by Holly Hook
"You're not," Weslie says. She wipes a single tear away from her cheek. "You are not. You climbed into that hole out of your own free will. In the dark. I never would have been able to do it if you hadn't gone down first. And you killed the Megapede. I never would have done that, either. You're a lot tougher than you think you are."
I also stabbed my stepfather, I think.
There's nothing to be proud of. Not there, anyway.
"The Megapede was an accident," I tell her. "It was a lucky shot."
"It was something my brother who used to play football all the time couldn't do," Weslie says.
“Well, I have Pit to thank," I say. Is this why Pit wanted me to come out here? To console Weslie and listen to her? Why was he so insistent? I could have done this tomorrow morning while Ned had us out, milking cows or something. There must be another reason Pit brought me out here. "Have you noticed anything strange tonight?"
Weslie sniffs, swallows, and looks out into the dark. "Nothing,” she says. "I've been terrified the Dwellers are going to come back, but it must be like, three in the morning by now. They're terrified of the sun and they won't come out too close to dawn. Unless they're desperate or something."
They'd come after me right before dawn. I'm a special case. And I'm still here. But I don't tell Weslie. What will she think if she knows that Garrett used to not treat me like crap?
Pit whimpers below me. I search around.
Then I see it.
There's a single figure walking around outside. I can barely make it out in the dim firelight.
They're heading towards the hole in the field.
I tug on Weslie's sleeve. She faces me and wipes off her cheek.
"Look," I tell her.
She does.
"What?" she asks, mouth falling open. She blinks. "Someone's out there. They're not supposed to be."
The other guard--it's Baxter, I see--shifts and faces us. "What was that you said?" I'd forgotten he was over there.
"Someone's out there," she repeats.
I squint. The light next to us makes it hard to make out anything at all except for the black expanse that makes up the field. But there's movement out there, something large that might be a human, heading out to where Weslie and I had to take the plunge.
"Who is it?" I ask.
I can't make it out. The person stops at where the hole is and kneels next to it.
And disappears.
"Do we go after them?" I ask. "You must have weapons up here or something." I look around. There's a spear sitting next to Weslie, ready for use. It's clean and unused. It's nothing but a piece of sharpened Deadstone tied to a stick with twine.
Weslie grabs it almost like she's scared I'm going to take it from her. "We do," she says. "But...we don't leave town at night. It's against the law. We just guard it.”
"Then whoever's out there is breaking the law," I say. "Someone's breaking the law big time. What if it's the person who was digging that tunnel in the first place?”
A look of horror erupts on Weslie's face. “I think it could be.” She checks. “How did they get out there? The only way out is through the front gate. Ned only wanted one entrance to defend."
"What if something happens to this entrance?" I ask. "Looks like we're in a big trap."
"Hey, I don't like that, either," Baxter says. "We'd better sit tight and wait for Ned to show up to tell him."
A horrible thought hits me. "What if they're going to remove the barricade right now to let in a bunch of Dwellers?"
“That tunnel doesn't come into town," Weslie says. She grabs the spear tighter. "They can't get in through the walls if there aren't any holes. And we have Pit here. He can help us with them." She doesn't sound confident. At all. Just now, I realize she's wearing a fur strap around her neck. It's a blindfold, the same kind the guards last night wore. It's her only defense against that horde and I don't blame her for being nervous. I would be, too.
"Well, how did that person get out of town?" I ask. "There must be another way out than the gate."
"You're right," she says. "We need to check the that. Make sure no one's cut any more holes.”
"What are you doing?" the other guard asks.
"My job," Weslie says. She goes for the rope ladder. "Come on, Elaine. We'll follow Pit and see if he knows where it is. He found the other one okay."
Pit's wagging his tail now, but it's more nervous now than anything. He steps away and we follow him. Weslie keeps her spear close. I keep away from her, afraid I'll walk into it or something.
