I glance at Santangelo and I get a gut feeling that its not about the territory wars or the Club House.
We have a map that could possibly be the draft for a tunnel, he says, suddenly focusing on Raffaela and Ben.
A ploy. Doesnt mean the map is non-existent but hes holding back and I want to know why.
Means absolutely nothing to us because they never finished it beyond your school boundaries, he continues. But it might be important to you.
The tunnels a myth.
Are you calling him a liar?
The Mullets are angry. Their teeth are showing again and they almost back us into the door. Ben tries to stand between us but they shove him out of the way.
Set up a meeting with the Cadets and maybe well talk again, I say.
That might be hard, Santangelo says.
Make it easy, then.
I dont think you understand. My father was the cop who dragged you back when you ran away a couple of years ago.
I chance a glance at him again. He knows something about me; that I can tell. Being the son of the cop in charge would mean he knows a lot about most people around here.
Well, you just make sure you thank him for me and tell him I said hi, I say with mock sweetness, although I do remember the cops face, kind in a stressed-worried-angry way. The Brigadier, though, was a different story. Cold and tense.
I dont think youre getting my drift. The guy my father and that Brigadier dragged back with you? Remember him? Well, hes in charge of the Cadets now and rumour has it that none of us want to be dealing with him.
I cant believe what Im hearing. The Mullet Brothers are smirking. Raffaela and Ben look confused.
Griggs? I ask, feigning indifference.
Chaz Santangelo nods. Jonah Griggs.
Chapter 4
Jonah Griggs.
Not just a name but a state of mind I never want to revisit, although I do keep him at the back of my mind for those times I get my hopes raised about something. So then I can slap myself into reality and remind myself of what happens when you let someone into your sacred space. Jonah Griggs is my second reminder to never ever trust another human being. My mother was the first and these days I feel like Hannah might have joined that small and intimate group of traitors.
Raffaela and Ben havent said a word, but I can hear what theyre thinking as they follow me out into the clearing. I want to tell their brains to shut the hell up but I know the only way to do that is to speak and I cant.
The lights of the Houses beam through the bush and mark out the path. Finally, after fifteen minutes, silence takes its toll.
Did you make contact with the Cadets, Ben? I say finally.
Me?
Me? is Bens standard response to everything.
Ben Cassidy, could you please tell the class why crossing the Rubicon was considered the catalyst for the fall of the Roman Republic?
Me?
Ben Cassidy, someones on the phone for you.
Me?
Ben Cassidy, I think one of the Darling girls has a crush on you.
Me?
Ben Cassidy, whos the biggest loser in the Western World?
Hed have that is this a trick question? look on his face.
Me?
Seeing as Raffaela made contact with the Townies, you can make contact with the Cadets, I tell him now.
I think that Cadet might want to talk to you, Taylor.
I stop and he walks into me. Whats that supposed to mean?
Ben shuffles for a moment, looking at his feet, before he dares look at me. Well, rumour has it hes not the easiest person to speak to and seeing you guys have a history it might make some sense.
Do you know what a history is? Its what Raffaela and Chaz Santangelo have. Lots of stories to tell, lots of anger to vent, lots of baggage to check into I-Dont-Give-a-Shit Airline. The Cadet and me? Nothing to tell. I ran away
one day. He was running in the same direction. We ended up on the same train in the same carriage. The train derailed, we walked the same road and hitched a ride with the same postman in Yass. We got caught because the Cadet got scared and rang the powers that be. We came home in Santangelos fathers paddy wagon. End of story. No history. No sequel. Nothing.
I cant see their faces because its too dark but they know Im lying. I lie all the time about those three days. Probably because I cant explain it. It reeks of supernatural bullshit and hunches. It stars the boy in the tree in my dreams who took me by the hand and made me stand on a branch and asked, What can you see?
Nothing, I had said.
Know what I can see? From this distance, everything is so bloody perfect.
And I looked harder into the distance and what I saw was my mother. There was a radiance about her that I had never seen before. So I went looking for her and in that dream I found her soul, but when I woke up in the morning, I knew that I had to go looking for the rest of her.
Thats when I first saw the Cadet, on the platform of the Jellicoe Station. I knew who he was in an instant. Its not every day that you hear a story about a boy who killed his father. That was the rumour, anyway. Standing on the platform alongside him, I believed every word of it. There was a caged fury to him. A feralness that seeped out of every pore.