by Obert Skye
“Nope,” Ralph said, moving farther away.
Having seen his fill of ceramic vases, he moved to a table filled with picture frames for sale. Some of the frames were empty, while others had old photos in them. Ralph had no need for a frame, as he had no pictures or memories to put on display. But as he stepped past them, something caught his eye. He glanced down and locked in on a brown frame with a single pink flower painted on the top of it. The frame was unremarkable, but the picture was quite the opposite.
“Remarkable,” Ralph remarked.
He picked up the frame and turned around quickly.
“Sam!”
Sam was elbow-deep in a box of old salt- and pepper shakers. He looked up like a prairie dog and spotted Ralph and his ghost-white face. With no more than five giant steps, Sam was standing next to Ralph, asking him if he was okay.
“I think so,” Ralph said excitedly. “Look at this.”
Sam took the frame from Ralph and studied it. It was a picture of two children. One was a boy about twelve years old and the other was a girl about a year younger. They were standing in a field by themselves.
“Do you know these kids?” Sam asked.
“They were at that school on that mesa. Remember?”
“I didn’t go into the building with you,” Sam said apologetically. “These are those crazy swearing kids you saw?”
“I think so,” Ralph said breathlessly. “This has to mean something, right?”
“Let’s find out.”
Sam took the picture up to the man with the floral shirt and the twenty-foot boat. Ralph followed right behind.
“Excuse me, do you know these kids?” Sam asked, thrusting the picture forward.
The man took the photo and frame and glanced at them. “No idea. That’s just a frame I picked up somewhere.”
“Where?” Ralph said desperately. “Where did you pick it up? Was it here in town? Some other city? This could be really important.”
“Like I was telling you earlier, I go to a lot of garage sales and flea markets and auctions. I’m in this full-time. I’ve got a boat.”
“Yeah, yeah, you told me that,” Ralph said impatiently. “But look at it really hard and think. If you’re the professional that you say you are, you should be able to recall where you picked it up.”
The man studied the picture like it was a puzzle written in a language he didn’t understand. He turned it upside down and looked at it that way.
“It may have been in a box of stuff I bought yesterday from a woman,” he said with some confidence.
“A woman?” Ralph asked excitedly. “Do you know her name?”
“She wasn’t a real pleasant woman. I think her name was Margaret.”
“Or Martha?”
“Could have been.”
Ralph was beside himself.
Sam was beside Ralph and whispered, “Unbelievable.”
“Whoever she was, she sold me a box of things she said she needed to get rid of.”
“What other things were in the box?” Ralph asked.
“I can’t remember. I bought a lot of things from a few different places yesterday. But whatever I bought must be scattered around here, or I might have sold them.”
“You should look around,” Sam said to Ralph. “See if anything else hits you.”
“Wait,” the bearded boat man said. He flipped the picture frame over and bent the tabs holding the back on. He removed the felt easel and pulled out the rectangular piece of cardboard. Ralph and Sam leaned in, looking at the frame as if it were a candy bar that held the last golden ticket. On the back of the photo Ralph could see three words:
Tobias and Charlotte.
CHAPTER 13
THE THIRD FLOOR
Guessing is a good way to get yourself into trouble. Go ahead, guess what’s behind that door, over that hill, beneath that murky water. Wrong. There is a net behind that door, a shack over that hill, and a sunken boat beneath that murky water. Guess what they’re all for. Sorry, wrong again. The net’s to hold you still, the shack’s to hold you captive, and the boat beneath the murky water? Two words: watery grave. See? Guessing can lead to some uncomfortable spots.
Tobias was tired of guessing what his future was going to hold. He was a child of action. He made a quick list of all the things he needed to take care of. He wrote down things like: Find Charlotte. Search the library for information about the delicious-smelling pool. Find Archie. Save the entire student population from whatever was about to happen. Get a look at the third floor.
It was not going to be an easy list to complete, but Tobias felt like he should start with the end in mind. Or start at the end of the list.
Find out what’s on the third floor.
He slept for a few moments and then lay on his cot, wishing the pain in his stomach over the hunger he had and the worry he felt would go away. He also wished the swollen black eye that Meghan had given him would stop hurting.
At exactly six in the morning, Ms. Gulp tromped through his door and began barking orders.
“Get up. Get ready. Get.”
As Tobias stood up, she noticed his black eye. She reached out and grabbed his chin to look more closely.
“What happened to you?”
“I fell out of bed,” Tobias said slowly, trying to sound as dim-witted as he could.
“What a slow child,” Ms. Gulp said, tsking. “Can’t even sleep right.”
Tobias thanked her for her comments and then walked to the bathroom and washed up. Cleaned and ready, he followed his boxy taskmaster to the kitchen. It took a lot of focus to look simple and thoughtless. Tobias wanted to make sure everyone believed he was still as brainwashed as he was supposed to be.
In the kitchen, there was no sign of Charlotte. Now the tasks they usually did together he was forced to do himself.
