The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages, page 20
Mr. Cole apologized then for rambling on, but everyone assured him no such apology was necessary. Indeed, his words could not have found more sympathetic ears. There were at least four people at his table who had only recently wondered at how very much like children they felt while also feeling very much not like children. Where did one draw the lines? Well, according to this new theory Mr. Cole had shared, perhaps one never had to draw lines at all. One simply became more.
“I’m five,” announced Tai, who evidently was picking up on everyone’s thoughts. “I think I’m still just one person,” he said with a shrug. “But that’s okay. Mr. Cole, what’s your dog’s name? And may I please have some jam?”
Mr. Cole smiled as the jar was passed down the table. “You may be amused to learn that my dog’s name is Nicholas,” he said. “That’s another joke that only gets really funny if you know a few stories.”
“I already think it’s funny!” Tai declared, and he popped a spoonful of raspberry jam directly into his mouth.
At last the time had come to do a few walk-throughs, as Kate called them, and everyone headed out into the cornfield. They wouldn’t be leaving until just before dark, which, according to Kate, gave them more than enough time to practice.
“Practice what?” Tai wanted to know.
Kate hesitated, but Constance rolled her eyes and said, “I’ve got it covered, Kate. She’s not going to find out.”
“Find out what?” Tai asked as Sticky gave him a lift to the plane’s open doorway. “Hey,” he called out, moving farther inside, “there are three more parachutes in here!”
“Well, how about that?” Kate said.
She started with Reynie, showing him how to climb out onto a metal step attached to the wing, where to place his hands on the wing strut, how to jump off and properly arch his back. The effort was minimal, but Reynie found himself sweating nonetheless. Sticky’s experience was much the same. The idea of jumping backward not onto a bunch of flattened cornstalks but rather into empty space thousands of feet above the ground was, to say the least, disconcerting. But it was impossible to land a plane on Nomansan Island, and if they were to arrive there in secret, parachuting was their only option.
“Okay,” Kate said to Reynie when Sticky had done his walk-through, “let’s practice it again.”
“What about me?” Constance asked with a frown—a frown that immediately transformed into a furious scowl as she realized the truth. “Wait, you’re planning to go without me? No way! No, no, no!”
(Muttering softly about “seeing to the dishes,” Mr. Cole discreetly withdrew to the farmhouse.)
“How can you possibly think you’ll go without me?” Constance shouted. “How can you? You need me! You may not think you do, but you do!”
“Of course we could use you,” Reynie said as calmly as he could. “Of course. But I promised Mr. Benedict to keep you safe, didn’t I? And we’re older than you are. We’re responsible for you—”
“Why can’t I be responsible for you?” Constance interrupted. “Who gets to say? Why do you get to say?”
“We’re—we’re older, Constance,” Sticky tried. “A lot older, right? And the older you get, the more responsibility—”
“I was part of the team when I was two!” Constance shouted, crying now. “I helped save the world when I was two!”
“You did,” Kate said soothingly. “Of course you did. But we didn’t have a choice then. The situation was different. This time—”
Now Tai was crying, too—wailing, actually—and clinging to Constance’s arm.
Constance snarled, “This time you can do it without me? That’s what you think?”
Reynie started to touch her shoulder, saw the look in her eyes, and withdrew his hand. “We just think that we should try,” he said, speaking up to be heard over Tai’s wailing. “Think about it: McCracken would love nothing better than to get his hands on you, Constance. The rest of us, sure, he’d be delighted to hurt us if it was convenient. But you? Who knows what lengths he would go to if he thought he could get at you?”
“He won’t,” Constance said, wiping at her eyes. She glared at Reynie. “I won’t let him. Believe me.”
“Believe her!” Tai sobbed.
Reynie grimaced. He gestured at Tai and said quietly, “But you have to keep him with you to keep him safe, right?”
“I can come, too!” Tai howled.
“He can come, too,” Constance said, “and I will make sure to keep him safe. This is the way it has to be.”
Rhonda and Number Two, who had been standing back, albeit with looks of great concern, started shaking their heads at the same time. Constance whirled on them.
“Don’t even start!” she said. “I happen to know that there is a much better chance of saving Dad if I’m part of the mission, so here’s how it’s going to be: Either Tai and I come along—making promises to be extra-careful or whatever—or I will cling to the landing gear of this plane. If you try to pull me off, I will scream and bite and kick. If that doesn’t work, I’ll make you change your minds, even if it makes me sicker than I’ve ever been. Do you all understand? You are not going without me, and that is final!”
Everyone was quiet except for Tai, whose wails had subsided into loud sniffles. Constance was too angry to comfort him much, but she patted him a few times on the back and waited, looking around at everyone, meeting everyone’s anxious eyes.
Kate sighed. “Well, come on, then, Connie girl. Let’s do your first walk-through.”
There was obviously no need for further discussion. Constance and Tai were going along.
As Kate went through the routine with Constance, Sticky drew Rhonda aside to ask her “a chemical question.” The two stood apart from the rest of the group, talking with furrowed brows. Rhonda gave the occasional nod, and at length she clapped Sticky on the shoulder. He looked relieved and gratified.
