"I mean it." Teal muttered. "I'm running away tonight. I'd rather die out there."
"You will." Mindy said. "You don't know anything about surviving in the desert. You would have to trek through miles and miles of brutal desert where there are scorpions, snakes, poisonous lizards, and devastating heat and dryness during the day, bone-chilling cold at night. You wouldn't know the first thing to do if you ran out of water or if you got bitten."
"Oh, and you do?" Robin snapped at her.
"I know some, but not enough to make me confident enough to try it."
"What about you?" Teal asked Gia. Gia looked up at us. "You want to run away? You want to get out of here? Give Dr. Foreman what she wants. That's your only escape ."
"When are you getting out. smarty pants?" Robin asked.
"Soon,"
We were all quiet. I knew I was thinking she might be right and she was lucky if it was soon. Robin looked defeated. too. Teal just looked angry.
"Okay, my little princesses," M'Lady One said from the doorway. "It's time to go to dinner. You all go to the pottery room first and fetch your bowls and your plates. When we see them on the table, we'll decide if they're good enough to eat upon. Move it!" she ordered, and we rose and filed out.
As we crossed toward the bigger barn. I could hear Teal muttering under her breath. She was losing it faster than Robin and I were. I thought. Soon, not even Natani's mystical medicines would be enough to save her.
Our bowls and dishes were on the table. They didn't look bad to me. I couldn't imagine anyone not approving of them. We carried them back to the house, set them down, removed our shoes, and washed our hands. Then we were permitted inside. Our food was already on the table to be served family style from large plates and bowls. I saw what looked like steamed vegetables, as well as mashed potatoes and slices of chicken. There was water to drink, but no bread and certainly nothing for dessert.
We set our bowls and dishes down and greeted Mindy and Gia with the "Excuse me. I'm sorry." I had forgotten about it. but Robin remembered and we did it.
Dr. Foreman entered the dining room. She was wearing a pink and white blouse and a skirt. Her hair was the same. but I could see she wore same lipstick. She stood there for a moment looking us over.
"Natani took care of two of them. I see," she said to the buddies, who smiled. "I hope you thanked him properly. Tomorrow, after breakfast. I will be giving the three of you your school books and assignments. Every night after dinner, you will have two hours to work. You can work together or separately. That's a decision I leave up to you for now."
She nodded at the buddies, who then stepped forward to inspect our pottery. M'Lady One inspecting mine. M'Lady Two inspecting Robin's, and M'Ladv Three looking at Teal's. They ran their fingers over the plates and around the bowls and then looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Bumps and crevices," M'Lady One said.
"Inferior work." M'Lady Two agreed.
M'Lady Three dropped Teal's bowl and plate and they shattered on the floor. The same was done to Robin's and mine.
"Eat off the table tonight and try again tomorrow," M'Lady Three told us.
"'Before you leave, you will wash their bowls and dishes carefully and then clean up these broken inferior bowls and dishes," M'LadyTwo said.
"There was nothing wrong with my bowl. That wasn't fair," Teal protested.
I looked up at Dr. Foreman. She smiled at me.
Soon, she was surely thinking, soon you will be my girls and whatever I ask you to do, you will do.
The four of them left the dining roam and Teal lowered her head to the table and started to sob.
"Don't do that," Gia said sharply.
Teal raised her head slowly and looked across the table at her. "Why not?"
"There's no point in trying to get them to feel sorry for you or any of us for that matter. We can't do much, if anything, to help you. And it doesn't do you any good here to feel sorry for yourself."
"Oh, you're so damn smart," Teal said, flicking the tears from her cheeks.
"No, not smart. Desperate." Gia replied with no emotion.
"Why are you here?" I asked her.
Mindy began to serve herself food.
"Lots of reasons. I suppose." Gia began to serve herself as she spoke. "They called me an arsonist."
"Arsonist? What did you set fire to?" Robin asked.
Gia paused. "My own house." Then, in the coldest, most matter-of-fact tone I could imagine, she added. "Almost killing my baby brother."
