The Island (4 page)

“I’ve told your people everything I know about that woman and her daughter.” Elizabeth let the tears she’d been hiding show. “I don’t know what else you want from me. I’ve always tried to be a good citizen—my family has served, as I’m sure you’re aware—in high places. I don’t know anything about that woman, other than that she was in need when I employed her and she brought no trouble here for many years.”

The man studied Elizabeth, gauging her display of emotion. He seemed unconvinced. Finally, he placed his digitab in his briefcase, snapped it shut, and stood.

“I imagine I’ll be seeing you again soon, Ms. Moore.” He strode toward the foyer without looking back. “Very soon.”

Elizabeth hoped Jonathan had retreated back to the dining room in time. She listened to the front door click shut, and then rushed to the foyer to lock it with shaking hands. Through the peephole she watched as the man’s vehicle lights faded into darkness.

“He gone?”

Elizabeth jumped. “You scared me!”

“Sorry. Just tried to stay out of your way like you said to, until the fellow left.” Jonathan wore an improbable grin. “Let’s go eat, shall we?”

Elizabeth smoothed her skirt. “There’s nothing amusing about that man coming here. We may be in real trouble, Jonathan.” She scowled at Jonathan.

“I didn’t say it was amusing.” Jonathan took her arm, gently. “I just said, let’s eat. My best meal’s getting colder every minute we dawdle out here.” He led her toward the dining room. “Besides.” Jonathan pulled Elizabeth’s chair out for her. “We’re already in trouble deep. And you know it.”

R
achel woke to the sound of whispers. Two people, a male and a female, she thought. She didn’t move, didn’t open her eyes. For a few moments she focused on keeping her breathing slow and steady, at the same time straining to hear what the whisperers were saying. It was hard to understand them—they were speaking so softly none of the words were clear.

“She’s awake.”

That
was pretty clear.

Rachel opened her eyes. She was on a cot of some sort. Someone had taken the trouble to cover her with a light blanket made from a finely woven, soft cloth. She didn’t notice that her ankle was shackled to one of the cot legs until she tried to sit up.

“Here, I’ll help you.” A girl with long, brown hair took her elbow.

“You could help me by untying me.” Rachel tried not to let any fear into her voice. She looked around. A single candle, stuck in its own wax on a wooden crate, lit the area near her; three feet out in any direction its glow dimmed enough to make it difficult to see much. She was in a sort of alcove, in a  . . . cave? A cold rock wall arched above her, disappearing into the murkiness. She could hear other people somewhere beyond the candle’s light, but she couldn’t see them. A curtain of what looked like layers of old fish net hung in the opening of the alcove, blocking the view.

“They won’t allow that.” The other whisperer—a boy, a little older than Pathik from the looks of him, sounded apologetic. “They want to be sure you’re not going to cause any trouble before we untie you.”

“How did you know I was awake?” Rachel thought she knew, but she wondered if they would answer her truthfully.

They didn’t answer at all. The girl shrugged and looked away. The boy changed the subject.

“Are you thirsty?” He picked up a battered, but clean, tin can and offered it to her. “They said you were out the whole way back, so you probably are.”

“I was
knocked
out.” Rachel didn’t touch the can. “Who’s in charge here?” She didn’t feel as brave as she hoped she sounded.

“Jim never hurts anyone when he dozes them.” The girl spoke up, sounding defensive. “Sarah wouldn’t let him.”

“Shut up, Hannah.” The boy sounded worried.

“
You
shut up, Tom. She already knows about talent—Sarah said that boy she was with had a little.”

“You’re supposed to be monitoring her, not arguing.” It was the woman—the woman who did all the talking while Rachel tried to scream, back at the path. She held the netting aside, stood behind Hannah and Tom looking down at Rachel. She had short brown hair and her skin shone like copper in the candlelight.

“Sorry, Sarah,” Tom mumbled.

Sarah ignored Tom. “Are you planning on causing any trouble?”

Rachel glared up at her. “Where’s Pathik?”

“Is that your friend?” Sarah shrugged. “He’s not here, if that’s what you mean. He didn’t have enough talent to interest us. At least not right now.”

