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WAITING UNDER THE TREE two days later, Evalene heard Kevra’s footsteps on the hard-packed earth before she was even in sight. As her friend rounded the corner, her mouth was already half open, ready to begin a conversation when she glimpsed Evalene’s two black eyes. Kevra gasped, stopping where she stood. “What in the name of the Number One happened to you?”
“It was Daeva,” Evalene shrugged. “You know how she gets.” Trying to ignore the tightening in her gut, she took a deep breath to speak the words that would change everything. “Kevra, I’m ready.” It was harder than she thought it would be to say it out loud. “We have to leave.”
Kevra lit up and started dancing around, squealing in excitement, but Evalene was unable to join her. She’d never made such a drastic decision in her life. The consequences of getting caught weighed heavily on her.
Interrupting Kevra’s celebration dance, Evalene leaned on the rock. “You told me you had a plan? Were you being serious?”
Kevra grinned, and pranced over, plopping down to sit next to Evalene. “Of course I have a plan!” She laughed. “You’re going to love it.”
“Tell me quickly,” Evalene said. Glancing at the path back to the house, and then towards the sun, trying to gage how much time she had, Evalene bit her lip. “I want to leave as soon as possible.”
But Kevra’s plan was full of holes.
“How will we get through the Regulator checkpoints? That’s at least...” Evalene tried to picture the road to Delmare, how many cities there were along the way, “five or six cities. Which means at least that many check points.” And it had been five years since she’d traveled those roads. In that amount of time, a lot could have changed.
Kevra shrugged, “We’ll steal Ruby’s ID. You could pass as her if they don’t look too close.”
“But won’t she list it as stolen?” Evalene frowned, imagining the Regs arresting them at a checkpoint when Ruby reported the missing ID.
“We’ll have to wait until the last minute. If we leave at night, and she sleeps until noon like she usually does, that’ll give us almost 12 hours head start.” Kevra smiled as if that resolved everything.
But Evalene shook her head. “No, it’s a two-day drive. Even if we drive through the night and don’t stop, it’d still be at least 24 hours. That’s too risky.” She needed to get back to the house. “I’ll see if I can sneak a peek at Ruby’s calendar. If we can find a day where she doesn’t have any commitments... we could slip her an extra sleeping pill at dinner.” Ruby loved her sleeping pills.
“Or two or three,” Kevra grinned, “That’s perfect!” It was far from perfect, Evalene chewed her lip at everything they’d need to decide. How would their absence go unnoticed by the staff? Especially Daeva? And if they did get reported, which they probably would, how long could they avoid the Regs catching up to them?
“I wish we could fly,” Kevra said, sighing, interrupting Evalene’s thoughts. Thanks to the Number One’s Grid, no planes could come anywhere near Eden by air without being shot down instantly. But neither could anyone leave that way.
Evalene stood. Their only option was the coast, and finding a ship. Kevra knew that as well as she did, so Evalene only replied, “I hate heights. And I’d probably get motion sickness.” She moved to walk back towards the house and Kevra followed.
“Oh yeah,” Kevra rolled her eyes, “and a boat is so much better.” She had a point. But they couldn’t afford to be picky. They made plans to meet late that night to plan further, but Evalene could already tell the majority of the details would fall on her shoulders. Kevra thought big picture. She hadn’t even considered they’d need to get gas!
Evalene’s bruises were still present, making her look a bit like a raccoon the way they surrounded her eyes and cheek. Daeva seemed content that Evalene knew her place with this evidence, but the temporary calm didn’t slow Evalene’s plans in the slightest. It was short-lived. She wanted to leave in the next few days if possible.
By nightfall, Evalene felt better about their plan, having spent the day filling in most of the holes. Waiting for everyone to go to bed so she could meet Kevra was agonizing, but finally, she snuck outside, racing down the short path to the detached garage. No need to meet out by the tree when it was dark.
“We have three days,” she whispered to Kevra the moment her friend’s face appeared in the shadows.
As Evalene explained each step, Kevra stopped her with a hand on her arm. “I have an idea for that,” she said, and her teeth flashed in the moonlight as she smiled, “Come with me.”
Entering the huge garage from a side door, Kevra flipped a switch to turn on a small lamp, reaching into a bin, and pulling out car keys. Shaking her head, Evalene backed up, “No, it’s too soon to go tonight.”
“No silly,” Kevra laughed softly, “We’re not going anywhere, just trust me. Get in the driver’s seat.” She pointed to the closest car.
Frowning, Evalene did as directed, watching Kevra climb in on the passenger side.
“Okay,” Kevra twisted in her seat to face Evalene, “I’ve never told you this, because it’s not legal, but I’ve known how to drive since I was a kid. My dad taught me. By the time I was Numbered, we’d gone out driving on country roads so many times I could’ve been a professional driver like him. If I’d been Numbered higher.” Kevra’s mouth twisted sourly. “But the good news is, now I can teach you!”
Evalene smiled for the first time since she’d agreed to run. This was the one problem she hadn’t found a solution to. It was perfect.
Kevra spent nearly an hour explaining the car to her, making her repeat each step back. The dim lighting of the lamp made it more difficult. It was hard to see the pedals and buttons clearly. But they didn’t dare turn on more lights in case the main house noticed.
“We can meet tomorrow night and the next. By the time we leave you’ll be a pro,” Kevra reassured her, and Evalene agreed.
The next day, when it was time to clean the master bedroom suites, Evalene quietly locked the door when she reached Ruby’s room. Ruby liked to try on dozens of outfits before deciding, leaving the discarded options strewn across the floor. A few extra minutes cleaning here should go unnoticed.
Opening Ruby’s closet, Evalene stared into it, blinking, wondering where to start. It was the size of her entire room in the attic. Sorting through the tops, skirts, and dresses, the different accessories, and the shoes, she tried to pick quickly.
Ruby wore sky blue as her main color, just like her father, although Evalene couldn’t understand how the woman had been Numbered Six when she didn’t seem to have a brain at all.
Donning a top and a skirt, Evalene then pulled her own dress back on over them. The neckline of the brown dress was severely high compared to Ruby’s and the hemline much longer, so she wasn’t concerned about anything showing.
She placed some accessories – leggings, boots, and a jacket – into the bag she’d brought. Leaning out one of the windows, Evalene searched the entire yard for any sign of movement, before carefully dropping the bag straight down.
It dropped perfectly into the hole she had dug between the bushes last night. She hoped it was deep enough. Since it was below ground, no one should notice it. She would pick it up tonight after meeting Kevra. Tomorrow she would repeat the process once more with an outfit for Kevra.
In a flurry of activity, Evalene raced around the room, putting everything back in its place, tidying up in half the time.
When she got a chance to stop at her room later, she would remove the sky-blue layers underneath that felt like layers of white hot lies burning her skin. They would go in the hollow space under her loose floorboard, next to her most valuable possession, the blue scarf from Lola. The day after her Numbering she’d found it in her pocket, but instead of turning it in, she’d kept it, hidden. Now, after all these years, Lola’s gift would finally be worn.