Summer Island - A Prince in Peril

12 - The Truth

It was after dinner that evening when Peter finally confessed. He'd argued with them the entire afternoon, trying every strategy from being evasive to telling them it was for their own good that they didn't know. But the children were persistent.

After they cleared the dishes and put out tea, Peter finally told his story. "Well, there are two stories, really. I suppose I shall tell the easiest one first. Then you can decide if you want to hear the other," he said softly. "I do not know who they are, honestly. The men...following me...I do not even know...."

"Maybe you should just start at the beginning," Mario suggested.

Peter was silent, then nodded and began again. "I was studying at Northfield Academy."

"That's the private school, right?" asked Daniel, "The one in Massachusetts?"

"Yes, it is. I was just finishing my sophomore year. Before that I was at another boarding school, in London. I was there for six years."

"Do your parents travel a lot?" Dinora asked. "Is that why they put you in boarding schools?"

At the mention of his parents, Peter's lips tightened. He didn't answer her question. Instead, he took a deep breath and continued his story. "I have been in boarding schools, or had tutors, for as long as I can remember. I barely even knew my parents. Maybe I would go home once a year for a couple of days. Even in the summer I would work with private tutors or take extra classes. It is not that they did not love me-" he assured them, a little too strongly. "They had a great many responsibilities. It is done now, so...." He left the sentence unfinished.

"Then about two weeks ago, I was walking back from class when I noticed this man. I remember, at the time, thinking it was peculiar-on campus one does not see many adults. Even parents are not very common unless it is Parents' Weekend or the beginning of school. It was also strange because the man was somehow familiar to me, even though he seemed out of place. But I could not think of where I had seen him. Regardless, I was focused on exams and I just put it out of my mind.

"Later that night I was studying in my room and there was a knock at the door. I answered it and there were two men in suits and they looked..." he paused for a moment, "...official. Like they were from the government or something. And they called me by my full name, which not many people know. I was disarmed by that. I figured they must be legitimate. They said they had something very important to tell me and asked to come in. They entered and as soon as I closed the door, one of them grabbed me and the other held a wet cloth over my mouth, soaked in something which made me dizzy-probably chloroform."

"What's chloroform?" Dinora asked.

"CHCl3, also known as trichloromethane. It's a colorless, sweet-tasting liquid, usually derived from acetone, acetaldehyde, or ethyl alcohol-used formerly as an anesthetic," explained Mario offhandedly.

"It knocks you out," clarified Zoë.

"Oh," said Dinora.

"And it did. Next thing I knew I was in the trunk of a car with my hands and feet tied."

"Oh, dear!" said Dinora.

"Then what happened?" asked Seymour.

"I do not know how long I was in there but eventually the car stopped and I heard voices, then new voices-I am not sure how many. Then scuffling and then..." Peter looked around before continuing, "...gunshots."

Dinora gasped.

"I thought the men who had taken me were dead and the ones who shot them did not know I was there. Eventually they opened the trunk and untied me. They too called me by my full name. One of the men told me to get in their car-that we needed to hurry-that they were taking me to a safe place."