Sebastian turned and walked up the stairs, a triumphant sneer on his face. “Nothing to it,” he said. Jonathan rolled his eyes.
Gerald hopped down from Jonathan’s back and tore the coat off like it was crawling with spiders. He threw the hat down on top of it.
“I’m never doing that again!” he cried.
Sebastian snorted and swung the big wooden door closed. “Yeah, you are. Mail comes tomorrow, too, you know.” Gerald’s shoulders slumped.
All the other boys were gathering around them. The rain had mostly stopped.
Sebastian stood shoulder to shoulder with Jonathan. He still had the cocky smile on his face.
“Well, boys, here we are,” he said. “Got the place all to ourselves. You’re welcome.”
They all stood looking at one another. A seagull shrieked from the top of the wall above them.
“Well, then,” Francis said, clearing his throat. “What should we do now?”
Sebastian looked at Jonathan and smiled, then looked back at the circle of questioning faces.
“Whatever the hell we want,” he said, and his grin widened even more. He cracked his knuckles and started walking through the circle, toward the door to the main building across the courtyard.
“Uh, Thebathtian?” Colin called after him, stopping him in mid-step. “What about the bodieth?”
They all turned and looked at the pile of soggy corpses. Sebastian stood with his mouth open, his eyebrows frowning.
Jonathan had already thought that through.
“The freezer,” he said. “Otherwise, they’ll—” He stopped and grimaced, then shrugged. “We have to put them in the freezer.”
Sebastian nodded at him. “That makes sense,” he said.
“The freezer’s a long ways away,” Tony said.
Sebastian raised his eyebrows at him. “Then we better get started.”
Sebastian did the math of eight bodies and sixteen boys and assigned each body to two boys. None of the pairs could get their body more than a few feet before dropping it with a stomach-twisting, meaty splash in a puddle, though.
Dead bodies are heavy, it turns out. When they’re wearing rain-drenched coats and wool trousers, they’re really heavy. And when they’re rain-soaked bodies of men being carried by a bunch of kids who don’t even really want to touch them, they’re almost impossibly heavy.
“Okay,” Sebastian barked, gasping for breath and still holding Mr. Warwick’s feet in his hands. “Two trips. Four people per body. Someone take one of these legs.”
The bodies were still heavy, but in teams of four, they at least managed to drag them toward the door. It was tough going, though. Curses and accusations echoed around the courtyard.
“Come on! You’re only pretending to hold that arm!”
“Lift higher! It’s hard to pull when his head’s dragging like that!”
“I am trying, Jason! His ankle is just too slippery!”
“No, not by the elbow, dummy! Grab under the armpits! Like this!”
“Gross! His tongue touched me!”
But, step by step, they got the bodies out of the courtyard and through the door and down the dark hallway and into the room where they’d eaten breakfast. The groups were spread out by then, depending on how big a body they’d gotten stuck with. Jonathan was with Colin, Miguel, and the kid named David. They, unfortunately, had ended up with the Admiral, and they were at the very end of the morbid, sweating, swearing parade.
“Dang, man,” Miguel panted, wrestling with a leg that was slippery with rain. “Why’d I get stuck with three of the littlest guys?”
David, who was trying to get a good grip on the Admiral’s right arm, shot him a look.
“I ain’t no weakling.”
“Nah, nah, you know what I mean,” Miguel said quickly. “We all know you tough. That’s why you’re here, right? For being all tough and stuff and, like, almost killing some guy or something?”
Jonathan glanced nervously at David, but David just rolled his eyes.
“No. Just for fighting.”
“Yeah,” Miguel said. “But, like, a lot of fighting, right?”
David shrugged. They struggled for a few more steps in silence, but then he spoke again, his quiet voice a rush of frustration.
“I’m the only Japanese kid at my school, right? And every day—every day—they make fun of me. They push. They throw things. Whisper things. And so, yes, I fight back. So I get lots of practice, right? So, after a while, I start to win. And what’s wrong with that? So some … some … moron starts up again and ends up with a broken jaw and a concussion and I’m supposed to be sorry? The judge says”—David bitterly slipped into a deep, adult voice—“ ‘All these terrible fights, all these stitches and broken noses, and you are the common denominator.’ Me? I laughed at the judge. ’Cause from where I was sitting, the common denominator was all those stupid white boys.”