The three of us sat staling across at her.
"You'd better eat." Mindy urged. "They'll be back very soon and whatever you've eaten will be it."
Robin dipped the serving spoon into the mashed potatoes and dropped a glob on the table. Then she took some vegetables and some chicken and did the same.
My stomach churned both with disgust and with hunger. I quickly copied her. Reluctantly. Teal followed and the three of us ate like dogs over a table, gobbling the food, drinking some water, and staring blankly ahead. All the food tasted bland. The chicken had been boiled until it fell apart when touched, and there was no salt or pepper or any seasoning on anything.
"The chef has to be a reject from some fastfood joint," Teal said.
Sooner than we expected, the buddies entered and announced dinner was over. Mindy and Gia rose immediately and left the table.
"The kitchen sink is right through that door," M'Lady One told me, and pointed.
I gathered Gia's dishes and Robin picked up the silverware and Mindy's bowl and dish. Teal stood there watching us.
"That table better be gleaming when we return," M'Lady Three told her.
Teal followed us into the kitchen and found the sponges and cleaning liquids. "I never cleaned anything." she moaned.
"Oh, give me that already." Robin snapped, and took everything out of her hands. "You just dry the dishes Phoebe washes, I'm tired and I want to get out of here."
She returned to the dining room and Teal stood beside me while I washed off the pottery.
"Don't you want to try to run away with me? You can't want to stay here a moment longer than you have to." Teal urged.
"I do. but I'm afraid. I've lived in the city all my life. I wouldn't know a poisonous anything and I'm so tired. I don't think I'd get far anyway."
"Maybe we just have to follow the dirt road out. Maybe they're lying to us and we're not that far from a town?"
"You see any lights out there at night? And what if they're not lying? You have any doubt that they wouldn't bother to came rescue us? I don't."
"I won't make it through another day like this." she moaned. "You'll make it."
"I don't deserve this. My parents were just very upset. My father and mother will take me back if they know I'm sorry. I've just got to be able to call them and tell them," she said, nodding at her plan. "Maybe. maybe I can sneak in here during the night and use the phone in Dr. Foreman's office."
I raised my eyebrows and looked at her. "And if you get caught? That's the Ice Room for sure. I bet."
"And I bet there isn't even such a thing. Its just something they say to keep us terrified."
I tilted my head and looked at her. "Do you want to be the first one to find out if there is or isn't?"
She started to shake her head and raised her hand too quickly. knocking Gia's dish out of mine. I was just about to give it to her to dry. It flew up and away, shattering on impact with the floor, the pieces exploding in every direction. For a moment we both stared in disbelief. I felt the blood draining from my face. Teal's eyes bulged and her mouth dropped open. She looked at me.
"Why didn't you wait until I saw you were handing it to me?' she cried.
"Wait until you saw? Why didn't you watch how you were swinging your hands wildly?"
"I wasn't. I..."
We both turned to the doorway. M'Lady Three was standing there, her arms folded under her small bosom, her shoulders back.
"Who did that
?" she asked, nodding at the pieces of ceramic dish splattered over the floor. "Who threw that plate?"
"Nobody threw the plate," I said. "It was an accident."
'There are no accidents at Dr. Foreman's School. You did that deliberately."
"We didn't," I insisted, "You weren't here to see it."
She smiled coldly. "I was here as a student just like you two. remember? I know what you're thinking. feeling. You're angry because you had to eat off the table. This is just your way of showing it."
"That's not true." Teal wailed.
M'Lady Two came up beside M'Lady Three and looked at the shattered dish. "I remember doing that."
They both nodded.
"We didn't do it on purpose." I shouted. "Just because it's something you two might have done doesn't mean we did. Stop saying we did."
"You won't make any progress here until you admit to your guilt, to your meanness and selfishness, and you hog-tie that anger," M'Lady Two said. "Now, finish up here, clean every piece off the floor, and come outside immediately."
They left.
"Nice work," I told Teal.
