Yeah, I remember reading about apprenticeships in history books too. Some of the apprentices were treated worse than the poor kids in the old workhouses.
“I still don’t understand why you’re here, Lauren. I mean, we were already over the limit. That’s what made them take me.”
She just shrugged and shook her head. Her middle finger went back to rubbing.
“Hon . . . Miss Smoot, do you know?”
“I’d have to look up that information.” She shook out her hair and lifted her chin. “Why don’t you two discuss your school schedules? Talk about which subjects you each enjoy.”
I turned slowly to face her. Thanks for your opinion, but why do you care what we talk about? Why was she sitting so close to us anyway?
“Can Lauren and I take a walk outside?” I asked, standing up.
Honey Lady smiled, and her voice was all happy and sweet, even though her words weren’t. “No. I’m sorry. You’d have to complete the required paperwork first.”
Was she kidding? “We just want a little fresh air. Aren’t grown-ups supposed to encourage kids to do that?”
“Matt, I thought you understood by now. A limited amount of adult supervisors are responsible for a large number of children in this facility. Many layers of precautionary measures exist to ensure the safety of every last resident here.”
“Fine.” I slumped back down on the sofa, folding my arms across my chest. Lauren sat slumped even more than I was, with her head flopped back on the sofa. Her eyes were squeezed tight as if she were tired or . . . oh, no—in pain. Another headache. She hadn’t been here very long. She shouldn’t be getting them already.
“You could discuss your favorite ways to spend your free hours,” said Honey Lady.
“We talk. A lot,” said Lauren, without moving or opening her eyes. “Live and in person. We can’t text. No bars.”
I watched her closely, trying to assess how bad she was feeling. “That must drive you insane.”
“Yes! And my friends back home aren’t very good with anything other than their stupid phones.” Her head popped up and her eyes were on fire. “I e-mailed Shayla today and told her if she doesn’t write me back right now, I’m never going to talk to her again, and we will not buy matching earrings to wear on the field trip to the state capital—if I’m home in time.” The eyes closed and the head flopped back again.
“Hang on, are you having trouble receiving e-mails from the outside too?”
Honey Lady jumped to her feet. “I’m sorry, but I could only get you two a few minutes of visitation today. It has now expired, and I’m going to have to escort you back to your floors.”
Lauren moaned softly.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Right now,” said Honey Lady.
“Wait. Something’s the matter with her.”
“I’m all right,” said Lauren, wincing as she pushed herself off the sofa.
“She’s just tired.” Honey Lady nudged us forward. “It takes a while to get used to a new schedule and routine. Plus, I bet I’m correct in assuming that you’ve been doing a lot of talking with your friends after lights-out, haven’t you?”
With a sheepish shrug, Lauren nodded.
“Come along.” Honey Lady was laying on the sugar pretty thick again. “I’ll try to arrange another visit for you two soon. All right? You say you want an out-of-doors visit next time? That will take longer to get clearance, but I’ll get right on it.”
“The rules around here stink,” said Lauren.
“You’re right about that.”
“I’m terribly sorry. I wish there were more I could do.” Honey Lady held out her arm, as if showing us the way to the elevator. Gee, thanks. We’d forgotten where it was. The blond guard appeared in the hallway behind Crab Woman’s desk. He didn’t have to flex his muscles in our faces. We weren’t going to rebel or break out—at least not yet.
Honey Lady stayed on our heels as Lauren and I walked to the elevator.
“I don’t think we’ll get lost,” I said.
“It’s all right,” said Honey Lady. “I don’t mind riding along. I need to speak with a few Third Floors anyway.”
The elevator doors closed the three of us inside, and we stood staring at the line down the middle of them.
With her hands at her waist, Honey Lady’s long fingernails tapped at a machine-gun pace against the hard case of the cell phone attached to her front pocket. “Go ahead and say your name, Lauren.” The gulping gasp of air Honey Lady sucked in made me turn around.
“Lauren!” I yelled. “What’s wrong with her?”
