Sneak (18 page)

“I always knew you didn’t like that Mark on your arm any

more than I liked the one on mine. I could tell that about you.

You’re one of the sane ones.”

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“I wouldn’t go that far,” Mrs. Phoenix said.

Grandma sighed. “Dianne. My grandson’s missing. My grand-

daughter’s dead. My daughter’s a wreck. Please. If you know anything about what’s been going on these last few weeks . . . please tell me.”

Mrs. Phoenix crossed her arms. “How do I know you’re not

another one of DOME’s tricks? How do I know they didn’t send

you?”

“Dianne, I hate Cylis more than anyone! I’ve been saying that

for years! You’ve heard me!”

“They could’ve forced you.”

“How? What do I have to lose that they haven’t already taken?

DOME can’t make me talk.”

“You wouldn’t need to talk. Strap a wire on you and—”

“You think DOME would strap a wire to an eighty-year-old

woman?”

Mrs. Phoenix frowned. “I think there’s nothing those bigwigs

wouldn’t do.”

And suddenly Grandma smiled. “You know, Dianne? I think this

might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” And she walked to the kitchen sink. She turned on the cold-water faucet and cupped her hands under the running water. She splashed the water onto herself until she was soaking wet. And then she pushed her dripping hands through her hair.

Mrs. Phoenix looked on in shock.

“There,” Grandma said, standing in a puddle on the floor.

“Now, even if I were wired—which I’m not—it’d be shorted out.”

Mrs. Phoenix tried to speak, but failed a few times.

“I want to know what happened to my family, Dianne. I want

to know, and I want them back.”

Mrs. Phoenix looked down at the table for some time, seeing

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pieces of herself in the rainbow reflections of the soapsuds on its surface. “Then we start at the beginning,” she said, and she held her breath.

“Go on. Out with it already.”

The two of them stared at one another for several tense mo-

ments. Then Mrs. Phoenix said it, all at once. “Your granddaughter isn’t dead. Lily’s very much alive. Logan’s gone to find her. And my daughter has decided to help.”

Grandma narrowed her eyes, holding her breath, stepping for-

ward . . . the short-circuiting powder still sparkling all around her . . .

“You heard of the Dust?” Mrs. Phoenix asked.

“I’ve heard whispers, in my retirement home. Kids we exclu-

sionists call ‘the great hope.’ I always thought it was nonsense.”

“It’s not,” Mrs. Phoenix said. “They are the great hope. And

they’re led by Daniel.”

“
Lily’s
Daniel? Daniel Peck?”

“That’s right. Good friends, I remember.”

“
Friends?
Those two kids were crazy about each other! Anyone could’ve seen that.”

Mrs. Phoenix nodded. “When Lily flunked, it sent Peck over the edge. He started believing the worst, started looking for conspiracies . . . and wouldn’t you know it?” Mrs. Phoenix laughed, stifling another cough. “He actually found one.” She scrubbed the table a few more times, absently. Grandma looked on. “When Hailey’s father died, she took it pretty hard. There were a lot of changes around here, as you know. I had to Pledge, I had to work . . . and about that time—I don’t know if you know this—but about that time, your

grandson and my daughter had a bit of a falling-out. Something to do with their friend Dane.”

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“Three’s a hard number,” Grandma said. “Someone’s always

left out . . .”

“Anyway, Hailey was looking for support and not really find-

ing it anywhere. With me at work so much and no one left for her to turn to at school . . . she eventually found the Dust. Found them out on one of those long walks of hers, on Slog Row.

“I was worried at first about the influence they’d have on her.

But I didn’t mind that they were Markless.” Mrs. Phoenix smiled.

“I understood the reasons for that well enough.”

“You mean to tell me,” Grandma said, “that your daughter is a

member of this Dust I’ve been hearing about?”

