by Obert Skye
“I think this is it,” Tobias said. He tugged and pulled but the panel wouldn’t budge. “It must have locked from the inside. I can’t move it.”
“Kick it,” Fiddle suggested.
Tobias did some pretty hard kicking, but still nothing.
“Maybe there’s a key to that metal door in the office?”
“Maybe,” Fiddle said. “But I kind of doubt it.”
Tobias frantically searched the desks in the office. Nothing. He looked at the bulletin boards, checking for keys that were hanging. Nothing. On the monitor, he could see Orrin at the closed iron gate. That was something.
The firefighters looked like they wanted in.
“If only we could open it from here,” Tobias said.
“What’s that red button?” Fiddle asked, pointing to the side of the monitor.
Tobias smiled. Memories of him standing in front of the iron gate and being buzzed in filled his thoughts. He glanced at the screen and saw the firefighters arguing with Orrin to be let in.
Tobias reached out and pushed the button.
The button made no noise in the office, but instantly he saw the firefighters on the screen reacting to something. They all stared at the gate as Orrin’s jaw dropped. One firefighter with huge arms and a thick, wide mustache shoved the gate and it moved. All the firefighters began to push, and the gates swung open as Orrin hollered and yelled.
“They’re in,” Tobias said happily. “I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, but we’re still stuck,” Fiddle reminded him.
Tobias looked at the screen. He could see Orrin looking up toward wherever the security camera was. He did not look happy. Orrin knew that someone had pushed the button, and Tobias and Fiddle were sitting ducks if they didn’t find a way out.
“There has to be a key somewhere,” Tobias said, pulling open desk drawers again and looking under papers and books.
“Actually there doesn’t have to be,” Fiddle said matter-of-factly.
Sadly, Fiddle was right.
CHAPTER 27
THE POWER OF PAPER AND PEN
Have you heard the news? If so, then you probably know what the word heard means. Do you have a herd? If so, then you probably know what herd means. Do you know Hurd? If so, then you probably have shopped at that little shop on Fifth Avenue where Hurd Dillon is the night clerk.
Wordplay is awful. (I hope no one heard that.)
Well, the staff of Witherwood had heard the announcement Orrin had made and code blue was being carried out in full force. All the students who had just been ordered to their dorms were now being herded back into six of the biggest classrooms. They were being sorted by age and commanded to sit down at desks where they were going to take a test.
Charlotte was placed in a large classroom with Ms. Ratter as her overseer. Every desk was filled, and every glaze-brained student was obediently staring at Ms. Ratter and waiting for her command.
“There has been too much commotion today,” she finally said. “And due to that, we will be testing to remind you that you are students at a reform school and that is all. You need not concern yourself with animals or fire. We take your safety very seriously. In a moment, we may be visited by some people who have boldly entered our school to help put out a fire we had well under control. Do not speak to them. Keep your eyes on your test. If they ask you anything, tell them you are not supposed to be interrupted while testing. Understand?”
Every student in Charlotte’s room nodded.
“Good,” Ms. Ratter continued. “Raise your hand if you feel safe.”
Everyone raised their hands.
Ms. Ratter and a few orderlies passed out the tests and pencils. Charlotte began checking off answers to make it look like she was doing what she was supposed to. She was physically sitting at her desk, but her mind was miles away, swimming in a pool of worry. She knew Meghan had been taken and she had seen no sign of Keith, or Tobias or Fiddle for that matter.
Ms. Gulp came charging into the classroom and walked directly up to Ms. Ratter. She began talking in a loud whisper that was easy for Charlotte to hear.
“They’ve gotten through the gate,” Ms. Gulp said.
“Orrin is a buffoon,” Ms. Ratter hissed.
“That’s completely true. He’s like a pie in ointment.”
“I believe you mean fly.”
Ms. Gulp stared Ms. Ratter down for correcting her.
“Sorry.”
Ms. Gulp nodded. “The fire is almost out. So hopefully our ‘guests’ won’t be here long. If they come to the classrooms, act normal and thank them kindly for butting into our business.”
“This day just keeps getting worse.”
“Let’s just get through this and we should be okay. Sheriff Pidge has promised he would smooth things out.”
Charlotte trembled at the mention of Pidge.
“This lot of children better pay off,” Ms. Gulp said. “They’ve been more trouble than the last ten years of students combined.”
Ms. Gulp spotted Charlotte. “That reminds me, I haven’t checked on the boy. I hope Orrin has him locked in his room.” She spun around and marched back out of the classroom.
Charlotte didn’t have a moment to waste. Ms. Gulp was going to look for Tobias, and if anyone from outside of Witherwood did check on her classroom, she needed to be ready. She carefully tore off a square of paper from the last sheet of her test. As quietly as she could, she wrote some tiny words on the paper.
Ms. Ratter looked up from her desk and then looked back down.
Charlotte folded the square piece of paper and hid it in her lap. She was hoping to have the courage to speak up if a firefighter came in. If she couldn’t, she would slip the note into the firefighter’s hand or pocket.