My little sister’s eyelids fluttered, and all I could see was the whites of her eyeballs. She kept sucking in quick, shallow breaths, but she never seemed to let any of them out.
“Lauren!” I grabbed on to her arms and felt the muscles underneath the skin twitching like crazy. I scowled at Honey Lady. “Why are you just standing there? Do something!”
“Just wait.” She pulled out a pocket computer, checked her watch, and typed in some info.
“Lauren.” I gave her a little shake. “Can you hear me?”
The eyes slowed down and closed. Her entire body sagged against me, like a scarecrow off his pole.
“See? I knew she’d be fine. Sharlene Smoot, third floor.”
“ARE YOU SICK, MATT? YOU DON’T look too good.”
I didn’t feel too good.
Jeffery set the circuit board and miniature light bulbs he was carrying onto the floor outside the rec room and reached out to steady me. “Do you need help?”
Without answering, I continued to zombie-walk away from him and toward my room. I went inside, leaving the door open, and headed straight for the bed. As stiff and straight as a line segment, I fell forward onto my face.
“Bro? You okay?”
“He looked really white and sort of wobbled as he walked,” I heard Jeffery’s voice say.
“It’s okay, dude, you were right to get me.” Coop’s hand shook my shoulder. “Roll over, man. You gotta breathe.”
Remaining on my stomach, I turned my head enough to let air reach my nostrils.
“Are you going to get better in time for water jousting tonight?” asked Jeffery. “I finished making the paddles.”
“He’s one sick dude.”
“I’ll call Miss Smoot.”
“No!” I sprang to my knees, then twisted around to face them. “She . . . thinks Lauren’s fine.” My voice went whiny. “Just a little stress.” I punched the mattress next to my leg. “She dragged her onto the third floor and shoved me back inside the elevator.”
“Whoa, bro, you hit your head or something?” He lifted up one of my eyelids. “You okay in there?”
I shoved his arm away.
“My sister, Lauren. Remember I told you about her being here—that I was going to see her today? She had some sort of fit in the elevator. She blacked out for a minute and went all shaky and freaky.”
“Psycho!” Coop wiggled his fingers in front of my face.
“It’s not funny! Something’s wrong, and Honey Lady isn’t even going to call my parents.”
“Hold up, bro. Honey who?”
Major foot in mouth. I was too upset to care much, though.
“Nothing. Never mind. I asked Miss Smoot to call my parents, and she said they don’t need to worry.” Turning, I punched the headboard this time. Pain crunched my knuckles, but I barely noticed. “My parents need to know!”
Jeffery plopped down on the end of my bed. “You can tell them. Send them an e-mail.”
“A lot of good that will do.”
The two of them stared at me, blankly.
“My e-mails never get through. Miss Smoot claims there’s a technical problem with my account, but the more I think about it, the more I think she’s lying. Doesn’t it seem weird to you? No cell phone service. The landline phones are only for in-house use. I don’t know why I’m different, but my e-mails to the outside never get answ
ered. How do they expect us to talk to our parents?”
“My ’rents e-mail me back all the time,” said Coop. “But you’re right, they never get around to answering my questions. They just give me boring play-by-plays of their boring lives. I think I’m an item on their to-do lists now. They never joke or get off on weird tangents like the way they used to talk. It’s no fun commun’ing with them anymore.”
Jeffery’s mouth got tight. “My parents would never answer my e-mail—even if I sent them any.”
“Well, I know my e-mails aren’t getting through, and I’m pretty sure Lauren’s aren’t either.” Shaking my head, I slid off the side of the bed. “I gotta get out of here. Either of you guys ever go outside?” If I could get to the grounds without a gorilla guard breathing down my neck, I might just be able to make a break for it.
“I tried once.” Jeffery pushed his glasses up his nose as he looked at me. “I had to fill out a bunch of forms and give my reasons and explain in detail what I was going to do out there. I just wanted to try a model airplane I’d ordered. It took ten days before permission came, and that day turned out to be windy and cold.”
