Free SAFE by Dawn Husted Page A

But either way we can’t
risk being caught. We need to keep moving. My sister…”
    While
we talked, the things James and Sidnee had told me today didn’t match the
memories. President Falcon and my family had dinner together numerous times. He
gave me a handmade jewelry box for my thirteenth birthday. He spent time
carving my initials carefully into the top and it was one of my favorite gifts
that year. It’s still sitting on my nightstand at home, holding jewelry and
tiny, little glass baubles I collected. The man who seemed to care so much
about my family and have high respect for my father couldn’t be a tyrant,
mistreating everyone. He was a compassionate ruler with the tenacity and the power
to keep us all safe. He wouldn’t have agreed with the treatment Sidnee’s family
and friends endured or want to display James and me as spectacles.
    “Your
sister? I know you said that earlier, but what sister are you talking about?
You’re an only child.”
    I
threw the thoughts from my head, and focused on the present. I explained to
James what my dad told me and grabbed the picture from my pack. He agreed my
sister looked eerily similar to me and said if my dad felt it was important to
find Madeline then we would.
    To
my relief, it didn’t take heaps of convincing James to help me find my sister
who was ALSO living on the other Land. I was surprised he didn’t protest the
idea of going anywhere near the place. Instead, he was supportive and didn’t
ask many questions.
    The
only part of the story I left out were the vials. I was afraid Lowers might be
listening in on every word of our conversation. So I kept my explanation half-truth.
Plus, I didn’t want anyone to worry in case they had friends living on the
other Land too. Besides, the vials were important, the last thing I needed was for
someone trying to steal them. I was unsure if the Lowers could be trusted. So
far, they’ve been hospitable, giving James and I more than we expected, but it
didn’t change the fact that just twenty-four hours ago we did not know them.
    “Look,
I’m ready to leave anytime. We should head towards the perimeter soon. It’ll
take at least a full day to get there, and we don’t even know where there is,” I said.
    James’
head straightened towards me. “What happened to the car?”
    I
shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know, but I didn’t see it out there. I’m pretty
sure the Lowers did something with it. Besides, it doesn’t matter anyway. It
was completely out of power.”
    James
clearly wasn’t happy about the car being gone. “Not having a car won’t make it
any easier for us to travel in this storm, but I’m positive there won’t be
anyone looking for us until it passes. So let’s wait it out, conserve our energy,
and then head there with full strength when it ends. That way we’ll both be ready
for what’s ahead.”
    I
admit that I was a little curious wondering if James was simply waiting out the
storm on my behalf—physical activity not being one of my strongest suits. However,
his knowledge of how the Academy operated was much better than mine. If he
thought we should wait until the storm passed, then I needed to trust him. And
until recently, I wouldn’t have hesitated taking him for his word, and I wasn’t
going to start now.
    Abruptly,
Sidnee marched back into the room and walked over towards James. Then she
turned and stood next to him, “He’s right, you’ll need your strength. You are
welcome to stay as long as you need. That’s the least I can do in return for
what your father did for my family.” Her voice sincere. “Nice to meet you, James,”
she said, looking up at him and then down at the floor. “Let me get you a
bigger towel.” His pants were still sopping wet, trickling down into puddles
around his feet.
    “Sorry
about that.” James took off his boots. “Do you have any clothes I could borrow?”
That request was hard for James to ask, borrowing clothes from a Lower.
Borrowing