Page 143 of Veil of Silence

“Okay, that’s fine,” Rutherford said. “Do you remember anything that happened to you? Were you kidnapped?”

Nora held her breath as she waited for his answer.

“No, I don’t remember anything. I think I was taken. When I was young.”

“Do you remember your family?”

He shook his head. “No, not really.”

“How did you escape?”

“We were working outside, and one of the men looked away. So I started running. I kept running. I thought they’d catch me. They didn’t.”

“How did you find the Lovelesses’ house?”

“Christian told me where it was. The name of the street. He described it. I kept walking until I found it. It was . . . I mean, I walked for a long time. I even slept in the woods. It’s all a blur really.”

Dr. Rutherford allowed the silence to settle before asking, “I was going to ask other questions first. But since you mentioned Christian, what can you tell us about him?”

Nora’s heart thrummed in her ears.

The boy looked at Nora. “He was my friend. Ever since they put him in the room with me.” A faint smile touched his mouth. “He was scared, but he kept asking questions. Where we were. How many people were there. He never stopped trying to figure out how to leave.”

Her pulse raced at his words. That sounded like Christian.

“He talked about you.” The boy glanced at Nora. “Your whole family. Your mother’s cinnamon rolls. The hymns she sang in the kitchen. The concerts you used to do.”

Nora’s lungs tightened until she could hardly breathe.

“He said Wren always tries to keep everyone from fighting. Marlowe was the fun sister. Nora, you try to fix everything, even when no one asks you to.”

A tear slipped down Nora’s cheek. “That definitely sounds like Christian.”

“What can you tell us about where you were kept?” Prine asked. “Do you remember much?”

“I . . . I don’t know.” Tension pulled across his features.

“You said you couldn’t remember any of it,” Nora reminded him. “Was that true?”

His fingers tightened around the blanket. “I remember more than I told you but less than you think.”

They all waited for him to continue.

“I remember the rules. The rooms. The work. I remember Christian. But before that . . .” He pressed a hand to his forehead. “There’s almost nothing. Some things only come back when I hear a song or somebody says certain words.”

“Why did you tell us you couldn’t remember?” Nora asked.

Shame moved across his face. “Because not remembering was safer than refusing to answer.”

Nora bit down. She supposed that made sense. But it didn’t make his answer any easier to swallow.

“How many boys were kept where you were?” Prine asked.

“It changed. Maybe up to ten at times.”

“So kids came and went?”

“That’s right.”