Free The Hourglass by Casey Donaldson Page A

food, consuming it at a steady rate
and trying not to think too hard about what exactly was put into it to make it
taste that way.
    “Ghastly, isn’t
it?” said a voice at her shoulder. She glanced up to see Finn standing next to
her, looking miserably at the contents of his own tray. He shook his head and
then sat down at an empty seat uninvited.
    “Good night?” asked
Sarah. For no particular reason that she could identify she felt a happy
flutter in her stomach.
    “Not bad. My
cell mate is in solitary at the moment, so that should be a fun little meeting
when he gets out.” Sarah pulled a face in sympathy. “So,” went on Finn,
changing the subject so as to not dwell on his cell mate, “how did Mr Wall
treat your lot?”
    “He actually
seems quite ok,” replied Sarah. “Better than the woman who replaced him at any
rate. She pulled out a chunk of Heather’s hair. Although to be fair, it was
Heather,” she added, as if that somehow made it ok. “How was Mr Painter?”
    “An absolute
bastard. Toddy made a crack about his name, asked him something about
redecorating the cell. Painter grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head
against the wall. It was fairly nasty. He got sent to the infirmary when he
wouldn’t stop bleeding. Haven’t seen him back yet though.”
     “Well it’s not
like he can go anywhere, we’re in the middle of the ocean!” twittered Marland.
She laughed nervously and then trailed off when the others didn’t join in.
    Justin, the tall
boy with the floppy hair who got electrocuted on the first day sat down next to
Finn. “He just came back,” he said, nodding over at the back of the food line.
    They all looked
over. A massive bruise covered one side of Toddy’s face and there was still
some dried blood stuck in his hair. He looked miserable. Sarah turned around
and scanned the crowd.
    “What you looking
for?” asked Justin, his mouth full of food.
    “Just, ah,
trying to find Colt,” said Sarah, still searching the room. Her cheeks pinkened
slightly.
    Finn pulled a
face. “Why?”
    Sarah shrugged.
“I don’t know. We all came over together, right? It just seems like we should
keep an eye out for each other.”
    Finn snorted.
“Colt can handle himself. Besides, he’s a bit of a tosser.”
    “What?” asked
Sarah, startled. “Why do you say that?”
    Before he could
reply a large shadow fell across the table. They all looked up to see Marland’s
huge cell mate towering above them. “Oh, hello Tandy,” said Marland nervously.
    “She’s waiting
for you lot,” replied Tandy, looking at Marland and Sarah. Her voice was flat
and without inflection.
    Marland just
made a few nervous noises, so Sarah asked who was waiting for them.
    “The Queen.”
    Sarah snorted in
amusement but stopped quickly after seeing the looks on the other’s faces.
Marland looked terrified and even Finn look a little concerned. Her stomach
dropped. These were not good reactions.
    “Who’s the Queen?”
she demanded quickly.
    “Let’s go, now.”
Tandy grabbed Marland’s arm and gently stood her up. Sarah followed suit
slowly, giving Finn enough time to explain before Tandy could make her leave.
    “She’s sort of
like the leader of the girls,” muttered Finn. “The boys have something similar.
Don’t cross her, Sarah. She controls everything that happens on the girls’ side
of things. Just shut up and be polite, ok?”
    Sarah frowned
but Tandy had grabbed her arm and was propelling her forward before she could
reply. They were led to a table near the front of the hall. On one side sat
Heather and April, looking timidly across at the girl who sat in the middle of
the bench opposite them. Sarah hesitated, confused. Surely this couldn’t be
her, the girl who had caused those reactions from her friends. The girls looked
far younger than Sarah had imagined. She was maybe fourteen, with a perfect
porcelain face and a slim, childish figure. She was sitting in the middle of
the bench. The girl