Rachel thought of the dried blood on the stones—Nipper’s blood. “If you hurt him—”

Sarah ignored her. “You, on the other hand, have
none
. No talent whatsoever. And
that
is interesting.” She studied Rachel. “You’re not a stray—we checked with them. So we want to know what you’re doing here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rachel wondered what strays were. “You don’t have any right to hold me here.” She pointed at her ankle. “Let me loose.”

Sarah shook her head. “Not just yet. We don’t know anything about you, or about your friends.”

Rachel was about to protest again, when an older man approached Sarah. He touched her arm, spoke low, his voice urgent. “You’re needed in the office.” After a nod from her, he hurried away.

“I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.” Sarah gave Hannah and Tom a severe look. “You two, do your jobs.” Then she disappeared through the netting.

After she’d disappeared from sight, Rachel shot her own look at Hannah and Tom. “What’s your job?”

The two squirmed a bit. Finally, Hannah answered Rachel’s question with a question of her own. “Where did you and those others come from?”

“What others?” Rachel feigned ignorance.

Tom shook his head, grinning. “Might as well not pretend. It doesn’t do you any good to hide what we already know. They counted six of you.” He watched her face. “Unless there are more than that?”

Rachel sighed. “Six is right.” She picked up the can of water and smelled it. It seemed okay, so she took a drink. She
was
thirsty. “How long did it take to get here from where they grabbed me?”

Hannah smiled. “We’re not allowed to tell you anything, silly. You should know that.”

Rachel didn’t return the smile. “Why not? Will you get in trouble with her?” She nodded in the direction Sarah had gone.

“Well, yes.” Tom nudged Hannah, warning her. “We would. And with . . . other people.”

Rachel started working at the rope on her ankle. She ignored Tom’s hushed entreaties to stop and was halfway through the first knot when Hannah knelt next to her.

“You wouldn’t get far, anyway.” Hannah spoke quietly. “They’re not going to hurt you—they won’t hurt your friends, either.” She waited until Rachel stopped trying to free herself. “They just need to know who you are, why you’ve come. We don’t get many visitors.

“Might have something to do with your hospitality.” Rachel didn’t feel reassured.

“She’s funny.” Tom grinned at Hannah, who looked back at him with an expression that was half exasperation, half affection.

“Listen, just relax, if you can.” Hannah sounded sympathetic. “As soon as they figure out what’s what, they’ll let you loose. In the meantime, maybe some food?”

Rachel
was
hungry. She hated to admit it to this girl, though. She felt like she should be making some grand attempt to escape, to find Pathik, warn the rest of the group, but she couldn’t see how.

“I could eat something.”

Hannah looked pleased. “Tom, go get some food from the kitchen. I bet there’s plenty—it’s almost time for lunch.”

“You go get it.” Tom folded his arms. “I’m the one Sarah picked to watch her.”

“She picked
both
of us. Besides, she’s awake now, so your talent’s not the one that’s important. If anything happens it will be me—” Hannah stopped talking. She looked at Rachel, her eyes wide. “You
do
know about talents, right?”

Tom patted Hannah’s back reassuringly. “I guess you were probably right—if her friend had some, she must know.”

Rachel couldn’t see the harm in being honest. “We call them gifts. But yes, I know about them.”

“They say that only two in your party have any talent at all.” Tom whispered the comment. “Is that really true?” He looked doubtful.

Rachel didn’t answer right away. How could he—how could the people here—know that? She wondered what sort of gifts
these
people had.

“Go get the food, Tom.” Hannah’s eyebrows were furrowed so close they almost touched in the middle of her forehead. “You talk too much for your own good.”

“You’re lucky I love you.” Tom scowled at Hannah, only half joking. He got up. “Ping if anything happens.”

Hannah watched him go, smiling.

“What’s
ping
mean?” Rachel leveled her gaze at Hannah. “Is that your gift—your talent?”

Hannah considered her for a moment. “I guess it can’t really hurt to tell you.” She looked over her shoulder, though, before she continued. “Pinging is my talent, yes. I can send out an alert, let someone know if you’re causing trouble.” She watched to see how Rachel would react. When Rachel didn’t react at all, she continued. “Tom can tell if you’re okay—not just you, anyone, I mean.”

“Okay?” Rachel shook her head. “Okay how?”