I did a loop around the sofa, snatching a pillow off it and punching it as I paced. “There has to be a way. Guys, you’ve gotta help me. My parents have to know about Lauren, and the only way it’s going to happen is if I go home and tell them.”
The answer came fast. The details of how to carry it out came more slowly.
All we had to do was deactivate the security monitors for a while and sneak me past Crab Woman at the reception desk. No prob.
While one side of my brain concentrated on the computer and hacking my way into the workhouse’s security network, the three of us tossed around ideas about how to get through the first floor without being seen. Since shooting Crab Woman and the gorilla guards with a tranquilizer dart wasn’t a viable option, we seriously considered my trying a desperate dash through the lobby, knocking over anyone who got in my way.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think I can football-tackle any of those guards. Come on, guys. I’m almost in. Think fast. Any minute now they might decide to take a hard look at their link to my computer. They’ll realize I’m not just surfing the Net and shut me down.”
“That’s amazing,” said Jeffery. “How are you doing that so fast?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve hacked into a different section of their system before. Come on, guys. I’ve gotta go tonight.”
Coop shoved the last of the taquitos we’d ordered into his mouth and didn’t bother to wait until he swallowed before he talked. “No sweat, bro. I’ve got it all worked out. You gotta turn invisible, dude.”
“Right.” Chuckling, I shook my head. “Great idea. You go ahead and make that happen.” I worked a few more minutes. “Got it!” I jumped up, knocking the chair back hard as I threw my arms high in the air. “Yes! I just made every last security screen go black. It’s not going to last long. I’ve gotta make a break for it right now. It’s dark outside. If I can just make it through the door, I have a good shot at getting away before they see me. Maybe the guards will be too busy with the screens to notice me sneaking out. I bet I can outrun Crab Woman.”
“The receptionist?” Jeffery slapped his thigh. “Good one. And Honey Lady is Miss Smoot! I get it now. Do you have one for anyone else? How about me?”
“Uh, no.” I headed for the door.
“Hold up, dude. You’re not making some crazy sprint. I told you. Invisibility. Come on, Jeffery boy. We’ve got a buddy to make disappear.”
The beeps from the top-floor smoke detector lasted a few seconds longer this time, because Coop made extra smoke by relighting the paper each time it went out. The sound of the three of us pounding down the stairs echoed up and around the tall, narrow stairwell. My ears needed a break. They’d get one soon. A few more steps and I’d be on the first floor. Please let the security cameras still be out.
Coop pushed past me. “We’re going first, bro.”
What? No way. He was going to blow my cover! I grabbed at him, but he slipped through the door to the first floor too fast.
“What are you doing?” I was banking big-time on the element of surprise helping me slip past Crab Woman. Coop and Jeffery made more noise than Madeline at her peak. I clutched my hair, wanting to scream. Coop didn’t even try to sneak. He walked into the middle of the lobby, pulling a confused Jeffery behind him. I inched to the end of the hall, flat and out of sight against the wall.
“Hey, what’s happening?” Coop said, with a goofy wave to Crab Woman.
“How did you get down here? Return to your floor at once,” she said, the gravel thick in her voice.
“No prob. We’re just going outside for a little walk first. We’ll be right back. On my honor.” With a laugh, he traced a sloppy X over his heart.
Crab Woman jumped to her feet. “Young man!” She pointed at Jeffery. “You. Take your friend upstairs.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” said Jeffery, crinkling his nose under his glasses. “It’s a perfect night for stargazing, and I’ve just got to teach my friend here how to spot the Big Dipper.”
“Yeah, right.” Coop burst out laughing, slapping him on the arm. “You can be funny when you want, little bro. Let’s go.”
With that Coop turned and sprinted toward the door. Unlike automatic shopping-center doors, this one didn’t slide open as he approached.
“Aw, man,” said Coop, banging his fist against the glass.
Crab Woman groaned as she trudged around the side of her desk and across the lobby.