Miguel dropped the Admiral’s leg and straightened up to catch his breath.
“Sure, man,” he said. “Whatever you say. You’re on top. You’re the numerator, man. Just remember I ain’t white next time you start swinging, okay, champ?”
David scowled.
“What about you?” he asked. “What are you in for?”
Miguel shrugged.
“Eh. Truancy. I’m not, like, super great at showing up to school, you know? My folks chose to send me here, to fix my attitude. Can you believe that?” A grin spread across his face. “But look at me now! Choosing to stay here, when we could go home! I’m reformed!”
He looked around at them, waiting for a laugh, but they were all too tired and out of breath. Jonathan gave him a little smile and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“What about you, newbie?” Miguel asked. “What’d you do to get yourself sent here?”
Jonathan’s smile flickered away. His eyes dropped away from Miguel’s. The Admiral was looking up at him, his foul mouth open and his dead eyes gaping.
“Come on,” Jonathan said. “Let’s get this over with. This guy ain’t getting any lighter.”
The boys stooped and regained their holds and hoisted the Admiral up with a chorus of grunts and curses.
“Thith ith abtholutely inthane,” Colin complained under his breath, changing his grip around the Admiral’s left armpit. “We thould’ve told right away.”
“I’d keep that to yourself,” Jonathan murmured, looking up the hallway. “I think Sebastian’ll actually kick your butt if you keep talking like that.” Jonathan was holding the Admiral’s other limp arm and dragging him backward. Walter and David each had a leg.
“Thebathian? Thith wath all your idea, Jonathan.”
Jonathan frowned and cleared his throat. The Admiral’s head rocked from side to side as they walked, looking back and forth from him to Colin like he was listening to the conversation. Jonathan tried to avoid the Admiral’s glassy, staring eyes.
“Yeah, well, I was right. I didn’t want to go home.” The Admiral’s head flopped over to Colin.
“Well, thome of uth do.” The Admiral’s head flopped back to Jonathan.
Jonathan didn’t know what to say. He looked away from the Admiral’s accusing eyes.
“It’s just for a few days, Colin,” he said through gritted teeth. His fingers were burning from the Admiral’s weight. “Just relax. It’ll be fun.” The Admiral’s corpse looked back to Colin. His tongue was starting to stick out.
“Fun? With him in charge? He’ll be worth than the Admiral!” Colin looked down at the Admiral’s empty stare. “No offenth.”
“Sebastian’s not in charge,” Jonathan assured him. “No one is. It’s just all of us. He’s not taking over.”
Colin looked up into Jonathan’s eyes and frowned his little frown.
“Jutht wait and thee.” He shook his head. “The inmateth are running the athylum.”
“The inmates are running the asylum? What does that mean?”
Colin shrugged. “It’th jutht a thayin
g.”
“Who says it?”
“People.”
“When do they say it?” The Admiral’s head rocked back over to look at Jonathan.
Colin sighed and put his shoulder under the Admiral’s uncooperative arm.
“When everything thtarth to go wrong.”
By then, some of the boys had already made it to the freezer and dropped their bodies off. They walked out of the kitchen, red-faced and sweaty. Sebastian was among them.
“Listen up,” he called out, panting. “Once you get both your bodies put away, we’re gonna meet at the big table. We need to decide some stuff. And hurry up.”
Colin shot Jonathan a meaningful look that he pretended not to see.
Finally, they got the Admiral’s bloated body to the freezer. Their breath puffed in frosty clouds as they dragged and pushed him up onto the pile of corpses.
Jonathan was the last to leave. He slipped gratefully out of the freezer but groaned when the door hit the Admiral’s jutting boot, six inches shy of closing. Colin and the others were already out the freezer door and into the kitchen, heading back for the next corpse.
