Page 77 of Bones
Apple had become a tiny leader of sorts. She organized the kids into groups, ones who got food and ones who needed healing. I passed out the food and then set to work healing all the scrapes and burns and bruises and rattling coughs. I always used my powers, no matter how small the wound. I doubted they would voluntarily show up for stitches.
“It’s a good thing Madame gave Mac that chance,” an older boy named Atlas said as I healed his twisted ankle.
I peered up at him, my brow furrowed. “What chance?”
“The chance to save Trey.”
“What?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“He got arrested. Mac bartered to get him out.”
“Why was he arrested?”
“I dunno.” He shrugged. “But she was pissed. She wanted to execute him.”
My mind spun as I tried to absorb that information. Why hadn’t I heard about this?
“Trey was part of the uprising,” Apple added in a whisper from where she’d appeared by my elbow.
My skin prickled. “The uprising?”
"There are people who want to take down Madame," she whispered.
I'd figured out that much. As much as I tried to stay out of it, I couldn't help hearing the questions Madame asked during torture sessions. It wasn't much of a reach to assume she was trying to root out rebels, and of course, Trey would be a part of it. He was the kind of hopeful dreamer who rebellions snatched up for their cause.
“So wait, what chance? What did Mac do?” I whispered back.
“Mac said he’d go get Juck’s secret weapon and give it to her if she let Trey go.” Apple’s eyes were so serious in the dim light.
My heart sank. “And she agreed to that?”
Atlas shrugged again. “Everybody wanted the secret weapon. We thought it was gonna be a magic potion.”
“No, you thought it was gonna be a magic ring,” Apple corrected him.
Atlas scowled at her. “It coulda been. There’s magic rings in stories.”
Apple didn’t look convinced.
"But it's good she gave ’em the chance, ’cause we got you," Atlas said with innocent confidence.
I tried to smile, but I wasn’t sure I managed it.
“You’re not the only one who doesn’t have a choice, Bones. Maybe if you stopped trying to be a godsdamn martyr, you’d see that.”Mac’s words ran through my head.
A new thought struck me, and I went cold all over. Was Trey still a part of the rebellion? Would I enter the dungeon one night and see Trey in that chair? Would I be forced to watch Madame carve him up until he screamed? I couldn’t…I couldn’t?—
“Bones?” Atlas whispered, jolting me out of my panicked thoughts. Both he and Apple were staring at me with wide, anxious eyes. “You ok?”
I wrestled the panic down, feeling shaky. “I’m ok. How do you know all of this?”
“We hear things,” Atlas said.
“And see things,” Apple added, her eyes haunted.
Gods, I didn’t want to know what sort of things these kids had been exposed to. I took a breath and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I finished healing Atlas and moved on to a tiny, frail girl with a sprained wrist. Her hands were icy cold, and without a second thought, I grabbed my mittens out of my pocket and put them on her small hands after I finished. I needed to figure out a way to clothe these kids better. None of them had appropriate clothing for the upcoming winter. I wondered if I could get away with having them sleep in my loft at night.
“Oh, Bones!” Apple chirped. “Look what I found!” She pulled a perfect tiny acorn out of her pocket and presented it to me, beaming. “It’s for you!”