I turned back to the sink and washed the remaining silverware and pottery. Teal dried everything carefully and placed the remaining pottery so softly on the counter. I could barely hear it touching. We both picked up the pieces and put them into the garbage bin.
"What are they going to do to us now?" Teal muttered. "Put us in a scaffold?"
It sounded silly, but my eyes widened. Anything was possible in this place.
Robin was already outside, her shoes on when we walked to the front door.
"What did y'all do?" she whispered. "I heard them talking about y'all. Your buddy"-- she nodded at me--"sounded as though you let her down. I get the feeling they'll be punished if we don't do exactly as they expect and rewarded if we do. Maybe they're still under obligations of some sort to Dr. Foreman."
"I don't believe it I think they're just sadists,," Teal said. "They enjoy doing this."
"'Well, what did y'all do in there?" Robin asked.
"We broke Gia's dish, but it wasn't our fault," Teal moaned. "It was just an accident."
"Okay," M'Lady Three said, corning out of the house. "Robin, you return to the barracks and go to bed. You two, follow me."
Robin looked at us with sympathy, but also with relief that she wasn't being included in whatever new punishment we were to suffer. We were led around to the rear of the cow barn where we saw M'Ladies One and Two waiting, each holding a blanket. Behind them were what looked like coffins.
"What is this?" Teal asked. stopping.
This is the death of evil. Dr. Foreman wrote an interesting paper on the concept." M'Lady One said. She approached me and started to wrap the blanket around me.
I pushed it away and stepped to the side. "What are you doing?"
"You will want this blanket, believe me. It gets very cold in the desert before it gets warm again."
I shook my head. Teal turned to run, but her buddy was right there to seize her and hold her, screaming and kicking.
"If you cooperate, it will be so much easier," my buddy told me. She smiled. "We're doing it for your own good. You'll thank us someday, just the way we thanked our buddies and Dr. Foreman."
"You're all sick, crazy," I cried, and continued to back up. But M'Lady Two was behind me and wrapped her pincerlike arms around mine, also practically lifting me off the ground. M'Lady One wrapped the blanket around me quickly, then ran wide tape around that while I kicked and struggled. It was as good as a strait-jacket.
All the while Teal was screaming at the top of her voice. When they were finished with me, they let me stumble and topple to the ground while they went to M'Lady Three and assisted her in doing the same thing to Teal. After both of us were snugly wrapped in the blankets, they took the lids off the coffins.
Teal's voice was so shrill, it seemed far off to me. I was shaking my head, my eyes closed, and mumbling my pleas. They can't be doing this to us. I thought. This can't be happening.
It was an accident" I said "Really, it was just an accident."
I felt myself being lifted and opened my eyes to see myself being lowered into the coffin.
"Please don't do this." I begged. "I'll do anything. Please. Let me talk to Dr. Foreman. Please."
"Dr. Foreman knows all about it," M'Lady One said.
The lid was put over me. I could see a number of holes drilled in it to permit air, but it was still a coffin and a lid and I couldn't move.
I could hear Teal's hysterical screams go hoarse and finally muffled. so I assumed she was in her coffin and the lid put over her as well,
"There are no accidents at this school," we heard the mladies chant.
I closed my eyes. Teal was struggling madly, twisting and turning her body in the coffin. It went on and on, and finally she grew quiet.
"Teal?" I called. "Teal, can you hear me? Are you all right?"
There was just silence and then the cry of a coyote. It grew closer, then there was another and another. It sounded as if they were right near us. My heart was thumping and I was sweating now. I managed to get some more space inside the blanket. The tape stretched a bit. but I could do little more.
Suddenly. I heard the distinct sound of Natani's drum. The slow, rhythmic beating was accompanied by a soft, melodic chant. It was truly like a lullaby. Thankfully my eyes grew heavier and I either fell asleep out of exhaustion and fear or simply passed out.