Pit stops at the wall and whimpers. He claws at it, but the wall stays as solid as ever.
I face Weslie. “I don't get it,” I say. “Pit, what are you trying to say?”
He nods towards the wall again, as if he's trying to point outside. Maybe he is. Pit looks frustrated. His orange eyes blaze with energy. What's he trying to tell me? I run my hand down the wall but find nothing. It seems normal and strong in every way.
“Let's get Ned,” Weslie says.
“Good idea.”
Ned's house. We run to the center of town.
The door's shut tight and there's no light coming from inside. Ned doesn't even have a candle. Now that I think about it, no one does.
"Are we supposed to knock?" Weslie asks. “He might not even be home.”
Pit stands there by the door and looks at us, then to the door again.
"Well, we need to tell Ned someone's out there walking around," I say.
I knock.
Pit makes a hollow sound and the door creaks. It's not even smooth. Someone's carved this out and it's going to give me splinters if I'm not careful. "Ned? We need to show you something. Again."
There's no response.
I knock again. The door swings in a little. It's not even on hinges. Instead, there are holes in the door and twine tied through them, holding it to the wall.
There's nothing but darkness inside. "Ned?" I ask. I feel like I'm sticking my head in a bear's cave. It's not so different here. Ned still doesn't trust me. He never has.
"Ned?" I ask. I listen for any snoring.
None.
My stomach does some flip flops. "I don't like this," I say. "He's not home. You see him walking around anywhere? Looking for anyone to yell at?"
Weslie stands on her toes and looks around. She vanishes around the edge of the house, leaving me there in Ned's doorway, on the edge of forbidden territory. I wait for a full two minutes and she returns. "No," she says. "He's gone. Usually he's patrolling around until late at night and then he comes in here and goes to bed."
"But I saw him heading in here a while ago," I say. "He could have left, of course, but--"
Weslie's mouth falls open. “What if he's the guy out there?”
A hole opens up inside of me. “You think he's working with the Dwellers?”
“I sure didn't see him helping the guards last night,” she says. “He was on the ground. He wouldn't even go up there and fight them.”
I'm not liking this.
Pit whimpers at me again. It's only adding to my terror.
“You think he's working to sell us all out?” I ask.
Weslie faces the doorway. “We have to take a quick look in there. See if there's anything incriminating.” She winces at her own words. “I don't like this idea. It's almost as scary as the tunnel.”
“We should,” I say, hating the idea. We can't linger. I step in. It's dark in here. The floor's the same crude wood that mine is. There's dirt mixed in, plugging in the holes between the boards. I nearly trip and catch myself on the wall. "We need light," I say. "Go grab a torch."
"Just give me a minute.”
Weslie vanishes. She's heading back to her watch. There's a torch there. She returns with it. "I had to tell Baxter a fake story about searching for a hole in the wall," she says. "We're lucky he can't see us from here. He and Ned are kind of friends. They do talk to each other without yelling sometimes."
"Great," I s
ay, taking the moss torch.
The inside of Ned's house lights up. It's not much better than mine or anyone else's, except for the actual door. The floor's dirty. His bed's in the center of the room and there's hay on the ground. I circle it and shine the light.
The boards here are uneven, as if someone has tampered with them.
"There," I say, heart leaping.
“What's that?" Weslie asks.
I lean down with the torch. If Ned finds us in here, we're dead. "The floor.” I look closer. “These aren't the logs we have for our floors. These are boards. And it looks like they're loose.”
I grab the board and lift it up.
Pure darkness.
A hole.
There's a hole under the floor of Ned's house.
"What?" Weslie says. She gasps and leans closer. "Where does that go to?"
“So much for there not being any possibility of tunnels,” I say. I lean closer. The dirt here is fresh, tampered with and scattered in crumbs like someone has gone through. "This might be a tunnel to the outside," I say.
"But that doesn't make sense," Weslie says. "This could just be some secret chamber under his house where he keeps extra food and supplies for himself in case things hit the fan.”
