Free Grandfather by Anthony Wade Page A

the wind. He wore blue jeans and a gray
shirt.
    “Ashton,” Marley said. He
swung around. His hazel eyes darted at me. My eyes went straight to
his right cheek. There, a scar ran from his ear to his nostrils. I
wondered where it came from, but didn’t plan on asking. “This is
Carsyn,” Marley told him.
    He walked toward me, the
stern look on his face not leaving. When he was a few feet in front
of me, he extended his hand. I took it and shook it. “I’m Ashton,”
he said.
    “ Carsyn,” I
said.
    He turned his gaze to
Marley. “So, Marley showed you our secret spot,” he said. He turned
back around to look at the city again. I wondered if it bothered
him that Marley brought me.
    “It’s pretty cool up
here,” I told him.
    “Yeah,”
    “A cool view of the city,”
I added.
    “Yeah,” he said again.
“Just don’t tell anybody about it.”
    “ He won’t,” Marley said
quickly. “I trust him.”
    “ Don’t trust anybody,”
Ashton snapped at her.
    Marley and I didn’t say
anything. Ashton walked toward the edge of the cliff again. Marley
shrugged her shoulders and joined Ashton. I followed.
    “Carsyn never saw the city
until he came here,” Marley said.
    Ashton didn’t seem
surprised. “I first saw the city here, too,” he said. “That means
you’re from outside the wall, like most of us down
here.”
    “ Yeah,” I said. “Came from
the orphanage.”
    He glanced at
me.
    My eyes caught the scar
again. I looked away, hoping he didn’t notice I was
staring.
    He looked back at the
city. “If you ask me, outside any city wall is better than the
inside.”
    “Well, you’ve also never
been inside,” Marley said.
    “I know,” Ashton replied.
“And I don’t want to. He pointed toward the buildings. “Because all
of that . . . that’s where Grandfather is planning our
destruction.”
    I didn’t say anything.
Marley looked at me, knowing how I felt about the entire
thing.
    “ The people inside are so
caught up in their fancy lives,” Ashton said, crossing his arms
against his chest. “I don’t want to be ignorant of Grandfather’s
existence like they are.” Ashton looked at me again. “Edgar
mentioned you before going to get you . . . how do you like it down
here so far?”
    “It’s alright I guess,” I
said. “I don’t really have anything to do yet.”
    “Well, it sure is
interesting,” Ashton said. “You see, down here, you get to be
around people who know the truth. Down here, we get to look forward
to stopping that evil group.”
    “Well,” I started. “I’m
still working on that one.”
    Ashton tilted his head and
squinted. “Working on what?” he asked.
    “ I’m still working on the
whole Grandfather thing still.” I was honest. No point in
lying.
    “ What do you mean? You’re
still working on trying to expose them? That’s what we’re all here
for.”
    Marley breathed heavily
beside me. “I should mention, Ashton, that Carsyn doesn’t really
believe yet that Grandfather has returned.”
    “ You what?” Ashton asked,
his eyes narrowing in on mine. “You don’t believe in Grandfather?”
I could already tell things weren’t going to go as Marley had
hoped.
    “ I just need some time to
see for myself,” I told him.
    Ashton didn’t understand
that. And he just lost it. Not even kidding. His face turned bright
red in a second. He clinched his fists so hard his knuckles turned
white. I was worried he might actually throw a punch. Even Marley
seemed worried so I didn’t put it past him. “You don’t believe?!”
he shouted so loudly a flock of birds in a nearby tree flew away.
“How can you live with us down here and not believe?”
    “ Not yet,” I said, trying
to amend the situation. “I mean, I’ve just heard about them days
ago.”
    “ Are you kidding
me?”
    “ Ashton,” Marley said. “We
didn’t believe at first either.”
    “ Well, at first there was
nothing to go on,” Ashton told her. “Now it’s so obvious.” He
stretched out