The One Safe Place (30 page)

“What happened to Roman?”

“Is the Administrator dead?”

“Where are you going?”

“Come with us! Just run!” Kit yelled. “We’ll explain later . . . Everyone’s gotta get out of here!”

They moved off in a herd, running as fast as they could, Jared still clutching his teddy bear, Karen whimpering as she tried to keep up, Caspar trotting along stiffly, Pavel silent, as always.

Devin peeled off to the side. “Devin!” Kit shouted. “Where are you going?”

“The mare,” Devin said, “I want to get the mare.”

“It’s the wrong direction!”

But Devin had already turned and was racing toward the large field. Kit hesitated and then handed her backpack with Frisker inside to Missie and ran after Devin. It was a good quarter of a mile down the long driveway to the horse’s gate, but they didn’t see anyone as they flew along, side by side. Then, from the corner of his eye, Devin saw the cars of the Visitors turning down the smaller driveway on the other side of the Home. They were heading for the exit, he thought, leaving in a hurry. For a second he imagined the Administrator’s utter fury and he stumbled slightly. Kit caught his arm.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” she panted. “We could be out of here by now.”

They reached the gate and Devin flung it open. From the other side of the field, the mare lifted her head. “Here,” Devin called to her. “Here, to me . . .”

She came at a trot, her face eager. Devin reached for her neck as she turned, prancing a little with excitement. She was missing her bridle, but it didn’t matter. He grabbed her mane and swung himself up onto her back, leaning down for Kit.

“I can’t,” Kit said, her face twisting in fear, “I don’t know how.”

“It’s okay,” Devin said. “It’s easy, I’ve got you.” He grabbed her under her arm and pulled her up, her legs scrambling and slipping against the side of the horse.

“Hold on,” he said.

“Wait! Devin stop! Devin! ”

The mare broke into a canter. Devin heard the lovely chestnut sound of her shoes striking the gravel of the driveway. “Hold on!” he cried again. Kit jolted wildly behind him, but then she steadied and found her balance.

“Go around,” she said in his ear. “There’ll be people in the courtyard, go around by the pool.”

They had to slow down among the trees but instantly picked up speed again once they reached the path by the swimming pool. At a small fork, Devin came to a stop. He caught a glimpse of four or five staff members coming at a run on their right, and Devin automatically turned the horse left.

They were at the head of the path leading to the Place. Devin hesitated and then urged the mare on at a walk. From his high vantage point, the twisted trees looked smaller and the way less dark, but there was still a memory of terror in those knotted depths. Neither Devin nor Kit spoke, and even the hooves of the mare fell silent on the shadowed path.

They reached the clearing at last and stopped.

The Administrator was standing in the doorway of the Place, twenty feet away. Roman was there too. She had his left arm pinned against his back. His right arm dangled, horribly bent and crooked. The bone was shattered; Devin had seen enough animals with broken limbs to recognize that immediately. But perhaps more terrible than this was the sight of the Administrator’s hand closed in a tight grip around the injured arm. Roman was strong and almost as tall as she was, but he wasn’t struggling. Even the smallest movement must cause him agony.

The Administrator’s head whipped around.

“Stop right there,” she told Devin.

“What have you done to him?” Kit cried.

“Nothing,” she said. “I found him like this.

“He’ll never throw again,” she added with satisfaction.

Devin suddenly noticed Darwin. The bird was clinging by one claw to the Administrator’s back. He must have been dislodged from her shoulder in the struggle with Roman.

“Get down off the horse,” the Administrator ordered. “All I have to do is give the signal and twenty staff members will be here. You’ll be sorry if they have to take you by force.”

“You can’t stop us,” Kit cried in a high voice. “We’ll run you over!”

The Administrator’s expression changed. It became conspiratorial, almost friendly.

“Kit,” she said smoothly, “I believe I underestimated you.”

“Yeah,” Kit said. “A lot of people make that mistake.”

“I knew you were different from the others when you arrived,” the Administrator said, her voice calm, her eyes never leaving Kit’s face. “But I must confess I didn’t understand you.”

