69. Jack
SIXTY-NINE
JACK
Elizabeth sat on her stool in the observation room as if she hadn’t a care in the world. The little girl pushed herself from the table in front of her and sent her seat spinning, over and over again.
Jack and Abigail stood on the other side of the see-through glass with Fenrick Trillion and Lieutenant Baker, who had returned to the palace.
With Sloan securing the grounds for the ball, the lieutenant was the officer she trusted the most. As the Queen’s advisor and treasurer, Fenrick had been asked to be there in place of the Queen.
The room Elizabeth sat in was plain, with two steel chairs and a steel table. The only other piece of furniture was a large machine with wires and buttons Jack didn’t recognize.
“The psychologist should be here any moment,” Fenrick wheezed as he produced a gold timepiece from his black vest pocket. A glance at the pocket watch told him he was correct. “She’s usually early.”
“I’m sure your sister will be fine,” Lieutenant Baker reassured Abigail, who stood with her arms crossed, rocking back and forth from her toes to her heels. “She has the best care in New Hope.”
Abigail managed a smile.
Jack was about to say something to agree with the lieutenant, when the door to Elizabeth’s room opened. A middle-aged woman stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She wore a white lab coat and carried a clipboard in her right hand.
“Hello, Elizabeth,” the woman said, “my name is Leah Noble. I’m a doctor here on staff with the palace.”
“Hello,” Elizabeth said, bringing her spinning to a stop. She wobbled a bit on her seat while she regained her balance.
“I’ve been told you are very smart for your age, so I’m going to treat you like an adult. There’s nothing worse than being talked down to.” Leah sat at the table across from Elizabeth. “I’m going to go over the information I have on my clipboard, just to confirm I have accurate material.”
“I can live with that.” Elizabeth drummed her fingers on the table. “I can probably save us both some time just by answering everything you have on the sheet. At least, I can guess at it.”
“Great idea.” The doctor lifted the clipboard off the table so Elizabeth couldn’t see what was written on the paper. “Go ahead, when you’re ready.”
“My name is Elizabeth Rose Ahab. I’m ten years old.
My mother left me before I can remember.
I have one sister. My father was a troubled man.
He became the monster he feared and was killed.
” Elizabeth rattled off the information as if she were reading things from a list of someone else’s life.
“We’re here because I was abducted for days, maybe weeks, and my memory was wiped.
During this time, experiments that I can’t remember were done on me, and as a result, my brain power is far greater than it should be. ”
“Impressive.” Leah’s eyebrows rose. She was clearly surprised, but recovered well as she checked off boxes on her clipboard and made notes.
“Well, you did a great job answering my questions before I even asked them. We can start with a few simple tests just to assess your brainpower. If you can’t complete these tests, don’t worry.
They are designed to be impossible. We gage how far you get along the process. ”
“Okay.” Elizabeth rolled up her sleeve. “How much blood do you need?”
“Blood? What?” Leah shook her head with a confused smile on her full lips. “No, it’s not that kind of exam.”
“Oh, I thought for sure your mind was on the subject of blood.”
“Here’s the first test.” Doctor Noble ignored Elizabeth’s words. She walked to the desk in the room and rummaged through the contents to produce a hand-sized ball with multicolored sides. She handed the object to Elizabeth. “This is called a rubix sphere. The idea is?—”
“To get all the sides of the same color together.” Elizabeth examined the ball from all directions. “I can do it.”
“Okay.” Doctor Noble reached into her pocket. She produced a square watch she placed on the table. “Begin.”
Elizabeth started working on the ball in silence.
Jack took the opportunity to look at Abigail to see how she was holding up with the testing.
“She seems to be doing well so far.” Jack placed a hand on Abigail’s shoulder. “She’s going to be fine.”
“Yeah.” Abigail managed a smile. “She’s not the shy type. I actually think she might?—”
“Great wheel in the sky,” Fenrick whispered as he brought his face so close to the glass, his words painted steam on the panel. “She did it.”
Jack and Abigail turned to see what had caught Fenrick’s attention. Elizabeth was holding up the multicolored sphere, having successfully placed each color together on its designated side.
“That … that’s remarkable, Elizabeth.” Leah Noble, who had so far managed to keep her composure, was fumbling for words. “You accomplished the impossible in mere seconds.”
Elizabeth shrugged as if she had expected nothing less. She passed the item to the doctor, who accepted it with awe.
“Wait.” The doctor flipped papers on her clipboard until she came across a series of images.
The first was a black butterfly. The drawing faced the doctor and the four silent partners on the other side of the glass.
There was no way Elizabeth could have seen the picture.
“I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but can you read?—”
“It’s a butterfly.” Elizabeth propped her head up on her hand. “An inky black one.”
“How … how could you tell?” Leah Noble asked in wonder. “You can read my thoughts, can’t you?”
“Don’t be mad at me. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d worry.” Elizabeth looked at the glass and directly at Abigail. “But yes, I can read people’s thoughts.”
Tears were welling in Abigail’s eyes. The three men in the room looked at her with worry, concern, and intrigue.
“It’s going to be all right.” Jack tried reassuring her. “They’re going to take care of her here. She’s safe.”
“Is she? Is she, Jack? Anything that can be used as a weapon, will be used as a weapon. You saw what happened to the wolf in Burrow Den.” Abigail skewered Fenrick and the lieutenant with a hard stare. “Will you guarantee me her safety?”
“She’ll be safe,” Lieutenant Baker reassured her. “She’s only a girl. The Queen would never think of using her in any kind of way.”
Fenrick licked his lips and looked away.