The Shade of the Moon (19 page)

Carrie stood up. “Do you know how to scrub a floor?” she asked.

“No,” Jon said. “But it’s about time I learned.”

Tuesday, July 7

“I want you to go to the hospital,” Lisa said at breakfast.

Jon wanted to whine, “Do I have to?” but knew better. Lisa was exhausted. She’d gotten
home from work at ten o’clock the night before and had told Jon she expected to keep
those hours for the rest of the week at least.

“Four hundred twenty-two domestics didn’t show up for work yesterday,” she said. “Roughly
three hundred families are short at least one grub, and trust me, they need their
grubs. Air purifiers can do only so much. Nineteen families don’t have working washing
machines, and they each need one grub just for laundry. Carrie, this floor is filthy.
I thought I told you to wash it.”

“I washed it,” Jon said. “I’ll do a better job today.”

“It’s not your responsibility to scrub the floors,” Lisa said.

“It’s not Carrie’s, either,” Jon said. “It’s Val’s, and she’s not here. I don’t have
school until Monday. I can do some housework until then.”

“Do it better, then,” Lisa said. “And visit Miranda. That
is
your responsibility. Carrie, for the time being, you’re the only domestic in this
house. You want to eat? You do the work.”

“Yes, Mrs. Evans,” Carrie said.

Lisa sighed. “I know Gabe’s a handful,” she said. “I know I’ve spoiled him rotten.
His father’s gone, and I’m at work six days a week, and I can’t bring myself to say
no to him during the little time we have together. And you’ve done wonders with him.
You, too, Jon. He’s a sad and lonely little boy, and I don’t know how to make things
better for him.”

“I don’t think you can,” Jon said.

“Probably not,” she said. “I’ve got to go. Tell Gabe I love him, and I’ll see him
tonight. Only I won’t. I won’t get back here until after his bedtime. Tell him when
I get home, I’ll wake him up with a kiss.” She got up to leave. “Jon, go to the hospital.
Find out how Miranda is doing,” she said again. “And help Carrie out. Play with Gabe
so she can do the housework.”

“I will,” Jon said. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Lisa bent over and gave him a kiss. “You’re a good boy, Jon,” she said. “Give Miranda
my love. Tell her we’re counting the minutes until she gets here.”

Jon went upstairs, woke Gabe, and helped him get dressed. He brought him to the kitchen
and sat with him while Carrie made his breakfast. When Gabe was through eating, he
and Jon went upstairs and played every game Gabe could think of. Carrie cleaned the
house and made their lunch.

“I’m going to the hospital,” he told Carrie, after putting Gabe to bed for his afternoon
nap. “I’ll stay with Gabe when I get back.”

“Thank you, Jon,” Carrie said. “See you later.”

Jon got a bus that took him to the hospital neighborhood. He couldn’t get over how
many guards were in town. Did they really think the grubs were going to rise up in
revolt? Or was it just to make the clavers feel safer?

Miranda was lying in bed when Jon got there. She looked good, better than Carrie and
Lisa did.

“Jon!” she said. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you. I know something’s going on, but I don’t
know what, and I haven’t seen Lisa since last week. Is everyone all right? I’ve been
so worried.”

“Everyone’s fine,” Jon said. “I saw Mom on Saturday. Sunday, too. And I saw Alex yesterday,
driving a bus.”

“Lisa?” Miranda said. “Gabe?”

Jon laughed. “They’re fine, too,” he said. For a moment Miranda was just Miranda,
his big sister, the one who’d teased him, the one he’d driven crazy. Just for a moment,
though. Then he remembered Julie and what Miranda had done to her. He didn’t want
to, but he edged away.

“What’s the matter?” Miranda said. “Sit down, Jon, and tell me what’s going on. I
know you’re keeping something from me.”

Jon sat on a straight-back chair against the wall. “Things went crazy in White Birch
this weekend,” he replied. “Bad crazy. But Mom’s fine. Nothing happened to her. And
Alex is on the job, so he’s okay, too.”

“The nurses used to pop in on me all the time,” Miranda said. “Orderlies, too. The
past couple of days I’ve hardly seen anyone. Oh, they’re taking good care of me, and
I know how lucky I am to be here. But something’s wrong. Things are too quiet.”

“A lot of people who live in White Birch are missing,” he replied. “Some of them died,
but a lot of them probably packed their bags and left. Lisa’s going crazy trying to
replace the domestics. That’s why she hasn’t seen you. She got home after ten o’clock
last night, and she says it’s going to be like that all week.”

