Justice for All (The Outcast Book #1) Read online

  “Your dad was a good teacher.”

  “He was.” I help her up from the floor. Now that she has determined I’m not a complete novice, we start to train for real. She shows me different combinations; as she said a lot of these would be better when I get some strength back.

  After we’ve finished for the day, Sister Matilda says, “I think a girl your size would benefit more from some martial arts training. You ever heard of aikido?”

  “Vaguely.”

  “It’s all about using your opponent’s momentum to turn the tables on him. It doesn’t require a lot of physical strength.”

  “That would be a good thing.”

  “I have some books you can read if you’re interested.”

  “Sure.”

  “Aikido can also help with your mental focus. You might see your grades go up.”

  “You think I’m stupid or something?”

  “No. I’m just saying it has benefits beyond combat.”

  “Awesome.”

  I go into the locker room to change out of my gym clothes. By the time I’m done, Sister Matilda is back in her nun clothes. She doesn’t wear a winter coat as we walk along the pathways Colin and his dad cleared. Despite how cold it is, she doesn’t even look uncomfortable while I’m shivering beneath my parka. “Does aikido teach you how to stay warm too or is that from the Good Book?” I ask through chattering teeth.

  “A little of both I think.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t really seem like a nun.”

  “I know. You think all nuns are like Sister Mary Francis: old and uptight. Maybe a lot of them still are, but some of us believe in change.”

  “That’s cool. So why did you come here? Not for the weather, right?”

  “We go where we’re needed,” she says. After a few steps she smiles and then adds, “They sent me here for the same reason most of you are here: they think I need some discipline.”

  “Oh. That sucks.”

  “It’s fine. I’d much rather be here, working with girls like you, than stuck in some convent in the Alps, saying prayers and sweeping up dust all day.”

  “I’m not sure about that. This place isn’t all that fun either.”

  The nuns all live together in the original building. I have to wait by a side door until Sister Matilda is sure the coast is clear. Then she leads me up four floors, to what’s basically an attic. It’s almost as cold up here as it is outside. Her room is even smaller than the one Melanie and I share. There’s only a bed, a desk, an armoire, and a weightlifting bench. “You live here?”

  She puts a finger to her lips to shush me. She motions to the bench. “We’ll start you out with something light. Let’s try twenty pounds.”

  I nod and then lie down on the bench. Sister Matilda adjusts the weights, leaving one small weight on either end of the bar. Once she has them secured, she motions for me to lift. I take hold of the bar and then heave. My face turns warm with embarrassment at struggling to lift only twenty pounds. That’s what happens after weeks in the hospital and then convalescing at home for over a month.

  I have to stop my reps to take off my parka. Sister Matilda takes the bar with one hand to hold it up while I get my coat off. This is even more embarrassing than my struggling with the bar. I sigh and then lie down to start lifting again.

  By the time I’ve done twenty reps, I’m bathed in sweat. I sit up, huffing and puffing for a few seconds before I can say, “I’m…sorry.”

  “It’s all right. You’ll get stronger. So long as you work at it.”

  I nod to her and then slip my parka on. “Thank you for your help.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, let me give you some homework.” She picks up a dumbbell to hand to me. I grunt as I take it. “That’s ten pounds. Try fifty reps with each arm at least once a day. Twice a day would be better. That will help you build up some muscle. And eat as much lean protein as you can. I know the cafeteria food isn’t great, but do what you can.”

  “I’ll try.”

  She looks up and down a stack of books and then slides out a green paperback in the middle. From the title it’s a how-to book for aikido. “Study that and we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Got it?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right. Off you go then, my little warrior.”

  I smile and then get to my feet. I nod to her before I slip out the door and then down the stairs. Melanie is hard at work on her homework when I get there. She turns and then raises an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

  “A dumbbell, dumbbell.”

  She shakes her head at my bad joke. “Where’d you get that?”

  “Sister Matilda loaned it to me. She wants me to do fifty reps with each arm twice a day. You want to try it?”

