Among the Barons

CHAPTER 9

Mr. Talbot showed up the next day.

Mr. Talbot was the person who had helped Luke get his fake I.D. in the first place. Back when Luke was still in hiding, the Government had forced Luke’s family to sell the woods behind their farm to build fancy houses for rich people. When the houses were finished, Mr. Talbot and his family had moved into the one closest to Luke’s. Having other people so close by had terrified Luke’s family; they were afraid that someone would discover Luke’s existence. But instead Luke had discovered another third child in hiding: Mr. Talbot’s daughter, Jen.

For several wonderful months Luke had secretly sneaked back and forth between his house and the Talbots’~ Jen became his friend, and through an Internet chat room she introduced him to other third children in hiding. She also shared her dream with him, of a day when all third children could be free.

And then Jen was killed during a rally seeking that freedom.

Mr. Talbot had rescued Luke, given him Lee Grant’s identity, and brought him to Hendricks School. Luke had seen him only twice since then — both times when there was danger.

And now he was back again. Just seeing him made Luke worry.

But the way Mr. Talbot acted, Luke could have believed that Mr. Talbot didn’t have a care in the world. He breezed into Luke’s science class and boomed out, “I’m sorry to interrupt — so sorry. I certainly believe that science is important, of course. But would anyone in here want to skip class to have lunch with me?”

In another classroom, at another school, Luke could imagine such an invitation causing kids to wave their arms in the air, screaming out, “Ooh! Ooh! I will! Pick me!”

But in Luke’s class the boys froze. They stared warily at Mr. Talbot. Luke noticed that Smits was the only one who didn’t look terrified. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head thoughtfully. But even he didn’t answer Mr. Talbot’s question.

Mr. Talbot laughed heartily.

“Don’t all jump at once,” he joked. He turned to the teacher and said, “I see you have them all so entranced with science that they don’t want to leave. I compliment you on the brilliance of your teaching.~~

The teacher, Mr. Nimms, looked every bit as frightened as his students.

“Well, I’m taking up too much of your time,” Mr. Talbot said. “Mr. Hendricks really only has room for two boys at his table, and I promised the Grants I’d check up on their sons while I was here. Come on, Lee. Come on, Smits. Let’s go have some gourmet food.”

Luke heard somebody mumble resentfully, “Smits has that every day” Luke had to hide a grin as he, Smits, and Oscar stood up to leave.

“Oh, wait a minute,” Mr. Talbot said. “You don’t need to come.” He was speaking to Oscar. “Mr. Hendricks has an excellent security system in his house, I assure you. Both of the Grant boys will be safe with me. You can take an hour off. I’m sure you’d be happy to have a break”

“My orders are to go wherever the boy goes,” Oscar growled. ‘Always.”

Luke had seen Mr. Talbot outsmart Population Police officers — not just once, but twice. He was sure Mr. Talbot would manage to twist Oscar’s words around, twist his plans around, so that Oscar suddenly found himself agreeing, “Oh yes, yes, right. I will stay here. You go with the boys. I trust you.”

But Mr. Talbot only shrugged.

“Your loss,” he said. “I’ll be sure to let your employers know how dedicated you are—"

Luke was acutely aware of the presence of Oscar and Smits behind him as he walked beside Mr. Talbot out of the classroom, down the hall, then out the door toward Mr. Hendricks’s house. Without them he could have been askir~g Mr. Talbot question after question: Do you know why Smits is here? What are the Grants thinking? Is Smits dangerous? Can I trust him? And how did the real Lee die? Mr. Talbot always had all the answers.

But today Mr. Talbot didn’t seem to care about the questions in Luke’s mind. He turned around and began talking to Smits.

“Have you adjusted to your new school yet?” Mr. Talbot asked. ‘Are you letting your parents know that everything’s okay?”

“Why would they care?” Smits asked.

“Well, you are their son,” Mr. Talbot said, still jovial.

“They liked Lee better,” Smits said.

Oh, no. Had he really said “liked”—past tense? Luke’s heart pounded as he panicked over what Oscar might have heard. He glanced over his shoulder. Oscar was trudging silently beside Smits, giving no sign that he’d heard anything at all.

“Oh, surely not,” Mr. Talbot said quickly. “Surely they love you equally.” Luke was grateful for the emphasis Mr. Talbot put on the present tense. “It must just seem like they prefer Lee right now, because Lee has done such a great job of turning his life around since he came to Hendricks. No more skipped classes, no more flunked courses — he’s really applying himself. As I’m sure you’ll apply yourself here, too.”

