The Boy Who Knew Everything (19 page)

“Hello,” she said, “my name is AnnA. Welcome.”

Piper realized that the girl meant for her to shake hands, and she did so. Then J. did the same.

“We have been expecting you,” AnnA said, looking at Piper.

“You have?” Piper shared a startled look with J.

“Yes. At the beginning of the growing season the Guardian told us to prepare for newcomers.”

Piper thought about this. No doubt AnnA was referring to the late spring or early summer when she said “the beginning of the growing season.” It was currently late in the fall, so how could this Guardian have known that they would be coming when they didn't know themselves?

“I am to be your guide,” AnnA said, interrupting Piper's thoughts.

“What is this place called?” J. asked eagerly.

“This is Xanthia, home to the Chosen Ones.” AnnA glanced at Conrad and her face visibly paled. “Your friend is hurt.”

“He was shot.”

“Shot?” Confusion rippled across AnnA's brow.

“Do you have medicine?” J. cut to the point. “A healer?”

“Yes. Come.” She pointed to her boat and looked like she wanted to go to Conrad, but then wasn't able to actually make herself do so. Instead J. and Piper lifted Conrad up gently and laid him in the place where she pointed.

When the task was complete AnnA took a flower out of her hair and handed it to J. “This is for you.”

J. received the flower graciously. “Thank you.” It was unlike any flower he had ever seen, with a purple center and green and red petals. Lifting it to his nose, he inhaled its scent and no sooner had his breath hit his lungs than his face turned white and still—deathly still.

“J.?” Piper watched him closely. “J., are you okay?”

J.'s face looked to Xanthia in the distance, his eyes open and fixed. With mounting concern, Piper approached him. “J.?” When he didn't respond she reached for his hand. It was as cold and heavy as stone.

“Oh no!” Piper gasped. “J.? J.! Can you hear me?” Piper shook him frantically to no avail.

“What happened to him?”

AnnA seemed neither surprised nor moved by his plight. “Do not be … sad. He is still. I gave him a Sooon flower.”

Piper kicked the flower away angrily. “Why would you do that?”

“He was not chosen,” AnnA said. “Only you two were chosen, and so only you two may stay.”

“But why us and not him?”

AnnA appeared not to know how to answer this question, and after many shadows of half-formed thoughts passed over her face she gave up and looked at Piper.

Anger rose in Piper with a big hot blast, and she jumped to her feet and rushed at AnnA, who threw up her hands as though to shield herself.

“That's not fair!” Piper yelled. “J. deserves to be here just as much as we do. You can't turn him away after he got this far. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have made it. He wanted to be here so, so bad. It was all he ever talked about.”

AnnA whimpered, and the fear in her voice took the edge off Piper's fury.

“I cannot bring him. I am not allowed,” AnnA replied.

“Then forget it, I'm not going either.”

AnnA had not expected Piper to say this, and she looked around as though she might find a solution to the predicament in the mountains surrounding them. Conrad moaned in pain, distracting Piper and providing AnnA with the answer she was looking for.

“If you do not come, your friend will not receive healing. He will die.”

“But…” Piper looked from Conrad, who was bloody and curled in pain, to J., whose eyes were frozen on the promised land he longed for. “Couldn't you please bring J.? Please! It's not right to leave him behind.”

AnnA sighed. “I cannot. He has not been chosen.”

Conrad moaned again and the remaining fight in Piper melted into fear. Tears prickled her eyes. “You promise J. won't be hurt?”

“They will return him to the Outsiders. We have no need of him.” AnnA spoke in a simple and straightforward tone, as though the answers should have been obvious.

Going to J. one last time, Piper settled his backpack by his feet and placed her hand on his cold cheek, whispering, “Thank you.” Then quickly, before she changed her mind, she got into the canoe next to Conrad and didn't look back.

Stepping in carefully and positioning herself as far as possible away from Piper and Conrad within the confines of the raft, AnnA grasped the oar and paddled through the air. Soon they were soaring over the valley, charting a course to a distant mountain. If Piper hadn't been so worried about Conrad, the journey would have taken her breath away.

