Origin (15 page)

Oh, no, no, no
…I scramble to my feet and yank off the garlands, horror turning my early morning lethargy into a rush of icy adrenaline.

It’s dawn. No, past dawn, since the thick foliage of the rainforest prevents any light from reaching the jungle floor until the sun is well up into the sky. Everyone will have already eaten breakfast in Little Cam, and they’ll have known immediately that someone was missing.

Me.

Eio wakes and yawns noisily, then laughs. “Pia bird, there is a mantis in your hair.”

“Eio, why did you let me fall asleep?” I yell as I brush angrily at my hair. The mantis drops onto my hand and wags his long green antennae indignantly. I ignore him. I am trembling with rage and fear.

Eio frowns. “Let you?
I
asked you if you really wanted to sleep here in Ai’oa, and you said to leave you alone. Then you went back to sleep.
Let
you.” He looks as indignant as the mantis.

“I have to go. Now.” I drop the last of the orchids to the ground and start for the edge of the village. Several Ai’oans stare as I pass them. “Alai!” I call, but the jaguar doesn’t appear.

Eio trots after me, slinging his bow over his shoulder and calling for a boy to bring his arrows. “I’ll come with you.”

“I don’t need you.” I know it’s not his fault, but I can’t help being angry with him. After all, if it weren’t for him, I may have never sneaked back into the jungle.

He follows me anyway, and once we’re in the trees, he darts around me and leads the way, even though I remember every step. I don’t argue, but I ignore him as thoroughly as if he weren’t there at all. In this fashion we storm our way through the jungle, making more noise than a pair of howler monkeys. I can tell that Eio is still hurt that I accused him of letting me sleep, but I refuse to apologize. There are too many knots and thorns in my stomach to worry about one native boy’s wounded ego.

“Alai, come!” I yell again in panic. “Where is he? Alai!”

My imagination conjures image after image of what might be going on in Little Cam. They’re searching my room. They find the map. They trace it back to Dr. Klutz. Now they’re locking her up, asking her questions.…

I wonder that I can even think these things. After all, I’ve never seen Uncle Paolo punish anyone, beyond reprimands and maybe docking pay if a worker is consistently stepping out of line. Docked pay makes for very grumpy workers. No one likes to miss out on a chance to buy beer or new clothes when joining Uncle Timothy on a supply run, as nearly everyone does on occasion. But it’s not as if we have a prison to lock rule breakers in.

Of course, no one’s ever committed a crime worse than, say, stealing candy bars from the warehouse or breaking a piece of gym equipment and not confessing to it. Except for the Accident, of course. But Alex and Marian were never caught. If they were…I don’t—can’t—think about that. For the first time, I think I might understand a little of what they felt. Why they ran. I can’t put words to it yet, but I feel, deep
down, a spark of empathy where before I only felt pity and even disgust.

Finally Alai responds to my calls and emerges from a stand of heliconias. For an instant, I hardly recognize him for the feral look in his eye and the show of his fangs. But when he sees me, his appearance softens and I see my jaguar once more. I hug his neck, relieved he didn’t run off for good to join his wild kin.

“I couldn’t lose you, Alai. Don’t ever do that again.”

We are near Little Cam when Eio stops abruptly and turns to me.

“Will you come back?”

“I don’t know,” I confess. “I guess it depends on what happens when I get back. They know I’m missing. They must. They’ll find the hole in the fence, and then they’ll fix it. I’ll have no way out.”

“I’ll climb the fence,” he declares. “And bring you out.”

“No, Eio! It’s electrified. That means when you touch it—”

“I
know
what electrified is. My father
is
a scientist, you know. But I don’t care.” He takes my hands. “I will climb that fence, if you ask it of me, and I will bring you out.”

With a little chill, it dawns on me that this is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. All those times I’ve been called perfect, and this means more than any of them. “Eio, I…thank you. But I don’t ask it of you. I like my home and the people there. Little Cam isn’t evil, no matter what Kapukiri says. One day I’ll bring you inside so you can see for yourself. Maybe your father will help me. I wish you would
tell me more about him. I’m sure I’d know him just by a description.”

