The Glass Castle (5 page)

When Avery didn’t respond, Kate clutched her arm. “This is important.” She pointed to a brass bell in the corner of the ceiling. “There’s one of those in the corner of every room. Boys called scouts alert us when an adult comes anywhere near any of the rooms where we spend our time. When we hear the bell, we go directly to the stairwell, no matter what we’re doing. Nothing is as important as staying hidden from the adults in this building. Do you understand?”

Avery nodded. But, of course, she didn’t understand.

“You are never more than ten feet from a scout.”

Avery wondered how many people could see her at any given moment. She twirled slowly, waving nervously in case a scout was watching.

In case Tuck is watching… Is he a scout?

Why was she complicating things by thinking about a boy?

And why were they hiding from adults?

Kate led her through the kitchen into a dark room full of long wooden shelves loaded with canned goods, wedges of cheese, and bags of flour and sugar. Kate tore open a bag and handed Avery two brown pieces of something that smelled good.

“Try it,” she said.

Avery snapped off a bite. She liked the way it sent a zing of flavor through her mouth.

“It’s called chocolate,” Kate said, smiling.

Avery would have asked for more if she hadn’t just eaten enough breakfast to feed her entire village back home. She wished she had pockets so she could hide a piece for Henry.

Kate pointed to the floor. “Circulation vents,” she whispered. “They allow air to travel throughout the building. The scouts use them to track the adults. It’s why I brought you here.”

Again, Avery wanted to ask why they were hiding from the adults, but Kate pressed a finger to her lips and motioned for Avery to join her as she knelt by the metal grate on the floor and quietly cranked open the slats with a heavy handle.

Avery peered through the vent.

A man with thick silver hair sat at a desk, his head in his hands. Avery felt like a bird looking down at a statue. She thought for a moment how fun it would be to drop a piece of chocolate on his head, and this made her giggle.

Kate glared at her.

The man seemed somehow large and small at the same time, hunched over piles of papers and open books.

A door burst open near the man’s desk, and a woman entered and began pacing in front of him. She was small with snow-white skin and fire-red ringlets piled on her head in the shape of an elaborate bees’ nest. Her hairdo was so big it made the rest of her body look unnaturally small.

Avery stifled a laugh.

Again, Kate narrowed her eyes.

The woman wore a midnight-blue dress with a cinched waist and a high collar. Its train whipped behind her as she paced, while heavy strands of pearls dripped from her neck and wrists.

She acts like she owns the place. Maybe she does.

Avery guessed the woman to be in her twenties, younger than the man but every bit as powerful, maybe more. Avery put her ear against the vent.

“What more do you want from me, Angelina? I’ve done everything you’ve asked, given you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

“Are you kidding?” the woman snapped, her voice climbing to a whine. “You keep promising we will be married, but how long do you want me to wait? How long do you expect me to keep your secrets?”

The man started coughing—loud, sputtering, watery coughs that made Avery want to take him a cup of water or at least clear her own throat.

The talking stopped, and Avery pulled her ear away and looked to make sure she wasn’t missing anything. At that moment, the man looked up as if searching for the right words, and Avery froze.

Could he see her? She moved away just in case, but as she did, she realized she recognized his face.

Chapter 8

Figuring It Out

Avery scrupulously ran the man’s features through the catalog of her memory.

Matching his thick silver hair was a short-cropped beard, tough olive skin, and bushy eyebrows. His cheekbones protruded, and deep wrinkles crisscrossed his face.

He was definitely much older than the woman he called Angelina, but younger than the old woman from the woods.

He is definitely important.

Avery had no memory of the red-haired woman, but even before the man cut Angelina off with an impatient wave, Avery knew he was wearing a large gold ring with a ruby stone. She had seen it in her mind’s eye even before he waved his hand and confirmed it.

Where have I seen him before?

He was saying something sternly about wanting to get married but not having time to plan a ceremony because of official business abroad due to shifting alliances.

Shifting alliances?

“Your lectures bore me,” Angelina said in a childish voice, sitting on the corner of his desk and dangling her legs over the side.

“I have a country!” he roared, but Avery wasn’t paying attention. She was plundering her past for the remnants of any story that would make this scenario make sense. At least two—maybe three—decades separated the man and woman in the room, and they didn’t appear to love each other. Yet they were discussing marriage.

And what does all of this have to do with my capture and imprisonment?

Kate had specifically said this tour would answer many of her questions.

Frustration gnawed at her.

Angelina was now pacing the marble floor, her heels clacking as she went. The familiar man was now standing.

Angelina turned and plunged a finger into his chest.