“But Mom’s all right,” Miranda said. “And Alex.”

“I spent the weekend with Mom,” Jon said. “She sends her love. She wishes she could
be here, but there’s no way she can get a pass. And Alex is back at work, so he’s
okay, too. We all are, Miranda. We’re just waiting for you to have the baby.”

“Is it okay with you?” she asked. “Me working for Lisa?”

It wasn’t, but there was nothing Jon could say. “Lisa thinks it’s a great idea,” he
said. “Val’s missing, so things are kind of hard. We could use a helping hand.”

“I like Lisa,” Miranda said. “Gabe’s a handful, but he’s my brother and I love him.
I’m hoping to be out of here in a week. The baby’s kicking up a storm. It’s ready
to be born, I’m sure of it.”

Jon looked at his watch. “I told Carrie I’d be home soon,” he said. “She has all the
housework and Gabe, and that’s too much for her. I’d better go.”

“Will you come back?” Miranda asked. “Will I see you again?”

“I don’t know,” Jon said. “With school and soccer and helping out with Gabe, I don’t
have much time.”

Miranda smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “You’re a good claver, Jon,” she said.
“You do all the right things.”

“This isn’t my fault,” Jon said. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I didn’t, either,” Miranda said. “Okay, Jon. Go. You did your duty. The next time
I see Mom, I’ll tell her what a good boy you are.”

“Go to hell,” Jon said. He walked out of the room, paying no heed to Miranda calling
his name.

Wednesday, July 8

When the phone rang, Jon figured it was Lisa calling from work. Carrie was putting
Gabe to sleep, but Lisa probably wanted to wish him good night over the phone.

But it was Alex.

“Miranda’s all right,” Jon said. “I saw her yesterday.”

“That’s not what I’m calling about,” Alex said. “Do you know where Laura is?”

“Mom?” Jon said. “Why? What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “Maybe nothing. But I got home from work and she wasn’t
there. That’s not like her. I thought maybe you’d gotten her into Sexton.”

“You know we can’t,” Jon said. “Maybe Mom’s visiting people.” He remembered the dead
bodies in front of the apartment and started to feel sick. “Look, Alex, if Mom comes
home, could you let me know?”

“Not today,” Alex said. “Curfew’s in five minutes. I’m already taking a chance calling.
I’ll talk to you tomorrow night. Or if Laura gets back, I’ll have her call you tomorrow.”

Jon could hear sirens in the background. “Gotta go,” Alex said. “Curfew.”

Alex was a worrier, Jon told himself. Even Mom thought he was paranoid.

But Mom also thought she might never see Jon again. Someone had gone into her apartment
and stolen her food. Someone had slaughtered her downstairs neighbors.

He picked up the phone and called Sarah.

“Is something the matter?” she asked as soon as she heard his voice.

“Yes,” Jon said. “No. I don’t know. Look, is your father going to White Birch tomorrow?
Is the clinic open?”

“Yes,” Sarah said. “I’m going, too. It’s a good excuse not to go to Zachary’s funeral.”

“The funeral,” Jon said. He’d almost forgotten. Zachary’s was scheduled for Thursday
and Tyler’s for Friday.

People wouldn’t care if Sarah wasn’t at the funerals. They didn’t like her or trust
her, and they’d figure she’d skip out on something that important.

But Jon was different. He was their classmate, their teammate, their friend. It would
seem strange if he wasn’t there. It would be one more mark against him, one more indication
that he was just a slip, not really a claver.

But Alex was scared and Mom was missing. “I need to go to White Birch,” Jon said.
“How do you get there? Are the claver buses running?”

“No,” Sarah said. “Clavers aren’t allowed in. Daddy goes by private car. And when
we’re there, we’re not allowed out of the clinic except to go home.”

“Mom’s missing,” Jon said. “Alex called. Maybe it’s nothing, but I’ve got to find
out. I’m going with you. What time do you leave?”

“Seven o’clock,” Sarah said. “But Jon, even if you get there, you can’t walk around.
It’s too dangerous.”

“I have to,” Jon said. “I’ll be at your house at six thirty. Tell your father.”

“Jon,” Sarah said, but he hung up.

It’ll be okay, he told himself. He’d get to Mom’s apartment somehow and find her there.
She’d hug him, the way she used to when he was little.

