The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,33
Nasha stood. “I hate to say it, but Hank was right. She can’t really help herself.”
Sure enough, Sam saw Nasha look around, then stuff something into her backpack.
Wendy happened to walk into the cafeteria at that very moment, catching the child in the act. “Here, now. What’re you doing there?”
Nasha spun around, nearly dropping her tray. “Nothing.”
“Are you hungry?”
She shook her head.
Wendy squatted down in front of her. “There’s plenty of food to go around. You don’t need to take it.”
Nasha hid the small pack behind her back. “I might be hungry later.”
“You can ask later. The food’s not going anywhere. I promise.” Wendy held out her hand.
The girl hesitated, then reluctantly reached into her pack, pulling out several rolls.
Sam, watching this, felt Remi’s gaze on him.
“Do something,” she said. “Nasha needs to know she’s safe.”
“Me? What about—”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Emergency bell,” one of the girls shouted, and they all went running.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The road to success is always under construction.
– AFRICAN PROVERB –
Sam took a quick look around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, as the sharp bell rang. “Planned drill, I hope?”
“It is,” Wendy said, earning a look of relief from Amal. Wendy apologized for not warning them, stood, and called out, “Emergency bell. Time to go.” She guided Nasha to the door after the other students, then looked back at Sam. “You’re welcome to finish your coffee.”
Sam rose. “A drill’s a drill. Lead the way, Wendy. We won’t know what to do if we don’t practice.”
Remi, Hank, and Amal followed him from the mess hall out to the courtyard, where they found most of the students rushing to line up behind the four oldest girls, who stood by a stone marker on the ground. There was a lot of talking and laughing among the children while they waited.
Amal smiled when the two smallest girls realized they were in the wrong line and scurried to their proper places. “Haven’t done one of these since grade school,” she said to Remi. “Not sure I’d know what to do.”
“Same, here,” Remi said, laughing. She glanced at Sam, her relief evident. Though they’d both been worried about Amal’s health after their attack on the road, she’d had no seizures since, and seemed to be enjoying her time with the girls.
About two minutes later, Pete walked out into the courtyard, nodding at Sam, Yaro, and the women as he passed. He took a position in front of the girls, holding up two fingers. They stopped talking, their attention on him. “Nicely done,” he said loudly.
The students clapped briefly, wide smiles on their faces.
He waited for quiet again before proceeding. “What if you don’t hear the bell but you know there’s an emergency?”
In unison, they shouted, “We come to the shed.”
“A fire?” Pete said.
“We come to the shed.”
“An earthquake?”
“We come to the shed.”
“A shooting?”
“We come to the shed.”
Pete raised his brows.
One of the older girls shouted, “We find cover.”
“Correct,” Pete said. “What’s cover?”
As one, they said, “A safe place to hide.”
Remi reached over, taking Sam’s hand in hers, saying nothing. She didn’t need to. He nodded as Wendy looked over at them, whispering, “Like I said, a sad but necessary reality.”
* * *
—
After the drill, the girls went back to lunch and then the classroom with Amal. The other adults returned to their framing of the new dorm, Sam and Pete on the roof, Hank and Remi down below.
“Pete,” Hank called out. “Any more nails? I’m running low.”
Pete, working next to Sam at the peak of the roof, looked down at Hank. “There’s some in the shed. Hold on a sec. I’ll go get them.”
“No trouble,” Hank said. “I can go.”
Pete glanced at Sam, who gave him a slight nod. Unless someone knew where to look, that tunnel was going to remain a secret. “Yeah, sure,” Pete said. “Should be a case of them on the shelf, right side as you enter.”
Hank headed toward the shed and returned a few minutes later. “You realize you only have a couple of boxes left. We’ll be out by the end of the day.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Pete said. “I thought we had an entire case.”
Sam surveyed the roof, where he and Pete had almost finished the installation of the plywood sheathing. Down below, Remi and Hank had made considerable progress on the siding. “Well, among the four of us, we’ve gone through quite a few.”
“I could’ve sworn we had more,” Pete said. “I’ll drive into the village tomorrow and pick up whatever they have, then put