OUTSIDE IS A MASS OF PANIC. EVERYONE MUST'VE been headed back to their quarters after the dance, because the courtyard is full of people grabbing up any valuables still lying about-buckets, shovels, children. The sheep in the barns are bleating wild and there are shouts all around us.
"Le malmaci!"
"Hurry!"
"à la salle sacrée!"
I join the crowd scrambling back toward the ceremonial hall. It's the stronghold, the place we are meant to gather if the fortification is breached by the malmaci.
But it's never happened before.
I crane my neck, searching for my pa, but it's impossible to make out faces in the shadows. Only two burn baskets glow in the courtyard; the Watchers were obviously interrupted on their way to the walls. I pull my leg along. Bodies press against me on all sides, push ahead.
I'm one of the last to reach the hall. Andre stands at the doors, beckoning us in. "Vite!"
We press forward into the warmth and light. The gatekeepers call a loud warning once the last of us has siphoned through and begin to slide the massive wooden doors closed. The crowd murmurs in hushed tones, exclamations of fearful wonderment. I search the crowd again for my pa. But then, above the din, I hear a small voice crying out.
"Emmy!" It's far away, scared. And it's coming from beyond the hall doors.
I push to the front. A tiny form is cowering out beside the weapons shack. I am shot through with fear. Edith. Why is she alone? Where's Sister Ann?
I brush past Andre, putting a hand against one of the heavy doors. I have to go to her.
"Non!" Andre cries. "Laissez-la!"
I whirl back toward him. He shakes his head-a warning. But then he's distracted by a clamoring in the crowd. A bunch of people are in the center of the hall-Jameson's followers, no doubt-hollering about the Almighty's vengeance. Everyone turns toward the ruckus as Andre wades into the fray.
I look back to Edith's little form, half-lit by a nearby burn basket. I can't leave her, even though it's against settlement rules. If we come under attack, stragglers are meant to be left behind so as not to risk the entire settlement. I don't think another thought. I duck under the man beside me, slip through and break into a full limping run, feeling the doors close behind me, knowing I just left the last safe place in the fortification.
Edith and I won't stand a chance.
The doors bang shut. Bolts scream into place. My throat tightens at the sound, but I keep running.
When I reach the weapons shack, someone catches up to me. I glance back and see him pull up, casting a frantic look around the courtyard. My fear stalls a moment in confusion.
Kane. Where did he come from?
I grab Edith to me, feeling a wash of relief when her wet face presses into my shirt. I look back at the hall. The doors are bolted shut, our safety trapped inside.
"Over here!" Kane's just a form in the dark, beckoning toward the well.
I push Edith ahead of me as we scramble across the yard.
"In," he orders, pulling aside the wooden trap. "Climb as far as you can and hang on to the ladder."
"Edith can't climb."
"I know." He scoops her up and swings her around so that she clings to his back. He looks at me. I go. Down into the pitch-black space. The well is half empty, so I climb about fifteen feet down, until my feet get wet. Can the malmaci climb ladders? I want to be as far from the opening as I can, but going into the water is dangerous in this cold.
Kane climbs after me, sliding the trap back into place as best he can. I swing to the side to let him onto my ladder rung. Edith is clamped onto his back, shaking.
I'm not sure how long he can stay on the ladder, balanced that way. I'm also not sure if Edith could handle the slippery rungs, so I do the only thing I can: wrap one arm around both of them, and grasp the ladder on the other side. I press in, trying to give Edith my warmth.
We wait.
My heart thuds in my ears. Our breathing is ragged. The earth above us is quiet. No footfall, no noise.
We wait like that, locked together, trying to quiet our breath.
Why is Kane here? Did he see me running after Edith and come for us? I try to recall when he appeared at my side. He must've been outside the hall already.
But if that's true, he probably saw me leave. He knows what I did.
I close my eyes, try to calm my whirling thoughts. Need to keep my head. All that matters is that we survive this.
I count fifty of my rapid heartbeats. Do it again. And again. By the fourth time, it's slowing.
I feel Kane shift. My foot is on fire and the pain is spreading into my hip. I release my pins-and-needles arm and let him swing Edith to his hip between us. He switches hands on the ladder rung, steadies Edith with his elbow, unfolds his right arm, and pulls me close.