“Don't worry,” she whispered to Conrad. “Everything's going to be okay. Nothing will hurt us now.”

 

CHAPTER

25

They were always one step behind.

As they arrived at the White House, the news of Harrington's death broke and the capital was locked down. Fortunately, Piper had activated a beacon, which was another one of Conrad's useful inventions, and placed it in the Lincoln Memorial. Myrtle ran to the beacon and found Aletha safely stashed away there. With the help of Violet, who shrank down to Aletha's size and whose gentle nature made her feel most comfortable, they coaxed the terrified child out.

After that the chase was on.

Jasper did his best, but Piper and Conrad were moving fast in a pattern that was unpredictable and appeared random. To make matters worse, the kids had to keep their distance from the military, as well as help Ahmed and Nalen, who were not in the best shape. On top of which, they now had a young child to take care of. Aletha was still very small and didn't have their training or strength, which meant they each had to take turns keeping an eye on her. Smitty had suggested that they send Aletha back to the farm for Betty and Joe to take care of, but as the appointed leader, Jasper felt personally responsible for her safety—and to him, that meant keeping her close.

By the time they arrived on the beach it was high noon and the marines had cordoned off the area. Smitty located a rock perch where they could watch the activity below without being seen. Myrtle scavenged food, water, and some blankets and they set up camp, waiting and watching.

“There will be another clue,” Jasper said, and the kids believed him.

“Whoever did this used Nalen and Ahmed as decoys to split us up,” Kimber reasoned. “Divide and conquer.”

“Y-yes,” agreed Jasper. As they looked back on the series of events, it seemed plain to all of them now that it was a trap. But Jasper didn't have the intellectual capacity to think his way through this situation. Not like Conrad. Conrad had said he was a leader, not a genius.

That night the kids huddled together under the blankets and let exhaustion take them. In the small hours of the morning Jasper woke with a start—someone was approaching their position. Noiselessly, he woke Daisy and motioned to the sound. She immediately understood and the two of them crept from under the blankets to investigate.

The night was bitterly dark and cold but a cloud blew away from the moon and they could see a bush thrashing about for unknown reasons.

“Maybe an animal?” Daisy whispered in Jasper's ear.

Jasper didn't think it was an animal. The bush was being hacked at and pushed aside from the top.

“Umph.”

They both distinctly heard the sound. It was the sort of sound that you make when you bump into something and hurt yourself.

Then, almost as though the moonlight was playing tricks with their eyes, the air around the bush shimmered.

The shimmer became J. He was clutching his elbow.

“J.!”

J. immediately took a defensive posture until he recognized Jasper and Daisy, at which point he sagged with relief.

“W-what are you doing here?” Jasper was elated to see him.

J. was strangely disoriented and frightened. “Where are we?”

“It's a beach,” Jasper explained. “We followed Piper and Conrad here.”

“Piper! Conrad!” J. looked past Jasper urgently. “Where are they now?”

“We don't know. We can't find them. Do you know where they are?”

J. threw his knapsack down in frustration, clenched his fists, and screamed. Jasper took a step away from him and toward Daisy. Daisy prepared herself for anything because by all appearances J. had clearly lost his mind.

It took J. more than several minutes before he calmed down enough to speak. “I was right there. Right there and they … Ugh. They didn't want me. They turned me away.” He kicked the ground. “I have to get back. I have to…”

“Do you know where Piper and Conrad are?” Jasper repeated timidly, trying to focus him.

“I—I…” J. clutched his head. “They took the memory. But it doesn't matter. I'll find my way back.”

“We have to find Piper and Conrad.”

J. looked at Jasper and Daisy as though seeing them for the first time clearly and not as merely part of a throng of kids who didn't require his attention. He noticed that they looked small and helpless.

“Where are the rest of you?” J. asked.

“Sleeping, just over there.” Jasper pointed.

J. nodded as a plan formed quickly in his mind. “Good. Yes. I'll take you with me. We'll go together. It'll be better that way. What about the kid with the X-ray eyes? Is he here?”

