Everland(70)

“With all those children here, I should stay,” my mother says. “Some of them may need medical attention.”

“No, Mum!” I say. My stomach grows sick at the thought of leaving her behind. “We’ve just found you. I am not losing you again. Besides, if they’ve captured Mikey, I should be here for him. He’s my responsibility!”

My words echo in the concrete room. My responsibility! My mother shakes her head. I realize that the obligation to care for him is no longer mine. Guilt tugs at my heart, and I look away. My mother tilts my chin up so that my eyes meet her.

“It’s not your fault, Gwen,” she says, as if reading my mind. She places a hand on either side of my face. “Joanna and Mikey are lucky to have you. You’ve gone beyond what any fifteen-year-old girl should have to do. You kept them safe in circumstances when I couldn’t.”

My eyes burn with unshed tears. I can’t bring myself to look at her. “I lost Joanna, and now Mikey. I’ve failed them both.”

“I failed you,” my mother says. “I should have found a way to come home. This is my fault, and I intend to make it right. We will get Mikey back, and we’ll be a complete family again.”

The image of my father’s military tags lying scattered among the debris in the café comes back to me. I finally meet my mother’s eyes. “We’ll never be complete.” A stray tear rolls down my cheek.

Joanna twirls her bracelet around her wrist, drawing my mother’s attention. She frowns, her stare set on the copper buttons. Tears pool in my mother’s eyes. “I miss him, too,” she says.

My mother reaches into the pocket of her lab coat and pulls out my father’s military tags. She slips them over my head and I feel the cold metal tickle my neck. “Where did you find these?” I ask, holding the tags between my fingers and half expecting them to disappear.

“He’ll always be with us. Always,” my mother says. She doesn’t answer my question, but it’s all I need to feel whole again.

Pete breaks the grief-stricken moment. “I am the leader of the Lost Boys. I can’t abandon them,” he says matter-of-factly.

My mother gives him a weary smile. “These boys have been under your care long enough. Lily will lead you to where the other children have taken refuge. I’ll get the Lost Boys and send them as soon as I can.”

“How are you going to get them out?” Pete asks, urgency lacing his voice.

“I’ll incapacitate the soldier who comes to retrieve me, and get into the ballroom.” She pulls a vial from her pocket and holds it up. “A liquid sedative should take care of him.”

“No,” I protest again, glancing around. No one speaks. “Pete, we can’t leave her to rescue all those kids alone.”

Pete stares at the ground, kicking a loose rock with his boot.

“Bella? Doc?” I say. Bella joins Pete and takes his hand. Doc frowns, shaking his head.

“Pickpocket? You can’t believe this is the right thing to do,” I say.

He shrugs. Next to him, Mole drops his chin to his chest.

“Gwen,” my mother says. “Go. I will be all right.” She kisses Joanna’s cheek and then mine. She turns to Lily. “Be sure they get to Northumberland safely.”

“I will, Professor,” Lily says with a nod.

My mother starts to shut the steel door, but hesitates. “I love you girls. I never stopped waiting for you.”

A noise outside the lab startles my mother.

“Go! Get out of here now!” she says, pushing us toward the opening.

Joanna shakes her head, her eyes wide with fear. “No, I’m not leaving without you!”

Bella, Lily, and the Lost Boys bolt through the opening, but I’m frozen as I watch Joanna back toward the staircase to the lab.

“I won’t lose you again!” she says.

The door to the lab swings open with a metallic clang and deep male voices call for the Professor.

“There’s no time! Get out of here!” My mother tries to push Joanna toward the opening, but she throws herself to the floor, reminding me of a tantruming child. Taking her by the hand, my mother tries to drag her to the door, but to no avail.

“I won’t go without you!” Joanna shouts.

My mother peers up at me with terror in her eyes. She nods. “Go, Gwen.”

I shake my head. “No!”

My mother leaves Joanna’s side and starts to push me toward the opening. My eyes lock on Joanna’s, imploring her to come with me, but her stare is resolute; she’s determined to stand her ground.

My mother shoves me through the opening. “I love you, Gwen.” With those final words, she hurriedly closes the door, and the only sound I hear, other than my rapid breath, is the cabinet rolling back into place.





The lab is empty. Professor Darling and the girl are nowhere to be found. There’s only one other place they could be. I storm down the flight of stairs to the crematorium. When I reach the bottom level, I find the Professor sitting against a cabinet. Her daughter sits in her lap while she reads from a book. Joanna’s face erupts in a bright smile as her mother tells the story with exaggerated hand motions. The dark leather spine reads The Clockmaker and the Midnight Elves in elegant script.

My knees nearly buckle beneath me as a long-forgotten memory consumes me, striking me speechless. Jack’s father, my stepfather, who once cared for me as if I were his own, read to us from his favorite collection of stories in the castle library. It has been boarded up and locked away since his death, and I hadn’t thought about it until just now.