"It could be," I say. "But we don't know. We have to see where this goes." I catch the look of horror on Weslie's face. “Or I will."
"Maybe we shouldn't after all,” she says. “I wasn't expecting this.”
"But this might be a way for Dwellers to get into town," I say. "And it looks like Ned knows about it. How can he not? It's him out there."
Weslie screws up her face. It's clear that she doesn't want to believe that Ned would do something like this. "Ned wouldn't work with the Flamestone Society," she says. "His brother might have gotten taken by them, you know? His brother. He'd never go over to their side."
"I wouldn't, either," I say. Then I think of the tattoo that Garrett wanted the Dwellers to put on my arm, the one that would kill me if I dared speak up against the Flamestone Society. What if they've done the same to Ned and he's just their slave now, unable to resist what they're doing? He'd be perfect. He's the leader here and everyone trusts him. Garrett might have set this up himself and I just happened to get here at the wrong time. "He might be getting forced to. Let me go down there. I'll have you stand here and act as my lookout. Is that okay?"
Weslie sighs. "You shouldn't have to go down there by yourself."
"I don't think there are any Megapedes down there if Ned has this connected to his house. He wouldn't be that stupid.”
I kneel down. Hold the torch to the hole.
There's a ladder.
A wooden one tied with twine, too. It's sturdy. Pretty new. "I'm climbing down." I lift two more of the boards. They've been cut to allow his frame to get through.
"Elaine!" Weslie half gasps.
"I'll be okay," I say. "This might even be the passage Ned uses to get outside the town when no one's looking."
"But what if he comes back?"
"That's a risk I'll have to take. Better him than Dwellers." What am I doing? Of course Ned's dangerous.
But so is believing a word he says.
I hand Weslie my torch and climb down. At least there's a ladder here and the space under Ned's house is more open than the tunnel that led down in the field. No dirt presses against me and I feel like I'm descending through a void and not earth. Of course. This tunnel has to be big enough to let Ned through. He's a giant guy. This should be easy for me.
And then I reach the bottom. "Torch," I say.
Weslie lowers it. It's died down, giving off precious little light.
I blow on it to fan the flames. My feet are on stone. The walls here are packed dirt. I turn in a circle, illuminating a corner. I'm in a space about eight feet wide. "It's a secret room," I say. "A secret room. How did no one ever notice this?"
"No one ever sets foot in Ned's house."
Weslie says it in a way that says I should move, that we should get out of there. I have to see. The torch doesn't do much to stave away the dark. There could still be a tunnel hiding down here.
And then I see it, lying on the floor.
My axe.
And my backpack. It's open like he's gone through. The Flamestone still sparkles inside. And there are other things, too. A shovel. A small pile of canine teeth that are about three inches long.
And my Megapede jaw.
Ned took this right out of the storage cave. And out of my house.
"What the hell?" I ask. "My stuff's down here!"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. Dead serious. He took my stuff and put it down here! He went into my house and took my jaw!" My mind races. Ned doesn't want me armed. He doesn't want me to defend myself.
I search around to see what else he might have taken. "I thought this stuff we brought in was supposed to be for everyone," I say. This is enough evidence for me. I'm tempted to grab my backpack, but then he'll know I've been here. Why's he holding it down here? It doesn't look like he's used it or anything.
And there's a tunnel.
It's narrow and crude and leads off to my right. I step a bit closer.
We've found what we're looking for.
A chill washes over me. I go for the ladder. Climb back up, hating that I'm leaving my axe and my jaw down there.
I stick my head out of the opening. I hand Weslie the torch, but she's not there.
"Weslie?"
Then a hand grabs my wrist and pulls me up.
A big hand. A strong hand. An angry hand.
I land my feet on a loose board and catch my breath.
Ned stands there. Weslie's right behind him, hands raised to her mouth and eyes open in terror.