“That means a lot coming from you,” he was saying as they rejoined the group, to which Rhonda replied that if the shoes were on the other feet, she could say the same thing to him.
“Also,” Rhonda said, “I must say I love your new spectacles. I don’t want to embarrass you, but you look so stylish! You’ve really become quite handsome, haven’t you?”
“Uh-oh, Rhonda, you did embarrass him!” Tai chirped. He had quickly recovered from the earlier upset and seemed thrilled that everyone was getting along again.
“Oh dear,” said Rhonda. “My apologies… it’s George now, right? My apologies, George. Now, Tai, why don’t you come along and help me fetch the flight suits from my car? I have one for everybody—even you!”
“Yay!” said Tai. “But why would you have one for me if you didn’t think I was going on the mission?”
“If there’s one thing I learned from Mr. Benedict,” Rhonda said, slipping her arm over his shoulders, “it’s always to prepare for every possibility.”
Indeed, Rhonda had arrived in such an astonishing state of preparation that she might have been planning for months rather than hours. The parachutes had been inspected and reinspected; the black flight suits were perfect fits for everyone; and the three walkie-talkies she gave them, in the event that they had to split up or they got separated, were sophisticated and completely secure.
“They automatically switch to different frequencies at the first hint of intrusion,” Rhonda said, “so you don’t have to worry about anyone listening in.”
Constance rolled her eyes. “That’s not exactly true for all of us, you know.”
Rhonda went to Constance and wrapped her arms around her. “I do know that,” she said softly. “And I know that you’re a brave, brave girl.” Constance stood glowering for a moment. Then she leaned into the hug.
By the time evening began to settle in, the Society had been through their routines multiple times. As Kate had explained it, some of them would be tandem jumping, which involved being buckled to another person and sharing the same parachute. Tai, naturally, would be buckled to Kate, and when Kate insisted that Constance also be buckled to someone, Constance insisted that it be Sticky.
“That way if he passes out or freezes up,” Constance explained, “I can be there to pull the rip cord so he doesn’t die.”
“I’m not going to pass out or freeze up!” Sticky snapped indignantly. “I don’t do that anymore, and you know it!”
“I hope not,” Constance muttered, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Reynie would be on his own, and the duffel bag full of supplies would get its own parachute, which Kate would arrange to deploy when she tossed it from the plane. Tai was particularly delighted about this for some reason and kept saying, “I’m the bag!” and then pretending to be the duffel bag by stretching out his arms, swaying back and forth, and saying nothing.
Just before they boarded the plane, Reynie took Constance aside. She came reluctantly, a resentful look on her face that she seemed determined not to lose. “I don’t want to hear it,” she said.
“Well, I’m going to say the words,” Reynie said, “and you can choose to hear them or not.”
Constance crossed her arms, averted her eyes, and waited.
“You’re right that we have a better chance of succeeding with you along,” Reynie said. “Every one of us believes that. And this was a scary thing that we were going to do without you, so please consider what that means.”
“Why don’t you tell me what it means?” Constance snipped. “I’m all out of considering.”
“It just means that we care about you,” Reynie said. He hesitated. He needed to be careful about what he revealed and didn’t reveal to Constance. “I guess that’s it,” he said at length. “That’s the only reason we were planning to go without you. For what it’s worth.”
“You think I didn’t know that?” Constance said, giving him a cutting look. She shook her head and stalked away.
Reynie sighed. “It’s all so easy,” he muttered, and followed after her.
Number Two had already said goodbye to Rhonda and Mr. Cole and climbed into the cockpit of the plane. Now everyone else said their farewells, promising to be careful, promising they would all laugh together again on the other side of things—whatever and whenever that might be. One by one the Society members and Tai Li boarded the plane. Kate secured the door. They all waved. Rhonda, wiping tears from her eyes, raised one hand and held it aloft. Mr. Cole took off his cap and held it over his heart.
“Everyone ready back there?” Number Two called from the cockpit.
Everyone was.
“I’m engaging silent mode until we’re clear of the area,” Number Two said. “We can talk again at ten thousand feet.” She flipped a switch, and the world went quiet.
Tai’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
In silence the plane’s propeller began to turn, slowly at first, then faster and faster until it was a blurred circle. The wind from the propeller caused Rhonda’s braids to fly about her face. She secured them with her hands—all in perfect silence. Mr. Cole’s cap got away from him and sailed silently over the young corn. The plane began to move, turning silently around in the circle Mr. Cole had plowed for that purpose until it faced its corn-lined runway. They could feel a trembling in everything that grew stronger as Number Two accelerated and the plane bucked forward. They looked out the windows as the cornstalks moved silently past, faster and faster until they were a wave of green and gold. And just before the plane reached the end of the field, they felt themselves rising, up and up, over the silent farmhouse, over the silent hills, and up into the great silent sky.
