“Okay,” I say. My hands are clammy as they grip my knees. “So what do I have to do?”
“You’ll find out tonight.” He stands up and walks toward the door, signaling that our conversation is nearly over. “Comedownstairs around one in the morning, after everyone is asleep. Be dressed and ready to go out for a while.”
“Go where?”
“You’ll see,” he says before pulling open the door. I stand up and allow him to usher me out. But before I can cross the threshold, he adds, “Don’t let us down again.”
“Iris? Where are you going?”
Moonlight streams through the attic window and falls across Rose’s face as she blinks sleepily up at me from her little twin mattress. It’s one in the morning, and none of us have been in bed very long at all. Poppy and Zinnia fell asleep instantly, their light snoring the telltale sign that they are no longer conscious, and I thought Rose had dozed off, too. But now she is watching me as I pull on my jeans again and quietly hunt for a pair of socks.
“Nowhere,” I say.
“Anyone ever told you you’re a bad liar?”
“Yes. More than once.” I sigh as I find socks and sit down on my mattress to put them on. My voice remains low when I answer. “I can’t tell you.”
“That’s ominous.”
“It’sthe rules,” I explain. “And … honestly, I don’t actually know where I’m going, so … I’m sorry.”
She wrinkles her nose. “You don’t have to apologize, but that doesn’t make it sound any less ominous.” She yawns and rolls over, pulling the blanket up to her chin as she murmurs, “Stupid rules. Have fun, I guess.”
I watch her for a moment, listening as her breathing slows. I wish I could tell her about the trials. Tell her why I really cut my hair. Tell her that I don’t know what Sol has planned for me next, but I’m scared I’ll let him down again. I wish I could tell her how terrified I am that I’ll fail and have to leave this place, this family. Leave her.
But I can’t.
So instead I just finish dressing and slip out of the attic and down the stairs. Sol is waiting for me by the front door, dressed in all black. He doesn’t say anything at first, just nods to me before opening the door and gesturing for me to step outside.
We climb into the Chevy, and I wrap myself in the ratty green blanket as Sol turns the key in the ignition and begins to drive down the winding dirt paths between the mountains.
“So where are we going?” I finally ask once the cabin has faded from the rearview mirror.
“Intotown.” His tone is unreadable. Not jovial, the way it often is, but not grim, either. It’s something muted, something gray and in between. It sets me on edge, and I don’t ask any more questions.
Sol parks the truck on a street I’m unfamiliar with. He shuts off the engine and turns around to reach into the back seat, where he has stashed several reusable shopping bags. He hands a few of them to me and opens the driver’s-side door. “Let’s go,” he says.
I follow him a couple of blocks before realizing that we’re heading toward Mr. Brophy’s grocery. We keep our eyes peeled for anyone who might see us, but in a town like this, it is unlikely we’d see anyone on the road past midnight.
“Here,” Sol says, leaning down and picking up a loose brick next to the old hardware store. He offers it to me.
I take it in my free hand but ask, “What is this for?”
“To break the window,” Sol answers, continuing to walk a few paces ahead of me. “I’m pretty certain the old man hasn’t invested in any kind of security system.”
“Oh.”
My stomach twists. I’ve stolen things, but I’ve never broken into a building before.
A few moments later, we are standing in front of Mr. Brophy’sstore. The street is mostly dark, aside from a couple of streetlamps, and there is no sign of movement anywhere to be seen. Sol stops and gestures for me to go ahead of him, toward the building.
“Fill those bags with food,” he says. “Then pass them out to me, and I’ll hand you the other bags.”
So this is my trial, then. To repeat the task I failed but on a bigger scale. I guess it makes sense. I let Sol down before, so now I have to prove to him that I can handle this. That I can provide for everyone if the need arises.
I’m nervous, jittery, and feeling a little sick. But Sol believes I can do this. He wouldn’t give me a task I couldn’t accomplish. And we do desperately need food.
I take a deep breath. “Okay.”
