Page 65 of The Chain House

Earlier, Markie had asked what a diversion was, and things had been so tense and scary then that his question had gone unanswered, as he had asked it at the exact point flames began whooshing inside the Kitchen House. She knew it had been The Raven that started the fire, and now, as they hurried from the bright light and growing heat, she knew what a diversion was. And that’s why they were entering the Blue House to get the other boy now.

The fire had been the diversion.

Last night, Jennifer had watched from her bed inside the barracks, knowing Raven had entered the Blue House. But he’d done so sneakily, because she also knew that the Breaker of Chains and the Man in the Mask weren’t inside. Maybe there’d been another diversion then, Jennifer thought as they ran now, her with a pencil in one pocket and a small flashlight in the other, even though they’d been told not to bring anything with them—the kids holding each other’s hands just as Raven and Yellow held theirs, creating their own chain of sorts, and they’d been warned to not break it, no matter what, just as they’d been warned not to look back, not to look at the woods, not to let go! And Jennifer thought back to last night, when she’d seen Raven leave the Blue House, closing the door all quiet-like, all while the boy watched him go from a window on the first floor this time. And before Raven had hurried back, he’d gone to the window where the boy was, and he’d placed his hand, fingers splayed against the glass in the window, just as the boy was doing on the other side, and Jennifer remembered thinking it looked like a mirrored reflection, except Raven was older.

Although not too much taller, Jennifer had thought, knowing Raven was the shortest man at the ranch. Shortest but also the nicest, and the way the two of them had held their hands pressed against the glass had made her cry.

Because how cool was that? To be so close as that boy must be to Raven. Almost like a father to a son.

CHAPTER31

ALTHOUGH SOME REPORTERS remained, the parking lot outside the Twisted Tree State Penitentiary gates had mostly thinned out since the morning’s interview.

Even so, Carl parked his truck discreetly in the far back corner of the lot, next to a run of tall pine trees and behind a delivery truck.

Jennifer thought it best to confront Sam in person with the news of his father, but after Sam finally answered and told her too much shit was going on for him to leave now, going on about hanging with the governor and FBI agents and him being the middle man in it all, he convinced her to reveal what she needed to over the phone.

Politely ignoring Carl’s suggestion that she stay in the vehicle so she wouldn’t be seen, Jennifer got out of the truck and paced the grass next to it while she waited for Sam to respond to what she’d just told him, waited for him to say something. “Hello?” she said, prodding him, knowing he was still there; she could hear him breathing over the phone. “Sam?”

“I heard you,” he said. “But … what do you mean he ran? From what?”

“I don’t know,” Jennifer said. “I just know his neighbor’s house was on fire, his car was gone, his front door was open, the photo album—”

“I heard you,” he said again, harsher this time. “But … what comics are you talking about? The Raven and The Mongoose?”

“Not published comics,” she said. “Just little booklets he made as a kid.”

“And he left them on the kitchen table?”

“Yes, I think for you to find, but … I have them, if you want them.”

“What … no, not right now. This doesn’t make any sense.”

Jennifer took a deep breath. “Sam … he’s The Raven. Your father. And your mom … she was Yellow.”

“What are you talking about? Yellow and Raven, what the fuck, Jennifer?”

“They were both from the Freedom Ranch, Sam. They were members of The Collective.”

“Bullshit.”

“We were all kids on that ranch.”

“You were,” he said, “but … No, just, no. I wasn’t there.”

“I’m not saying they were bad, Sam. They saved us.” Saved you, at least, she thought, as flashes of her time in the closet closed in on her. “They’re the reason the Freedom Ranch was raided. They tried to get us out … they got you out, somehow.”

“What are you saying?” he asked defensively. “That … they aren’t even my real parents?”

“Just like mine aren’t my real parents, Sam, maybe. I don’t know … you were different from us. They treated you differently, so maybe you were … I don’t know.”

“This is too much … I gotta go.”

“Call your dad, Sam.”

“Is he even my dad, Jennifer? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? This is bullshit.”

“I’m sorry … I thought you needed to know before …”