While carrying food down to the kitchen cellar, Tobias noticed that there was a much larger lock on the cellar door than before. It looked like the kind of lock one might secure an entire army with. It would take more than bolt cutters to escape through the cellar again.
Students made their way into the cathedral-looking cafeteria and ate their breakfasts while Tobias was kept in the kitchen like always. He tried to listen for his sister, but he never heard her voice. After the breakfast dishes were done, he was escorted to his classes by Orrin.
Orrin’s four hairs were sticking straight up and the armpits of his white lab coat were yellow from sweat. His two-colored eyes looked swollen, and the point of his chin quivered as if under pressure.
“Things are a bit uneasy at the moment,” Orrin said, as if Tobias needed an explanation. “Better than yesterday, but uneasy. The Protectors are—well … things are a bit uneasy. What happened to your face?”
“I fell out of bed.”
“What an odd child. Don’t let it happen again.”
“I won’t.”
“You can’t actually guarantee that,” Orrin pointed out. “So why say such a thing? Life is a series of unending problems and there is no certainty that tomorrow will bring anything other than misery, pain, and occasional accidents. Don’t you agree?”
Tobias nodded.
“Of course now, thanks to Witherwood, you will help provide happiness to a number of wealthy, I mean, deserving clients. Yes, their lives will be much better off, thanks to your sorry one. I guess it’s true what they say: children really are the future.”
It wasn’t easy for Tobias to suppress the chill running up his spine. He wanted to shake and shiver, but he couldn’t give himself away. Orrin wasn’t the easiest person to be around. He was even less appealing when he was saying such awful things.
“Regardless of all that,” Orrin said as they reached Tobias’s classroom, “just remember, don’t think about things that shouldn’t be thought about.”
Tobias just nodded.
In class, Professor Himzakity looked almost as tired and out of sorts as Orrin. Clearly, the staff at Witherwood had been strug
gling to keep things in order. Himzakity’s lecture made even less sense than usual.
“You students need to understand how hard we work to reform you.… Don’t forget how many sacrifices we make.… Next time you’re lying safely in your bed, remember you would be nothing without us.”
As instructed, Tobias took notes. He could see Charlotte at the front of the class also taking notes. There was no sign of Archie, and the desk he usually sat in was empty.
I hope he’s doing something fun like swimming, Tobias thought.
Patrick and Keith were sitting a couple of desks behind Charlotte. Tobias had never really noticed them before. Meghan was sitting one desk to the right of his sister. It’s very possible he might have previously noticed her.
“There are frightening things that you children know nothing about,” Professor Himzakity lectured. “You are unaware of all that hides before your eyes. But this is a reform school, so let’s hope that changes.”
At lunchtime, some women wheeled in carts filled with food. The staff at Witherwood was a curiosity to Tobias. There were lots of orderlies in yellow lab coats and women in blue skirts and brown shirts. All of them looked so similar and none of them really stood out. They seemed more like pillars and lamps than people—fixtures in a school where any rational person would never want to work.
The students tore into the food, trying to make up for all they had missed the day before. Tobias wanted to ask Professor Himzakity questions about Archie, but he knew any curiosity would give away his clear-thinking brain.
As the food was being devoured, a commotion of some sort was brewing outside the classroom windows. Everyone stopped eating to point and stare. Some children stood and walked to the windows. In the courtyard, three burly orderlies were carrying a large feathered beast into the gardens. The animal was strapped to a thick wooden pole, which was resting on the orderlies’ shoulders. The creature’s head bounced as they walked, making it obvious that whatever it was was no longer alive.
Tobias tried not to act too excited, but he knew he had seen a creature like that before. The thing that had attacked him and Charlotte behind the school and by the stream had looked an awful lot like that dead beast.
Keith slipped into the desk next to Tobias and with a slacked jaw whispered, “I hope there’s not too many more of those.”
“Me too,” Tobias whispered back.
“Children,” Professor Himzakity ordered, “away from the windows. Keep your eyes where they should be, on your food. That may look like a dead Protector, but what you just saw is simply a prop that the school will be using for an upcoming play.”
Most of the brainwashed students clapped. Tobias joined in so as to appear equally stupid.
“Just eat your food,” Himzakity said with disgust.
As all the students moved away from the window and back into seats, Tobias got up and worked his way closer to Charlotte. She looked at him, blinked a couple of times, and continued eating.
“Charlotte,” he mouthed.
He winked and tried to get a rise out of her, but she just kept eating as if he were someone she’d never met. It made Tobias sick. His sister was so far gone. She had no control of her thoughts and no way to fend for herself if something bad did go down.
Tobias offered Charlotte part of his sandwich.
“Thanks,” she said.
“I love it here,” Tobias forced himself to say.
“Me too,” she replied.
Sadly, Charlotte needed someone to drop something heavy on her toes a few times. Tobias would have done it, but now was not the right time.
After lunch, Himzakity went on and on about nothing—literally.
“If you think about it, we are all nothing,” he lectured. “But especially children. They are extra nothing.”
The day dragged, and Tobias could think of little besides his conversation with Fiddle and his need to visit the third floor. He was having a difficult time waiting.