Eio’s eyelids slide down, his long dark lashes a curtain to block me out. “I told you already. He is ugly, like all foreigners.”

“Except me?”

He shrugs. “Go, Pia bird, before you are shot down by an arrow.”

“You’re so dramatic.” But his words are like an arrow themselves, one made of ice. “Good-bye, Eio.”

“For the last time?”

I don’t know what to say to that. “You better go. If they’re scouting around the compound for me, I don’t want them to find you.”

“Why? I thought there was no evil in Little Cam,” he challenges.

“There’s not! But you aren’t supposed to be here! Little Cam is a secret place, and I’m the most secret part of it. If they found out you knew too much about me, they might…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know, Eio, and I don’t want to find out.” He’s making me angry. Why won’t he go? Why does he insist on trying to make me doubt the people who raised—and created—me?
And why is it working?
“Go, Eio! Go now!”

Without a word, he turns and vanishes into the jungle. Once he’s gone, I feel a fleeting tug at my heart, as if it wants me to follow him.

I make my way through the dense foliage until I see the glitter of the fence and the buildings beyond. I’m near the hole, and since I can’t hear any shouts or see anyone scouting
the perimeter, I think perhaps I might have a chance of sneaking back in after all.

But when I reach my escape hole, I stop dead and stare in horror, then grab Alai before he can run ahead.

The area is thick with men and women, scientists and workers and uniformed guards. They’ve discovered the hole, that much is obvious. Do they suspect I found it first?

I slip into the trees, hoping some of Eio’s ability to melt into invisibility has rubbed off on me. Hardly daring to breathe, I creep closer to investigate, keeping a tight hold on the jaguar’s collar.

Uncle Paolo and Uncle Antonio are both on the scene. Neither looks happy. Their faces are red, and they bristle like the Grouch and Alai when they are facing off in the menagerie. Are they angry at each other or at me? I suspect the latter.

The fallen ceiba tree has been cut up and removed, and several men are in the process of filling in the hole and straightening the fence. They must have turned off the electricity in this section, because they’re handling the chain link with bare hands.

When I shift positions, I see more of what’s going on. My parents are there, and they look pale and quiet from where they stand on the other side of the fence. Behind them, I see my glass bedroom, empty and, I notice for the first time, extremely open and vulnerable. I can see everything within. The corner where the chair sits, covering the map beneath the carpet, looks undisturbed, which fills me with relief. I’m in plenty of trouble without having to worry about explaining that too.

I have to get closer to find out what they’re saying about me. Everyone is probably thinking of the Accident, wondering if it’s happened all over again. I start to wish I’d never left last night, that I’d listened to my own sense and stayed put inside Little Cam. But then I think of Eio and the children of Ai’oa, and my spirit rises up stubbornly and crosses its arms.
I’d do it again
.

From the looks of things, though, I might not have that option. I run through my short list of possible next moves.

Walk out now and face them all. Confess everything, even the map, and swear I’ll never, ever do it again.

Walk out now and face them all. Confess everything and swear I
will
do it again, whether they like it or not.

Run away. Go native, perhaps, and this time for good.

I don’t like any of the options. But there seem to be no more alternatives to choose from. So instead, I opt for stalling. Wait and watch. Something has to present itself.

By staying low to the ground and moving at the speed of a particularly lethargic three-toed sloth, I manage to get within hearing range of the group by the fence without drawing any attention.

“We don’t know for sure she went through,” Uncle Antonio is saying.

“We have to plan for every possibility. She could be miles from here by now, Antonio. Miles!” Uncle Paolo runs his hands through his hair, looking more agitated than I’ve ever seen him. “I can’t lose her! She means everything to this place! Without her, Little Cam, the research, all of it means nothing! Think of what Strauss will say! Oh god, what will
Strauss
say?”

Strauss?
I’ve never heard of anyone called that, not in Little Cam.

“Calm down, Paolo,” Uncle Antonio replies. “She’s probably in the compound somewhere. We can’t jump to conclusions.”