“Whatever,” Smits said.

They arrived at Mr. Hendricks’s house, and Mr. Hendricks let them in.

“We’re having a fine vegetable pot pie,” Mr. Hendricks said. ‘With some of the peas and carrots and beans grown right here at the school, thanks to Lee.”

Luke hoped that Smits heard the pride in Mr. Hendricks’s voice, that Smits knew what Lee had accomplished. But Smits seemed to be off in his own little sullen world.

With Oscar standing guard behind them, they sat down at the dining-room table. At first there was a flurry of passing plates and dishing out servings. Then an uncomfortable silence fell over the table. Everybody seemed to be waiting for somebody else to speak. Finally Smits put down his fork

“If you’re here as my parents’ messenger,” Smits said, staring right at Mr. Talbot, “you can tell them they can’t make me do anything.”

“Ah,” Mr. Talbot said. ‘And should I glare at them, just so, when I tell them that? I think the glare is an important part of the message, don’t you?”

Smits glowered down at his plate and didn’t reply

“They’re your parents,” Mr. Hendricks said gently “They care about you.”

“They don’t,” Smits muttered.

“You know, I was once a boy like you,” Mr. Hendricks said. “Selfish, only concerned with my own desires—”

“Selfish?” Smits exploded. “Selfish? Is it selfish to want to—” He broke off suddenly, looking from Oscar to Luke. Then he shoved his chair back from the table and turned and ran out of the room. Oscar was after him in a flash. Seconds later Luke glimpsed both of them outdoors. Oscar was chasing Smits, and Smits had enough of a head start that it might take Oscar a while to catch him.

“What was that all about?” Luke asked.

Mr. Talbot went over to the window, keeping a close eye on the huge man chasing the boy

“Your brother,” he said grimly, “is in danger of being confined to a mental institution.”

“A mental institution?” Luke repeated. “Like where they put crazy people? But he’s not crazy A little strange, a little rude — but not crazy.”

“He’s told people that his older brother, Lee, is dead,” Mr. Talbot said, still watching out the window. “Back at his old school he told classmates that his brother was killed by the Government”.

Luke gasped. “But—”

Mr. Talbot turned around. “They didn’t believe him,” he said. “Fortunately Smits had established quite a reputation as a liar before that But he is dangerous. In this country a twelve-year-old boy armed with the truth can be very dangerous indeed.”

Luke shook his head, trying to make sense of what he’d heard.

“Would the Grants really do that?” Luke asked. “Put Smits in some insane asylum because he can’t keep his mouth shut? They’d send their real son away to — to protect me?”

“The Grants don’t care about you,” Mr. Talbot said harshly “They’re trying to protect themselves.”

Luke shook his head again, but by now he’d given up on anything making sense. If Smits was a liar, how much had he lied to Luke?

“Was Lee Grant really killed by the Government?” Luke asked.

Mr. Talbot looked straight at Luke. He had his eyebrows lowered, his eyes narrowed, his lips pursed. He seemed to be judging what he could and could not safely tell Luke. Finally he said, “Probably”.

Oscar and Smits burst back into Mr. Hendricks’s house. Oscar had one huge fist gripped around Smits’s right arm; Smits was breathing hard but kept glaring resentfully at the man towering over him. When they came to stand at the threshold of the dining room, Luke saw Smits jerk back his leg and give Oscar a sharp kick on the shin. Oscar didn’t even flinch.

“I will take Smithfield to his room,” Oscar said. “If he cannot show his manners, he does not deserve to eat with civilized people. Lee, you will bring him his homework for the rest of the day”.

It was the first time Oscar had ever addressed Luke by name. Was it possible that Oscar still believed the lie?

“Um, sure,” Luke said.

And Oscar carried Smits out the door, Smits squirming the whole way.

When they were gone, Luke realized that he finally had what he’d longed for before: Mr. Talbot and Mr. Hendricks to himself. But he was almost too stunned to come up with any more questions. And Mr. Talbot and Mr. Hendricks looked too worried to give him the patient explanations he wanted.

“What do you think will happen to Smits now? And— and to me?” he finally managed to say.

And Mr. Talbot, who always had all the answers, said, “I don’t know.”