The One Safe Place (22 page)

Nineteen

THE RULE AMONG THE
children was that nobody should look at anyone in the Dream. But over the next couple of days Devin made a point of watching them carefully. There were currently three: a boy named Corey, a tall girl with long, blond hair, whose name he didn’t know, and Missie.

Now that he knew that there were Visitors’ minds inside their bodies, their behavior, which had seemed so odd before, made perfect sense. He remembered his aching limbs back in the Place and tried to imagine what it would feel like to be old one minute and very young the next. It must be thrilling, he thought. It must be the best feeling in the world.

In the beginning, the children in the Dream could barely keep still. Missie turned cartwheels on the lawn, her skirt around her ears, her shoes tossed off. Corey ran from one attraction to the other, jumping on the trampoline and randomly kicking at things as if to test out the strength of his legs. The blond girl simply hopped from one foot to the other, apparently astonished at her own balance. They were like new lambs, he thought, or colts: giddy with energy, amazed at the working of their own arms and legs.

After this first stage of euphoria, they seemed to settle down a fraction. But they still moved in a state of wonder, as if their bodies were suits of fabulous clothes to be touched and admired.

All of them, without exception, spent a lot of time simply gazing around. But they didn’t look at things the way that Devin had noticed children—real children—looked. Real children observed the world in an open, matter-of-fact sort of way. But the Visitors peered and stared, marveling like tourists in some new and incredible land.

They didn’t play like real children, either. They were not intent and businesslike with their toys. Instead they seemed incredulous, examining each item as if they could barely believe their eyes. It was understandable, Devin thought. It had been decades, after all, since they had last held a building block or watched a model train chugging around a track or dressed a doll. He had never seen such toys himself before arriving at the Home, but he realized how familiar they must seem to the Visitors, as familiar as the nests in the barn and Glancer were to him.

In the dining room, they always heaped their plates up high. It puzzled Devin slightly, until he remembered the tiny, careful meals he’d been given during his visits to the Place when he’d been in the body of Gabriel Penn. After half a lifetime of eating balanced, healthy food, the Visitors couldn’t get enough roast beef and bread and butter and chocolate cake. They ate for the joy of it without fear of weight gain, crumbling teeth, or getting enough vitamins.

Devin could understand it, but even so, their selfishness sickened him.

He glanced at Corey. The Visitor that had taken over his body had a sharp knife and was carelessly carving his initials into the wood of the dining room table. That knife could slip and cut the small hands that held it. But what did the Visitor care about that? There would be a moment of pain, but someone else would bear the scar forever.

Devin turned his head away, unable to watch any longer.

He thought of what Vanessa had said about how he had behaved when he was in the Dream. How he’d licked the grass and touched everything. It was Gabriel Penn who had done those things, carried away by the novelty of Devin’s mixed-up senses. It made Devin feel small and almost worthless, as if he didn’t really belong to himself any longer.

You have to keep your standards in a world where everything is slipping and sliding.

His grandfather was right. He was Devin. He belonged only to himself. And he would fight to keep it that way.

Devin pushed back his chair and went out into the courtyard.

The sunlight was almost blinding. According to Luke, it hadn’t rained here for weeks and weeks. The longer the time between rainfalls, the fiercer the storm would be when it came. But there was no sign of it now. That wispy cloud he had seen days ago had disappeared.

A car pulled up in the driveway on the other side of the courtyard. Devin shaded his eyes, watching it. Then Roman appeared from one of the buildings with Megs trailing behind him. The door of the car opened and Roman got in. It reversed, turned, and started back down the driveway toward the main gates. For a little while Megs gave chase, her yellow bow bobbing wildly. Then she stood still, a forlorn little figure staring and waving as the car disappeared from view.

Roman must be off to the city to get more victims, Devin thought. He’d wondered whether the boy had turned traitor to avoid going to the Place, but now it occurred to him that there was nothing stopping Roman from simply staying in the city and never coming back.

Unless he was being paid.

He was doing it for the money, just like the Administrator. While the kids suffered, they were both happily raking in the cash.

Devin needed to take his mind off things, if only for a short time. He went to the farmyard and stood watching the animals. Fulsome nosed his way over to him and nudged his leg. Devin rummaged in his pocket and found a piece of leftover cheese that he had saved for him.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked the pig. But Fulsome just stood there, waiting patiently for his treat. Only Malloy could get him to do tricks. The boy had an understanding of animals that seemed almost magical. It was probably his Nomad upbringing, Devin thought. He liked the sound of Nomads. The way they lived didn’t seem so different from his grandfather’s ideas. Perhaps one day Malloy would take him to visit one of their camps.

Perhaps.

Devin tossed Fulsome the cheese and turned away. He wandered off toward the courtyard. Passing by the kennels, he heard voices. The Administrator and Mrs. Babbage. They were coming down the path in the opposite direction. Devin didn’t think he could bear to see them. He ducked behind the kennel wall.

