Among the Imposters

“They didn’t see him until he was back inside,” jackal boy continued. “He — you know — he doesn’t like looking right at the door.”

“Great guard system you got going there,” the girl said.

“Shut up, Nina!” one of the boys yelled. Luke guessed it was They.

“Don’t call me that!” the girl — Nina? — yelled back. Why would she have a name she didn’t want to be called?

And then Luke understood. He, too, had a name he hated. He hated it because it was fake. And so was hers.

“Nina” was another former shadow child. She had to be.

Luke looked with new eyes at the group sitting in front of him in the dark woods. They must all be illegal third children using false identities. Luke’s heart gave a jump. At last, he’d found others like him. He’d found a place to belong.

Luke started to move out from behind the tree, to reveal himself Finally he’d found other kids to talk to about how hard it was pretending to be someone else. Finally he’d found other kids who would know how tough it was to come out of hiding. Finally he’d found other kids he could trust, as he’d trusted Jen. They could grieve for Jen with him.

Then he remembered: He was almost certain these were the ones who’d destroyed his garden.

Luke stayed put

“All right, all right,” jackal boy was saying. “Calm down. The point is, this kid, this ‘Lee,’ doesn’t fit any of the profiles.”

“Did you give him the test?” Nina asked.

“Um, well, there was a little problem—” jackal boy said hesitantly.

“Go ahead and say it!” They burst out furiously. “I flubbed the whole thing! I don’t know why you make me guard that spot!”

“Because you’re the bravest one,” jackal boy said. Luke recognized that tone: It was the same sort of wheedling voice that Luke’s brothers had used on him when they wanted him to do something unpleasant, like clean out the hog pen or spread manure on the garden.

Trey turned and faced Nina directly. “I left the door open, but I couldn’t stand to be that close to it. I walked down the hall. Just for a minute! When I got back, this Lee kid was nowhere in sight”.

Left the door open.. . Suddenly Luke understood. That first time he’d noticed the door, when it was ajar, it had been a test set up by jackal boy’s gang.

But what were they testing him for?

“Maybe he went outside then, too,” Nina said.

All the boys seemed to be shaking their heads in disbelief.

“I waited for three hours,” Trey said. “I stared at that door the whole time, honest. Nobody’d stay out that long.”

Why not? Luke wondered.

“So is he one of us or not?” Nina asked.

The question seemed to hang in the dark woods. Luke wanted to know the answer, too.

“Who knows?” jackal boy said. “The problem is, he’s getting bold. Weird, like I said. We’re scared he’s going to get the rest of us in trouble. Blow our cover. This afternoon, he just stared back at They like he didn’t care what Trey saw, or what Trey did. He was—”

“Defiant,” Trey said.

Even Luke could see the baffled look jackal boy gave Trey.

“Sorry!” They said. ‘All I had to do when I was hiding was read, remember? I didn’t have a TV like the rest of you. I learned too many big words. ‘Defiant’ means, um— he was defying me, he was—”

“Offering a challenge,” Luke said aloud.

And then he stepped out from behind the tree.

Twenty

Luke felt twelve pairs of eyes on him. Nina’s mouth was frozen in a little “o” of surprise. Jackal boy’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

But nobody was more astonished than Luke. Why did I do that? he wondered. He remembered thinking that most of the boys at Hendricks acted like pawns. I’m a pawn, too, remember? Just plain old Luke Garner, who doesn’t know anything about anything, who cowers in the attic while his best friend dies for the cause. Stepping out from behind that tree was something len would have done. Not me.

But he had done it. Now what?

Luke longed to slide back behind the tree again or, given that it wouldn’t be much of a hiding place now, to turn tail and run. But his legs were trembling so much that just standing still took all his strength.

Everyone was so quiet that Luke could hear his watch ticking again.

All right. He’d gotten himself into this mess by acting like Jen. What would she do next?

Talk. len could always talk.

“You destroyed my garden,” Luke accused. “You’ll have to make restitution.”

Luke could use big words, too. He thought he saw a glimmer of appreciation in Trey’s eyes. Everyone else stared blankly.

Would Jen bother explaining, or would she prefer letting them feel dumb?

“Garden?” jackal boy asked. “What garden?”

That wasn’t what Luke had expected.

“What garden?” he repeated. “My garden. Over there.” He pointed into the dark. “Last night, somebody trampled the whole thing, kicked over my beans, broke off my raspberry plants. You’re the only ones I see out in the woods.” Luke tried to let his anger carry him through. But all the faces in front of him looked vacant. Had he made a big mistake? Could they possibly be innocent? He finished weakly, “So you owe me.”

Jackal boy shook his head.

“We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He didn’t seem to be lying. But how good was Luke at judging liars?

‘I’ll show you,” Luke said impatiently. He suddenly had the notion that if he saw them looking at the destruction, he’d be able to tell by their expressions whether or not they were guilty. He turned hastily and started walking. He was surprised when he heard footsteps behind him. They’d actually listened to him? Obeyed him?

They made a strange procession through the woods, Luke leading the way, the other boys following with their lantern, then the girls with a dim flashlight. Luke made a few missteps, and even had to backtrack once, but he circled around, hoping none of the others would notice. Finally they reached Luke’s clearing. In the moonlight it looked desolate, just a stump and scraggly plants. It didn’t look like it had ever contained a garden.

“There!” Luke said, trying to sound wronged and indignant. His voice came out in a squeak “See these broken-off raspberry plants? See the squashed beans? But why do I have to show you? You know what you did.”

No guilt showed on their faces. They still looked puzzled.

“He is crazy,” jackal boy hissed.

“Wait a minute,” Nina said. “Did you guys walk back to school this way last night?”

Trey shrugged.

“We might have,” he said.

One of the other guys spoke up.