“If you’re . . . healthy, I guess. He can’t diagnose things, nothing like that, but he can monitor heart rate, breathing, pulse. That sort of thing.” She flipped her hair back over her shoulder. “That’s why Sarah assigned us to watch you. Sort of a
while she’s sleeping, once she’s awake
first response team.”

“Huh.” Rachel tried to sound unimpressed.

Hannah noticed the coolness of her response. “Once he’s back with the food and you’ve had something to eat, maybe Sarah will let us untie you. Maybe she’ll even let us show you around a bit. You don’t seem to want to cause any trouble.”

“Where are we, anyway?” Rachel touched the arching wall behind her. The cold stone formed a ceiling above her. She could see where it had been worked, chiseled out to create the little alcove she and Hannah were in—it looked like some of it had been done with some crude tool. But half way up the wall, the rough carving faded into a smoother, expert sculpting. Rachel couldn’t see any tool marks at all. She looked beyond the opening of the alcove, squinting to try to see through the netting. All she could make out were dots of light here and there.

“We’re in the cave.” Hannah said it matter-of-factly, as though there were no other place they
would
be.

Before Rachel could ask more questions, Sarah reappeared. She held the curtain aside and looked hard at Rachel. “Looks like your friends are on their way to us.” She shook her head. “Pretty eager bunch.”

“How could they find the cave?” Hannah sounded surprised.

Surprised, but
not
worried. That didn’t make Rachel feel good.

“They haven’t found it yet, but somehow they spotted the trail—the right light at the right moment.” Sarah frowned. “Where’s Tom?”

“He went to get her some food. He should be right back.”

Sarah knelt next to Rachel and took out a knife. Before Rachel even had a chance to react, Sarah cut the rope at her ankle. She stood and shoved the knife back in the sheath that was buckled around her waist.

“You can show her around a bit, but keep a close eye on her,” she said to Hannah. “If they do find an entrance, she’ll be our bargaining chip. We don’t want any misunderstandings.” Then she left.

Hannah looked at Rachel, her eyes wide.

“What does she mean, misunderstandings?” Rachel rubbed her ankle where the rope had chafed the skin.

Hannah just shrugged. “We don’t have many visitors, like I said. She doesn’t know anything about you, or your friends. Like why you’re here.” She waited, pointedly.

Rachel didn’t answer her.

Tom pushed through the netting and plopped down next to Hannah. “Here’s some grub.” He had a bowl of stew—some sort of meat in a thick broth. It smelled heavenly. Rachel took the bowl and started eating—she didn’t stop until it was empty. When she looked up, Hannah and Tom were both staring at her, bemused expressions on their faces.

“You were a little hungry.” Tom grinned.

“I was.” Rachel put the bowl down on the crate. “Sarah said I could look around.” She stood. “So let’s go.”

Hannah and Tom both scrambled to their feet.

“Hold on,” Hannah took hold of Rachel’s arm. “Stay close to us, and don’t try anything, all right?”

“What would I try?” Rachel shook Hannah’s hand away. She pulled the netting curtain aside and stepped out of the alcove, Hannah and Tom right behind her.

They
were
in a cave. It was immense, larger than Ms. Moore’s whole house back on The Property. Rachel couldn’t see the ceiling, just rocky walls that rose high up above her. The dots of light she had seen earlier through the netting were oil lamps, set along the cave’s walls in nooks and crannies, casting a flickering glow. People—lots of people—were gathered in small groups, some talking, some working at various tasks. All those nearest the alcove turned and stared when Rachel emerged.

“They’re just curious.” Hannah waved at a girl who was sitting nearby, sharpening a knife. The girl stared at Rachel, all the while drawing a sharpening stone along the blade of the knife she held. She didn’t wave back.

“She’s
so
dramatic,” Hannah whispered. “Let’s do the tour.” She and Tom started walking away from where the girl sat. Rachel held the staring girl’s gaze for a moment, then followed.

“This,” Hannah made a gesture that encompassed the whole of the cave, “is the common area. We all gather here to work at inside tasks, or have meetings, or eat.”

Rachel nodded, scanning the enormous room. There were different areas set up in the space. Some were small, like the one where the girl was sharpening knives. It only had a work table and a couple of chairs. There was a larger area set up with many benches, which reminded Rachel of the council room Away. She could see yet another that looked like it might be for people to eat in; there were tables and benches enough to seat at least fifty.