“You coming to let us out?” Coop bounced back toward Crab Woman.
“I most certainly am not!”
“That’s cool. We’ll just try the back door.” With that he zipped around a large armchair and made a break for the hallway that stretched behind Crab Woman’s desk.
She pointed at him, her mouth dropping in surprise. “Stop!”
Jeffery, wearing an innocent smile, shrugged at Crab Woman and took off after Coop.
“Security!” Crab Woman didn’t quite run after the guys, but she moved in a faster scuffle. “Where are they? They’ve never let things go this far before. I have half a mind to unlock the back door and let those monsters leave.”
I know I’m really smart, but sometimes I surprise myself at how stupid I can be. Crab Woman had vanished from my line of sight down the hall before I figured out what Coop and Jeffery were doing. They were creating a distraction. By drawing one hundred percent of Crab Woman’s attention toward themselves, they made me invisible.
Not waiting another second, I sprinted into the lobby and headed for Crab Woman’s desk, hoping to find a button sitting in the middle of it clearly labeled press here to open front doors. No luck.
I yanked at the top drawer. Please, please, please. It was locked. Seconds were ticking away fast, and I knew I hadn’t started with many in the first place. I felt underneath the desk, to see if a button was hidden there. The only thing I felt was smooth wood.
A soft thump down one of the hallways behind me made my heart rate skyrocket. I had to get out of the lobby—out of the building—now! I ran to the door, hoping that by some miracle it would open for me. It didn’t. I dug my fingers into the crack in the middle, trying to jimmy it apart.
“Hey!”
My shoulders jerked up to my ears. I froze. I’d been caught. It was over.
“What do you think you’re doing, kid?” a gorilla guard bellowed. It was the one who wore a goatee.
I couldn’t say anything.
He lumbered around the reception desk and wove through the sofa and chairs toward me. For a minute all I could do was stand there and stare at him. When he got within five feet, I reacted like a jackrabbit facing a salivating wolf. I ran.
I didn’t have a plan or a destination and ended up sprinting down the nearest hallway—the one where my first-night room and testing room were located. I don’t know where I thought I’d be
able to hide in there. It was dark. That could help.
The one good thing about the guard’s bulky muscles was they slowed him down. I’d cream him in a footrace any day, if I had somewhere to run.
I shoved doors open on my left and on my right. If he stopped to look inside each room, I’d gain an even bigger lead on him—a lead to a dead end. Whoopee.
The darkness at the end of the hall closed in around me. I felt, more than saw, the last door on the left side and slipped through, closing it silently behind me. With my hands stretched out, feeling the air like a mime, I moved deep inside the room, trying to lose myself in the dark space. I didn’t get far. The room ended up being a ten-by-three-foot housecleaning closet, by the feel of the bottles and buckets on the shelves. My fingers followed the shelves along the left-hand side of the room. They made a sharp turn and ran the length of the back wall.
A loud clunk made me freeze. The guard had made it about halfway down the hall, by the sound of it. A thin line of light appeared near the floor, under the door. Genius Goatee Gorilla Twin had realized that he’d have a better chance of finding me if he turned on the lights. It wouldn’t take long now.
I had to hide somewhere fast. Problem was, there just wasn’t anyplace to go. He was too close for me to try to get to a different room, and the shelves in here were too short for me to try to climb between. The shelves against the back wall ended at the right wall. It was smooth. No big broom cabinet for me to slip inside. I felt farther. My fingers rose over a thick vertical bump. I held my breath as I frantically investigated by touch and found a waist-high horizontal bar. A door. If luck was on my side, it would be an emergency exit—and not one linked to a smoke detector.
Holding my breath, I pushed through the door. A gust of cool air hit me in the face. I breathed in deep. Fresh, nonfiltered, outside air. Ahhh. Before I could take my second breath, a loud clanging alarm blew apart the silent space. The guard would have no problem tracking my location now. It didn’t matter. The footrace was on.
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