The Society, in its bubble of silence, was at six thousand feet and climbing. Tai kept poking Sticky and Kate and pointing out the window, then gesticulating to try to explain what had amazed him so much. His pantomimes were impossible to interpret, but it was easy to understand his wonder. He’d never been on a plane before, never seen the countryside from above, never seen its features grow smaller and smaller while, at the same time, the quilt-like pattern of farmland grew more and more apparent. Nor had he ever passed through a cloud, an experience that—gauging by his expression, his gestures, and his soundlessly moving mouth—made him positively giddy with delight.
Reynie.
Reynie took his eyes off Tai and looked at Constance, who was staring at him.
In case it matters, the entire Baker’s Dozen is now hidden in the woods on the mainland across from the island. Exactly where Mr. Benedict and the others were hiding when we were at the Institute. They’re watching the harbor, the roads, and the bridge gate. They’re waiting for something.
Reynie nodded.
Is it us?
Reynie didn’t actively reply, but of course Constance sensed the answer. Please don’t dig any deeper, he thought. You might jeopardize the mission.
Constance looked peeved, but she nodded.
Not that it’s a big deal, Reynie thought. Thirteen of the most dangerous men in the world, plus a telepath. So what? It’s a cakewalk, really.
Constance smirked. Whatever. After a moment she thought, I’ve tried to talk to her, you know. Tried to convince her she’s on the wrong side. She doesn’t respond. McCracken has warned her not to trust us. He’s convinced her I’m so powerful that I can show her false things to make us seem like the good guys. He’s convinced her that they were only trying to help Tai, that they’ve all been falsely accused. She should know better, but she’s confused. She’s afraid of him. But I think she’s afraid of us, too.
We’ll try to help her if we can, Reynie thought. When we get through this, we’ll do everything we can.
Constance nodded. I’ve stopped hating her, anyway. That’s a start.
That’s always a good start.
“—and you can see the lights coming on in all the buildings and the cars on the road—oh! And now we can hear again! Hooray!”
Tai’s voice had returned, along with the roar of the plane, and now they heard Number Two calling back to them from the cockpit.
“We have about an hour until we go silent again,” she said. “How is everyone?”
“We’re great!” Tai shouted.
“Peachy,” Number Two replied. She did not sound happy. Everyone knew that the thought of Mr. Benedict’s being in danger was upsetting her, and the idea of sending the rest of them into harm’s way was only making matters worse.
They would be flying over Nomansan Island low, quiet, and dark. Number Two had already studied the flight paths of all scheduled flights in the area, and she was monitoring the communications of Stonetown’s air traffic controllers. There would be no accidental collisions in the sky—that much she could control. The rest would be up to them. Kate had shown Sticky and Reynie how to read their altimeters (a lesson that took all of two seconds), and they had agreed upon the altitude at which they should deploy their parachutes. Number Two was going to approach the island from the side opposite the mainland, and they would drop down on that side, hidden from the mainland by the island’s hills. Based on the blueprints in Sticky’s head, they would make their way to the KEEP. If all went well, they would sneak inside without ever being spotted by McCracken and his crew.
If all went well.
“What about the guards?” Tai asked.
“It’s all automated at the moment,” Kate told him. “Just alarm systems and such. The only people on the whole island right now are Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain, locked into Mr. Curtain’s security suite.”
“That seems lonely,” Tai said.
“Well,” Kate said, “we’ll be there soon.”
They roared on through the night sky.
Tai had, of course, asked Sticky what they should expect when they arrived, but Sticky would say only that there was a specific line of approach, a specific place where they were supposed to enter the KEEP: a kind of back door. Nor was Sticky being especially cagey with the information. For this outer layer of security Mr. Benedict had offered simple directions and no clues. Clearly, he had believed they would know what to do. And so for now all they could do was get themselves to that particular spot.
“Remember—” Number Two began.
“You’ve already told us three times,” Constance said.
“Remember,” Number Two persisted, “after we drop Kate and Tai—”
“And the duffel bag!” Tai interjected.
“Yes, and the duffel bag. After that, I will circle around and drop Sticky and Constance at exactly the same spot, then make one final circle for Reynie. Nobody get ahead of yourselves.”
They all promised, and the plane roared on. In the distance, the lights of Stonetown appeared. Like all cities, it was beautiful when seen from a distance at night. It was an infinity of lights. Number Two veered wide. Soon they were out over the dark water of the ocean, seeing the lights of Stonetown from the other side. Closer and closer they came, and now the silhouette of Nomansan Island became distinct, the hills behind the KEEP, the floodlights on the façades of the buildings and along the bridge reflecting off the harbor waters.
“Doesn’t it seem smaller than it used to?” Kate asked.
The rest of the Society had the same impression. Whether it was a trick of distance or a trick of years, their memories of what used to be the Institute had to make a rapid adjustment. The former Institute Control Building, with its unmistakable tower; the dormitories, classroom building, cafeteria, gym, and Helpers’ barracks—they were very large buildings forming a very large complex, it was true, but they were not the galactic behemoths they had seemed once upon a time. How was it that the Society members had all grown a matter of inches, but the Institute seemed to have shrunk to half its former size?
It was another riddle of ages, perhaps, to be solved another time, if ever.
