The Shade of the Moon (24 page)

“I don’t believe it,” she said. “I don’t.” She paused. “Jon, are you sure Mom’s dead?”

“Yes,” he said shortly. “I saw her body. Alex saw her, too. She’s dead, Miranda, and
so’s your baby. You have to learn to accept it.”

“Alex didn’t tell me,” she said. “I guess he didn’t have the chance. Where is she,
Jon? What did they do with her body?”

“A lot of people died that week,” Jon said. “The clavers were brought back for funerals.
The ones from White Birch are going to be cremated.”

“Going to?” Miranda said. “What is this, July what?”

Jon thought about it. “The nineteenth, I guess,” he said.

“And the people were killed on the Fourth?” she asked. “Two weeks ago and they haven’t
cremated them yet? Was Mom killed on the Fourth? When did you see her?”

“I saw her on the Fourth,” Jon replied. “Miranda, somehow she knew she was going to
die. She told me how much she loved you, loved all of us. She died a couple of days
later.”

“Where did you see her body?” Miranda asked. “Where did they leave her?”

“They left her in front of the school,” Jon said. “But they say they’re clearing out
the bodies today. They’ll take her to a body pit and cremate her with everyone else.
Now, can we change the subject?”

“Where do you think they took my baby?” Miranda asked. “They wouldn’t bury her with
the clavers. Do you think they took her back to White Birch and put her with all those
other bodies? Or maybe they just threw her out with the garbage?”

“Miranda, I’m sorry,” Jon said. “But it’s just a body. What difference does it make
what they did with it? They won’t let you see her, and even if you could, you can’t
bring her back to life. You can’t make her whole.”

“You tell me Mom’s dead, and you say you saw her and Alex saw her,” Miranda said.
“So I have to believe you. But you didn’t see my baby and Alex didn’t see my baby,
and I heard her cry the way newborns do. The next thing I know, they’re plunging a
needle into my arm and I wake up here. What if she isn’t dead, Jon?”

“Maybe you’re right,” Jon said. “Maybe she is alive. But she’s so deformed it’s just
a matter of time before she dies, and they didn’t want you hanging around at the hospital,
so they lied about it. I’m not saying clavers don’t lie. They do. But if they did
lie, it was to protect you.”

Miranda looked away.

“Lisa says the baby was deformed because of the work you did in the greenhouse,” Jon
said. “The chemicals you handled. Miranda, if you and Alex leave, you’ll be able to
have a healthy baby. This one died. Mom died. People die all the time. You have to
accept it and move on.”

“Jon, I killed Julie,” Miranda whispered. “This is my punishment.”

“I know about Julie,” Jon replied. “Carlos told me. That’s why I was so angry with
you. But I never thought you’d be punished. Not like this. Do you know what Mom would
say if you told her that? She’d kill you!”

Miranda managed a slight smile.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Physically, I mean.”

“A little weak,” she said.

“I think we should do some more walking,” he said. “You need to get your strength
back before you go to White Birch.”

“I feel so hollow,” she said. “I feel like everything I love has been torn out from
me.”

“It hasn’t,” Jon said. “You have Alex and me and Matt. You even have Lisa and Gabe
if you want them. Come on. Let’s walk some more, and then I’ll make you something
to eat. I’ve become a pretty good cook, you know. Sarah made me.”

Monday, July 20

Lisa came into the bedroom where Miranda and Jon were sitting. “Miranda, they’re expecting
you at the greenhouses on Wednesday,” she said. “You’re going to have to go home tomorrow.”

“Good,” Miranda said. “I miss my job. And if I’m busy, I won’t think so much. But
I don’t know how I’m going to get home. How am I supposed to get to the bus terminal
if I’m not allowed to walk in Sexton?”

“I’ll call Sarah,” Jon said. “She takes a car into White Birch in the afternoon. She
could give you a lift to the clinic. You can walk home from there.”

“I’d like that,” Miranda said. “The school’s just a few blocks from the clinic. It’s
like Mom’s buried there. I know it’s not the same, but I need to say good-bye to her,
and that’s as close as I can get.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Lisa said. “I still ache because I couldn’t say good-bye
to my parents. Jon, call Sarah and see if she can give Miranda a lift. Maybe she’ll
be lucky and Alex will be the driver.”

“Alex,” Miranda said, and for the first time in days she looked almost happy. “At
least I’ll be with Alex again.”

Tuesday, July 21

“Ready for the match Sunday, Evans?” Ryan asked at lunch.