“That’s right. Since last year, she’s been friends with them,

though for the most part she wasn’t participating in any of their . . .

activities. That changed fast, though, as Logan and Dane got close to Pledging age. Peck started fearing the worst for them, and . . .

well . . . for months, now, Hailey’s spent all her time over there on the Row, doing anything she could to help protect them. One thing’s led to another. And now here we are.”

“So what’s the conspiracy?” Grandma demanded. “What did

DOME do with my granddaughter?”

Mrs. Phoenix sighed. “Sonya. You’d better sit down.”

7

The sun was almost at its highest point in the sky, and the Dust was still riding on Papa’s raft. By now, Peck had explained to them the idea of the Unmarked River, had described its symbols, its system, and its people to the Dust.

“I don’t like this game,” Tyler had said. “Too many ways to

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lose.” But under the circumstances, each had agreed there was no better way forward. So throughout the night, the Dust took turns steering their new raft with a long stick, determined to ride until they found some sign of the next “anchor,” whenever that might be.

It was Eddie who broke the day’s silence. “After all that,” he said. “After
all
that, we’re just leaving Logan behind.”

“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Peck said, pushing the

raft around a cluster of rocks and trying hard to fight his exhaustion. “Logan will make it to Beacon. I know he will. Hailey and Dane too.”

“But not with us.”

“No. Not likely with us.”

“And yet
we’re
still going to Beacon. Even though this is
Logan’s
sister we’re talking about here.”

Peck looked at Eddie sideways. “You got a problem with that?”

“
I
do,” Jo said. “You gonna use your little power trip on me too?”

“I’m not using a power trip on anyone, Joanne. This isn’t up

to me anymore.”

“Well, then who’s it up to, huh?”

“No one! Think it through, Joanne. Where else can we go? The

Row is out of the picture. New Chicago’s swarming with DOME,

all of whom are looking for us. And the farm’s been discovered.

What else do you expect us to do? Beacon’s our last safe bet.”

Blake had been lying back on the raft, hands behind his head,

looking up at the treetops and the sky passing overhead. But he sat up now, a strange look in his eyes. “You knew, didn’t you?”

Peck turned to him. “What are you talking about?”

“You knew they would come for him. For Logan. You knew

that he’d lead them right to us. That as long as Logan was a part of
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the Dust, DOME would always be just one step behind. . . . You
wanted
it . . .”

“Why would I want that, Blake? Why?”

“To drive us off the farm! To take away our safe house. To

keep us on our toes—always on our toes! Because you knew we

wouldn’t follow you any other way!”

All of the Dust was looking on now, in a sort of stunned

silence.

“And what if you’re right?” Peck asked.

“Dock the raft. I’m getting off.”

“You
can’t
, Blake. DOME’s out there. They’ll find you and kill you.”

“You’re
using
us!”

Suddenly Peck drove his stick very hard into the stream-

bed, and the raft veered dangerously to the right. It swerved and crashed hard against the bank, jostling everyone and throwing

Blake to the dirt.

“We are
in
this, Blake.
Together
. You knew what you’d signed up for with the Dust. You knew it was the hard road. Since when have I ever promised it would be easy to bend history toward justice?” Peck shook his head. “I’m ashamed of you right now.”

And now Peck spoke to the group of them, to everyone on

the raft.

“There is a place in Beacon where kids are sent to suffer for

crimes they may or may not ever commit. Now, I don’t know about any of you, but when I hear that, it makes my blood boil. So I am going to Beacon to do something about it. Do I need you kids to come with me? No. I don’t. So any of you who wants out, now’s your chance. Here we are. Final stop. But you’d better make it quick.

Because DOME
is
on our trail. And because
I’ve
got work to do.

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“Why do I want you with me on this? Because we’re a family.

Because I love each of you. Like brothers. Like sisters. The same way I love Logan. And Dane. And Hailey. And Lily.

“But we’re out of time, Blake. So if you—if any of you—feel

differently about me—about any of this—then leave now and

don’t look back.”

