Chasing Stars

Chapter 18

Trying not to jangle the key, I unlocked the door and tiptoed inside.

‘It’s three in the morning. I was getting worried,’ Peg said. Empty coffee mugs and schoolbooks were spread across the table. He shut his textbook and came towards me.

‘Everything’s fine. I’ve got so much to tell you.’

‘Tell me he didn’t touch you.’ Peg’s voice was hoarse.

‘I was fine the whole time,’ I said, mentally brushing aside the moment I’d felt vulnerable, alone in Clarence’s apartment. ‘Although he did come close to throwing up all over me.’

Peg shook his head. ‘What a charmer.’

I kicked off my heels. ‘Help me with this zip.’

Peg’s hands were cold against my skin. His hands shook as he struggled to unhook the catch at the top of the dress. When he pulled the zip down to my waist, I felt my whole body relax. Clarence had magically selected a dress in the right size, but the bodice was tight against my ribs. Now I could breathe.

I stepped out of the dress and threw it over the couch. ‘I have a plan. I have it all worked out.’

‘You wanna put some clothes on before you tell me about it?’ He was looking at the floor.

I ran into my room, grabbed a T-shirt and tugged it over my head. ‘He thinks I like him,’ I shouted.

‘Why does he think that?’ Peg shouted back.

‘Because I wanted him to think that,’ I said, as I pulled on a pair of shorts. ‘Actually, he doesn’t seem so bad. A bit creepy and a bit pathetic, but not that bad, you know?’

‘He is that bad. Don’t let him fool you.’

I went back into the living room. Peg was tidying up his schoolbooks.

‘Why do you hate him so much?’ I asked.

‘Because he’s spoilt and arrogant.’

I perched on the edge of one of the couches. ‘Clarence said he stole the fuel for Ryan’s ship. Is that true?’

Peg nodded. ‘Yeah. It’s true.’

‘So then why . . .’

‘He didn’t get Ryan that fuel because he wanted to help him. He got it in exchange for Ryan taking the blame for something. Clarence thinks he can buy his way out of trouble.’

‘What are you talking about? What happened?’ I asked.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Tell me.’

Peg rubbed his hands over his face and leant back against the table. ‘A few months ago – it would have been March – Ry was completely stuck. He had a ship and he had a plan to save you, but no fuel. You can’t just drive into a fuel depot and ask for a few tonnes of premium grade fuel without the right paperwork. We were all out of ideas. And then one night, we went to a party on the other side of Winnipesaukee. Me and Ry, Lyra, the twins.’

My stomach knotted at the thought of Ryan and Lyra going to a party together.

‘Lyra hooked up with Clarence. She’d been on a couple of dates with him before, but they weren’t together officially or anything. Anyway, they left the party before the rest of us.’

I tried to get it straight in my head. Lyra had been with Ryan for a year. Lyra dated Clarence five months ago. Ryan thought she liked Peg now.

‘So what happened that night?’

‘We left the party and drove home. There’s no expressway around the lake unless you make a massive detour. Halfway home we found Clarence’s car in a ditch. It had been raining heavily and the roads were slick. Lyra was injured, but he hadn’t called an ambulance or anything because he was drunk.’

‘Oh, God.’

‘Driving under the influence would have meant immediate expulsion from the Academy and the end of any ambitions he might have for a career at the Institute. He asked us if one of us would say we’d been driving. Ryan was the only one who hadn’t been drinking.’

‘So he agreed?’

‘Yeah. Ryan asked Clarence if he could get hold of five tonnes of premium grade fuel. He said he could. So Ryan took the blame. He was suspended from the Academy, but he didn’t care. He had the fuel he needed and a way back to you.’

‘And Lyra?’

Peg shrugged. ‘Her leg and pelvis were badly damaged. She had three operations, but she’ll always have a limp. She might have forgiven Clarence, but he never once called her to see how she was. Lyra was in hospital and Clarence was out drinking and partying with some other girl. Lyra had to let Clarence get away with it, because Ryan needed her to keep his secret so he could get back to you. So yeah – Clarence is right at the top of people I don’t like very much.’

I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled. ‘That explains a lot.’

‘I’m gonna make some more coffee. You want some?’

Five minutes later, we were sitting together on one of the couches, each with a cup of coffee.

‘You ready to hear my plan?’ I asked, rubbing my eyes.

‘Shoot.’

‘I’m going to call Clarence and ask if I can come over tomorrow night and watch a movie with him.’

‘I already don’t like this. I don’t trust him. I’m not saying he would be violent or anything, but he’s . . .’

‘Hear me out. I’m going to get him really drunk. And then I’m going to suggest we go outside and sit by the lake or something. You’ll be waiting down by the lake.’

‘How am I going to get through the security entrance? They count people in and out. By six o’clock the Institute is closed to visitors.’

‘Do you still have Antoine’s map?’

‘Yeah.’ He jumped up and snatched the map from the dining room table.

I opened it, resting it half on Peg’s lap and half on my own. ‘The lake at the back of the Institute is called Stillwater Lake. It looks quite small from the back lawn of the Institute, but once you get beyond the cove it opens up.’

‘How do you know this?’

‘Clarence took me for a romantic boat ride under the stars.’

‘What a creep.’

‘He also told me that he learnt to scuba-dive in that lake.’

A smile crept on to Peg’s face. ‘I think I know where this is going.’

‘If you came across the lake in a boat, you’d be seen. But if you scuba-dive from the far side of the lake, you can emerge in the forest this side of the fence.’

‘Genius.’

‘I need to get Clarence so drunk he passes out.’

‘He’s a big guy,’ said Peg. ‘That will take a lot of alcohol. Let me talk to the twins. Their dad’s a pharmacist. They might be able to suggest something.’

I drained my coffee. ‘Then we dress you as Clarence and we both go back inside and up to Clarence’s apartment.’

‘Don’t they have security?’

‘No. Not really. Just a doorman. I mean, he’d probably challenge us if he thought we were visitors. But if he thinks you’re Clarence and I’m his friend . . .’

‘That’s a big “if”.’

‘I just walked in tonight. Clarence waved at the doorman and he let us in. It was easy.’

‘Then what?’

‘I found a way to get from his apartment to the cells.’

Peg swore. ‘You’re freakin’ kidding me?’

I shook my head. ‘These people can’t even help themselves to a glass of water without calling down to the kitchen. Can you believe that?’

‘Actually, I can.’

‘And everything comes up to the dining room in this dumb waiter.’

‘What the hell is a dumb waiter?’

‘It’s like a lift for food. And it’s quite big. I fit in it easily. It takes you down to the kitchen. From there you can access everywhere. We can get to Ryan’s cell. Free him and then escape through either the service entrance or Clarence’s apartment.’

‘This is brilliant,’ said Peg, grinning. ‘You’ve figured most of it out. The only thing is getting him out of the cell.’

‘I’ve seen where they keep him. I was standing outside his cell tonight.’ I decided not to mention that the guard had his gun trained on my heart.

‘How did you manage to do all this?’

‘Good luck. There’s just one guard outside the cell. And he has the key to the cell on his belt. He’s armed – of course – but surely the two of us can overpower one of him.’ I tried to hide the tremor in my voice. ‘Especially if we play two silly, drunk kids who got lost.’

Peg chucked the map on the floor and reached over to hug me. ‘I think we have a plan.’