“As ready as you are,” Jon said. “Not much.”

“Me, either,” Luke said. “It’s not as much fun without Tyler and Zachary.”

“Plus, it’s a two-hour drive,” Ryan said. “Two hours of Coach screaming at us on the
way there and two hours of him screaming on the way back.”

“Why don’t you quit?” Sarah asked. “Find a different afterschool to do.”

“Like what?” Ryan asked. “Giving the grubs milk and cookies like you do, Goldman?”

“Milk and cookies,” Luke said. “I haven’t thought of them in years. Remember Halloween?
Trick-or-treat? I’d eat all the candy right away. Boy, did I get sick.”

Sarah didn’t seem to care about Halloween. “We do real work at the clinic,” she said.
“Not that you know what real work is.”

Ryan shuddered. “I hope I never find out,” he said. “What’s the point of being a claver
if you have to work like a grub?”

Jon and Luke laughed. Sarah scowled.

“Someday, Goldman, I’d like to see you smile,” Ryan said. “Does she smile for you,
Evans?”

“Not very often,” Jon said. Sarah reached across the table and swatted him. “It’s
true, Sarah. We fight more than we smile.”

“He’s a challenge,” Sarah said to Ryan and Luke. “But I’ll whip him into shape.”

Jon wished that were true. But with Sarah leaving in a week, he knew she wouldn’t
have the chance.

“Are you going to spend August bandaging the grubs?” Ryan asked. “Or are you taking
the month off like the rest of us?”

“I don’t know yet,” Sarah said. “I’d like to keep working, but my father has other
ideas. I know you think the people in White Birch don’t deserve anything, but they’re
human, Ryan. The same as you and me.”

Luke shook his head. “They’re not, Sarah. I used to think like you, but I’ve seen
too much, heard too many stories. Like the one Dad told Mom and me Saturday night.”

“I don’t care what your father told you,” Sarah said.

“I do,” Ryan declared. “What happened, Luke?”

Luke looked like he didn’t need much encouragement. “Dad said there was a grubber
girl at the hospital here,” he began. “She was pregnant and they decided to let her
stay until she had the baby. She was treated as good as a claver. Even after the riots.
Food, nurses, everything.”

Sarah glanced at Jon, who shook his head almost imperceptibly.

“She has the baby,” Luke continued. “They tell her it’s a healthy baby girl, and she
gets hysterical. She says if she doesn’t bring home a son, her husband will beat her.
She actually begged them to kill the baby. She got so hysterical they had to sedate
her. She never did see the baby. She left the hospital refusing to. I guess she went
back to White Birch and told her husband it died.”

“What happened to the baby?” Jon asked, trying to sound as though he didn’t really
care.

Luke smiled. “There’s a happy ending,” he said. “The baby’s being adopted by a claver
family. She’ll never know where she came from.”

“Is she still in the hospital?” Sarah asked. “The baby?”

“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “I think the family took the baby home that day. I
can ask my dad if you want.”

Sarah shook her head. “Don’t bother,” she said.

Ryan laughed. “Admit it, Goldman,” he said. “No decent human being would act that
way. Grubs are animals, just like I’ve been telling you.”

“It takes one to know one,” Sarah said, looking at her watch. “I’ve got to go. I don’t
want to keep the driver waiting.”

“I’ll walk you outside,” Jon said. He’d been doing that since school had reopened,
so he knew Ryan and Luke wouldn’t think anything of it.

“See you tomorrow,” Sarah said. “Maybe by then you’ll have some manners.”

“Don’t count on it, Goldman,” Ryan said.

“See you in the gym,” Jon said. “Come on, Sarah.”

They walked out of the lunchroom without speaking. Even when they were outside, Jon
spoke so softly only Sarah could hear him.

“Miranda was right,” he whispered. “Her baby’s alive.”

“They stole it,” Sarah said. “Jon, we’ve got to get the baby back.”

Jon nodded. “We have to be quiet about it,” he told her. “Don’t say anything to Miranda.
It’s better if she thinks the baby’s dead until we can figure out what to do.”

“It’ll be so hard,” Sarah replied, “driving in to White Birch with her and not saying
anything.”

“Distract her,” Jon said. “Distract yourself. Talk to her about me. Ask her what I
was like as a kid. Ask her about Alex. She’ll expect you to distract her anyway, to
keep from thinking about everything that’s happened. Just relax, as much as you can.”

“I’ll talk to Daddy,” Sarah said. “We have to make sure no one else had a baby recently.”

