Page 6

“Well, thank God you made it,” Jacintha said.

One of the other boys piped up. He was tall and broad-shouldered, like a rugby player. I thought his name might be Marcus. “I can tell you this much. You really learn a lot about yourself in the desert. It was difficult, but it was thrilling too. You have to rely on your wits. There’s nothing to hide behind.”

Another man, wiry and wearing tortoiseshell sunglasses, possibly named Seb, said, “A man can be a man in the desert.”

Candice made a polite noise of interest and turned back to Andrew, pointing out the dusty area that we thought must be for boules.

The man with the sunburned neck fell into step beside me. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Lily,” I said.

“Nice to meet you, Lily. I’m Sam.” He held out his hand for me to shake. I took it, smiling at the formality.

“What?” he said, smiling back. His eyes were a very warm brown, the same color as his hair.

“I don’t know,” I said. Rounding a corner, I bumped into him a little, and the small act of my arm brushing against his seemed uniquely embarrassing. “Sorry,” I said. He took a small but noticeable step away, placing distance between us. I pretended to look in the opposite direction.

“I’m, ah—” Sam said. “I’m conscious that I haven’t showered in a few days.”

“That’s okay,” I said. He smelled faintly of sweat, and there was dirt and sand clinging to his legs. Perhaps outside, at home, it might havethrown me off, but after days of waiting for the boys in the clean, orderly house, the sight of this man before me, dirty and fantastically real, thrilledme.

He looked around, as though taking in the sights. He stepped closer again. The ground beneath my feet was sandy and gritty, scuffing my white shoes. His arm brushed mine again, the hair on his forearm grazing the underside of my wrist. I hadn’t felt so excited since I had come here. He turned to me. “Do you—?” He stopped himself. “I keep forgetting that we can’t talk about our lives outside the compound,” he said.

“It gets easier after a couple of days.”

“What do you talk about?”

“The house, mainly. The grounds, the weather.” I shrugged.

We walked in silence for a few moments. I could see the other group on the east side of the compound, Mia leading them around like a tour guide. I could hear her voice perfectly from across the way, loud and nasal.

It was clear that the boys were tired, though they didn’t say so. Candice announced that she was hot, and wanted to sit in the shade for a bit, so we paused under a tree. When I glanced at Sam, he was looking above him, his face tilted to the blue sky. In the clear light, I saw lines on his forehead. I wondered how old he was. When he saw me looking, he smiled. “I think this will be good,” he said. “A chance to start again, right?”

“Right,” I said. The truth was, I wasn’t entirely sure I agreed with him. Neither was I sure that I disagreed with him. I thought that it was endearing that he wanted to start again here. I didn’t say what I actually thought, which was that it was a good place for a break.

When Candice felt that the boys were sufficiently rested, we wandered over to the eastern side of the compound, passing the gym. The man shaped like a bodybuilder and with the worst injuries fell into step beside me, and Sam shifted forward, as though to give us privacy. I thought the other boy’s name was Tom, but I didn’t want to ask for a second time. He had closely cropped blond hair and slate-gray eyes. But it was difficult to focus on anything other than his enormous build. He said, “What did you girls get up to while you were waiting for us?”

“We cleaned, mostly. We were excited for you all to get here.”

He nodded. There was sweat on his forehead, and he wiped it off unselfconsciously. I had surreptitiously been swiping at my upper lip for the past half hour, when I was sure that none of the boys would notice.

“I imagine you’ve been making lots of plans for what to do with the place.”

“I guess. Yeah, we’ve talked about it.”

“I have lots of ideas,” he said. “Even before we got here I had ideas for what we could do. But,” he said diplomatically, “I wouldn’t want to get in the way of what you girls have planned. You were here first, after all.”

He glanced over at me. His appearance was unremarkable, except for his size. “We can talk about it when we’re all together,” I said.

“We’re happy to be here. In the desert it gets so cold at night, you know. You can’t feel it here, because you’ve got shelter. It’ll be nice to share a bed tonight.”

I wondered if he was stating it as fact, or if he was providing an opening for me to suggest that we might share a bed. I felt sure, however, that he wouldn’t react well to being turned down. When I said nothing, he walked over to Candice.

The boys took a few minutes to test the equipment in the gym, and Jacintha stood beside me and spoke quietly. “What did you say to Tom?”

“Which one is Tom?”

She made a Tom-like gesture, squaring her shoulders, holding her arms separate from her torso. It was a good impression. In unison, we glanced around to make sure he hadn’t seenit.