Neverland Academy (16 page)

“You’re
delusional. I don’t know where he or any of them are. I was stealing this for
myself. It’s my birthday and I wanted to celebrate. That’s all.”

“Oh
come now. You can think of a better fib than that, can’t you? I’ve been
standing guard at the doorway for the last hour. There’s no other way into the
kitchen. You’ve entered through a secret passageway.
His
passageway. And now you will show me to it.”

“And
if I don’t?”

“The
freedom you’ve been given these past few years—the freedom to work, to
roam the premises, your free time—all will be revoked. You have just been
found attempting to steal from the school faculty and engage in underage
drinking. You’ll have to be disciplined for such unscrupulous behavior. And
I’ll make sure the experience is very unpleasant. My dear, tell me where he
is.” Trappe reached out and placed his hand upon her shoulder. “Or you will
regret it.”

Lily
trembled at his touch. She knew of the room where he punished students, though
she’d never been there herself. She knew it existed, simply because Finn had
told her. And as far as she was concerned he had no reason to lie. And she knew
how venomous the headmaster really was, deep underneath his false “southern
gentleman” exterior. But could she really give Finn up? Could she expose her
best friends to save herself the torment?

Trappe’s
fingers gripped her tighter. “Where is he?” She imagined round bruises on the
back of her shoulder where his fingers pressed.

As
she stood contemplating her decision, she heard her name faintly in the
distance. It was Finn. How long had she been here? He must have noticed that
she was gone longer than expected and come after her. “No,” she whispered.

“Yes.”
Trappe grinned. He released Lily and limped his way toward the back of the
kitchen. Lily couldn’t remember if she’d left the panel open or not, but she
couldn’t let Trappe find it. She latched on to his arm, desperately trying to
pull him back. But he shrugged her off, smacking her in the cheek with the
cane.

“FINN,
RUN! TRAPPE’S HERE!” Lily shouted, hoping that her voice would carry through
the walls clearly.

“Shut
up, girl!” Trappe sneered and pulled his cane back, threatening to hit her with
it again. She cowered on the floor.

“Lily?”
Finn called again.

“FINN!
GET! OUT!”

“WHERE
IS IT?” Trappe roared from the back of the kitchen. Lily sighed in relief and
lay her head back, allowing her eyes to fall shut. She did close the panel
after all. Now she just had to hope that Finn would heed her words and make his
escape.

Chapter
Eighteen

Moving
Forward

Daphne half-carried Max
while watching
Josh zigzag through the tunnels, banging into the walls as he went along. By
the time they’d made it above ground she was exhausted. She could have
collapsed right there on the grass and slept through noon. But she had to get
her brothers back to their dorm.

She
stopped abruptly when she reached the magnolia tree by the boys’ dormitory, and
grabbed Josh’s shirt by the collar, tugging him back into hiding. Three figures
were roaming the quad. Daphne slapped her head in annoyance. She’d forgotten
about the nightly chaperones. She wouldn’t be able to sneak her brothers in
without getting caught herself. And she didn’t want to go back and get Finn, no
matter what thrill it might give him to cause a ruckus. She decided the best
thing to do was to let them sleep it off outside. Max was already passed out at
her side and Josh was halfway there. It may have been smarter to carry the boys
back to the cellar and let them crash there, but Daphne was so tired and
figured it would teach them a valuable lesson about getting drunk. As long as
they stayed behind the magnolia till morning, they’d be okay.

Back
in the tunnel, Daphne was finally alone with her thoughts. She deliberately
walked a turtle’s pace, giving her more time to think. What was she going to
do? She wanted Finn with every fiber of her soul, but that annoying voice in
her brain telling her it would never work wouldn’t shut up.

Further
down the tunnel, Daphne heard a symphony of noises: heavy breathing, sobbing,
and dragging footsteps. She picked up her pace, hoping that Lily hadn’t had an
accident in the dark catacomb. When her flashlight picked up a figure, she was
relieved. It wasn’t Lily. It was Belle. She was obviously coming from the
party, and her face was slick with tears. Daphne didn’t know what to say, if
she should say anything.

“Are
you, um, okay?” Daphne said, figuring whatever made Belle cry was enough pain
without Daphne shoving it in her face.

“Get
away from me,” Belle hissed and stomped off.

“Um.
Okay.” Daphne sauntered on, unmoved by Belle’s display. Whatever that was
about, she was sure she’d hear about it from the boys.

***

The
music snapped off, leaving a deafening silence in the air.

Daphne
had just gotten back from her stroll in the tunnels. When she’d arrived back at
the cellar, Finn and Lily were both missing and she’d wondered if she should
just go on to bed. The silence was followed by whining moans. One by one the
usual lanterns switched on, brightening the room to its usual radiance. After
the darkness of the tunnel, even the dim lights gave her momentary blindness.
Through squinted eyes, she spied Finn at the entrance, his hands assertively
fisted on his hips. To Daphne this was the leader hidden under the guise of a boy.
This wasn’t the happy-go-lucky prankster she’d come to know. Finn had a serious
side. Something was wrong.