Following class, Tobias was instructed to help in the kitchen for dinner and then clean up after everyone else finished. Once he was done with all the work, he sat at one of the empty tables and ate a cold meal of fried chicken and coleslaw and, of course, pudding.
Tobias’s hands were raw from doing so many dishes, and his feet hurt from standing. So it felt good to sit down and finally eat. He polished off the chicken and coleslaw and dove into the pudding. It was delicious, as usual. It was also a constant at Witherwood. No meal was ever served without pudding. If Witherwood wasn’t such a horrible place, they could have manufactured the stuff and sold it worldwide. It was that good. It didn’t taste like any other pudding Tobias had ever eaten. It really was the one thing he looked forward to in the day. He would have some at breakfast. There was always some at lunch. And dinner seemed to be pudding-heavy as well.
Tobias stopped eating his pudding and breathed in deep. He set his spoon down and looked at the half-eaten bowl of the chocolaty treat—with horror.
“There’s something in the pudding,” he whispered.
Tobias took another sniff. He couldn’t identify the smell and he couldn’t believe he had been so stupid. He wanted to simultaneously throw up and cry. He wanted to throw up to get rid of the pudding he had swallowed, and he wanted to cry because now he couldn’t have more.
Ms. Gulp came out of the kitchen and looked at him as he stared at his pudding.
“Eat your pudding. Then I’ll escort you to your room.”
It all made sense. There was something in the pudding. The pudding was delivered in big cans through the kitchen cellar. Then Ms. Gulp would open the cans and pour the stuff into a big bowl where she would mix it until, as she said …
“It’s smooth and ready.”
Ms. Gulp walked off and Tobias pushed his food away.
Ready for what?
He picked up his tray and cleaned his spot, already wishing he could eat some more pudding. He was taken to his room by a huffing and moaning Ms. Gulp. She was the sort of person who was always out of sorts, but today she was completely unsorted.
“I don’t know why I have to do such menial things,” she complained. “Walking a child to his room is beneath me. Children should be obscene not heard.”
“You’re right,” Tobias said, making sure to sound dumb but secretly wishing he could correct what she had just said.
Ms. Gulp allowed Tobias to use the restroom and then she locked him up in his space. Before walking off, she yelled through the door.
“You’re lucky you’re locked in. There are children in Africa who would love such a privilege.”
“Thanks!” Tobias yelled.
Once he was positive she wasn’t coming back, Tobias took out his papers from beneath the floorboard and wrote down a few more important details. The most important being …
There’s something about the pudding! Don’t eat it!
He pulled out the watch Meghan had lent him and noticed the time.
8:27 p.m.
Tobias was exhausted and there were still three hours before he was supposed to meet Keith. So, he lay down on his bed for just a second.
Many seconds later he was awakened by Keith standing over him and tapping him on his right shoulder. Waking up to Keith and his large glasses can give a person quite a start.
“How’d you get in here?” Tobias asked. “You startled me.”
“Meghan got me a key too.”
“I guess that’s okay,” Tobias said, sitting up. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost midnight. I waited in the passageway, but you never came.”
“I guess I fell asleep.”
“I think that’s a pretty good guess,” Keith said, pushing his glasses up. “You were snoring like a sleep robot. Are you ready?”
Tobias was so tired, but he practically jumped off his cot—it was finally time to visit the third floor. They left his room and crossed the hall. Tobias led Keith to the lockers at the far end of Weary Hall.
“I fou
nd this passage last week,” Tobias whispered. “Right before my sister and I escaped.”
“Just think,” Keith whispered back, “if you had gotten away, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“For me it would be.”
Tobias popped open the locker and they both stepped in. Keith had brought his flashlight, which made moving around through the walls much less dangerous. In no time at all, they were behind of the bookshelves in the library. Tobias slid the low shelf open and the two of them crawled out.
The library was dead.
Not a single light was on, and the dark sky outside the windows was refusing to share even a pinprick of starlight.
“I don’t think Patrick knows about that passage,” Keith whispered.
“I figured it would get us here quickest.”
Keith swept his flashlight around the deserted library. Books and boxes still sat just where they had been sitting before. The circular counter in the middle of the room looked like a mouth that was permanently stuck saying the letter O.
“It’s weird,” Keith said. “I used to hate to read, but I think I would love a book now. There’s never anything to do besides lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling. I guess that’s fine for those who still have goopy brains, but I can’t take it much longer. It seems like a book would be amazing. I’m pretty tired of my own thoughts.”
“I don’t think anyone would notice if you took a book.”
Keith grabbed two small books and slipped them into his back pockets. “I don’t even care what they’re about.”
They walked around the bookcases and past the counter. At the library entrance, Tobias unlocked the door and they both stepped into the hall. They took a turn to the left and they were now standing in front of a large hanging tapestry. The ceiling in this hall was at least twenty feet tall, and the tapestry ran from the top of the wall to the bottom. There was gold rope outlining the entire tapestry, and a massive picture of a goat with a crown on its head was stitched on the front.
“The stairs are behind there,” Keith said.