by Arby Robbins
“So, what did you do?”
“I went to the office and told Old Cracker I needed some medicine for a stomachache, and that on my way there I happened to see Conroe walking down to the boys’ hallway. I told her I saw Conroe hanging out with Crane in the cafeteria today. That was all it took.”
“Oh, they must have gotten into so much trouble,” Emily said.
Libby asked, “Then why aren’t they in Solitary?”
“Old Cracker went down to Conroe’s room first,” Tonya explained, “and, of course, Conroe wasn’t there—just like I told her. Then she was headed for Crane’s room, but she made me go back to my room, so I didn’t see what happened when she got there. I asked her about it this morning, and she told me that Conroe wasn’t in Crane’s room, and that from now on I’d better mind my own business.”
“Maybe she was hiding under the bed,” Libby suggested.
Kelsey glared at Libby. “You know better than that. You can’t hide from Old Cracker’s goons. But, Tonya, you weren’t gone from our room more than ten minutes. Crane and Conroe couldn’t have done much in that amount of time.”
“I don’t want her touching him.” Tonya sneered at what was left of the paper doll and ripped it to shreds.
“Well, I’m sorry,” Emily said, “but if you’re interested in him, you should just let him know.”
“I shouldn’t have to,” Tonya replied. “He should come to me. He should want me.”
“He’s shy,” Libby observed. “The only reason he’s with her is that she went after him. You could do that too.”
“Oh, I’m gonna do that,” Tonya said, “as soon as I finish stomping her face.”
8
“What happened last night?” Crane asked.
“You don’t remember?” Conroe picked up a strip of bacon from her tray.
“What I remember is that you came to my room and we got in bed together and fell asleep.”
She smiled. “And then what?”
“We had this strange dream—together. How did you do that?”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Well, yeah, after I got over being scared half to death. That bridge was freaky—and the tunnel wasn’t much better.”
“I know,” she said. “Sorry about that. I should have done a better job of preparing you.”
“And then I woke up in my bed and you were gone.”
“I had to get out of there before Old Cracker caught me,” she explained. “She came by my room while I was with you.”
“Are you in trouble for being out of your room?”
“Yeah. But at least she didn’t send me to Solitary. I told her I must have been sleepwalking.”
“And she believed you?”
“I guess so, but she did set up an appointment for me to see the shrink.”
“Dr. Felsquat? I’d rather go to Solitary than to his office.”
“Why?”
“He’s weird, and his office smells funny, and he keeps asking you all these questions that you don’t want to answer, but then you finally answer them anyway—just so you can get out of there.”
“I think I can handle it. But the worst part is that my appointment is at noon, so I won’t get to eat lunch with you.”
Crane frowned.
“But we can get together this afternoon. Meet me outside during recess, and we’ll go dreaming again.”
“In the daytime? No, we can’t do that. Where would we sleep? Somebody would catch us. And besides, recess is only thirty minutes.”
“We can do it. Trust me.”
Crane thought she was being wildly optimistic, but he would go along with whatever she wanted. He was hooked.
9
At recess time, Conroe walked out of the building to the three-acre, security-fenced yard. She spotted Crane in the playground area, pushing a young boy’s swing.
“Higher!” The boy laughed.
Crane pushed him again. Then he saw Conroe. “Okay, one last push.”
Conroe met him at the edge of the playground area. “Are you ready?”
“Where are we gonna do it?” Crane asked, looking around.
“In the maintenance barn.”
“Do you really think we have time for this? I don’t know if I can fall asleep that fast.”
“You’ll be fine.” She led him around to the back door of the maintenance barn, and they went inside. Riding lawnmowers, weed eaters, and two small tractors covered most of the grass floor.
“Not a very good place to sleep—in these gasoline fumes,” he said.
“Don’t worry—the fumes won’t hurt us.”
She located an area near the large front doors.
Crane pointed to the ruts in the ground. “Looks like there was a tractor parked here. They could bring it back at any time. We don’t want to be caught sleeping here when the doors open. We might even get run over.”
Conroe took both of his hands in hers and peered into his eyes. “Do you trust me, Crane?”
“Yes, I trust you. Why do you keep asking me that?”
She continued to hold his hands, leading him down to the ground. “Lie down.”
“What if we’re still sleeping when recess is over?” he asked. “They’re gonna come looking for us, and we’re both going to end up in Solitary.”
“No, we won’t—I promise. Look, you’ve experienced the bridge and the Dream Tunnel, and you know what to expect, so it should be easier for you this time.”
“I hope so,” he said.
They lay down, held hands, and Conroe began to describe the dream.
Crane listened to her soothing voice and became drowsy.
10
Tonya surveyed the playground as she walked up to Kelsey.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on them for you,” Kelsey reported.
“So, where are they?”
Kelsey pointed. “I saw them walking toward the maintenance barn. They’re probably in back, making out.”
