Forgotten

Chapter 11

        I LIE AWAKE, LISTENING TO LIANA'S deep, even breathing in the bed next to mine. I can't tell what time it is, and I don't dare light a candle to check the watch lying on my nightstand. I'll have to make a guess at the time.

            What are you doing? I mentally smack myself. I can't go. I barely know him. It's illegal, I'll be arrested, and I'll never get to go to the east...

            But I can't leave him waiting. It seemed so important to him.

            If he has something that he needs to tell you at midnight, when everyone else is sleeping, it's probably a bad idea.

            What if I don't care?

            This might be my only chance to save Hayley. As improbable as it seems, he might know something...something that could spare her from that awful procedure. I don't have a choice. I have to go.

            I reach under my pillow and find the traveling clothes that I stowed away there earlier. I grab them, my watch, and my boots, and tiptoe to the bathroom. After changing into a pair of jeans, a navy blue T-shirt, and a black jacket, I slip out the door, unfolding the piece of paper Rowan gave me and reading it carefully. "Maythorne Road" is scrawled in messy cursive on the crumpled note. Nothing more, no note, nothing.

            Maythorne. I close my eyes and search my mental map of Darrington. It's about a mile from here, so it'll take me twenty minutes to get there, fifteen if I walk fast. I check my watch in the moonlight—11:56 PM. My stomach drops. I should have left earlier. I can't be late.

            I hurry down street after street, on the lookout for curfew guards at every turn. I check my watch every so often, swallowing my fear. If he leaves before I get there, all this will have been for nothing.

            I glance up for street signs, hoping I'm going the right way. Allanwood Street...I should be about five minutes away from Maythorne now. My watch says 12:08. I walk more quickly, my breathing growing harsh. I worry that I'm going too fast or that I'll miss a turn, adding an extra ten minutes to my commute.

            Finally, I round a corner and see the green painted sign on a pole: Maythorne Road. I remember what Rowan told me: There's a tree and a hill at the end of the street. I pick past over a dozen houses before I get to the end, and find, to my relief, that there is a small hill right next to the last house. A lonely birch tree lies atop it. I circle the tree, looking all around, but Rowan isn't here.

            Fear and frustration begin to rise in me. My first thought is, He tricked you. He's just a brat looking for entertainment. He's trying to get you arrested.

            But he can't. If he really were a prankster, he wouldn't risk letting me turn him in. It wasn't a joke. I just know.

            I sit down with my back against the tree, closing my eyes briefly and letting my warm breath fog in the chilly air. Why would he be late? I check my watch. It's 12:15. Maybe "midnight" was a loose term. What if he doesn't come till 1:00? What will happen if Liana wakes up and I'm gone? Will she panic? Will she call the bureaucrats? What will become of Hayley?

            I knew this was a bad idea the moment I stepped out the door, but I never expected it to come to this.

            The minutes pass by as slowly as they possibly can. 12:16. 12:17. 12:18. I stare at the watch face, willing the seconds to tick by faster, then abandon my efforts and stare at the ever-rising moon.