“You said I was damaged!” Kit burst out.

“Don’t talk to her,” Devin said. “Don’t listen . . .”

“Then, when you stole my key—I didn’t notice until far too late, by the way—I realized what sort of person you are. Someone who does what it takes to get what they want and who succeeds at it.” She paused. “We’re alike that way, you and I.”

“That’s not true!” Devin burst out. “She’s nothing like you!”

“All your friends may have escaped,” the Administrator continued, ignoring him. “But it hardly matters. Most of them had become useless anyway. I shall simply find new children. You could help me run this place, Kit. Together we could make it even better than before.”

“What about Mrs. Babbage?” Kit said.

“Mrs. Babbage is packing her bags. She was a servant, a nothing, a sniveler who ran away at the first sign of trouble. With you it would be different. You could find the children. Roman was very unsatisfactory in the job. His heart was never in it. But I know they’d trust you. You’d be a great success. Then later, when you’re older, you can have a full partnership in the business. Think about it.”

Kit said nothing. In the silence, Devin heard Darwin give a muffled croak. He had regained his perch on the Administrator’s shoulder and was settled in hunched obedience, his eyes closed to slits.

“I know what you dream of, Kit,” the Administrator said. “This place makes more money than you can ever imagine. You’d have everything you’ve ever wanted.”

Behind him on the horse, Devin felt Kit grow very still.

“You’re right,” Kit said.

Devin twisted, trying to face her, struggling to understand. “Kit!” he whispered. “Kit!”

“We are alike,” Kit said. “We both have disgusting, rotten fathers.”

The Administrator jerked as if she’d been shot.

“How dare you?” she said in a voice so thick with loathing that Devin could taste it like vomit in the back of his throat. “How dare you?”

“The difference is,” Kit continued, “I got away from mine. Which makes me the opposite of you. So thanks for the offer, but I’d rather die.”

“How dare you?” The Administrator repeated, as though unable to form any other words. “Get down from the horse and get inside now!”

“Or what?” Kit said.

The Administrator squeezed Roman’s arm so tightly he cried out and his legs buckled.

“Or I’ll break his other arm.”

Looking at her face, Devin was certain she meant it.

“I want this place back up and running. Fresh kids, tighter rules, a new standard of excellence . . .” On her shoulder Darwin shifted uncomfortably, interrupting her flow of talk.

“Disgusting creature!” she cried in a shrill voice, batting at him with a furious sweep of her hand. Devin couldn’t account for what happened next. Perhaps Darwin was spooked by the Administrator’s rage. Perhaps he saw something in the twisted trees that frightened him. Or perhaps (as Malloy would later claim), being the most intelligent of all parrots, he understood human language better than anyone had thought.

Whatever the reason, he lunged at the Administrator’s face in a furious clump of wings and feathers and stabbing beak. She cried out and threw up her hands, but the bird continued to attack as though making up for the long years behind bars, for all the darkness and the scorn and the neglect.

Roman, freed from the Administrator’s grasp, fell forward onto his knees, then staggered to his feet, his broken arm pressed to his side.

“Can you run?” Devin shouted to him. “Get to the farmyard—we’ll meet you on the other side!”

The parrot was circling above the Administrator’s head now, beating the air with awkward, heavy wings. For a moment it flapped and struggled, fighting to keep airborne. Then it righted itself and, with a flick of its tail, soared above their heads.

“Bye-bye!” Darwin screamed.

“Go!” Kit yelled in Devin’s ear. Devin looked for Roman and saw he’d gone. The Administrator was still cowering, her hands covering her face. Devin dug in his heels and they took off down the narrow path on the far side of the clearing, the mare’s hooves raising great clouds of dust. They reached the entrance to the corn maze and plunged inside. Devin led the mare through it unhesitatingly, Kit clinging to him, gasping as the stalks whipped at her legs.

They reached the farmyard at last, and the bushes beyond it, and saw the outline of the nearest laser post.