  “No thanks.”

  “Your loss.”

  I have the aikido book stuffed in my backpack; I don’t get it out until Melanie is on her bed. I study the diagrams and think of what Sister Matilda said. It isn’t about strength so much as agility, cunning, and patience. I can manage two out of the three, but I’m not sure about the patience. I did wait a year to strike back at Madame Crimson, so I guess I can wait a few more months—and a few weeks for the snow to clear up so I can go to Evettsville.

  Chapter 17

  While it’s not a lot of fun to slosh through snow in saddle shoes and a skirt, I’m glad when we get another blast of snow. It means I get a chance to see Colin again. I run to the window like it’s Christmas morning and then look down to see the guys in their orange parkas pushing snowblowers around. I can’t tell if one of them is Colin, but I’m sure he’s down there somewhere.

  I don’t think I’ve ever showered and dressed so fast before. I dress so fast that I’m about to run out of the room with my blouse inside out. Melanie stops me before I can go out looking like a total geek. “Hang on,” she says. “He isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Sorry. It just feels like it’s been forever, you know?”

  “I know.” For the last seventeen days the only guy we’ve seen is Father Barclay and he’s not exactly Zac Efron. “Settle down. Breathe.”

  I nod and then take a deep breath. I step back over by my bed to change my blouse. I put it on the right way, do up my tie, and then slip on the blazer and parka. “OK, now I’m ready.”

  I follow Melanie outside, where they’re still digging out paths on the sidewalk with the snowblowers. I discreetly check to make sure each guy we pass isn’t Colin. He did come with his father again, didn’t he? If he didn’t I’m going to have to break out of here and sled down to Evettsville.

  I breathe a sigh of relief to find him in the cafeteria, but my worst fear is realized: Tonya Schmidt is draped over his right arm, whispering something into his ear. I should have known this would happen. Why wouldn’t Tonya go after the only eligible guy on campus?

  They’ll probably sneak into a broom closet or somewhere private to make out. What was I thinking? Of course a cute guy like Colin wouldn’t want a geek like me when he could have a Barbie doll like Tonya.

  I barely keep myself from running away in tears like a little girl. I hang my head and then grab a tray to get breakfast. I can hear Tonya giggling about something; my fists grip the tray so tightly that my knuckles turn white. More than anything I’d like to go over there to smash her face in with the tray, but then Colin would think I’m a psycho on top of being a geek.

  Melanie pats me gently on the back of my parka. “It’s all right. There are plenty of fish in the sea, you know?”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  I sigh as I watch Colin pay for coffees like he did when we first met. With Tonya still draped over his arm, there’s no way he can carry all of the coffees. I smile a little when he snaps at her to back off. Maybe he isn’t under her spell after all. Tonya apologizes, punctuating it with a ditzy giggle that again makes me want to bash her face in. She takes a step back, but doesn’t offer to help Colin with the coffees. God forbid she do any actual work.

&n
bsp; Colin takes the cups of coffee and then starts to walk away with Tonya trailing close behind. I turn back to the cafeteria line to get a bowl of what they call oatmeal and a banana that looks a lot more appetizing. I get some coffee to go with it and then start towards a table in the back of the cafeteria.

  I almost drop the tray when I hear Colin say, “Rose?”

  I turn to see him a couple of steps away, grinning at me while Tonya is glaring daggers. “Oh, hi,” I say.

  “I was hoping to see you again.”

  “You were?” Tonya says what I’m thinking, though with a lot more sarcasm. “You need someone to do your homework or something?”

  My heart almost bursts from my chest when Colin turns to glare at her. “You want to give us a minute, Tammy?”

  “It’s Tonya, jerk.” She stamps a foot and then growls, “Whatever. You can have him, Rothe.”

  He waits until Tonya has stomped off to ask, “What’s her problem? I was just getting coffee for the guys and she started slobbering all over me.”

  “She thinks she’s all that.” I set my tray down on a nearby table and then reach out for a couple of the coffees. As we start to leave the cafeteria, Melanie gives me a knowing grin; I nod to her.

