Part 5 (1/2)
Jen laughed. ”Got me. But, listen, if you can't do candles or a flashlight, how about just turning on a light that I can see?”
Luke was quicker this time figuring out that she was still talking about the signal.
”The one by the back door,” Luke said. ”You can't miss it.”
He wasn't allowed to turn that on, either, but he didn't dare say ”not allowed” again.
Now Luke toyed with his mashed potatoes. His entire conversation with Jen had been like that”she mocked, he defended, but she always got her way.
Of course”he defended her to himself”she knew and had seen so much more than him. After he'd finished his story on the couch, she'd told him hers.
”First,” she'd said defiantly, ”my parents had me on purpose. Thirteen years ago. Mom already had Bull and Brawn from her first marriage””
”Your brothers?” Luke asked.
”Yeah. Buellton and Brownley, really, but what kind of names are those for knuckleheads like them? Mom was going through some sn.o.bbish upper-cla.s.s phase with husband number one.”
”She's had more than one husband?” Luke asked. He didn't know that was possible.
”Sure,” Jen said. ”Dad”who's really my stepdad”is number three.”
Luke found that so confusing, he just kept his mouth shut.
”Anyhow,” Jen said. ”Mom was dying to have a little girl, so when she and husband number two got together, she went and paid some doctor lots of money so she could get pregnant.”
”What if you'd been a boy?” Luke asked.
”Oh, they got in on the beginning of the gender selection experiments.” Luke must have given Jen a particularly blank look, because she explained it. ”That means they made sure I was a girl. Doctors can do that, you know, but the Government outlawed the procedure because they were afraid it'd throw the population even more out of whack. I'm sure my parents paid a lot for it Were your mom and dad trying for a girl?”
Luke thought about it. He remembered Mother saying she'd wanted four boys, but would she have wanted a girl even more? Someone like Mother? He couldn't really picture a girl in his house.
”They weren't trying for anything,” he said. ”I was a surprise. Luck.”
Jen nodded. ”I didn't think they paid for you,” she said. Then she put her hand over her mouth. ”That sounded really terrible, didn't it? I didn't mean anything by it. It's just”you're the first person I've met who wasn't a Baron.”
”How do you know I'm not?” Luke asked stiffly.
”Well”” Jen waved her hand in a way that made Luke even more aware of the contrast between his ragged flannel s.h.i.+rt and patched jeans, and Jen's perfect house. ”Look, don't be mad. It doesn't matter. Or maybe it does, but I think it's cool that you're not a Baron. You can help me even more.”
”Help?” Luke asked.
”With the rally,” Jen said. She bit her lip. ”Should I” there's no way you could be an infiltrator, is there? Can I trust you?”
”Of course you can,” Luke said. He felt insulted again.
Jen leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling, as if an answer were written there. Then she looked back at Luke.
”I'm sorry. I'm botching this. I'm not used to really talking, just on the Net. Look, I trust you, but I'm not the only one involved. So let's wait, okay?”
”Okay,” Luke said. But he couldn't help sounding injured.
Jen leaned over and gave his shoulders a quick shake.
”Oh, don't say it like that. Say, 'Okay, Jen, I respect your judgment'. Or, 'Okay, Jen, whatever you think is best'.” She giggled. ”That's what Dad tells me I should say when I disagree with him. Can you believe it? Lawyers!”
Luke was glad the subject had changed. ”Your dad's a lawyer?” he asked.
Jen rolled her eyes. ”Yeah, all Mom's husbands have been. Strange taste, huh? Number one was an environmental lawyer, of all things; number two was corporate”that's how they had enough money to get me. And number three, Dad, is with the Government. High up, I might add.”
”But”if you're an illegal”” Luke hadn't thought he could get any more confused.
Jen laughed.
”Haven't you learned? Government leaders are the worst ones for breaking laws. How do you think we got this house? How do you think I got Internet access? How do you think we live?”
”I don't know,” Luke said, fully honest. ”I don't think I know much of anything.”
Jen patted his head, as if he were a little kid or a dog.
”That's okay,” she said. ”You'll learn.”
It wasn't long after that that Luke said he had to leave, because he was afraid Dad or Matthew or Mark might come in for lunch a little early. He dreaded the trip back. Jen walked him to the door, chattering the whole way.
”I'll fix the screen and deal with the security system, so no one will ever know you were here,” she said. ”And”oh, no!”
Luke followed her gaze. She was staring at three pinpoints of blood on the carpet.
”I'm sorry,” Luke said. ”That must be from when I sc.r.a.ped my hand. I'll clean it up. There's still time””
Secretly, he was glad of the delay.
”No, no,” Jen said impatiently. ”I don't care about the carpet. It's just that Mom and Dad will know, and when they see I don't have any cuts””
And then, before Luke even knew what she was doing, she thrust her hand toward the torn part of the screen.
The jagged edge didn't cut immediately, so she held the screen with her right hand and raked it across her left. When Jen pulled her hand back, Luke saw a gash even deeper than his. Jen squeezed out a few drops of blood and let them fall to the carpet.
”There,” she said.
Stunned, Luke backed out the door.
”Come back soon, farmer boy,” Jen said.
Luke turned and ran, blindly, not even slowing down to creep alongside the barn. He went straight to the back door of his house, yanked it open, and let it bang shut behind him.
Now, sitting at supper, he felt his heart pounding again as he thought of how dangerous that had been. Why hadn't he looked first? Why hadn't he crawled? He poked his fork into his potatoes, now gone cold and congealed. He watched Mother gathering up dirty dishes while Dad, Matthew, and Mark leaned back in their chairs, talking of grain yields. Jen had scared him”that was why. Seeing her cut her hand had terrified him. How could she do something like that for him, when they'd just met?