My mouth dropped open. “Get them? How? We don’t even have a vehicle! Not to mention all the guards, guns, Tasers, billy clubs, handcuffs, and Strepp!”
She frowned at me. “What if we had a whole army?” she asked.
I didn’t even turn around. “A whole army of what? Corncobs? Where are you going to get your army?”
“School?”
Now I did stop to look at her. I leaned over and put my hand on her forehead, feeling its dirt and blood. “You are raving with fever,” I told her, and strode ahead.
“We could talk to our friends!” she cried behind me.
I whirled. “Yeah? Like all the friends who couldn’t even help you find me?” Her face fell, and I felt a little bad. But just a little. “You’re going to get a bunch of sheep to go against the Provost? Against the whole United? Really?” Again I turned and hurried on, this time so I wouldn’t see her start to cry.
98
I SAW THE SIGN FIRST. Cassie was still dragging her feet behind me, looking dejected. But when we got to our gate she saw it. We looked at each other, confused.
FOR SALE.
Our house had a FOR SALE sign on it. It said, CONTACT THE PROPERTY OFFICE AT THE MANAGEMENT BUILDING.
Pa wasn’t in any shape to put our house up for sale.
“Oh, my God,” Cassie said, opening our gate.
“What’s going on?” I asked. There was another sign on our front door: PUBLIC AUCTION. It gave the date and a list: house, land, tractor, tiller, irrigation pump (wind-powered), household items, clothes. “What the hell?”
Cassie tried the front door. It was locked. I fetched the spare key hidden inside a drainpipe on the side of the house, and we let ourselves in.
Inside, our house had been searched. Not like torn apart or destroyed, just messed with. Furniture had been moved, some pictures taken off the walls, kitchen cupboards opened. All our dishes were stacked on the kitchen table, like someone had been counting them.
“What the hell is going on?” I said, feeling anger ignite. “Who did this?”
“Oh, Becca,” Cassie said, looking around
. “Oh, my God. They didn’t think we were coming back.”
“What?”
“Ma’s gone. Pa’s not going to last much longer. We were the only two kids, and we disappeared. So there was no one left to take over the farm. So they’re selling it. And everything in it.”
“No freaking way!” I said, my hands clenching. “Those signs are coming down now! This place is ours!” I headed back to the living room, but Cassie grabbed my arm.
“You’re not getting it,” she said. “Beck, they didn’t think we were coming back. Other kids have disappeared. None of them have ever come back.”
I stopped and looked at her, thinking about the other kids we knew who were missing. It was true. Those kids were gone—the few we’d seen at the prison had been left there.
“But they know we’re back now,” I said. “The folks at the hospital saw us. Nate will tell his dad we helped him. Right?”
“Yeah,” Cassie said, her voice trailing off as she thought. “They must know by now. So… what are they going to think about us? What are they going to do with us?”
I grimaced. “Maybe arrest us, for daring to leave?”
“Do they know we left on purpose?” Cassie asked. “There’s no one watching the gates, right? Not all the time, anyway.”
“Probably because no one ever leaves,” I said.
“Yeah,” Cassie agreed. “So it’s like the cell doesn’t actually know how or why kids are disappearing—the Provost acts mad, like people are sneaking out for the fun of it. Does he really not know what’s going on?”