I suck into him like a moth to a candle flame. Never been this close to a boy before. Any other time I might feel nervous, but right now, with his arm so strong and sure around me, I'm so glad, so very glad, for him. Doubt I'd have thought of the well. And even if I had, there's no way I could hold Edith down here for this long. We huddle in silence.
And then, Edith begins to whimper. Soft at first, but I know her all-out-hissy oncoming when I hear it.
"Shh," I whisper, wracking my brains for something to calm her. "You want a song?"
She nods and whimpers again.
I put my mouth close to her ear and sing my mother's song:
Sleep, little one, with your secret heart,
Take to the night like the swallow.
When morning time brings what your secret heart sings,
Set your feet to the same path and follow.
She stops whimpering, one finger in the corner of her mouth. I keep whisper-singing, fearful her sudden quiet is the calm before the storm and unwilling to take the chance.
Edith's breathing slows. She's been so worked up she's fallen asleep. I draw my head back and look at Kane but can't make out his face clear and realize he can't see mine, neither.
Part of me is relieved. I don't want him to see the desperate gratitude in my eyes. I don't know how to repay him.
I press close again, rest my forehead on the rung of the ladder and let him tighten his grip.
It's quiet above and I fight the urge to doze. Almighty knows I need all of my wits about me to stay on this ladder. It's clear Kane is strong, but keeping hold of both Edith and me would be too much for anyone.
It's impossible to know how long we've been hiding here. I feel I'm about to lose my senses and fall backward into the water or scream the place down from plain aggravation when a slight scraping sound echoes.
And then the trap is ripped aside and light from a torch streams in from above.
A face looms down at us. "Almighty's grace!" It's Macy's pa-Brother Davies. "We thought you were lost to us! What are you-How did you … ?"
Kane shifts a groggy Edith to his back and begins to climb. I follow, my legs shaking. We clamber out, squinting against the torch Brother Davies waves before him, checking us over.
Kane places Edith on the ground beside me and steps a respectable distance away.
Brother Davies flaps about. "Almighty's grace!" he says again.
I stare at Kane in the torchlight. His eyes are unreadable. He has his arms crossed over his chest like he's challenging me. I stand crooked, favoring my bad foot. We measure one another.
And then Brother Stockham arrives, striding over to us in a wash of black cloak.
Brother Davies shakes his head in disbelief. "By His grace alone."
"What happened here?" Brother Stockham demands.
It snaps Brother Davies to. "When we did the head count, these three were missing. We feared them Taken."
"Thank you, Brother Davies, you may go." Brother Stockham doesn't glance at the Councilman, who bows his head and disappears.
Brother Stockham turns to me. "What happened, Emmeline?"
My tongue works in my dry mouth. This is a Wayward act, clear and simple. And worse for Kane if he came after me; he's more valuable than a crippled girl.
Did Kane come after me?
My mind clicks over the last moments before the doors shut. Who saw me leave the hall? Jameson's followers were creating that ruckus. Could it be everyone was distracted, too panicked, to notice me leave? They had to do the head count before they knew we were missing …
"We didn't make it before the hall was fortified." The lie comes natural-like. I avoid Kane's eyes.
Brother Stockham looks me over a long time, then turns to Kane. "Why not?"
Kane doesn't blink. "Didn't hear the bell until it was too late."
"And the child?"
"She was headed home with me," I offer quick. I have no idea where Edith was or why she was alone when the alarm sounded, but I hope he won't care enough to ask Tom's ma.
Brother Stockham looks between us, his jaw working. "You both need to get to your quarters."
He's right. Our families will be frantic. I search for Edith's hand and grasp it firm, trying to figure if Kane just lied to Brother Stockham too. I risk a look at his beautiful face, but Brother Stockham steps forward, blocking him from sight. He takes my arm and leans toward me.
"Emmeline, I'm so grateful you're safe." His shiny hair falls round his face, where there is relief, plain. "I thank the Almighty for this."
My heart stutters.
"I will escort you." He sweeps an arm around me. I hardly have time to glance back as I'm spun about, but I see Kane for a heartbeat, standing alone in the glow of the torches, arms hanging at his sides. I'm forced to turn my head and walk away.