“Conclusions! We searched inside the fence for hours! She sneaked out. It’s the only explanation, Antonio. I knew we should never have taken down the cameras in her room. Clarence! What is taking so long? Get a damn bulldozer if you have to, just get that hole filled in!” Uncle Paolo paces back and forth, right and left, never stopping for a moment. “I should have known this would happen. I’ve made too many concessions. That party was a fool of an idea! She needs a stricter schedule, more supervision.…Maybe we should reinstall the cameras. Never mind the fuss she makes, she’s spoiled enough.…”

Uncle Antonio is stone-faced as he replies, “She’s not a
rat
, Paolo.”

This time Uncle Paolo does stop pacing, and he and Uncle Antonio stare at each other with venom I’d never even suspected lay between them. I’ve never known the two to be chummy or anything, but now I realize that there may be much more animosity between them than they normally show. There must be. The looks they give each other now seem much too heavy to be the result of just my disappearance.

Suddenly I’m struck with an idea. All these people outside the fence…they surely didn’t get there by crawling through the hole beneath it. Which means they must have opened the gate. Which means it might still be open.

Hardly daring to breathe, I begin moving silently around
the perimeter of Little Cam. If I can get to the gate, and it’s open, then I can sneak inside and come up with some kind of story…maybe I fell asleep beside the pool or got lost in a biology textbook in some dark corner. My thoughts run down three different tracks at the same time, pushing my mind into overdrive.

Maybe that’s why I don’t notice Harriet Fields until I’ve walked right into her.

“P
ia!” She looks as startled as I am, and doubly so when she sees Alai.

I cringe and consider simply running away, but I’m well and truly spotted. I’m only a short dash from the front gate, which is indeed open, as I’d hoped, but I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t bother checking behind every tree I passed. Dr. Klutz was reclining against one of them, smoking leisurely and apparently enjoying the spectacle my disappearance has created.

“Hello, Dr. Fields,” I mumble, not knowing what to expect from her. Likely she’ll run yelling for Uncle Paolo like a startled baby monkey for its mother.

“You’ve caused quite the ruckus,” she says, relaxing again and tapping her cigarette thoughtfully to her lower lip. “Where have you been?”

I don’t reply. The answer should be pretty obvious. I’ve been
out
, and that is strictly against the rules. I have no pay to
be docked; will they withhold my supper instead? Or something worse?

“Sneaking out, my, my,” murmurs Dr. Klutz. “Been a bad girl, Pia perfect.”

“Are you going to tell?” I ask, hoping against hope.

She studies me for a long moment and sucks at her cigarette. I steal a glimpse at the gate. There is one guard, but he can’t see us through the foliage. Unless, of course, Dr. Klutz were to start shouting. Which is entirely too possible.

“Tell you what,” she says finally, flicking ash to the ground. “I’ve heard you calling everyone else around here
aunt
and
uncle
. Well, I’m as much in this thing as any of you now. Contract, remember? So. You start calling me Aunt Harriet, and I just might help you.”

“Just
might
?” I say doubtfully, though I want to weep in relief.

“Say it.” A smile sneaks onto her face.

I recall her dangerous birthday present and the trouble I could cause her if someone were to find it, and I give in. “Fine. Aunt Harriet. There. Will you help me now?”

She grins. “Once more. Come on. And not so grudging, girl. I’ve never done you any wrong.”

Except given me a map that could get me in the worst trouble of my life. Well, present predicament excepted, of course
. “Please help me get inside the gate,
Aunt Harriet
, and I swear I’ll even
think
of you as Aunt Harriet instead of…”

“Of what?” She tips her head curiously. “Just what do you think of me as?”

“Uh…Dr. Fields, of course.”

The look she gives me tells me plainly that this answer is
unconvincing, but I don’t offer to amend it. She seems satisfied with my compliance, however, and nods crisply. “Well, then. Inside the gate we go! Wait here a tick.”

She tosses her cigarette aside and flounces off through the bushes. Disgusted, I crush the still-burning little cylinder with my shoe, then watch to see what she will do. For all I know, she’s telling the guard where I am right now. But no. She’s pointing off in the general direction of Uncle Paolo and his crew, and the guard nods and shrugs and starts marching off, supposedly acting on orders Uncle Paolo never gave. Once he is out of sight,
Aunt
Harriet
waves at me, and I cautiously emerge from the trees.