The students continued to check off answers on their tests. There was no clock on the wall and it felt like time had stopped. The school had been so noisy and out of control earlier, and now it was silent. There was nothing but the sound of pencils scratching against paper as everyone checked off boxes to questions like, How many children does it take to form a club?
The answers were as ridiculous as the questions.
A. 2
B. 5
C. Clubs are a bad idea.
D. Children are too uneducated to answer questions like this.
Just as Charlotte felt certain that nobody from the outside world was going to check on their classroom, she heard the door open, and a fireman with big arms and a large mustache stepped in. He was wearing fire gear and big boots. On his back was a pack, and he had a helmet on his head with an open face guard. He smiled the kind of smile that only someone who didn’t live at Witherwood would be capable of.
“Hello,” he said.
All the students continued to take their test.
“Come in,” Ms. Ratter said. “We feel so grateful for you all. I’m sorry the students are testing. They are normally much more talkative than this.”
Charlotte didn’t look up, but from the corner of her eye, it looked like Ms. Ratter was blushing.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the fireman said. “I just wanted to let you know that the fire is out and that there’s no danger now.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Ms. Ratter walked down the aisle closer to the tall fireman.
“We were lucky you didn’t need to evacuate the school,” he said.
Charlotte didn’t feel lucky at all. She also knew that she had to speak up.
“All right, then,” the fireman said as he turned to leave. “Have a nice day.”
It was now or never.
“Help,” Charlotte said from the corner of her mouth.
Ms. Ratter and the fireman turned around quickly and looked at the class.
“Excuse me?” the fireman said. He glanced at Ms. Ratter. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
The fireman came farther into the classroom and began to walk down an aisle two rows away from Charlotte. He
looked at the students as they took their tests. Ms. Ratter walked down Charlotte’s row, giving all the children her evilest stink eye possible. She stopped right next to Charlotte’s desk and put her right hand on Charlotte’s shoulder and her left hand on the shoulder of the girl next to her.
“Did any of you students say something?” Ms. Ratter asked so sweetly that it almost made Charlotte sick.
Not a single student uttered a single peep.
Charlotte knew the note was in her lap, so she leaned forward to keep it hidden. Ms. Ratter took her hand off Charlotte’s shoulder and began to walk back up the aisle.
“Maybe I’m just hearing things,” the fireman said. “I guess it’s been a long day.” He too turned around and began to walk to the door.
Charlotte’s heart sank. She wanted to yelp again, but she was terrified of getting caught. She had the note, but the fireman was two aisles over, walking away.
Without even realizing it, her hands began to quickly fold the small piece of paper beneath her desk. It was a long shot, but it had been tadpoles that got her into Witherwood. Now it was Charlotte’s hope that a small paper frog might get her out. Charlotte finished the frog in a flash. She looked up and saw Ms. Ratter walking with her back turned to her. She sized up the fireman and the large backpack he had on. There were all sorts of open pockets and parts. There was no time to even think about how impossible what she was about to do was.
Charlotte put the little origami frog on the corner of her desk. She aimed and applied the perfect amount of pressure. She let go, and the little frog hopped over the row of children next to her and landed on top of the fireman’s backpack.
Charlotte wanted to cheer, but right after it landed, the frog slid off the backpack and fell directly into the large right boot the fireman was wearing.
Nobody had noticed.
Ms. Ratter opened the door for the fireman and he left the room. As soon as he was gone, Ms. Ratter charged down the aisle, heading directly for Charlotte. Charlotte thought about screaming, but Ms. Ratter reached out and grabbed the ear of a girl next to her.
“Think you can make noises?” Ms. Ratter barked. “You’re going to see Marvin.”
Ms. Ratter pulled the wrong girl out of the classroom and turned her over to an orderly.
Charlotte felt awful, but since the girl’s brain was still gooey, Marvin’s voice wouldn’t change things too much for her.
It seemed impossible, but Charlotte knew that she might have made contact. She couldn’t wait to tell Tobias.
CHAPTER 28
TUNED IN
Blue is a color. If you are colored blue, you may be navy, baby, or dark. Blue is also a feeling. If you feel blue, you are sad, melancholy, or down in the dumps. Ralph was blue, the glow of the TV giving his body a light blue hue. He also felt blue—all his searching and wondering and looking, and still no real clue as to who he was.
Ralph blew his nose, which is a different kind of blue altogether.
“Here,” Sam said, offering Ralph a small trash bin to throw his tissue in.
Ralph took the trash bin, threw his tissue away, and then set it by the side of the couch. He felt a cold coming on. He ran his hands through his hair and cleared his throat. The two of them were sitting in the front room of Sam’s three-story town house. The TV was showing a commercial for dog food. Sam was on the couch about five feet from Ralph. Both of them were tired and depressed from searching yet coming up empty.
“Maybe you should consider taking me up on my offer,” Sam said.
“What offer?”
“I’ll help you get a taxi to drive. The police are always auctioning off their old vehicles. You can make a few bucks and you’d be in charge of picking out the air freshener for your vehicle. Plus, you get to learn the city really well. Did you know there are two streets named Tony?”
Ralph shook his head.