“He was told to come back tomorrow.” That was the Administrator talking. Devin could only just make out the words.

Mrs. Babbage mumbled something in reply.

“He was told to find at least two,” he heard the Administrator say. “Although I have serious doubts—”

They had stopped on the path. Devin shrank back against the wall, praying that they wouldn’t look in his direction.

“I’m well aware of that, Babbage!” the Administrator snapped. Her voice lowered. Devin could hear only a phrase or two. She seemed to be talking about Visitors—new Visitors—and then there was a mention of “things being not up to standard.” He kept as still as he could, listening.

“I won’t have this sloppiness . . . certain individuals . . . no longer . . . I want it put right, a clean sweep . . .”

Mrs. Babbage murmured a question.

“Do try and keep up!” the Administrator snapped. “It’s perfectly obvious! It’s only because we’ve had such a shortage that I’ve tolerated it.” Her voice lowered again. “. . . the teddy bear for one . . . wretched little fire . . . long overdue . . .”

“I thought you said she was not . . .” Mrs. Babbage’s voice was plaintive.

“I don’t care what I said!” the Administrator said, suddenly loud. “He makes no effort! He has not kept his side of the bargain, so I feel no obligation to keep mine.”

Devin heard her heels clacking against the path as she strode away and then the softer, more rapid patter of Mrs. Babbage’s shoes as she hurried to catch up.

He had the feeling that whatever it was they’d been talking about was important. He just wished he could have heard more. He might have if he’d had the courage to creep nearer. But he’d been too frightened of being discovered.

Kit would have made sure she heard the whole thing, he thought. At least the old Kit would have. The old Kit wasn’t afraid of anything. But as he hurried back toward his room, he wondered whether this was true.

He was starting to think that he didn’t know her as well as he’d thought he did.

Twenty

DEVIN WASN’T THE ONLY
one who was wondering about Kit. He soon found out that Luke and Malloy had been watching her too. The two boys had told Devin to meet them in the small meadow. They wanted to talk about escape.

Devin waded through the long grass, threaded with wild flowers. The others were already there, Luke with a sheaf of papers in his hand, Malloy lying on his back and staring at the sky with a piece of grass in his mouth.

“Where’s Kit?” Devin asked as he approached. Malloy sat up and glanced at Luke.

“We didn’t ask her to come,” Luke said, without looking up from his notes.

“Why not?”

Malloy grimaced. “One of Luke’s theories. And I have to admit he’s got a point.”

“What?” Devin demanded.

“Sit down,” Luke said. “Okay, this is kind of hard to talk about . . .”

“Awkward!” Malloy chimed in.

Luke gave him a look and Malloy fell silent.

“It’s to do with that stuff we were talking about before,” Luke explained. “You know, the bad dreams and how we thought they were leftovers from the Visitors. Bad stuff that had happened to them which had become part of their brain?”

Devin nodded. “I remember.”

“It got me thinking,” Luke continued. “When Roman first told you about the Home, back in the city, did he ask you about where you’d come from and if your home had been happy?”

Devin nodded again.

“He asked me too,” Luke said. “Have you noticed how every kid in this place has come from a good home? Bad things might have happened to us, but we’ve all . . . we’ve all been loved. You, me, Malloy, Ansel and his dad. Karen had an aunt who looked after her, Missie was in a great family until her parents were killed in a car crash on the highway . . . My point is that we were all selected for that reason.”

“But why?”

“So the Visitors won’t be uncomfortable when they swap with us. Because we have no bad leftovers. Don’t you get it? Being treated badly when you’re a kid must do something to your brain, warp it in some way. Kit is the only one here who doesn’t fit the pattern. Roman made a mistake with her; she wasn’t meant to come along, was she?”

“I said I wouldn’t come if she didn’t.” Devin felt his face grow hot. “But I don’t know what you’re saying. Are you saying Kit’s brain is warped? Because if you are, you’re wrong.”

“I’m not saying that,” Luke muttered, looking away. “It’s just that we don’t know her like you do. And Malloy and me have been thinking . . . wondering . . . if we can trust her.”

“This is wrong!” Devin burst out. “It’s wrong and . . . and unfair. Kit would never do anything to hurt us!”

“Are you sure? Really sure?”

Devin paused. He thought of Kit’s desperation to be adopted, how she said she would do whatever it took. Did this include gaining favor with the Administrator by betraying her friends? He shook his head.

“I’m sure,” he said. “I know her. I’m sure.”

“Well, we’re not,” Luke said. “And we can’t take the chance.”

“I’m sorry, Strange Boy,” Malloy said, looking unhappy. “Really sorry . . .”

A tense silence fell. “So are you in or are you out?” Luke said abruptly.

For a second, Devin considered walking away. But there was time to convince them that Kit could be trusted. He sat down stiffly, apart from the others.

“I’m in,” he said. “What’s the plan?”