  “Sucks you haven’t been able to get down to town yet,” Colin says.

  “I know. At least it snowed so you could come up here.”

  “Yeah. Plus I can make some money. Way better than going to school, right?”

  “Totally,” I say, my cheeks turning warm with embarrassment. “So what you been up to?”

  “Pretty much the same old stuff,” he says. He goes into a little more detail, which is basically going to school, helping his dad around the shop, and then going home to do his homework. Sometimes he finds a few minutes to play Zombie Hunter on his computer.

  “You play Z Hunter? I play that too! Or, I mean, I did before I got here.”

  We talk about some of our best kills while handing the coffees out. Once we’ve finished with the coffees, we both go quiet, looking down at our feet. Colin breaks the silence to say, “I was wondering if you ever rode a snowmobile before.”

  “Um, no. We don’t really have those in the city.”

  “Oh, right. So, um, you think maybe you’d like to go for a ride? With all this snow it should be pretty epic.”

  “That sounds awesome. I’ll have to see if I can get out of here.”

  “Well, if you can, I can meet you outside the gates at like eight tonight.”

  “I’ll try to make it.”

  “Awesome.” We stare at each other for a moment, but neither of us is brave enough to initiate a kiss. Colin finally nods to me and then hurries away to go help his father.

  I go back to the cafeteria to sit down across from Melanie. She grins at me. “So, how did it go?”

  I tell her and she squeals loud enough that a nun shoots us a dirty look. “That is so awesome,” she says in a quieter voice. “But how are you going to get out of here?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll find a way.”

  “You’d better.”

  We’re eating our breakfast when Tonya sits down next to Melanie. She leans forward to hiss, “You think you can steal him from me, you little bitch?”

  “I’m not stealing him. He was interested in me first.”

  “Yeah, right. You better watch yourself, bitch.”

  I meet her hard stare, though it would be more effective without these nerd glasses on. A nun is approaching our table, so Tonya giggles as though someone said something funny. “I’ll see you guys later,” she says and then practically skips away from the table.

  “She’s really pissed,” Melanie says loud enough for the nun to cluck her tongue at us. “Sorry.”

  We go back to eating our breakfast under the nun’s watchful gaze. I try to think of how I can manage to sneak off campus tonight without anyone knowing about it. Too bad I don’t have wings. But I’ll find a way, even if it means tunneling under the wall like in an old prison break movie.

  ***

  At seven-thirty I get in a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and my parka. It’s not a real fashionable outfit, but it should keep me warm enough. Melanie frowns at me. She asks, “Do you have any idea what you’re doing yet?”

  “Not really. I’ll figure something out.”

  “Good luck,” she says and then gives me a hug.

  I stick my head out into the hallway to make sure no one is coming and then bolt for the stairs. I try not to make too much noise on my way down to the ground floor. Again I stick my head out to make sure there isn’t anyone coming before I set out down the paths Colin and his dad’s crew cleared off this morning.

  I start out towards the administration building. If anyone stops me, my plan is to say I’m going to see Father Barclay to confess some impure thoughts or something. No one does stop me as I reach the old building.

  I did some reconnaissance earlier to figure out the best place to attempt my escape. It involves tramping through two feet of snow to the northeast corner. The wall there borders the forest, with a tree branch hanging down over the wall thanks to all the recent snow. If I were taller it would be no problem to reach it, but as it is I need to boost myself a few inches. I do that by piling up a bunch of snow, packing it tight like I’m making the bottom of a snowman.

  My hands are numb even with gloves on by the time I’ve got a mound big enough. The mound will collapse if I stand on it for too long, but it should work as a springboard. I take a few steps back and then charge forward. I hop onto the mound and then push off to leap into the air. As I figured, the mound of snow crumbles from my weight, but I won’t need it again. My hands snag the branch dangling over the fence. Now all that work with Sister Matilda’s dumbbell pays off as I pull myself up, onto the branch.

