The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes

Author:Stephanie Oakes [Oakes, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-12T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

• • •

I sat upright in bed, ears reaching for sound. In my sleep, I’d imagined I could hear something in the corridor. A scuffle. A fight.

Almost immediately after returning to our room, Sheila had collapsed into sleep. I looked at her now in the dim half-light—her face slack, her breath slow. The news of her father’s death had eclipsed the pain of our fight, but the bruise of it lingered. In the morning, I sensed, everything would be different.

A faint scream echoed through the warren of white hallways. Electricity zippered up my spine, and I realized: If Sheila wasn’t being taken, someone else was.

I moved from my bed and edged down the hall, toward the foyer, fingers brushing the wall. There, in that bright white capsule, stood Matron Sybil, flanked by Matron Gloria and Matron Calliope. Between them, tensed like a cornered animal, Marina.

“Why?” Marina demanded, breath coming in gasps.

“We feel you’d be a better fit at the Mesa.” Matron Sybil’s voice, pleasant and calm.

Marina balled up the sides of her nightgown, eyes bounding from matron to matron. “That’s what they told me when I left the Bay. I’m not going to the Mesa. Am I? Nobody gets so many chances.”

“It’s good luck that your father is such a generous man,” Matron Sybil said. “He has ensured that your education will not be interrupted. Regardless of your transgressions.”

I felt my forehead. Transgressions?

“Come. Your driver is waiting.” Matron Sybil took a hand and placed it around Marina’s shoulder. Marina tried to walk backward out of her grip and stumbled against the foyer wall. Marina’s eyes slashed around as if to spot a hidden doorway, an escape.

When she saw me, her eyes rounded in surprise.

Matron Sybil froze, rotating as if to follow Marina’s gaze. And in that split second, I knew she would see me. Marina said, “Matron Sybil!”

The matron paused and faced her. I stepped back and loosed a silent stream of breath. She hadn’t seen me.

“Yes?” the matron said.

Marina opened her mouth. “If—” she said. “If I could tell the other girls something . . . a parting note.”

Matron Sybil sighed. “Yes?”

“I’d tell them—” Marina continued, keeping her eyes on Matron Sybil, though her words seemed meant for me, “I’d tell them to—to watch as I leave.”

Matron Sybil regarded her with diminishing patience. “The others are in bed.”

Marina swallowed. “I mean—to not forget me.”

“I’m sure you are unforgettable, dear,” Matron Sybil said, gesturing to the door. “Come along.” Marina wavered for a moment, eyes seeming to tug toward where I stood. Then she lowered her head, this time going willingly.

I crept into the foyer and hazarded a glance outside. Backs to me, the matrons and Marina approached the black shuttle idling on the dusty road. I stared, fidgeting. Watch as she leaves? Why? Where could I even get a view of the shuttle driving away? High in the branches of the yew tree—but no way to cross the lawn without the risk of being seen. There was only one other place.

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