Among the Betrayed

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Nina tried to dig her heels in, to hold back. She tried to yank her arms out of the boys' grasp. She remem' bered them both as skinny, wimpy kids — like little rabbits beside Jason's brawn. But somehow they'd developed muscles. Even squirming was useless.

Lee and Trey half pulled, half carried Nina past the school and down a driveway. Then they turned down a path. A stone cottage loomed ahead of them. Nina made one last attempt to jerk away from the boys, but they only tightened their grip.

"Where are you taking me?" Nina demanded.

"To Mr. Hendricks," Lee said abruptly.

Nina wondered who Mr. Hendricks was. It had never occurred to her that Hendricks School might have been named after a real person. Was there a Mr. Harlow, too? A Mrs. Harlow?

Nina didn't know how she could wonder such things at a time like this. They were in front of the cottage now, and Lee was pounding on the door.

"Mr. Hendricks! Mr. Hendricks! We found the thief!"

The door opened. Nina, looking straight ahead, didn't see anyone there. Then she looked down, like the boys were doing.

A man in a wheelchair sat before them.

"Indeed," he said.

Lee jerked on Nina's arm, drew her into the house.

'And what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Mr. Hendricks asked when all three kids stood before him in the foyer.

Nina opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Surely you have something to say, some defense to give," Mr. Hendricks said.

"I don't know what to tell you," Nina blurted. "I don't know whose side you're on."

Mr. Hendricks chuckled.

"Then I guess you'll have to tell me the truth," he said.

Everyone waited. Nina kept her teeth clenched firmly together. It was all over now. This Mr. Hendricks would undoubtedly call the Population Police, and she'd be arrested all over again. This time, she was sure, the hating man wouldn't give her any more chances to prove herself. The only thing Nina could hope for now was that some^ how Percy, Matthias, and Alia could avoid being caught, too. Somehow she'd have to warn them….

"So, you're not talking?" Mr. Hendricks said. "Perhaps my young friends here might tell me what they observed, and we'll go from there."

"Sir," Lee began. "We caught her eating our corn. And she was putting lots of our vegetables into her bag there."

Nina realized she still had the old, smelly burlap bag slung around her neck. Quickly, before anyone might ask how one girl could possibly eat all that food, she said, "I was hungry. Very hungry."

"Ah," Mr. Hendricks said. "Now we hear an excuse." He squinted, seeming to look far off into the distance. He shook his head, ever so slightly, his thick white hair barely moving. "Boys, I believe I can handle this situation by myself now. Why don't you take her into the living room and then go resume your posts?"

Nina wondered what "resume your posts" meant. Both boys nodded. Lee tugged on Nina's arm and muttered, "Come on."

Once they were in the living room — the fanciest place Nina had ever seen, crowded with heavy wood furniture— Lee half shoved Nina toward a couch. Nina realized she'd probably never see Lee again.

"Lee," she whispered. "You probably won't believe me, but… I didn't try to betray you. I didn't know what Jason was doing. Would you. . would you tell the others? So they can remember me the right way?"

Lee didn't say yes or no, only backed away. Nina couldn't even be sure that he'd heard her. She didn't expect anyone to think too highly of her — she wasn't Jen Talbot, hero for the cause of third children everywhere. But she hoped that Sally and Bonner, at least, wouldn't live the rest of their lives thinking of her as a traitor. She hoped that if the Hendricks School boys and the Harlow School girls ever started meeting in the woods again, they wouldn't pass down stories of Jason and Nina, equally deceptive, equally evil.

After Lee and Trey left, Mr. Hendricks rolled into the living room. He pulled the wooden door mostly shut behind him.

"Now," he said. "Perhaps you'll be a bit more forthcoming without an audience."

Nina's gaze darted around the room, taking in the unlatched door, the thick glass in the windows, the picture frames and heavy knickknacks on the tables. She was look-ing for an escape. Maybe a weapon, too. What would happen if she threw a ceramic bird at a man in a wheel-chair? Could she hit him? Would it do any good?