  I can’t remember the last time I climbed a tree, probably when I was six or seven. The most important thing is not to look down as I tightrope walk along the branch to the trunk of the tree. I have to look down then to start figuring out how to get to the ground. I squat down on a branch and then swing down from one to another until I can drop safely into the snow.

  Like in an old prison break movie I shuffle along the wall to make sure no one sees me as I make my way towards the front. I’m not sure exactly where Colin is planning to meet me. I’m about halfway down the wall when I hear something hiss. I squeal with surprise and then go into a defensive pose Sister Matilda taught me.

  “Hey, it’s just me,” Colin says. He flips up the visor of a black helmet to reveal his face. “I was about to go look for you, but I guess you found me.”

  “I guess I did,” I say and then giggle like Tonya.

  I skip across the snow over to the blue snowmobile. Colin thrusts a black helmet to me. I put it on, but of course it’s way too big on me. I again giggle like an idiot while Colin grins at me. He reaches into a pocket of his jacket for a knit cap. “This should help.”

  I put the cap on and then set the helmet over top of it. That makes it a little better fit. Then I stand beside the snowmobile and shift uncomfortably. “So, um, do I climb on behind you?”

  “Yup. It’s like a motorcycle. You ever ridden one of those?”

  “No.” I want to get one as soon as I get my license, though I’m sure Jessica will have a fit. I have seen enough movies that I know how to swing myself onto the back of the snowmobile and then wrap my arms around Colin’s midsection. “Is that too tight?”

  “No, it’s fine,” he says. “Here we go.”

  He lowers the visor of his helmet and I do the same. Then he revs the throttle to bring the engine to life. I can’t help screaming into my helmet as we streak away from the forest.

  True to its name, the snowmobile glides along the snow without a problem. I try not to squeeze Colin too tightly as we tear downhill. He lets out a whoop as we race down the slope, picking up speed thanks to gravity. “You don’t have to show off for me!” I shout.

  “You going to yak?”

&nbs
p; “What?”

  “You going to throw up?”

  “Not yet.”

  He nods and then cuts back a little on the throttle. When we’re about halfway down the hill I can see the lights of Evettsville. It’s not nearly as bright as Redoubt City, but then there are a lot fewer people. Colin comes to a stop in what’s probably a field when the snow melts. He gestures to a dark shape near the edge of the field.

  “Too bad I didn’t bring my rifle,” he says.

  I squeeze his midsection until he groans with pain. “You wouldn’t really hurt an innocent animal, would you?”

  “Um, well, sometimes my dad takes me hunting—”

  I sigh and remind myself this is New Hampshire, not the city. “Fine. Just don’t take me, OK? I’m not gutting and cleaning anything.”

  “Sure.” After that screw-up, Colin gestures up to the sky. “Look up there. Isn’t it pretty?”

  I turn to look up at the night sky. Out here, without all the light pollution that turns the night sky of the city a gross barf orange, you can actually see the stars. I try to remember some of the constellations we learned about in school, but the only one I can pick out is the Big Dipper. I point this out to Colin. “I can’t remember the last time I saw that.”

  “Can’t you see them at school?”

  “I haven’t really looked.”

  “I know a place where we can see them even better.”

  “Oh, really? Are you trying to take me to Make Out Point?”

  “No—”

  “I’m kidding.”

  “Oh, right. You want to go?”

  “Sure.”

  We flip down our visors and then Colin revs the engine again. The deer run for cover as the snowmobile streaks across the field, into the forest. I duck as tree branches get within a few inches of taking our heads off. Colin doesn’t seem to mind, but then he has probably done this a lot of times. Probably with a lot of other girls.

  That thought gnaws at me as we head uphill, the engine struggling until we reach the peak of a hill that’s even higher than St. Martha’s. Colin stops the snowmobile and then takes off his helmet. I follow suit, though I keep the knit cap on so my ears won’t freeze. Colin gestures to an old tree stump; like an old-fashioned gentleman he brushes the snow away before I sit down.