Locket full of Secrets (17 page)

I nodded, thankful for the information. Without it I could just imagine myself refusing to eat, afraid I was going to melt from the inside out or something. Snapping a few more fake photos I stopped suddenly and turned to Steven.

“What if I need to change my film?” I asked Steven, keeping my voice at a whisper.

“No one is going to notice that you don’t,” he shrugged. “But if you get really worried I can hang back with you a moment right now. When we meet up with Olena we can claim we had to change it loud enough for people to hear. Just in case.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” I agreed, turning so my back was to the Ferris wheel. I held the camera up closer to me and looked down at it, hoping anyone that looked our way could not tell I was pretending with the device yet again.

“I wish we had brought a real camera,” Steven sighed, his eyes roaming the area around us. “This place really is beautifully tragic.”

Allowing the camera to hang from its strap around my neck, I rested one hand on Steven’s arm as I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. With a smile he took hold of my free hand and gave me another kiss before turning so we could walk back to the group. It felt almost natural, walking with him as if we were just here to see the sights.

“What did we miss?” Steven asked Olena as we found her near a broken Ferris wheel cart lying on the ground. “We had to re-load Claire’s camera.”

“We are getting back on the bus in a few minutes,” Olena explained, her casual expression weakening slightly.

“Lunch is next, right?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“Yeah, and then we get to go to an area closer to the plant,” Olena replied.

As she said this her eyes shifted quickly from me to Steven and back again. It was clear that this would be when we took the next step in heading to where Uri’s film was hidden. I was not sure what that step would be, but it was too late to back out now.

Following the group back to the bus moments later I squeezed Steven’s hand extra hard, trying my best to keep the fear and anxiety off of my face. Things were about to get immensely more dangerous in every sense of the word.

“The soup is really good,” Steven commented, resting his hand on my knee under the table.

I nodded, picked up my spoon, and tried to force some of the warm liquid into my mouth. It was hard to swallow, knowing we were near where thousands of people received lethal amounts of radiation. Not only that, but we were closer and closer to finally getting our hands on what we had come here to find.

Steven leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek before he continued eating his lunch. He was either not affected by everything, or much better at faking it than I was. Taking a deep breath, I forced down more of the lunch that sat in front of me on the table. It really was delicious, I just was in no mood for food at the moment. Once swallowed, even the soup felt like a brick in my stomach.

Looking across the room, I noticed Olena was once again chatting to the couple who she met on the bus. They were studying a map, likely showing Olena where the good sights in Poland could be found. I had a feeling more was going on, but then again I could have been reading into the situation. It was likely just Olena getting her mind off of the current situation we were facing.

“We will be leaving in ten minutes,” the tour guide announced at the front of the cafeteria. “Our next stop will be the Kapachi School then on to reactor 4.”

Turning to Steven, I was about to ask him about the school when Olena sat down next to me suddenly.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked, placing a hand on my forehead. “You look pale. Maybe we should sit closer to the front of the bus on the way to the school so you can get some air.”

Opening my mouth to reply I stopped short, suddenly realizing this must be part of the plan. Closing my eyes a second to think I opened them slowly as I pressed a hand to my cheek.

“That’s a good idea,” I nodded, leaning into Steven. I might have been overdoing it a little, but I had a feeling my “sickness” was very vital at the moment.

“I think something at breakfast did not agree with her,” Steven explained as he draped an arm around me. “She barely touched her lunch.”

“I should be okay though.” I paused to take a sip of my water. “I don’t want you guys to miss out on the tour.”

“Well, we should get you outside so we can get some air and then a good seat on the bus,” Olena suggested, picking up my nearly full lunch tray while Steven guided me to the door.

A few people glanced my way as we walked outside, most of them giving me sympathetic looks. I almost smiled at them, glad they were falling for it, but instead just leaned into Steven more and continued to the door.