“Party’s
over,” he announced with the authority of a commanding father who just caught
his kids smoking pot. “Time for bed.” In a discombobulated synchronicity the
boys groaned.

“Aw,
come on,” Toot whined.

“Yeah,
we were just getting started,” Shag added.

“Enough,”
Finn snapped. “Lily was caught. Party’s over.”

With
that, Finn marched out of the cellar. Daphne knew she should stay behind and
clean up, but she’d convinced herself it could wait until tomorrow. She
suddenly awoke to a second wind when she heard the news and had to find out
what happened. She shuffled into the tunnel behind Finn.

When
she’d arrived at the room he and the other boys shared, Daphne was shocked to
find it empty. Where had he gone? The only place she could think of was the
lake. On her way out she’d stopped by her room to grab her flashlight. She
nearly fell over when she’d found Finn there, crouched down by the lantern, waiting
for her.

“What’s
going on? What happened?” Daphne asked, kneeling down in front of him. He
raised his vivid eyes to look at her. She was right—his mischief was
gone. There was no trace of the boy who wanted nothing of grown up life. This
boy was well beyond his physical years. The severity in his eyes cut through
her like a razor slicing through a tomato.

“He
got her,” Finn responded. “Trappe got Lily.”

“What
do you mean, he
got
her?”

Finn
fell back, slamming his back into the wall behind him. “I don’t know. I wasn’t
there. But I could hear them talking and Lily shouted a warning at me, telling
me to run.”

“So,
she’s in pretty big trouble then?”

An
acerbic grunt escaped Finn’s lips. “You could say that. The question is, how
deep is she in?”

“Surely
it can’t be that bad,” Daphne assured, not quite believing herself. “I mean,
her mom lives and works here. The punishment would have to be reasonable. Maybe
he’ll just let her mom take care of it.”

Finn
shook his head. “If it were just about the party, you’d probably be right. But
it’s more than that. She got caught because of me. For helping me. To Trappe,
that’s like aiding and abetting a terrorist.”

Daphne
didn’t know what to say. She reached out for his hand and he allowed her to
hold it, gently stroking the back of it with her thumb.

Finn
shrugged. “There’s not much we can do tonight. Trappe would have informed the
others by now. They’ll be on high alert. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to
do anything.”

Finn
stretched out across the pad on his side, sinking his head into Daphne’s
pillow, while she watched, bewildered.

“You’re
sleeping here tonight?”

Finn
reached up and pulled her down so that she was lying in front of him and
touched his forehead to hers. His arms wrapped around her waist snuggly, as a child
holding a teddy bear. “If I don’t I’ll be up all night thinking about what to
do. I’m too on edge right now. You bring me comfort Daffy. There’s something
about having you here. It’s almost like . . . like that feeling that if
something goes wrong you’ll be here to take care of me.”

“Like
having a mother?” Daphne grinned.

“I
guess. To be honest I wouldn’t know.” Finn brought his lips to hers, soft and
delicate. When he pulled away his eyes remained closed. “Get some sleep Daffy.
I have a feeling tomorrow will be a big day.”

“What
do you mean?” Daphne whispered, allowing her own eyes to fall shut.

“The
plan. Tomorrow we move forward.”

***

Finn’s
foot slipped on the fifth rung of the ladder. He’d never been so clumsy before.
His movements were always so nimble and as natural as a chimp swinging
gracefully from limb to limb in the rainforest. But he wasn’t in his right mind
this morning. Though he slept through the night with his arms wrapped tightly
around Daphne, his dreams were restless. His mind kept reminding him that Lily
was in trouble. It was as if it were screaming at him, “
How can you sleep at
a time like this?”
He woke up early, unable
to take the pressure anymore. With a heavy heart, he left Daphne sleeping
soundly on her own. If it weren’t for this mess, he’d have been content to stay
with her all day.

Now,
as he made his way through the narrow walls toward the kitchen he wondered if
Lily would be there, if she had set aside breakfast for the boys as she always
had. It was earlier than usual, but she would be there working. Or she
should
be there.

The
sweat on his palm caused him to slip on another rung, and he slammed his chin
on the wooden slat below him before catching himself. He wiped the warm
moisture there, but wasn’t the least bit concerned whether it was blood or
sweat. There was a more important task at hand.

Finally
he reached the next floor, bewildered at his own clumsiness on such a short
climb. Not sparing an extra second, Finn slunk silently down the narrow tunnel,
feeling the support beams in the walls dig into his back with every other step.

