Free Dark Eden by Patrick Carman Page A

Mrs. Goring slapping Davis on the arm, and Davis laughing with everyone else.
    I felt really lonely all of a sudden, as if I’d been left unpicked on the playground.
    “I couldn’t stand the pond when I showed up here,” he said. “I hated it.”
    “Because you’re afraid of fish?” Connor said, and got a laugh from Ben and Alex.
    “I’ll take a hamburger over fish sticks any day, but I wasn’t afraid of fish. I was afraid of water. Couldn’t even drink the stuff. I know, weird, right?”
    “Yeah, totally,” said Alex, but Avery came to Davis’s rescue.
    “I don’t think it’s so strange. You’re afraid of dogs. What’s the difference?”
    “A dog can kill you,” Alex said. He hadn’t liked being called out.
    “Did you know that a person can drown in a teaspoon of water?” Davis asked.
    “Really?” Kate said.
    There was a pause; maybe Davis was wiping his mouth with a napkin.
    “No, not really,” he said. “Before I came here though, I thought stuff like that was true. As far as I was concerned, the shower could kill me. I didn’t smell too good back then.”
    “I find that hard to imagine,” said Kate.
    “Yeah,” said Avery. The competition was on; even I could tell that much, and I couldn’t even see what this guy looked like.
    “You must be Ben,” Davis again. “I can tell by your shirt. You earned it, man; wear it proudly.”
    “Thanks. How old are you?” Ben Dugan asked. “When were you here?”
    “Seventeen. I was here the same as you, when I was your age. You’re all fifteen, right?”
    Nothing, so everyone must be nodding. A chair was pushed back, and someone moved away from the table.
    “Thank you, Mrs. Goring. That was perfect.”
    It was Marisa, finished with her breakfast.
    “Sure it was,” Mrs. Goring replied sourly.
    “So here’s the deal,” Davis went on. He’d gained their confidence, and mine, too. “Rainsford told me Ben was cured, and I’m here to tell you I’ve been cured, too. Later today, when the sun warms things up a bit, I’ll be diving in the pond searching for a busted pipe. I want you all to hear me now. This program works when nothing else does. I’ll be around this week. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I owe my life to this place, so it’s the least I can do.”
    “I’m going as soon as he’ll let me,” Kate said. “I might want to talk about it.”
    Yeah, I bet you would, I thought.
    I’d let myself get all comfortable behind the door, not paying nearly enough attention; and all at once someone was standing where I could see them through the crack in the door. The person was against the black curtain, pulling it open.
    “What did I tell you about touching things you don’t need to be touching?” Mrs. Goring shouted. I looked down the side of the wall, and there was Marisa, staring back at me. As the curtain came open, she tossed a note through the crack in the door.
    “Sorry, Mrs. Goring,” she said, walking toward her. “It’s just so nice to have some light in here.”
    “That’s it; breakfast is over. Pile everything on the cart,” Mrs. Goring said.
    “Way to go, Marisa,” Connor joked. I got the feeling he and the other boys were grabbing pancakes, stuffing them in their mouths, until Davis’s voice filled the room again.
    “There’s one other thing,” he said, almost shyly, I thought. “One of you is missing. Rainsford would like me to find him. I know the woods pretty well.”
    “Will Besting,” Marisa said, her voice betraying at least a little worry.
    “Yeah, Will Besting,” said Davis. “If any of you hears anything, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me. There’s nothing to worry about, no bears or wild animals around here. But he needs help, and this place can help him. I think if I could talk to him, he might come in on his own.”
    Great. That’s all I needed. Some seventeen-year-old pretty boy trying to track me down.
    I started for the bomb shelter, clutching Marisa’s note in