Page 76 of The Verdant Cage
Oscar shrugs. “He wasn’t here when I showed up. I didn’t see him inside, either, when I went in for a drink of water.”
“You his mom now?” Sal asks me.
“No.” I rub the back of my head. I’ve got a bad feeling, but I can’t explain it, even to myself. “Where does he go when he isn’t here?”
“Where doyougo when you’re not here?” Sal shoots back.
“It’s not the same. I have duties. Places I’m allowed to visit, places I’m not. Just like the rest of you. The Chemists aren’t supposed to beanywhere, though. Not within the Wall, at least. I assumed he’d stick close to the caves.”
“I think Albert gets bored,” Meryl says. “I know I would.”
“Pair up,” Gryphon says, putting an end to the conversation.
We begin by reviewing everything we’ve learned the past two days. Close combat, staffs, basic nerve and wrist locks. I’m with Eero, and he makes me feel so comfortable that I start telling him Apothecary stories as we practice. The time my dad misdiagnosed a food allergy as measles, how Gran came to be the one everyone called for childbirth, how excited Jonas was when he discovered a book calledFood Is Medicineinside the library. I get in a good sweep and am helping Eero back to his feet when he tells me he doesn’t like what the Carpenter House is working on.
I’ve been chattering so much that he’s caught me off guard. “What is it?”
He glances over at the others. Gryphon has Oscar in a chokehold and is instructing him on how to break free. Meryl has Sal’s arm twisted up and behind her back, disabling her. She leans in to whisper, and Sal flushes, smiling.
“That’s just it,” he says, worry lines creasing his mouth. “I’m not sure. I mean, I know what it looks like, just not what it’ll be used for. Jarek worked with my dad on the blueprint, but neither of them would tell me more. It’s double-layered wood reinforced with iron bands that crisscross between the layers, like the ribs of a beast. It’s big, Rose. It looks like some kind of twisted cage, but the walls curve outward at the top, like they’re meant to keep something out, rather than in.”
I ask the question I fear I already know the answer to. “When does it need to be done by?”
“Friday.” He stares off into the distance. “I hated when we were ordered to build the whipping posts, but what we’re making now feels even worse. We’re almost done with it. All that’s left is to assemble it in the square.”
“Have you told your parents how you feel?”
“Yeah.” He chews on his lip. “They’re scared of the Guardians.”
We’re both still for a moment. The Guardians are meant to protect us, toguardus. Surely the villagers shouldn’t have to fear them. And yet…
“I wanted to tell you something else,” Eero continues. “I had a dream about Jonas.” He talks fast, his brow furrowing. “He was hiding. Cold. Weeping. I could hear him, but I couldn’t find him. You don’t think he could still be alive, do you?”
My eyes burn. “I don’t know, Eero.”
“I miss him.”
I rub my arms. “Me too.”
We resume our sparring, but my heart’s no longer in it, and the Carpenter boy gets in one good hit after another. By the time Gryphon calls an end to our training, my bruises have bruises.
“We’ll each return to the village by different routes,” Gryphon says. “And arrive here separately tomorrow. Stay watchful. The Guardians are on high alert this week. None of us wants to be caught breaking the rules.”
Everyone nods. Sal says she’s going to hang back to let Marie braid her hair, like the child has been begging to do. Eero, Oscar, Meryl, and I take off in different directions. I’m about a hundred meters from the caves, following the creek, when I hear the crack of a branch behind me. I spin.
It’s Gryphon.
“What was wrong with you back there?” he asks. “You let Eero cream you.” His face looks weird in the shadows. Warped.
I shrug to hide the thrill that shivers across my skin.He followed me.“Off day.”
He steps forward, the weirdness I thought I’d seen gone. “Guardians don’t have off days.”
“Good thing I’m not one, then.”
He’s studying me, something like a smile playing across his lips. “Yeah. Good thing. Next time, I recommend you don’t let Eero throw you as much.”
I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling myself. “Fight better.” I tap my head. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