He
reached the usual panel and slid it open just enough so he could see who was in
the kitchen. Nobody was in the back section. Lily could still be up front
cooking or serving. Dishes were usually one of the last duties the kitchen
staff had and it was still early yet. Carefully, Finn slid the panel away and
slithered into the darkness between storage shelves. He deftly moved from one
to another, until he was as close as he could possibly get to the front part of
the kitchen.

He
peered through a triangular space between a bag of oatmeal and an industrial
sized bottle of maple syrup. He saw some of the cafeteria staff and cooks
shuffling lazily between the cook tops and ovens. He could not see Lily. He
couldn’t give up just yet. He had to be sure. He couldn’t risk jumping to
conclusions at a time like this. Lily was his best friend. He remembered all
the times she’d helped him. Not just saving him meals, but other times when
she’d distracted the professors so that he could escape or cause trouble.

“Finn?”

Finn
spun around to face the familiar honey-coated husky voice. Janine stared
open-jawed at him. Her black hair was pulled tightly in a bun under a hairnet
of the same color. “My boy, what on earth are you doing in here?” He really
was
distracted today. How could he have not heard her
coming?

“I
. . .” Finn’s mind was racing as he struggled for words. “Is Lily here?”

Lily’s
mother shook her head sadly as she dropped her eyes to the floor. “Lily’s been
suspended from all activities this week, including work. Got caught stealing
from the headmaster.”

“Is
she at home? Can I go see her?”

“‘Fraid
not, son. She’s in detention. I’ll let her know when she’s out that you were
asking about her. You should get on back to where you came from. I can’t afford
to lose my job if you get caught in here.”

Finn
nodded but felt numb from what she’d just said. If Lily were in detention that
means she would be in the discipline room. Who knew what kind of horrors she
was being made to endure there? Finn’s heart froze when he remembered the way
the room looked—empty and cold—and smelled, like rotten eggs and
Clorox. And the eerie silence from the double-insulated walls.

“Son,
did you hear me? You need to go.”

Finn
snapped out of his head. Part of him desperately wanted to tell Lily’s mother
about the discipline room, about the place Lily
really
was, to save his friend from torment. But if he did,
he might not see his plan through. Janine would certainly confront Trappe
before alerting the authorities. And then it would be just another repeat of
five years ago. And even if Trappe did get caught, his punishment wouldn’t be
severe enough. Sure, Trappe might lose the school. He might even get some
decent jail time. But that was not enough for Finn. Finn wanted Trappe to pay
for
all
his crimes.

As
she stared expectantly at Finn, he made his way to the back wall of the kitchen
and turned back. Janine gave him a brief nod of reassurance before heading back
to work. Finn slid through the opening, replaced the panel and stood frozen
between the walls.
This is it,
he
thought.
Trappe is going down. Tonight
.

***

“Lily’s
in the church,” Finn announced as he marched into the cellar. Daphne had just
woken up and was cleaning up the last remnants of the previous night’s party
while Hangman and Shag argued over a game of tic-tac-toe.

“Where’re
the others?” Finn demanded with an urgency that resembled the impatience of a
worried father in a hospital waiting room.

“Kevin’s
still asleep. Toot and Trick are at the lake, cleaning the vomit off their
clothes.” Daphne scrunched her nose at the comment. Evidently, Josh and Max
weren’t the only ones who partied beyond their limits last night. Once again,
she was thankful that she had her own room to sleep in.

“Shag,
go get them. Now.”

Shag
knew that look in Finn’s eyes. He didn’t see it often. Maybe once a year, if
even that. It was a glaring look—glowing fire behind his eyes—that
was not to be questioned. Immediately, Shag dashed off into the tunnel, without
even a glance back.

Finn
strode toward Hangman, who was now on his feet, his eyes flicking nervously at
Finn’s fiery eyes.

“Go
get the documents.”

“Which
ones?” Hangman asked.

“All
of them.”

As
Hangman left, Finn stood motionless in the center of the room, his body as
heavy as a marble statue, and as impenetrable as steel. Daphne wanted to
approach him, but it was like when the phones were shut off. He was in that
zone and needed to be free of distraction. His stance was rigid, his voice
sharp as a well-honed butcher knife. So she stood still, barely breathing,
hoping that he hadn’t noticed her. But he had.

“Daffy,”
he barked so suddenly it caused Daphne to flinch. She didn’t know how to
respond. Though she’d seen him like this once before, she’d intentionally
stayed out of his way. Now she had no choice.

“What,
I reveal my heart to you and you stop talking to me?” Finn’s head snapped
around and a devilish smirk appeared at his lips, despite his hard exterior.
“Who’s the player now?”

Daphne
loosened her jaw and approached him softly. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure you
wanted me around right now,” she said innocently, drawing her eyes down to her
feet. Finn lifted her chin gently until she was gazing at him once again. The
fire was still in his eyes, but it was no longer frightening. If anything, she
felt safer now with him than she had ever felt since arriving at the academy.