Chapter 13

The Dean looked up and smiled as I entered. “I’m glad you came by, Amy. I was going to call you here later today anyway.”

I blinked in surprise as I sat down. “Yes, Sir?”

“I’ll get to that in a minute. What have you got there?”

I placed the two things in my hand and a hardwritten note on his desk in front of him. “Sir, could these be mailed to Kathleen Sadler? Addressed directly to her, not her father?”

The Dean picked up the note and read it, looked at the other item, and nodded. “That’s very thoughtful, and I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.” He set the things down in his in-box to give to Tina later. “Now, I actually had two reasons I was going to summon you. One is that I want you to swallow this capsule.” He pushed two paper cups toward me, one containing a small capsule, the other filled with drinking water.

I nodded. “Yes, Sir.” I upended the first of the cups, dumping the capsule into my mouth, and washed it down with the water. “Is this what I think it is?”

“If you think it’s a slave tracker, yes. You’re familiar with them?”

I snorted, amused by the irony. “I imagine you want to be able to find me in case my brother Andrew comes up with some way of kidnapping me. What’s funny is that the reason I know about them is that Andrew made me swallow one once. Of course, that one’s power source is long dead.”

The Dean frowned. “So he knows about them too.”

I nodded. “Yes, Sir, but remember he doesn’t know we’re onto him. Since no Noosemeister has ever been kidnapped...” I looked at him questioningly, and went on when he nodded. “ ... he has no reason to think you’d plant tracking devices in any of us. But even if he does, there’s nothing he can really do about it. In fact, if the idea does come into his head, he might give up on the whole plan.”

The Dean shook his head. “Not safe to assume that.”

“Oh, of course not, Sir. And I gather we’re not going to assume he’s taking me to his dungeon? We know where that is, so there’d be no need for the tracker if I ended up there.” I was doubtful that the tracker could be detected from within the underground dungeon, but my progress on the way to it could be followed.

He nodded. “Correct. We’re not assuming anything.”

I sighed. I’d be so glad to get to my hanging; after that, Andrew could never again screw with my life. “What are the procedures going to be when I leave the grounds? Obviously you must be going to let me do that, or I wouldn’t need the tracker.” I felt relieved. I badly wanted an off-site hanging, as much like Miranda’s as possible—or in fact, like the hanging of every Academy graduate except Grant. And if Andrew’s threat somehow denied me that possibility, I’d request the hiring of a hit squad to take him out. I thought about asking for that anyway, but felt doubtful the Dean would consider going quite that far.

The Dean smiled. “Hard to get anything past you. Yes, I’ll be letting you leave here. Beyond the precaution of installing the slave tracker, I’ll want you to go out with two bodyguards rather than one. For the time being, that will be the standard procedure for all off-site excursions, even when you aren’t involved. I don’t want it to look as though we are protecting you more than the other students.”

I smiled. “I do feel better, anyway. I think we’re doing as much as we can. Oh!” A memory from the start of the conversation came back to me. “You said there were two reasons for seeing me?”

He nodded. “I’d considered telling you this earlier, but I didn’t want to distract you during your preparations for Grant’s hanging. One of our club members — a man — has purchased a ‘first chance option’ on you.”

I frowned, puzzled. “Does that mean ... well, it sounds like this person wants to be contacted if anyone else offers to buy me.”

The Dean nodded. “He came in all set to buy you, but I told him you were not going to be available until early next summer. He does want to be contacted, yes. Now, you have the right to decline to be purchased by him, as with any other sale. He understands that.”

“So I guess he knows me. Do I know him?” This person might be buying me on Andrew’s behalf. Of course, that could be the case with any buyer. I shivered.

“You do, but he wishes not to reveal his identity to you so far in advance of your purchase. As I said, he’s a member, and he doesn’t wish to be treated any differently for the time being, by you or by any of the other students.”

My puzzlement increased. I felt I should be able to figure out who it was. Several names came to mind, but I discarded them all as “unlikely” for various reasons. The first, of course, had been Steffi, but the buyer had already been identified as a man, and I was sure that Steffi’s needs had been completely filled by Larry. “Sir, could you ... somehow check on the buyer’s background? For any possible association with Andrew?”

The Dean smiled. “I’d thought about that. For your own peace of mind, I’ll do some checking. But I can tell you upfront that I trust him. Does that help?”

I blinked. “Yes, Sir. Sir, why are you telling me about this now?”

He sat back, resting his head against his hand. “Amy, you can’t tell me you’re not a little down right now. Grant had an excellent hanging, and I know you’re happy about that, but I’m sure it’s hard, after watching someone so close to you reach his goal, to know that you still have a long wait before you can do the same. Knowing, now, that the wheels are in motion toward your hanging, if slowly, does that help you feel better?”

I felt a sudden excitement within me, hidden behind my fretting over Andrew. Someone does want to buy me, I told myself. And it’s someone the Dean trusts! I grinned, letting the excitement foam up to the surface. “Yes, Sir. It does.” I noticed the clock on the Dean’s desk and gasped. “Oh! Sir, I have a class to teach in a few minutes. May I go?”

“Certainly.” He patted his out-box. “And I’ll see to it that Tina gets this into the mail today, to Kathleen.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

I watched, a hundred emotions running through my head, as the students and graduates slowly assembled around me, facing me—or more accurately, facing the cloth covering on the wall.

It was getting crowded. Getting all of the students into the Party Room was one thing. In the party pavilion, there was plenty of room for all of them, and the only headache for anyone was maintaining security in that borderland between the Academy and the outside world. Here, in this relatively small, awkwardly-shaped room in the student area, the problem was finding a way to pack everyone in so they could all see.

Ms. Bennett, the assistant Dean, directed traffic as the students began assembling. She put the graduates in front, the students taking places behind them within view of the covering cloth, finding space as they were able, shoulders against shoulders. When nearly everyone was at last in place, I spoke, “I think it would work better if everybody kind of kneels down, except way in back where there’s nobody behind you.” I grinned. “I don’t mean like you’re bowing down to worship or something,” I went on, and several students laughed, “I’m just trying to make it easier for everyone to see.”

With a lot of laughing and wisecracks, the students and grads knelt on the floor, the foremost ones scrunching down a little further, the ones farther back kneeling upright, the students farthest back standing.

Ms. Bennett turned to give the Dean a questioning look, and he nodded and spoke. “It seems we’ve been having several unique ceremonies lately. This one, today, will give all of you a first opportunity to see the permanent home of the person responsible for them.” Everybody applauded briefly.

He gestured to me, and I spoke again. “There were any number of places we could have put this. The Dean’s first suggestion was the school’s entry foyer, where anyone coming in would see the display right away.

“But Grant wanted, very much, to be in the student area, but not just anywhere. Looking at everybody here now,” I smiled as I looked at the students crammed into whatever space was available, “Obviously he could have picked a more convenient place.” More laughs.