Stepping into the open air I was shocked by how cold it had gotten. The gray clouds that were covering the sky earlier were getting darker, sending a chill through me. Pulling my sweater closer to my body I turned my back on the wind, the sting of it on my face bringing tears to my eyes. Steven wrapped his arms around me to warm me up and also comfort me in my “sickness.” This helped some, but what I really wanted was a coat. The unseasonably cold weather was not accounted for by Olena when she bought our clothes back in New York.

“You’re doing great,” Steven whispered in my ear as he rubbed my back and arms to warm me up. “Really believable.”

I nodded, not wanting to let him know how sick I was actually feeling. Well, not sick so much as worried like crazy we were about to get gunned downed in a radioactive town. It seemed like it was not the best to bring it up so I simply snuggled closer to him while Olena was off asking people if it was alright for us to trade spots with them on the bus. Most people had kept their seats each time we got on and off the bus so checking with them was a good idea before just sitting where they had been.

“Time to load up everyone,” our tour guides voice announced a few minutes later. I let go of Steven enough to walk to the bus, his arms still around me.

“Here,” Olena nudged me, holding her hand out to me. “They said you should try to drink more water.”

Taking the unopened water bottle from her I removed the lid and took a few sips. With my high stress levels it really did help. Hopefully it looked like it was helping my stomach and not just my frayed nerves. As we boarded the bus I gave the women a half smile before sitting where they had been most recently. They looked concerned for me, but smiled back all the same. Taking a glance around the bus I saw even more people looking my way. I must have looked truly sick to be receiving this much attention.

Plopping down in the seat I pulled my legs up onto the cushion and rested my head on my knees. Steven rubbed my back, a truly comforting gesture during this high stress moment. I was convinced someone would suddenly announce that I was faking and call the authorities to take us back to Kiev.

“The camera!” I suddenly remembered, sitting up and turning to Steven.

“It’s okay, Olena picked up it,” Steven assured me quickly.

Looking across the aisle I saw Olena studying a map. The camera was around her neck, no longer on the lunch table where I had last touched it. With a sigh I leaned my head on Steven’s shoulders and closed my eyes for the short drive across town.

I only half listened to the tour guide as he described the evacuation of the town, the people who never left, and also the efforts to make Chernobyl safe once again. It was hard to hear him over the sound of my heart beating, still racing with the thought of what we would be facing next. Before I knew it the bus came to a stop and I opened my eyes to see the tour guide standing next to our seat.

“Is she doing any better?” he asked Steven, despite the fact I was sitting right there.

“I think she needs some more fresh air,” Steven explained quietly, as if not to disturb me.

“Do you think it would be okay if we stayed by the bus for a little in case she wants to sit?” Olena asked, her map now folded and tucked into her pocket.

“Absolutely,” the man smiled. “We are going into that building there to look at a few apartments. We’ll go out the other side of it to see the school, so if you want to meet us you can walk around or through it. But if you stay here we will be about 40 minutes I would say.”

That was it. 40 minutes. This was our chance to find the film Uri lost his life over.

We stayed seated as the bus cleared, many people glancing my way before exiting. After a few concerned looks I closed my eyes again, not wanting to see their faces. Finally, the bus was empty and we could hear the tour guide start telling everyone about the building they were standing in front of. As the sound of their footsteps began to head away from the bus, Olena stood suddenly, causing me to open my eyes.

“Ready for that fresh air?” Olena asked, a gleam in her eyes.

Nodding, I stood alongside Steven and grabbed tightly onto his hands before we both walked off of the bus. We left our packs, bottles of water, and everything else aside from the camera. Olena appeared to have the map in her pocket still, but did not pull it out yet.

“I think I see a bench over there. We should rest there for a little.” Olena pointed just past the corner of a building a few feet away.

              Still clinging to Steven, I followed after her. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the rest of our tour group entering the building the guide had pointed out. Once we turned the corner we would be out of view from anyone still outside as well as from any windows of the building. Turning back to Olena, I felt my stomach roll as she turned the corner and took off running. With a quick glance at Steven I ignored everything but the task at hand and sprinted after her, further into Pripyat.