“If you think I’ve forgotten everything you said, you are even crazier than your people say you are. No one is as good for you as I am. Marry me and make it permanent in the next month.”

“Or what?”

“Or I will kill… All. Of. Them. And I will make sure everyone knows it is your fault.”

She added a trill of laughter as pinpricks traveled up Avery’s spine. This woman seemed capable of whatever she promised.

The man appeared about to respond when the slats clapped shut and Kate, agitated, stood and walked away. Avery trailed her to the stairwell, and as soon as the door closed behind them, she grabbed Kate’s arm. “It was just getting good! Why did you do that?”

“You’ve seen too much already.”

“But you’re wrong. I haven’t seen
enough
.”

“You promised to obey my rules on this tour. It’s time to go.”

Kate turned to take the stairs.

“I know who he is,” Avery blurted.

Kate stopped but did not turn around. “Okay, who is he?”

Avery bit her lip, still uncertain, but it was there on the edge of her memory.

Back in their bunk room, Kate said something about needing to get some work done and disappeared before Avery could follow. Just as well. Avery was tired, and Kate looked flustered after Angelina threatened to kill people. Why it mattered to Kate, Avery had no idea, unless Angelina was referring to killing
them
.

Avery flopped onto her mattress and stared at the ceiling, wondering what had happened. Kate didn’t seem the fearful type, though she did seem to be holding back a lot of information.

Avery traced the elaborate arches, caught up in the intricate detail of the slopes and trellises until sleep began calling her name.

Her body bruised from travel and her mind overloaded from mystery, her breathing slowed and her eyelids grew heavy. She was just about to surrender to sleep when something came to her so clearly it was like a slap in the face, and she sat up.

She had been with her mother at a museum in the theater district when they stopped to admire a portrait that stretched the entire length of a wall. The painting featured a handsome man—dark haired and richly dressed—wearing a ruby ring. When Avery turned to ask her mother about the man’s identity, she saw that her mom was crying.

“Mom?”

Avery’s mother had brushed away her tears impatiently.
“You’ll understand someday,
” she said. And then she had taken the ruby necklace she was wearing and placed it around Avery’s neck with one instruction:
“Wear this every day. Never lose it. Do you understand?”

Avery nodded.

And now she knew with certainty.

The man she had seen through the grate was the man from the portrait in the museum.

She now understood this with confidence.

Suddenly, she heard her mother’s voice in her head—years of stories unwinding in slow motion. She thought her mother had only been inventing the stories as a distraction from the hunger they always felt. Now she knew better. She only needed to verify it.

She ran from the bunk room down the hall and into the stairwell, taking the stairs two at a time until she came to the door of her choice.

No red X.

She pressed her ear against it as she had seen Kate do and she flung it open.

The room on the other side of the door was exactly as she thought it would be.

As quickly as she had opened the door, she closed it and climbed more stairs. Again she pressed her ear to a door, pushed it open, and found what she expected.

She did this several times until her suspicions were proven correct.

And when she was sure of herself, she went in search of Kate.

Kate sat in a tight circle of thirteen-year-olds—which included Tuck—talking quietly near a crackling fire in a stone hearth. When Avery approached, they fell silent and looked uncomfortable.

“I know where we are,” Avery said, her heart hammering. She did not miss the look that passed between them.

Kate said softly, “We’re listening.”

“There’s a turret and stairs that wind through a trapdoor and stop in a secret chamber at the highest point,” Avery said in a rush. “I found the sky bridge, so I assume there is a tower prison, a tunnel, and a library. I haven’t found them yet, but I will.”

The kids sat like statues.

“We are prisoners in an evil king’s castle.”

Chapter 9

The Announcement

Avery expected laughter or sarcastic replies.

But the group just stared at her.

“I grew up hearing about this place,” she continued. “Songs and stories I thought my mother had made up to entertain me. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why my mother knew so much about this castle, but she did. She described the rooms perfectly.”

Still nothing.

“I can tell you anything you want to know. Except how long we’ll be stuck here and any details about the redhead.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

Was that a giggle?

Avery turned to leave, embarrassed she had even tried. She was starting to believe she didn’t belong anywhere in the world.

“You’re right,” Tuck said, standing. “We are prisoners in the king’s castle.”

“We are?” Avery asked, unsure whether to be pleased or scared she was right.

He motioned her closer. “Sit with us and tell us everything you know. Maybe you can offer something that will help.”

The group seemed to exhale at Tuck’s willingness to include her.

Kate patted the seat beside her.

“You’ve known all along?” Avery whispered as she sat.

Kate nodded. “To be in our inner circle, we need to know we can trust you. If Tuck trusts you, everyone else will, too.”