Nina looked Mr. Hendricks over carefully. Despite the white hair, he was hardly old and decrepit. She even suspected the wheelchair was just a fake, meant to deceive her into thinking she could overpower him easily. Probably he was as strong and muscular as Lee and Trey. Probably…

Nina's glance reached Mr. Hendricks's feet — or rather, the empty space where his feet should have been. He didn't have any feet.

He can't chase me, Nina thought.

If I can escape…

But he would call for help. He'd have a search party ready in a matter of minutes.

But minutes are all I need to warn Percy, Matthias, and Alia….

"Well?" Mr. Hendricks said.

Nina sprang up from the couch, grabbed the back of the wheelchair, and dumped it forward, spilling Mr. Hendricks to the floor. She dashed out the living room door, out the front door, down the front steps. She worried about running into Lee and Trey — where were their "posts," by the garden? — but her feet flew so quickly, everything was a blur. She couldn't watch for them or anyone else.

Before she knew it, she was crashing into the woods, toward the glade where she'd left the others waiting for food.

"Percy! Matthias! Alia!" she called. "I have to warn you. . " The words wouldn't come quickly enough between her gasps for air.

Alia popped out from behind a tree.

"Nina!" she scolded. "You're making too much noise. Someone will hear you!"

"It… doesn't… matter," she panted. She stopped running, caught her breath. She saw that Matthias and Percy were staring out at her from the shadows behind a bush. "They caught me. I escaped again, but they'll probably be looking for me soon. I had to warn you. . " She took another deep breath. Her brain still felt starved for oxygen. "This isn't a safe place anymore. You'll have to go somewhere else. But you can. You guys are smart."

"Nina," Alia protested. "Come with us, then—"

"No," Nina said. "I'd be… dangerous to you. They know to look for me now. I probably don't have much time. But»«e >*»._.

I wanted to tell you… the hating man. In prison. He put me in your cell to betray you. He wanted me to tell him all your secrets. And I might have. If we hadn't escaped, I—" "But you didn't," Matthias said. "You didn't tell the Population Police anything."

"I wanted to," Nina said. "Jason betrayed me, and I wanted to hurt someone else. And I wanted to save my life. . "

"It's all right," Alia said, stepping closer. 'And I don't blame you for never trusting me," Nina continued. "I wasn't trustworthy. Even that first night in the woods, when I was supposed to be sitting sentry, I fell asleep." It was such a relief to confess that, even that. "I never really trusted you, either. The last time I had friends, they didn't help me at all when I was arrested. So I thought…"

Nina was crying. Between being caught and running away — and, probably, because of having nothing to eat in days but vegetables — she felt dizzy and light-headed. But it was important for her to tell the others everything. All her stories spilled out. Probably the others could make no sense of what she said. Tales of playing dolls with Aunty Zenka were all mixed up with tales of meeting the Hendricks School boys in the woods with Sally and Bonner.

"I want you to know my real name, too," Nina said. "It's Elodie. When you remember me, remember Elodie." The woods were dark when Nina finished talking. She was just lucky she hadn't been found immediately. She couldn't see the others' faces, couldn't tell what they thought of her stream of words. But for practically the first time since she'd been arrested, Nina was sure she'd done the exact right thing. The others were going to be safe now. And she'd told them the truth.

"You should go now," she said. "Oh — here." She pulled the grungy food bag from around her neck and handed it to Alia. "There's not much in it because. . well, something's better than nothing, isn't it?"

The tears flowed down her face. She reached down and drew Alia into a hug. Percy and Matthias stepped forward, too, and threw their arms around both girls. All four kids stood together, swaying slightly, holding one another up.

Nina had her eyes shut, squeezing out the tears. But through her tears she suddenly saw a glimmer of light off to the right. She pulled away from the hug, stared off toward a flashlight bobbing in the woods. Then she saw other flashlights, circling closer and closer.

"They're looking for me!" she hissed. "Go on! Hide somewhere far away from me."

Nina didn't have time to make sure that the others had moved out of sight. For, seconds later, a flashlight shone right in her face and a booming voice cried out, "Nina Idi! Fancy meeting you here!"

It was the hating man.