Overhead, a soft wind whistled in the empty tree branches.

A few lost birds chirped in the distance. The rushing water of the stream lay a blanket of comforting sound around them. And the

sky was blue and inviting.

Blake stood up at the spot where he’d fallen off the raft. The Dust looked around at one another. Jo. Tyler and Eddie. Meg. Rusty.

And Blake stepped back onto the raft. “Push off,” he told Peck, defeated. Not looking him in the eyes. Not looking anyone in the eyes. “Come on, already, will you? Let’s go.” And he leaned over and shoved the ground hard, sending the raft back onto its journey himself.

8

Logan’s grandmother tiptoed up the spiraling staircase outside the Langlys’ home, still in shock over everything Mrs. Phoenix had said.

Kids taken by DOME. Imprisoned for signs of doubt in Cylis.

For dangerous thoughts they didn’t know they had.

And at the same time, Grandma felt large. Larger-than-life.

Ballooned up with a level of pride she’d never before imagined.

Her grandson. Logan. Throwing everything away to stand up

against it.

As she changed into dry clothes and ran a towel through her

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hair, Grandma thought very hard about ways she could help. There had to be something. She would find it.

But the Langlys couldn’t know. David, Charlotte . . . they’d

never allow it. Would they even believe it? They’d never listened to her before . . .

Grandma sat on the bed for a long time, holding the charm on

her necklace and praying that she might find some way to help her grandchildren soon. Praying for something, for any little thing to point her in the right direction. She twisted the small, silver cross in her fingers and thought,
I’m listening
.
I’ll hear it
.

Eventually Grandma walked to the elevator, to find her son-in-

law and lie to him about her long nap and her wonderful dreams.

Tomorrow would be another day. Mrs. Phoenix would be

waiting. And Grandma had a feeling she’d better get good at coming up with alibis.

9

Erin was surprised to find her father home when she returned

from school. She’d expected him to work late after the disaster at the farm the night before.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Mr. Arbitor shrugged, not looking up from the mug of nano-

coffee he held between his hands on the kitchen table.

“School’s a mess,” Erin said. “Between the kids whispering

about Hailey’s disappearance, and that ridiculous secretary, Ms.

Carrol, running around talking to reporters like a chicken with her head cut off, the whole place is chaos.” She dropped her bag and sat across from her father.

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“That’s nice, dear,” Mr. Arbitor said absently.

“You should have listened to me,” Erin said. “I’d have found

him. I’d have checked the barn before running around blowing

people’s heads off like a maniac. Logan would have talked to me if I’d shown up alone. He’d have protected me from the Dust, and

he’d have talked to me. You could have moved in anytime, and

you’d have caught them. And we’d know what Logan knows. And

I’d have my friend back.”

Mr. Arbitor stared intently into his mug.

“Are you hearing me, Dad?” She waved her hand in front of

his face.

“We’re moving back to Beacon,” Mr. Arbitor said. He sipped

his nanocoffee, still not looking at his daughter.

“Wait. We are?” Erin’s eyes lit up. “When? Dad, that’s great!

Have you told Mom?”

“I was demoted,” Mr. Arbitor said. “Cheswick demoted me.

Said I was incompetent. They’re calling it a transfer. But I was demoted.”

Erin was quiet for a moment. Then she shrugged. “Well, what

do you expect, Dad? You are incompetent. If you’d have listened to reason, we’d have caught the little misers by now. We’d have Logan Marked and on our side, and maybe you’d be getting a promotion instead of . . .” Erin trailed off. She was still trying to start a fight.

But Mr. Arbitor wasn’t biting. And this scared her almost more than anything. “Dad. Come on. There’s a silver lining here. We get to be with Mom again!”

“You’re right,” her father said. “You won.”

“What? No, Dad, I—this isn’t about me.”

“You sneaked into DOME and stole our supplies. You helped

Logan escape while he was in our custody. You set this whole