It’ll be all right. This one time, it had to be all right.

Thursday, July 9

“Drop him off here,” Dr. Goldman said to the driver.

“You sure?” the driver asked. “My orders are to take you to the clinic.”

“Your orders are to do what I tell you,” Dr. Goldman said. “I brought this boy along
to run errands. Now do as I say and let him out here.”

“Watch out for the guards,” the driver said as he pulled to the curb in front of Mom’s
apartment. “They’ll shoot first, ask later.”

Sarah grasped Jon’s arm. He looked at her and smiled. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “See
you soon.” He opened the car door and let himself out.

The bodies were still there, but Jon felt an absurd sense of relief when he saw there
were no new ones. He opened the door and ran up the stairs, calling for Mom. But there
was no answer.

Jon checked the apartment, continuously calling Mom’s name. He even checked where
she hid her food. There were still cans there.

If someone had broken in and demanded to know where the food was, Mom would have told
him. She wouldn’t die for the sake of a few cans.

So where was she?

Before, when things were normal, when things were the way they were supposed to be,
Mom would have left a note. But now she lived in a world with no paper, no pencils
or pens. They’d brought nothing like that when they’d come from Pennsylvania. They
hadn’t even brought copies of the books Mom had written.

No paper. No pens. Only a pay phone a half dozen blocks away.

Feeling like a fool, Jon searched the apartment one more time. There was no sign of
Mom, of anybody. Alex had even made the bed that morning. Somehow that didn’t surprise
Jon. It was the kind of thing he would do. His wife was hospitalized, his mother-in-law
missing, and Alex made the bed.

Unless Mom wasn’t missing.

Jon thought about it. She hadn’t been home when Alex got home, and then he went to
the pay phone to call Jon. But maybe Mom was home when Alex got back. He couldn’t
leave the apartment to call. It was past curfew.

The curfew ran until 5 a.m., when the dayworker grubs, like Alex and Miranda, began
their walks to the bus terminal. Alex took a 6 a.m. bus. He wouldn’t have had time
to call Jon before leaving for work.

Jon remembered Carrie saying guards had herded them Monday morning. The grubs needed
passes to get on the buses, and Mom didn’t have a pass, because she didn’t work in
Sexton. She wouldn’t have risked going to the pay phone while the grubs were walking
to the terminal.

Mom could have waited until seven o’clock to call him, when he was already on his
way to White Birch.

He grinned. Mom was fine. She was at school, helping those precious students of hers.
He was the one risking his life while she was safe and sound.

He thought about waiting in the apartment until Mom got home, but he knew Sarah would
go crazy if he did. No, the thing to do was go to the school, see Mom, and go from
there to the clinic.

Jon made sure he had the note Dr. Goldman had written claiming he’d been brought to
White Birch to run errands. Of course the guards might shoot him before they saw the
note. But Jon didn’t think that would happen. He’d seen only a few guards on the drive
through White Birch. Things had quieted down. He’d be safe.

Still, he took care as he walked the few blocks to the elementary school. The one
time he saw a guard, he stood back, hardly breathing, until the guard was a few blocks
away.

Except for the guard, Jon saw no one but corpses. He wondered when the grubs would
be allowed to cart the bodies off.

Bullies. That’s what Mom had called the clavers. She was right. There was no reason
to leave the bodies except to rub the grubs’ noses in it. The way Coach had wanted
them to do.

Sunday’s match had been canceled. It was an official day of mourning for Sexton. All
the claver bodies would be buried by then. Maybe after that they’d let White Birch
take care of theirs.

Jon knew roughly where the school was, but he didn’t know exactly, so he walked for
a few blocks before he spotted it. Taking care there were no guards around, he approached
the school.

He could never be sure just when he saw her. A block away maybe? Two blocks? How far
could you be before you saw a body hanging from a tree? How near did you have to be
to know the body belonged to your mother?

Jon no longer cared about guards. He ran to the schoolyard, to the tree, to Mom’s
lifeless body, her feet dangling over a drying pool of blood.

She’d been shot. Jon couldn’t guess how many times, but her clothes were ripped with
bullet holes, and half her face was gone.

He wanted to scream, but that might bring the guards. The same guards who had killed
her. He moaned instead and took his mother’s hand, holding the cold, dead flesh for
as long as he could bear. Then he stormed into the school. The grubs would know what
happened. If he had to beat it out of them, he’d find out why his mother had been
slaughtered.