“Yeah, and a cul-de-sac called Wilbur’s Circle.”
“Wow.”
“Ah, you’re just saying that,” Sam complained. “I can tell you don’t mean it.”
“Sorry,” Ralph apologized. “I just don’t know what to do next.”
“Drive a taxi,” Sam insisted. “Look what it’s gotten me.” Sam motioned to his couch and house and TV. “I know car salesmen who don’t have a TV this big.”
“Driving a taxi is a fine profession, but I don’t want to just give up looking. Not yet. I need to know who I am.”
“You wouldn’t be giving up, you would be living the dream while figuring things out. Think about it.…”
Sam stopped talking, because it was apparent that his friend had stopped listening. Ralph was staring at the TV screen with a look of shock and awe.
“Turn it up,” Ralph said.
Sam grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. On the screen, there was footage of a large fire burning on top of a mesa. A news helicopter was circling the mesa and filming the dying fire. A TV anchorwoman was talking as the helicopter filmed.
“What we know at the moment is that the fire is contained. There are many firefighters now on the premises, but they had some problem getting to the fire due to its location. There are no reports of fatalities, and only one injury occurred when someone running from the fire slipped and hit his head on a urinal. The victim was treated on the premises and released. The building on fire is said to be a barn where the school kept equipment and yard supplies.…”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ralph whispered. “There has to be something to this.”
“It’s another weird coincidence. Remember, that photo of those kids was a dead end,” Sam warned. “I can’t imagine what a fire means.”
“It means we’re going back there.”
“That’s sort of what I thought it might mean,” Sam admitted.
“That weird school up on that weird mesa has some answers.”
“Or,” Sam said, trying to keep things in perspective, “hear me out—it could mean that weird school up on that weird mesa has problems, and we’d be smart not to worry about them.”
“One more look,” Ralph begged. “Let’s just give it one more look. If it comes to nothing, then we cross it off for good.”
Sam sighed. “I guess we can make one last visit. You know, it costs a lot to drive out there. Gas ain’t cheap.”
“I’ll pay you back double someday.”
“Fair enough. And I do like the smell of fire.”
They both jumped up and headed out.
CHAPTER 29
DOWN BUT NOT OUT
Tobias and Fiddle had kicked and pulled at every wood panel in the hallway, and not a single one of them would budge. The one they had come through originally was locked. They also hadn’t found keys in the office to open the metal bars at the end of the hall.
After rummaging through the desks, they had tried to put things back like they had found them, so if and when they were discovered, it wouldn’t look like they had gone through stuff.
“Are you sure you don’t know of some other secret passage that leads away from here?” Tobias asked Fiddle again. “I don’t want to get caught and then have you say you knew of a way but I didn’t ask correctly.”
“I’ve never been in this part of the school,” Fiddle said. “I wasn’t aware this was here.”
“Well, then I don’t know how we’re getting out of this,” Tobias said. “I only hope someone who came because of the fire will free us all.”
“Um,” Fiddle said. “It looks like people are leaving.”
Tobias stared at the monitor on the large desk. He could see fire trucks exiting Witherwood through the iron gate. He hung his head between his legs and took a couple of really deep breaths.
“It’s not all bad,” Fiddle said, trying to cheer him up. “I don’t know how long I’ve been alive, but I’ve never seen anyone try as hard as you to change things here. Most of the students I’ve met or spied on were unable to think for themselves. You and your sister are so different.”
&n
bsp; “It doesn’t mean anything,” Tobias whispered. “I failed again. Orrin will find us here and he’ll know we buzzed the firefighters in. He’ll probably also figure out that it was me who started the fire. Then he’ll take me to that pool, and tomorrow I’ll be ninety years old.”
“Time does fly,” Fiddle said, as if he were reminiscing about the good old days.
“It shouldn’t fly that fast.”
“It’ll be okay, Tobias.”
It was weird for Tobias to hear Fiddle use his name. Most of the time he felt as if Fiddle didn’t really know he was real.
“Things are different this time,” Fiddle said. “I’m not the same person I used to be. I know that my uncle needs to be stopped and I want to be one of the people to stop him. They might catch us in here, but I’ll play dumb and I’ll find your sister and we’ll break the chain of misery that my uncle is forging.”
“That’s not a bad line,” Tobias said. “Keith would be proud.”
“Who’s Keith?”
“He’s one of the students who’s going to help us bring Witherwood down.”
“He sounds nice.”
“There are so many questions I wish I had answers to.”
Fiddle scratched at his arm and clicked his teeth.
“You okay?” Tobias asked.
“I know someone,” he blurted out. “He might be able to help.”
“Who?” Tobias asked suspiciously.
“I’m not supposed to talk about him. He knows everything and he lives beneath the square building.”
“With Marvin?”
“No, Uncle Marvin spends most of his time in the square room, but he actually sleeps in a big fancy place in East Hall.”
“So someone else lives in a room under the square building?”
“It’s not really a room,” Fiddle said, acting embarrassed. “It’s more like a big cage.”
Tobias stared at Fiddle. He had no idea who he was talking about.
“There’s someone in a prison cell under the square building?”