“Well, there isn’t a school or a restaurant within a hundred miles of here, so we had to improvise a little.”
The carriage drove us down a dirt road to a redbrick building about a mile from the compound. The driver pulled up to the front of the building, then got down and helped us out. “Have a good time,” he said.
I opened the front door of the building and Taylor stepped inside. She took just a few steps in, then stopped. “Oh, Michael.”
In the middle of the room was a small, square table set with crystal and china and lit by two long tapered candles. Strings of small lights hung from the ceiling. The floor was scattered with rose petals. There was some equipment that was too large to move, so it had been covered with sheets.
Taylor turned to me. “How did you do all this?”
“I had help,” I said. “Our moms were busy.”
I pulled a chair out from the table and Taylor sat down. Then I sat down across from her. A dark-haired man dressed in a white linen suit and vest with a baby-blue ascot walked out of a side door carrying a bottle in a bucket of ice. Following him with a bread basket was a beautiful, petite woman with short, curly dark hair and large brown eyes.
“Monsieur, madame, good evening,” the man said. “My name is Benoit, I am your serveur. And this is my assistant, Monique.”
Monique smiled and tipped her head a little. “Good evening.”
“Hi,” we said in unison.
Benoit continued, “Tonight’s meal comes all the way from Paris. We begin with a bottle of fine sparkling grape juice and warm egg-basted croissants.”
Monique set the basket of rolls on the table while Benoit uncorked the bottle and poured our glasses half full of the juice.
“We will return shortly with your hors d’oeuvre. Bon appétite,” he said. They left the room.
“This is so much fun,” Taylor said. “Do you know them?”
“My mom introduced me to Benoit this morning. He’s the ranch’s head chef.”
“Is he really French?”
“I think so.”
Benoit returned a few minutes later carrying a small oval plate with crackers and some salmon-colored pasty stuff I had never seen before.
“This is pâté de foie gras. It is a fine goose-liver pâté. Enjoy.” He turned and left.
Taylor just looked at me with a funny expression.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t order goose liver.”
“It’s not that,” she said, smiling. “I just can’t believe you would go to all this trouble for me.”
“You mean like, compared to breaking into the academy?”
She laughed. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”
She spread the pâté on a cracker and took a bite. “Mmm, this is delicious.”
“Really? You’re a lot braver than I am.”
“No,” she said. “I’m definitely not.” She held the rest of the cracker up to my mouth. “Try it.”
I opened my mouth and she fed me. “What do you think?”
“It’s good.”
“Of course it’s good. You didn’t think Benoit would lead us astray, did you?”
“I don’t really know Benoit,” I said.
She reached over and took my hand. “So I’ve been thinking. I was complaining the other day about the things I’ve missed out on, but the truth is, I have something every girl dreams of: a real-life fairy tale. The brave knight stormed into the castle and rescued the princess from a fire-breathing dragon. How many girls can say that?”
“In this scenario, Hatch is the fire-breathing dragon?”
Taylor laughed. “Yes, he’s the dragon.” She looked at me a moment more, then added, “And I’m the princess.”
“Yeah, I figured it out,” I said.
Ten minutes later Benoit returned with two bowls of French onion soup. He waited for Taylor to try it. “C’est à votre goût?” he asked. “Do you like it?”
“It’s delicious,” Taylor said.
“Très bien,” he said, again leaving us.
For our main course we had lobster and filet mignon topped with blue cheese crumbles and burgundy wine sauce. On the side we had a baked potato and wild asparagus. Monique came out a few times to check on us and fill our water glasses. As the night waned Taylor spoke less.
After Monique brought out our dessert, a crème brûlée, I said to Taylor, “You’re kind of quiet tonight.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I just have a lot on my mind. It’s too bad you can’t read my thoughts.”
“You’ll just have to tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I was just thinking about when we first met.”
I nodded. “It’s hard to believe how much things have changed.”
“I know, right? Jack was bullying you. Now he practically worships you.”
“And I practically worshipped you back then.”
She playfully cocked her head. “You’re saying that you don’t practically worship me anymore?”
“Now I actually worship you.”
She smiled.
“I’ve never told you this, but my first Valentine’s Day at Meridian I made a Valentine’s card for you. I was going to give it to you, but then I got scared. So when no one was looking, I shoved it in your locker.”
Her eyes lit up. “I remember that card. That was you?”
“There’s no way you remember that,” I said.
She looked into my eyes. “It said, ‘You are the most beautiful girl in the world.’ ”
I looked at her in surprise. “You do remember.”
“How would a girl forget that?” She shook her head slowly. “The sad thing is, I had a boyfriend at the time. But I knew it wasn’t from him because he wouldn’t do anything that nice.” She frowned. “What was wrong with me? Why would I go out with someone who didn’t treat me very well? Why wasn’t I with you?”
“Because I wasn’t cool,” I said.
Her frown grew. “That makes me feel bad.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe it was because you didn’t know I existed.”
“I knew you existed. You were that cute boy who sat next to me.”
