry her outside and kill her.