He's angrier than I've ever seen him. His mouth's tight and he has his other fist balled. Blood rushes to his cheeks and his eyes are hard and merciless.
"The two of you," he orders. "Go to your cabins." His voice is low, a dangerous calm. "I will see you in the morning, bright and early. Meanwhile, I will be posting guards in front of your doors. If I see you out again tonight, you won't live to see the sun come up.”
Chapter Five
Trial
Ned posts Baxter in front of my door, complete with the spear. I overhear him yelling at someone else to guard the front gates.
I sit on my bed. I'm going to throw up. Ned did this on purpose. He's making us sit here in dread and wait until morning to learn of our fates. Dozens of feet away, Weslie's sitting in her own cabin. The two of us can't talk right now.
Why did I have to do this?
Why did I have to get Weslie in trouble?
And where's Pit? Baxter must be keeping him away. I hope he got out of the way before Ned could find him. Does Ned like to kill Harehounds that he thinks are plotting against him?
But then Pit walks into the cabin and the silent form of Baxter outside the door doesn't stop him. His tail is down. He rubs up against me.
I pet him. I don't have any words. We've already been through so much together.
“Thanks for trying to warn me,” I whisper to him at last.
He freezes and stares at me with those bright orange eyes. Then he cocks his head. Nods in the direction of the wall and the tunnel.
"What were you trying to show me?" I keep my voice down. It's hard. There's so little privacy here in Wompitt. Maybe it's why Ned has that secret chamber under his house. And where did Ned come from if he was walking around outside? Baxter must have let him back in through the front gate. Baxter's his friend. Maybe he's in on this crap, too.
I can still see his form right outside the door, keeping guard. I don't know who has Weslie under guard. Maybe it's even Ned himself.
Maybe he'll be light on us since we did go down in that first tunnel like he wanted.
Or not.
I sigh.
Lie down. I don't know what's coming.
Close my eyes. It's useless. I'm ill. I sense Pit standing there. H
e nuzzles my hand.
I pet him.
This might be the last time. I trekked through the wilderness and now I'll never have anyone to help me rescue Shawn and Talia and Travis. I've failed them.
The light grows stronger outside. The fire, lower. They're letting it burn down for the morning since the Dweller threat is vanishing.
People move. Feet scuffle. I sense quiet chatter as everyone sits down to breakfast.
Baxter parts my curtains. He practically leers at me. "Breakfast," he says. "You are to sit in the middle. Ned will be out in a few minutes."
I stand.
I'm a zombie.
Dead already.
I walk outside and to the log that sits closest to the fire. Weslie's already there, bent over with her hands on her knees. I can't bear to look at her. I try to read her expression, to see any hints at what might be coming. But there's none. There's only despair.
And Pit sits on the other side of me. I can't help but wonder if he's here to comfort me through this.
"Hey," Antoine says, appearing from the direction of the other side of town. "How you girls doing?"
"I don't know," I say. Weslie has gone very, very quiet and Antoine notices.
"What's wrong?"
"Morning!" Ned shouts, which is pretty accurate.
He strides at us all from his cabin. For a second, I wonder if he's just going to go on like normal with the breakfast and the job duties. He walks around us all...and stops next to our log. Weslie tenses. Antoine looks at him, not comprehending.
"These two," he announces, "Broke into my cabin last night and were trying to go through my things. I believe our morning entertainment will be them explaining to us why they did so."
Jaden looks at us. He's on the next log. I hadn't even noticed him there. Pit draws closer to me.
I shake my head at him and he relaxes, sitting on the ground.
"Well?" Ned's over us now, glaring down.
I have to think of something, and fast.
I'll tell the truth. Part of it, anyway.
"Weslie and I were standing up by the gates," I explain. "We saw someone walking for that tunnel that we found yesterday. I couldn't tell who it was, so we decided to come and get you, but you weren't home." It's true. I can face Ned while I say it.