“Who blinked a lot.”
“Who blinked a lot,” she said. She grinned. “I remember the first time I saw you, you winked at me. I didn’t know you had Tourette’s, so I just thought you were flirting.”
“How do you know I wasn’t?”
She leaned forward. “Because you were way too shy.”
“I wasn’t shy.”
Her eyebrows rose in disbelief. “No?”
“No. I was just terrified.”
She laughed.
* * *
After dinner Monique cleared away the table; then soft music started playing, Colby Cross’s “Forever My Love.”
“You know Colby’s my favorite singer,” Taylor said. “I got to sit in the front row at her concert when . . .” She stopped. I knew why. The pain of remembering was too much. Her smile fell. “I betrayed her.”
“I know,” I said. “You told me about it. But it was Hatch’s fault. And it certainly hasn’t hurt Colby’s career.”
She looked at me gratefully, then took my hand. “Let’s dance.”
I really didn’t know how to dance, but I put my arms around her and we just kind of swayed to the music. Sometime during the second song she said, “Me too.”
I looked at her. “Me too what?”
“I’m sorry. Your thoughts are so strong right now, I thought you said that out loud.”
“Said what?”
“I wish this would never end.”
I held her tighter.
We danced for a few more songs; then Taylor started crying, gently at first, then hard. Some of her tears ran down my cheek. I looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, laying her head on my shoulder.
“What is it?”
“It’s just that, I’ve never felt this way before.”
“What way?
”
“So afraid.” She looked up at me as another tear rolled down her cheek. “Tonight’s been so wonderful, but it is going to end. And tomorrow we go to Taiwan. . . .” For a moment she couldn’t speak. Then she said, “I’m scared. If something happens to you . . .”
“Nothing will happen to us,” I said. But the second I said it, thoughts of Wade came to mind. I quickly forced the thoughts out, hoping she hadn’t heard them.
She just clung to me tighter. “No, you’re right. Nothing will happen.”
* * *
I’m not sure what time it was when we returned to the Ranch House, but it was way past midnight and I had to wake our carriage rider, who had fallen asleep on his seat. After we got back I walked Taylor to her room and we stopped outside her door. She gazed at me sweetly. “Thank you, Michael.”
“I just didn’t want you to go through life without a prom.”
“That was the best prom I could ever have.” She leaned forward and we kissed. We must have kissed for a long time because Mrs. Ridley came to the door and neither of us even noticed her until she cleared her throat.
“It’s late,” she said.
“Sorry,” I said to Taylor.
Taylor grinned. “I’m not.” She leaned forward and kissed me again. “Good night, Michael.”
“Good night.”
Her mother looked at me and mouthed, “Thank you.”
I turned and walked down the hall to my own room, where Ostin lay fast asleep. Even as late as it was, I couldn’t sleep. For nearly an hour I just lay there thinking. I was new to this romance stuff, so maybe that’s why it was so confusing, but I couldn’t understand how tonight could simultaneously be the happiest and saddest night of my entire life.
I woke with the sun streaming in through the window. I looked over at the clock next to my bed. It was nearly six, almost time for us to leave for our flight. “Ostin?” I sat up and looked around the room, but he was gone. His bag was gone. “I can’t believe he didn’t wake me up,” I said to myself. I pulled on my pants and shirt and ran out into the hall, but there was no one around. I walked down to Taylor’s room and knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer. Then I tried to open the door. It was locked. They must all be having breakfast, I thought. When I got to the dining hall my heart froze. It was also empty. No Electroclan. No staff. No one. What’s going on?
I ran back to the Ranch House to my mother’s room and knocked on her door. “Mom!” I shouted. Nothing. I opened her door. “Mom, it’s me.” I looked inside her room. She wasn’t there. In fact the room was vacant, cleared out as if it had never been occupied. Where is everyone? I thought. I stepped back out into the hallway.
“Where is everyone?” I shouted. No one answered. I ran back to the main room of the Ranch House and out the front door onto the dirt drive. The buildings and vehicles surrounding the ranch were gone. Then I turned back and the Ranch House was also gone. I looked around me. There was nothing but miles and miles of tumbleweeds and dusty, barren landscape.
And then I woke from the nightmare.
* * *
The next morning came too early. Way too early. I reached over to hit the snooze button and I must have pulsed because the radio–alarm clock practically exploded. Ostin laughed.
“Dude, you fried it.”
I groaned. “Someone had to.”
“Time to get up, lover boy,” he said.
I sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes, then walked to the bathroom and showered. Ostin was already gone when I got out. I dressed, then went to the dining room for breakfast. My mother was waiting for me. Her eyes were red and I could tell that she had been crying, even though she tried to hide it. She smiled when she saw me. “How was last night?”
“It was perfect. Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure.”
A few minutes later Taylor walked in with her mother. They both looked tired and their eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she smiled when she saw me. She walked up to me and we hugged.
My mother said to her, “Michael said you two had a good time last night.”
“Thank you so much,” Taylor said. “It was one of the best nights of my life.”