“Now is an excellent time to mess up her face.” Tonya spat on the ground. “There’ll be no little kids watching back there—nobody to tattle.”
“But you’d do it right in front of Crane? Won’t that make him hate you?”
“No, it’ll make him respect me—and she’ll never come around him again,” Tonya asserted, heading for the maintenance barn.
“I’ve got to see this,” Kelsey said, following her.
They went around to the back of the maintenance barn. Nobody was there.
“They must have gone inside,” Kelsey suggested. “I can just imagine what they’re doing in there.”
“They’d better not be.” Tonya beat her fist into her hand, warming it up for a beat down. She flung open the door. “Time to come out and get your butt beat, chicky!”
There was no response, so Tonya went inside. “What’s the matter—you afraid of me? I thought so.”
No response.
Kelsey joined her inside, and they split up to search the barn.
“They’re not here,” Kelsey said.
“You’re the one who said they came over here. You told me you were watching them.”
“I was. They walked behind this barn, and they never left.”
Tonya kicked a riding lawnmower.
11
“Somebody rebuilt the bridge,” Crane said, remembering their previous trip and how the bridge had broken apart and fallen into the chasm.
“Nobody fixed it. This is a different dream, so everything is new again.”
“So it could fall apart again like it did last time?”
“Yes—so we need to go faster this time. And it’s easier if we don’t hold hands. Run!” Conroe started running across the bridge.
Crane ran after her, screaming all the way, hoping it would make him brave.
One of the planks broke apart under Crane’s foot, but his momentum carried him forward, and he made it to the other side.
He took Conroe in his arms and hugged her tight. “We did
it!”
A loud cracking sound startled them, and they turned to watch the bridge crumble into the chasm.
“Maybe we should run all the way—as soon as we step inside.”
“Yes,” she said, “that probably is the best way to do it. But the tunnel is trickier than the bridge, since you can’t see where you’re going.”
“Yeah, but at least this time I won’t be worried about running into anything.”
She smiled. “Okay then, here we go.” She took his hand, and they ran into the tunnel.
It seemed almost too easy to Crane, although he nearly tripped a couple of times.
A speck of light appeared in the distance. They ran toward it, and it grew larger.
By the time they reached the end of the tunnel, the light became so bright it blinded them.
They fell out of the tunnel and rolled onto the grass.
Crane began to laugh. “That was crazy. I love it!”
“Glad you enjoyed it.”
“Now what? Last time we didn’t get to stay very long because of Old Cracker.”
“Let’s go for a ride.”
Crane looked around for a vehicle. “In what?”
Conroe put two fingers to her lips and whistled.
“I doubt there are any taxis around here—since there are no roads.”
Two magnificent saddled horses galloped over the top of the hill and slowed to a stop in front of Conroe. She began to pet them and talk to them in a language Crane had never heard. The horses seemed to understand her, nodding in agreement.
“So, you’re a horse whisperer? Wait, of course you are—you’re controlling this dream, so you can be anything you want.”
“They say they’ll be happy to take us for a ride.”
“We’ll, I’ve never ridden a horse before, but what the heck—it’s just a dream. Good time to learn.”
Conroe helped him up onto his horse, and then she mounted hers. “A few rules: When you want to stop, sit deep in the saddle. When you want to walk, squeeze your calves together gently—gently—and sit tall in the saddle—like this.” She demonstrated the walking technique.
Crane tried to emulate it and was surprised that it worked. “Cool. I feel like a cowboy.”
“Good, but just take it slow and easy, partner. Don’t squeeze too tight, or he’ll start running.”
“Got it.”
“Then let’s go.” Conroe took them through the woods, along a clear blue lake, through a deep green meadow, and up into the hills. They stopped near the edge of a cliff, overlooking a picturesque town.
“Isn’t this cliff a little dangerous?” Crane asked. “I would be worried if this wasn’t a dream.”
“Don’t get too close to the edge.” She paused for dramatic effect. “This…is the Kingdom of Ampla. What do you think?”
“Never heard of it. Of course, I’m not much for geography. But it’s beautiful.”
“Ampla is Latin for opportunity.”
“You’ve got quite an imagination, Conroe. What year is it? It looks like England in the eighteenth century. Hey, I like that castle over there.”
“There’s a story about the castle.”
“I suppose the king lives there,” he said.
“The king died recently, but the throne had already passed to one of his daughters—many years ago.”
“One of his daughters? That sounds like a recipe for trouble.”
“You’re right. There were two daughters—twins—but the crown could obviously only go to one of them, and by law, it had to go to the firstborn.”
“So the other sister became bitter and evil, I suppose?”
“Exactly—and when she turned 21, she declared that she would no longer live in the same castle as her sister, the queen-in-waiting. So her father, the king, ordered that another castle be built on the outskirts of the kingdom—a smaller, less majestic version. The people nicknamed it the OutCastle.”
“Did that make her happy?” he asked.
“No.”
“She still wants the crown for herself?”