The next thing I knew the lid was being removed and the sunlight was blaring- down on me. I felt myself being lifted out of the coffin and stood. I was confused and groggy, barely aware of what was happening. The tape was removed and the blanket unwrapped. The air, not yet heated to the temperatures of midday, felt soothing. I opened my eyes and focused on Dr. Foreman, who stood there smiling at me.
'Good morning. Phoebe." she said. "You have come through this well. I'm proud of you. Something rotten in you was buried forever last night. I'm sure. I want you to shower and come directly to breakfast. Then we'll talk before you start your daily chores today. okay?"
"I'm thirsty." I muttered. "Very thirsty."
"You'll feel better soon, a lot better. We always feel better when we peel off a miserable part of ourselves."
I looked at the other coffin. The buddies were removing the lid and reaching in to lift Teal out. Her head drooped. She did not regain consciousness.
"What have you done to her?" I asked under my breath. The buddies were holding her upright and her head still dangled loosely.
Dr. Foreman approached her, took something out of her pocket, and put it under Teal's nose. Teal's head snapped up and she shook it sharply before opening her eyes.
"Good morning. Teal." Dr. Foreman sand. "You look like you've buried something rotten and miserable. too. I just know the both of you will be so much better for it."
The buddies unwrapped Teal, but she was so wobbly, they had to hold on to her. They looked to Dr. Foreman, who seemed unhappy about that.
"Walk her about for a while. She'll get her legs back. I want them both showered and then brought to me," she said.
"Will do. Doctor," M'Lady Three said.
While she and M'Lady Two walked Teal about, my buddy directed me to the shower. Slowly, my arms and legs aching. I got undressed and went under the freezing water. I lifted my head to drink and swallow as much as I could. It did revive me. M'Lady One had a towel ready for me. While I was drying myself. I saw Robin. Gia. and Mindy leaving the house and heading for the fields where Natani was waiting for them. Robin looked like she was afraid to look my way. Just like the other two, she kept her head down, her eyes to the ground with only a passing glance my way when she walked by.
We are becoming like them. I thought. Robin is first. I'll surely be next,
"Let's go. We don't have all day to pamper you," M'Lady One told me.
Pamper?
I saw Teal walking on her awn now, but her face was so empty of any feeling
, any awareness, she truly looked like someone in a hypnotic state. Mechanically, she began to undress and then stumbled under the showerhead and stood there stupidly. M'Lady Three turned it on, and she jumped and screamed.
"Wash!" they all shouted at her.
She looked my way and began to scrub. Because of her sunburn, it hurt far more. I felt sorry for her, but as Gia had so coldly pointed out at dinner the night before. there was little we could really do to help each other. It was everyone for herself here in the end.
Afterward we were brought to the house and left in Dr. Foreman's office to wait for her. Neither of us had said one word to the other.
"Are you all right. Teal?" I asked her.
She lifted her head slowly and turned her droopy eyes toward me. "My throat aches."
"You were screaming so much,"
"I dreamed I heard a drum all night."
"There was a drum and chanting. Natani must have been there. It helped me."
"Yes." She turned her head slowly to look forward again, her eyelids barely open.
Dr. Foreman entered with two glasses of orange juice in her hands.
-Here. you two are." she said as if she had really been looking everywhere for us. "Drink some juice first.'
We both took a glass and drank.
"Slowly, girls, slowly. You don't want to give yourselves bellyaches."
She sat in her chair and watched us for a moment, that same happy smile on her face. She was the crazy one, I decided, but I dared not say it.
"Now where were we? Oh, yes, you were both about to apologize for your misbehavior last night, I believe."
"It's not fair," I was about to say. I was going to describe just haw the plate had come to be broken. but Teal lifted her head quickly.
"Im sorry," she said. "I'm really sorry, I won't do anything like that again. I swear."
"Oh, that's so good to hear. Teal. dear. You don't know how words like that please me. They fill my heart with so much joy and make every ounce of effort I spend on you girls worthwhile whenever I hear a sincere apology."
She turned to me expectantly.
I glanced at Teal and nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry, too. It was wrong and we won't let it happen again."