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.