“No, but you’re close. She wants it for her son. The queen has one child, a daughter, who must assume the throne on the very day she turns eighteen—no sooner and no later.”
“Why so young? Is the queen dying?”
“No, but since she has now reached the age of 50, she must give up the throne as soon as possible.”
“So, what’s the problem? The daughter just has to be crowned on her eighteenth birthday and everything’s good.”
“But there is another detail of the law: the daughter must be married before she can be crowned.”
“Who wrote all these laws?”
“The king,” she answered, “and he did it all with good reasoning at the time. But now there are unforeseen consequences.”
“Can’t the queen just rewrite the laws? She’s in charge, isn’t she?”
“Laws are passed by parliament now,” she explained, “and they are prohibited from making changes in the law to suit a particular royal family member.”
“So, what happens if the daughter misses the deadline?”
“Then the crown would go to the next in line when he turns eighteen—the queen’s nephew.”
“Uh…I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but wouldn’t that give the evil sister and her son a strong motive to kill the queen’s daughter?”
“Yes, although it would be risky because the law states that anyone who murders a royal family member will be hanged naked in the public square, and their bodies will be left hanging until the vultures reduce them to skeletons.”
Crane shook his head. “Your dream world is a little too detailed—and graphic.”
“I know,” she said. “I get carried away.”
“Hey—let’s go down and check out the castle.” He yanked his reins to the left and kicked his horse with the heel of his shoe. The horse stood up on its hind legs and threw Crane off. He hit the ground and tumbled to the very edge of the cliff. “Whew, that was close.”
Conroe shouted, “Get away from the edge!”
The ground underneath him broke loose, and he began to fall. He was able to grab onto a tree root that extended from the side of the cliff. His body dangled in the breeze as he gripped the root with both hands. “Help!”
Conroe dismounted and ran to the edge of the cliff. “I’m coming, Crane. Hang on!”
She reached down to grab his hand, but the root broke off, and he fell.
Crane’s life passed before his eyes as he fell, and he began to remind himself that it was only a dream. Still, he just kept falling, faster and faster.
12
Crane opened his eyes, and when he realized they were back in the barn, safe and sound, he yelled, “That was awesome!”
Conroe released his hand and pushed it away.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“I told you to be careful.”
“I was having fun,” he said.
“But you could have gotten yourself—”
“What? Killed? It was a dream.”
“Right—I know.”
“We’d better get back before—” He heard children outside playing. “Hey, you were right. Recess isn’t over yet. But it seemed like we were dreaming for an hour.”
13
At ten minutes after Lights Out, Tonya sat up in her bed. “Okay, let’s do this thing.”
Kelsey didn’t answer.
“Kelsey? Don’t tell me you fell asleep. Kelsey!”
“What? Yeah, okay. Are you sure all the orderlies will be back in the office by now?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Tonya answered.
“Okay.” Kelsey sat up in her bed.
“You got the duct tape?”
“Yep.”
“Emily and Libby should be ready to go.” Tonya opened the door, peeked out, and she and Kelsey tiptoed down the hallway to Emily and Libby’s room. Tonya tapped on the door.
Emily opened it.
“Let’s go,” Tonya ordered.
The three girls followed Tonya to Conroe’s room. She opened the door, and all four girls rushed inside and shut the door.
Libby shined a flashlight at the bed.
Conroe was wide awake, lying on top of the covers, fully dressed. “What is this?”
“Just wanted to have a little chat with you,” Tonya replied.
“You have no right to be in my room,” Conroe said. “Get out.”
“Why aren’t you under the covers?” Tonya asked.
“This is how I like to sleep.”
“In your shoes? Liar,” Tonya spat. “You were about to go down to Crane’s room—just like last night.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re trying to seduce him,” Tonya said.
Conroe grinned.
“Or maybe you already have,” Tonya seethed, clinching her teeth. “But it stops now.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Conroe said. “I don’t take orders from anyone.”
“Oh, really? Now, girls!”
All four girls pounced on Conroe, each taking an arm or a leg.
“Get off of me!” Conroe yelled.
Tonya held out her hand to Kelsey. “Tape?”
Kelsey handed her the duct tape.
Tonya ripped off a piece. “We wouldn’t want to disturb the neighbors.”
“Don’t you dare—”
Tonya pulled the tape tightly across her mouth. She held out her hand to Emily. “Scissors?”
Emily handed her a large pair of scissors. “Are you sure about this, Tonya?”
“Of course I’m sure. Crane won’t think she’s so beautiful when I get through with her.” She took a lock of Conroe’s hair in her hand and opened the scissors.
Just as Tonya was about to make the cut, Conroe began to kick and wiggle wildly. She knocked the flashlight out of Libby’s hand. It fell on the floor and the bulb went out.
The four attackers lost their grip on Conroe and fell in toward each other. Tonya nearly stabbed herself in the eye with the scissors.
“Turn on the lights!” Tonya ordered.
Libby ran to the wall switch and flipped it.