“Smitty? Yes.”

“We'll need him. And the strong girl?” J. had never bothered to learn their names.

Daisy glared at J.'s rudeness. “That's me.”

“Right. At daybreak the marines will move out and that's when we'll move in.” J.'s mind was going a mile a minute and he started plucking things out of his bag. “We'll need—”

Jasper planted his feet. “N-n-no.”

J. was astonished by the little boy's nerve. “No?”

“Conrad said I was the leader until he got back. I make the plan. C-Conrad said.”

J. took a deep breath. “What's your name again?”

“Jasper.”

“Jasper.” J. practiced his patience. “Okay, Jasper. If that's the way it's gotta be, then what's the plan?”

Jasper paused, lifting his chin decisively. “At daybreak when the beach is empty we'll start looking for them.”

J. nodded seriously. “Good plan.”

“And we don't stop until we find them!”

“That works for me.”

 

Part
II

 

CHAPTER

26

Conrad woke gagging, gasping, and flailing his arms. He was vaguely aware that Piper was standing over him and trying to restrain him.

“Get down!”
he yelled, pulling Piper wildly. “He has a gun!”

“Conrad, you're safe.”

Her words struck him as nonsensical. He clutched at where the bullet had ripped through his shoulder, but his hand came down upon a bandage, causing him further confusion.

“Where's my father?”

“He needs to remain calm,” a strange voice said.

Conrad jerked his head around to discover an old man looming over him. He had snow-white hair and was dressed in a red cloth that was fashioned like a toga but wrapped intricately in a way that Conrad had never seen before.

“Get away!” Conrad scrambled off the bed, knocking Piper in his mad efforts to escape.

Piper spoke in a low voice, asking the strange man to leave, which he did quickly and without another word. After he was gone Piper turned to find Conrad cowering against the wall like a hurt wild animal.

“Shhhhh. Conrad, it's okay. I'm here. It's me, Piper.”

Her soothing voice calmed his breathing until he could relax his body.

“No one's gonna hurt you. Your shoulder's still healing and you gotta take it easy. Honest. You're safe. Be calm now.”

The White House and his father and the stranger with the gun began to dissipate in Conrad's mind like a fog being blown away by the wind.

How strange
, he thought as he looked around. The walls and floor were all made of stone that had waves of detailing through it as though some master craftsman had sculptured it into delightful motion. Crystals hung across the ceiling, creating an iridescent glow. On the far side of the room was an arched opening leading out to a balcony, where Conrad caught a glimpse of a waterfall and a valley dense with rich vegetation.

Piper was also wound in a robe made of a material no more substantial than a summer breeze. Gathered around the waist, it hung in soft folds to her knees. She watched him with concern knitting her forehead.

“This isn't…” Conrad made quick mental leaps. His voice was hoarse from lack of use and he swallowed hard. “I'm not in a hospital. That man was…” Conrad's eyes suddenly went wide with surprise. “J. was right. This is the place he was talking about.”

“It's called Xanthia. Oh, Conrad, it's so beautiful here.”

“But my father?”

“We followed him here.”

He ran his hands through his hair. “Have you seen him?”

Piper shook her head. “As soon as I knew you were safe I asked for him, but no one knows who I'm talking about. They say that we are the only Outsiders.”

“Outsiders?”

“That's what they call us and anyone else who isn't from Xanthia. We're the only Outsiders who've ever been here.”

“Where's J.?”

Piper sighed deeply, shame dusting her cheeks. “They wouldn't let him come with us. I had to leave him behind.”

“Why?” Conrad was startled to discover that he was disappointed that J. wasn't there with them.

“J. wasn't invited. Only us.”

Conrad thought about this, looking closely at the room.

“C'mon,” Piper urged, noticing his interest and anxious to change the subject. “Wait until you see!”

Piper led Conrad across the room to the balcony, where he caught his first glimpse of a whole city that had been carved into the side of the mountain in a horseshoe shape. There were four tiers that reached above a large plateau, and falling through the center of it all was a waterfall that pooled before pushing forward as a river into the valley.