He kicked at the Admiral’s boot but his leg was stiff and the boot wouldn’t budge. He sighed and looked over his shoulder and reluctantly walked back into the freezer. He grabbed the Admiral under both armpits and heaved, trying to twist him over and higher up on the pile of bodies. As he did so, he heard a metallic clanging and looked down.
A key had fallen out of the Admiral’s jacket pocket. It was a big key, rusty and old-fashioned. Jonathan glanced around and shivered. He picked up the key and slipped it into his pocket, then gave the Admiral one last push to clear the door and walked out to rejoin the rest of the boys.
“Okay,” Sebastian began when they all met at the table, exhausted and limp from dragging dead bodies across a hundred yards of stone. “First things first. I’m in charge.”
Colin turned his head to give Jonathan a very meaningful look. Jonathan bit his tongue and didn’t look back.
Sebastian was sitting in the Admiral’s big wooden chair, his feet up on the table. Benny was sitting next to him, with Roger and Gregory nearby.
“Why are you in charge?” Tony asked.
“Because I say so, Tony. We can’t have no one in charge. It’d be dumb. And I’ve been here the longest. And I’m the oldest.”
“I’m older than you are,” Gerald protested.
“Shut up, Gerald. I’m in charge. Anyone have a problem with that?”
“Do we have another choith?”
“No.”
“Could we have electionth?”
“No. And you better shut up right now, Colin.”
“Let it go,” Jonathan whispered through clenched teeth, nudging Colin. “It’ll be fine.”
Colin just shook his head and frowned. His hand flitted up to pinch nervously at his neck.
“Okay, now that’s settled. First rule is …” Sebastian smiled like a cat with a mouthful of feathers. He spread his hands wide. “… there are no rules.”
There was a little scattered clapping among the group. Some nervous laughter. Sebastian looked around at them, a little frown on his face.
“Why do you guys look so scared?”
No one answered. Eyes dropped to the floor.
“What’s wrong with you guys? This is the best thing that ever happened to us!”
There was still no answer except the sound of the rain still pattering in the courtyard outside the window.
Sebastian jumped to his feet.
“What? You think we can’t do this? You think we can’t take care of ourselves and have fun?” Sebastian shook his head.
“Come on! The stupid Admiral? He called us scabs, right?” Sebastian’s face darkened. “Picked off and thrown away, he said. But now he’s gone. And here we are. Still around. ’Cause you know what you get when you keep picking at a scab?”
He looked around at them, his eyes shining.
“Bloody fingers?” Miguel suggested.
“An infection?” Walter asked.
“No!” Sebastian spat. “You get a scar, idiots. A scar. And scars are tough. The Admiral was wrong. We ain’t scabs. We’re scars.”
“Yeah!” Benny piped up eagerly. “Scars, man!”
Jonathan’s stomach suddenly twisted and tightened. He blinked quickly and rubbed at his sleeves with sweaty palms.
Sebastian’s mouth spread into a grin and he opened his arms wide.
“Look around, guys! This whole place belongs to us. We’re the kings. No one to boss us around. No one to get us in trouble. It’s our island now. Ours. We don’t need nobody. ’Cause we’re Scars now. Scars with a capital S. The tough Scars that got left behind. It’s our island.”
“Hell yeah!” Roger cheered in his deep voice. “Our island!”
“Our island!” Gregory echoed.
Sebastian slammed his fist down on the table, his face glowing with triumph.
“This whole island belongs to the Scars now!”
“Scar Island!” Benny crowed.
Sebastian had them now. There were cheers and smiles and high fives. Even Walter was nodding his head and grinning.
“This ain’t Slabhenge anymore!” Sebastian hollered. “It’s Scar Island from now on! Say it!”
“Scar Island!” all the boys shouted.
All the boys except Colin, who just sat looking around, pale and frowning.
And all the boys except Jonathan, still rubbing his arms and blinking.
Sebastian sat back down, his face flushed.
“The jerks are gone,” he said. “We can do. Whatever. We. Want.”
There was more clapping, more cheering.