“I’m so glad,” she said with a sigh. “Now we’d better get some food in you two. We only have an hour before you leave.”
We all walked over to the buffet tables. “I asked the cooks to prepare something special,” my mom said. “Waffles.”
I piled a plate high with waffles, along with strawberry jam and whipped cream. Ostin was sitting with his parents. His stack of waffles was like six inches high.
As we ate, my mother got more emotional. She kept dabbing at her eyes with her napkin.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I hate good-byes.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I said.
“You be safe,” she said sternly. “You promised.”
* * *
We had just finished eating when Joel walked into the room. “Electroclan, you have twenty minutes before your bus leaves.”
“I’d better get my stuff,” I said to my mother.
“I’ll meet you out front,” she replied.
I went back to my room and grabbed the bag with the clothes they had given me and carried it out to the front of the Ranch House. The van was idling in the center of the driveway where it had let us off five days earlier. Taylor, Mrs. Ridley, and my mother were standing next to it. Understandably, Mrs. Ridley was a mess. Ian, Tanner, and Zeus were standing next to them, and they all looked over as I walked out.
“Hey, dude,” Tanner said.
“You changed your mind and you’re coming with us,” I said.
“In your dreams,” he replied. We hugged. “You be careful.”
“Careful is my middle name,” I said.
“I thought Danger was your middle name.”
“Not this time,” I said.
Jack and Abigail walked out of the house holding hands. Abigail was crying, and Jack kept pulling her into him. They walked up to me.
“You guys come back safe,” Abigail said. She hugged me. “Bring everyone back. Promise me.”
“We’ll be back,” I said. “I promise.”
Abigail whispered into my ear. “Don’t let Jack do anything stupid, okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” I said.
She kissed my cheek. “I love you, Michael.” She smiled at me again; then, holding Jack’s hand, she went to say good-bye to Ian and McKenna.
I walked over to Taylor and our mothers. Mrs. Ridley seemed inconsolable and Taylor looked agonized by her mother’s pain. My mother put her arm around me. “This is hard,” she said softly.
Ostin was the last out. His eyes were puffy and Mrs. Liss was dabbing at her eyes with a Kleenex. Mr. Liss had his arms around both of them.
“You be careful,” Mrs. Liss said when she was close to me. “No shenanigans.”
I had no idea what she meant by that, but I hugged her and she turned back to Ostin, who was as emotional as I’d ever seen him.
A moment later Joel walked up to us. He glanced at my mother, then put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me away from everyone else. “I need to know what you’ve decided about Nichelle,” he whispered.
“We’ll bring her,” I said.
He nodded in approval. “I think you’re making the right choice.”
“Take care of my mom,” I said.
“I will.” He looked at me seriously, then said, “Michael, no foolish risks. Rescue Jade Dragon if you can, but if you can’t, we’ll deal with it. I promised your mother you would come back safe.”
“We’ll do our best,” I said.
He looked at me, then said, “I know you will.” He looked around. “It’s time to go.” We walked back to my mother.
As we were about to board the van Gervaso walked out the front door. For a brief moment we looked at each other; then he saluted me. “De oppresso liber,” he said.
“Liberat
e the oppressed,” Ostin translated.
I saluted Gervaso back. I hugged my mother again; then we walked over to Taylor and her mother. Mrs. Ridley turned to me. “Keep her safe. I beg you.”
“I’ll protect her,” I said. “I’ll bring her back.”
“I love you, Mom,” Taylor said. “I’ll see you soon.”
She wiped her eyes with a tissue. “I just got you back. I can’t believe I’m letting you go.”
A minute later Joel said, “I’m sorry, but it’s time.”
Taylor and her mother hugged and kissed again; then Taylor stepped toward me. “Good-bye, Mrs. Vey.”
“I’ll see you both soon,” my mother said, doing her best to be strong. “And, Taylor?”
“Yes?”
“You keep my son safe too,” she said.
Taylor nodded seriously. “I’ll do my best.”
I hugged my mother once more, then picked up my bag, and Taylor and I climbed into the van. The vehicle shook as the driver started the engine. With the exception of Taylor’s and Ostin’s sniffles, everyone on board was quiet as the van pulled forward around the circular drive, then up the steep incline away from the compound.
I wondered if we would ever see this place again.
I wasn’t sure when I was going to tell everyone about Nichelle. Initially, I was planning on breaking the news on the two-hour ride to the airstrip, but everyone was already so tired and emotionally drained that I decided against it. Taylor found out accidentally. About a half hour after we’d left the ranch I was lying against her in the back of the bus when she suddenly said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“About what?”
She looked around to make sure that no one else could hear us; then she whispered, “We’re really going to pick up Nichelle?”
I couldn’t keep anything from her. “Yes.”
“When were you going to tell us?”
“Why do you ask questions when you already know the answer?”
“I wouldn’t do it now,” she said. “Everyone’s grumpy.”
“I’m waiting until we’re on the plane.”
“They’re going to freak, you know.”
I took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. “I know.”
* * *