“Be careful,” Jon said. “It’s safer for him not to know.”

Sarah stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Love you,” she said. “I’ll talk to you
tonight.”

“Love you, too,” Jon said. He watched as she walked to the car. Alex wasn’t driving.
That was a relief. The drive to White Birch was going to be hard enough for Sarah.
At least she was spared having Alex in the car.

For once Jon was grateful for four hours of workouts and practices. He focused on
the work, not minding when Coach shouted at all of them for being fat, lazy bums.
The more noise Coach made, the less Jon had to think.

When he got home, he played with Gabe. They stopped only when Sarah called to say
Miranda had been the only grub at the hospital for the past week.

“You didn’t tell your father why you asked?” Jon said.

“No, I was careful,” Sarah said. “I told him we’d been talking at lunch about whether
laborers could stay at the Sexton hospital. I said I thought they all could. Daddy
set me straight. What are we going to do, Jon?”

“I don’t know yet,” he admitted.

“Mr. Jon, dinner’s ready!” Ruby called.

“Go have your dinner, Mr. Jon,” Sarah said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Jon played with Gabe after supper until Lisa got home and put him to bed. Jon peeked
in and wished Gabe a good night. “I have to talk to you,” he said to Lisa. “Privately.”

“All right,” Lisa said. They went downstairs and found Ruby in the kitchen washing
the dishes. “Ruby, did you clean the living room today?”

“Yes ma’am,” Ruby said. “Little Gaby helped me.”

“Little Gaby could’ve done a better job than you did,” Lisa said. “I want you to clean
that entire room, Ruby. Finish the dishes and then dust everything in the living room
and scrub that floor until it’s spotless.”

“Lisa,” Jon said. “It’s eight o’clock. Ruby’s been working since six o’clock this
morning.”

“If she did the work right the first time, she could go to bed now,” Lisa said. “And
if you insist on talking to me about how I should treat my domestics, then do it in
private.”

“I do want to talk about it,” Jon said.

“Fine,” Lisa said. “We’ll talk. What are you waiting for, Ruby? Didn’t I give you
a job to do?”

“Yes ma’am,” Ruby said. “I’ll do it right away.”

“And we’ll go upstairs and talk about the servant problem,” Lisa said. “Come on, Jon.
Let’s get this over with.”

They walked to Lisa’s bedroom, but she shook her head. “We’ll talk in yours,” she
said softly. “Mine’s over the living room.”

Jon nodded and followed Lisa to his bedroom, then closed the door.

“Did you have to do that to Ruby?” he asked.

“She didn’t clean the living room,” Lisa said. “Did you look at it, Jon? It was filthy.
I know you think she’s a sweet girl, and I assume you’re sleeping with her, but she
has to learn her job.”

“I’m not sleeping with her,” Jon said.

“Fine,” Lisa said. “I apologize. I had a long day, Jon. What’s so important that we
have to talk about it privately?”

“It’s Miranda,” Jon said.

Lisa nodded. “I checked,” she said. “All the corpses were removed on Sunday.”

For a moment Jon didn’t know what she was talking about. Then he remembered Mom. “Good,”
he said. “I’m glad. But that’s not it.”

“What is it, then?” she asked.

“Luke told us something at lunch today,” Jon replied. “A grubber girl had a baby at
the hospital on Saturday. A perfectly healthy baby girl. Only the grub said her husband
would kill her if she brought home a girl. She got hysterical so they sedated her
and sent her home. A claver family took the baby. They’re going to adopt her.”

“Tell me you’re kidding, Jon,” Lisa said. “Please tell me this is a joke.”

“Miranda was the only grub in the hospital this week,” Jon said. “Lisa, they stole
Miranda’s baby.”

“Did you tell Miranda?” Lisa asked. “Did Sarah?”

Jon shook his head. “You and Sarah and I are the only ones who know,” he said. “Lisa,
we have to get the baby back.”

Lisa sat absolutely still.

“Lisa,” Jon said. “Remember when you thought you might lose Gabe? It’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not,” Lisa said. “It’s worse. At least with Gabe I would’ve had a choice.
I can’t believe they did that. No, actually I can. Women here are so desperate for
babies, they’ll even take a grubber one. We don’t know what the hospital told them.
Maybe they said Miranda died in childbirth.”

“Or maybe they didn’t care just as long as they got a baby,” Jon said. “Lisa, that’s
why they kept Miranda in the hospital so long. So they could be sure her baby would
be healthy before they gave it to clavers.”