Between the distant trees Devin saw a flash of bright red and heard the tooting of a horn.

“It’s Malloy in the car!” Kit shouted. “They’re through! It’s safe!”

The whole group had gathered together on top of the hill just beyond the perimeter. Almost all the kids were there. After a few minutes, they saw Roman coming toward them. He was stumbling and pale, but his head was held high.

Like a catcher, Devin thought, after a game hard won.

“You okay?” Devin asked him.

Roman slumped to the ground, panting. “I will be,” he said, grimacing with pain.

“We’ve got to get a splint on that arm . . . It looks bad.”

“In a minute, okay? Just need to catch my breath.”

Devin sat down beside him. He gazed down at the buildings of the Home.

“Back on the tower,” Devin said, “you could have hit her with that brick. You could have killed her if you’d wanted to.”

“Probably.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“She made me into someone I wasn’t once already,” Roman said. “I wasn’t going to let her do it twice.”

“She’ll just start again with new kids. She said she would. Nothing’s stopping her is it?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

Devin stared at the buildings. Something was different. “The birds are gone,” he said.

Then as he watched, he saw a flicker at the window of one of the buildings. It came again, a yellow streak that darted out, retreated, then appeared once more. A second streak appeared, as red as breath, and into Devin’s mind came a trembling, sighing sound that ran like fingers down the back of his neck. A thin plume of smoke rose in a wavering column. He heard the small sound of glass breaking at a distance, and suddenly the window of the building was alive with flame.

“Megs,” Roman said. “Before I went up onto the tower I gave her my lighter. I never saw her look so happy.”

The other children had caught sight of the fire and stood open mouthed, watching as flames swirled furiously above the roofs and licked the walls of the Home. Then up the hill came a small figure. Her bow was gone and her cheeks were covered in soot. Roman held out his good hand.

“Give it back now, Megs.”

She hesitated and then placed the lighter in his palm.

“You did good, but never again, you understand? It’s done, it’s over.”

She nodded, very solemn. “Will everything be gone, Roman? Will all of it burn clean away?”

“Look how fast it’s taking hold,” Kit said. “It’s been so dry, no rain for ages. I don’t think there’ll be as much as a pile of sticks left by morning.” She was standing next to the mare as she spoke, stroking the animal’s neck, her fear gone now. She turned to Devin.

“I still can’t believe you stole her. I thought I was the best thief in the world, but she’s better than anything I ever took.”

“What do we do now?” somebody said.

“I’m hungry,” Missie whined. “I didn’t have any lunch. Did it occur to anyone to bring food?”

She looked at the motley group of kids: Malloy with an arm around Fulsome’s neck, Jared and Vanessa and Karen disheveled and silent, Caspar with his mouth agape, Luke pacing and gnawing on his lip.

“I didn’t think so,” she said.

“We should get away from here,” Luke said. “I don’t want to get blamed for burning that place down.”

Kit hoisted her pack onto her back. “Nor me. Come on, Frisker.”

“Where are you going?” Malloy said.

Kit shrugged. “Back to the city, of course. You coming?

“I can’t go to the city,” Malloy wailed. “Fulsome will get eaten.”

Luke stopped pacing. “Let’s be honest, we don’t have much of a choice.”

“There’s nowhere else to go,” Karen whispered.

“The city again.” Caspar’s shoulders sagged. “I’m going to need a new suit, aren’t I? Where am I going to find a new suit?”

Roman shook his head in weary disgust. One of the younger children started to snuffle and then cry.

“We could go to the farm,” Devin said. His hand tightened on the mare’s mane.

“All of us could. And the mare and Fulsome. I left because it was too much for one person, but together we could get it running again.”

Nobody said anything.

“Maybe we’d find the cow, and the chickens that are left can’t be far away,” Devin continued, his words quickening with excitement. “And Glancer might still be there . . . There’s a stream and a barn and a place to grow vegetables and you can catch rabbits. But best of all, it’s not as hot there. The hills protect it . . .” His voice trailed off. The others were staring at him doubtfully.