“Except … we should eat meals together, I think,” Sebastian added. “To check in. Make sure we’re all okay. That makes sense, right?” He looked at Jonathan. Jonathan dropped his hands quickly from his arms. He shrugged and nodded.
“So do whatever you want, guys. Run around. Eat some more. Whatever. But be back here for dinner. Have fun, Scars.”
Everyone sat and looked at each other for a moment. Then Francis stood up and started toward the kitchen. David got up and headed for the door that led outside.
“Wait,” Jonathan said. “What about the generator? We still need electricity, right? For the fridge and the … freezer?”
Sebastian pursed his lips. “Oh, yeah. Right. We’ll, uh, take turns. It only has to get done, what, like three times a day?” He looked to Benny, who nodded eagerly. “We’ve all done it, we know how it works. So, first, how about … you and you,” he said, pointing at Miguel and another kid Jonathan didn’t know yet. “Head down and fill it up.” They grumbled and trudged away together.
Slowly the rest of the boys wandered away in different directions, most in groups of two or three. Sebastian headed out into the courtyard. Benny followed like a puppy at his heels.
Colin and Walter and Jonathan were the last left at the tables. Colin still looked unhappy.
“Cheer up,” Jonathan said to him. “Now the good times start.” Colin just rolled his eyes.
“So … what is there to do around here?” Jonathan asked.
It was Walter’s turn to roll his eyes. “Who knows? All we ever did was work, man. Mop the floors, clean the kitchen, scrub the toilets. I’ve been here weeks and I bet I ain’t seen any more of the place than you have.”
“Well, then,” Jonathan said, standing up. “Let’s go exploring.”
Walter hopped up to join him, and after a moment Colin did, too.
“We’re gonna need lanternth,” Colin said with a sigh. “I know where they keep them. Matcheth, too.”
A few minutes later, the three of them were walking through one of the snaking, shadowy hallways that had been so confusing to Jonathan the night before. Jonathan and Walter each held a hissing lantern.
“This place is like a maze,” Jonathan said, moving his lantern from side to side to banish suspicious shadows in the corners.
“It is a maze,” Walter said. “I heard they built it that way on purpose, to confuse the crazies. So only the guards would know their way around, you know?”
Jonathan slipped on an especially slimy stair and, putting out his hand to catch himself, almost grabbed a huge brown rat. He jerked his hand back and the rat squeaked angrily and slithered into a hole between two blocks.
“Well,” he said, standing up. “If they weren’t crazy when they got here, I bet it didn’t take too long to get that way.”
Walter looked uneasily at the hole the rat had disappeared into.
“Yeah, man. You got that right.” He shook his shoulders in an exaggerated shiver. “This place gives me the heebie-jeebies. Thinking about all them crazies that lived here. And died here.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. It echoed in the corridor like turning pages. He looked from Jonathan to Colin. “You guys believe in ghosts?”
Colin shook his head, but he didn’t look so sure.
“I don’t know,” Jonathan said, squinting into the blackness ahead of them. “But if there are ghosts, this sure seems like the kind of place they’d be.”
“Yeah,” Walter answered. “No lie.” He looked at Jonathan. He had second thoughts written all over his face.
Jonathan put on a smile that was a lot braver than he felt.
“Well, let’s go find ’em, then.”
Walter shook his head and almost smiled.
“Fine. I’m following you, though.”
They wandered up and down staircases and peeked into sinister-looking side passages. Jonathan was hopelessly lost within minutes. They found one room they were pretty sure used to be some sort of dungeon; rusted chains dangled from the walls. They took a quick look and then kept going.
Suddenly, the light of Jonathan’s lantern fell on something familiar. It was a rope, stretched across a staircase spiraling down into darkness.
“Hey! I know where we are! Mr. Warwick showed this to me.”
Colin and Walter stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Yeah,” Colin whispered. “He loved to try and thcare uth with thith.”
“The door to the deep, he called it,” Walter said in a low voice.
“The Hatch.” Jonathan nodded. “What’s really down there?” He felt both Walter and Colin shrug beside him.
Scar Island Page 6
