“I know,” said Bayan, when we told him we had to leave.  Neither Nua nor I have seen Miss Lilly in days, which is somehow more terrifying than seeing her every evening for dinner.  But she just spends all day in her office, while Nua and I wander around the house but mostly lay around in Ava’s room.  I’ve read the book that Nua is rereading over and over, and we talk about it a little.  He also has a book of fairy tales with him; he was reading it to Keol before he died.  I wonder if he knows that Keol couldn’t read himself.  

I miss Keol.  And I miss Ava.  I think of all the times they were together, at the pool, on the couch, dancing on the train, and every time I seem to remember Ava blowing smoke at him.  She stopped, near the end, his end, because he had stolen her lighter.  He hid it in the pocket of one of her clothes, and she only found it after he had died.  It did not take her very long to give up after he died, even with me and Nua to worry about.  I don’t know if she really believed that she could free us.  I wonder if she ever talked to her mother about what to do with us after she died.  

She must have talked to Bayan, though.  Or come to think of it, maybe she didn’t.  Maybe he just knew, and he just did what he knew she would have wanted.  Because she would not have wanted us to stay here forever, stuck and alone, I don’t think.  Not when Penny was still out there somewhere, God knows where.  In any case, Bayan knows, and I don’t know how he knows, but he does, because one day he knocks on the door to bring us breakfast, and when Nua says, “Come in,” he does, and closes the door behind him.

We both look over at him, and he comes over to the coffee table and sets the tray down.  Nua’s sitting on the windowsill, up the stairs on the other side of the room, and I’m on the couch.  I look up at him.  “What’s wrong, Bayan?”

Nua looks over.  Bayan hesitates, his fingers twisting together, and then says softly, “Nothing.  I have a plan.”

“Okay,” says Nua after a moment.  “We’re listening.”

Bayan sighs, looking at the ceiling.  He’s always so quiet, but he’s smart, too.  He knows that whenever he speaks it should only be words that Miss Lilly has approved, and he is about to step outside of those bounds, right here and right now.  Finally he asks quietly, “Do you know what Miss Lilly does?”

I sit up and turn around, looking at Nua over on the other side of the room.  He looks at me, and then says hesitantly, “She works in the government.”

Bayan raises his eyebrows, waiting for details, but neither of us give any.  He nods.  “She does, yes.  In particular, she’s the head of the department that runs the agencies.”

Nua rubs his lips together, then nod.  “I’m not surprised.”

“What are agencies?” I ask, and they’re both quiet for a moment before Nua says, “Keol came from one.” 

“Doesn’t help,” I say with a shrug.

“Agencies,” says Bayan, “are institutions set up around the country for boys.”

I look at him.  He continues.  “A lot of them work like orphanages.  Families often drop off unwanted infant sons there.  Or, when they’re older, boys go to live there, and they’re places where women who need husbands can…go…meet people.”

I raise my eyebrows.  “Oh.”

“You’ve really never heard of these?” asks Nua in surprise, and I shake my head.  Bayan sighs a little, but it’s not at me.  “Master Nua’s right.  Master Keol went to one of those places when he was a teenager.  It’s where Miss Lilly found him.  But what’s important is that because Miss Lilly runs the whole system of agencies across the country, she has access to files and records and resources that allow her to do almost anything.  And she’s been keeping tabs on her son for quite some time.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

This manages to get a reaction out of Nua, and me as well.  We both stare at him for a second, and then Nua asks quietly, “Penny?”

“Yes, Master Nua,” says Bayan softly.  He opens his mouth to elaborate, hesitates, then says simply, “I think you should go to him.”

“Why?” I ask, almost under my breath, and his eyes, dark and searching, run over me.  He looks like he’s trying to decide what he can, or should, tell us.  “Because you aren’t safe here.”

I knew that the minute I stepped foot into this house.  Why should I run now, knowing that my mother-in-law could just track me down?

“You’re only here,” he continues after a moment, “because of your marriage.  And sooner or later” --he glances over his shoulder at the door-- “she’s not going to want the constant reminder.”

“How?” asks Nua, standing up, and he starts to pace, up on the little platform where Ava’s bed is.  Bayan smiles slightly again.  “I can help.”

“How do you know all this?” I ask quietly, and Bayan smiles slightly.  “Miss Lilly found me in one of these agencies, too.”

I furrow my eyebrows.  “I thought, you said, she bought you.”

Bayan nods.  “Well, it wasn’t a very good agency.  The good ones, they run like your parents’ house, Master Aber.  The bad ones are corrupt.”

“And they sell people?” asks Nua, raising his eyebrows, and Bayan just shrugs.  “Sometimes.”

“Why are you telling us this?” I ask, burying my face in my hands.  “Why now?”

“Because the last thing that she told you two to do,” says Bayan softly, “was to find Penny.”

And I drop my hands, and slowly look up at him.  Nua glances at me, and says, “Yes.”

“You don’t have to do that,” says Bayan, “because I’ve already found him.”

And I stand, going to him, and grab his collar, forcing him into the wall.  “It’s Sloan.”

“Aber,” says Nua in shock, but Bayan just lifts his chin, smiling slightly.  “Who’s Sloan?”

“The person you talk to in the middle of the night,” I say softly, glancing over my shoulder.  “Sloan.  He knows Penny, he talks to you for Penny-”

“She,” corrects Bayan calmly, “knows Penny.”

I look at him, and then slowly let go of him.  I take a step back, and Nua says, “What are you talking about?”

“She can get you to him,” says Bayan softly, and then looks over my shoulder at Nua.  “Penny and I…”

“You’ve been talking, for a while now,” I say.  “But you never told her.”

“How?” asks Nua, looking dumbstruck, sitting back down on the windowsill.  “How did you find out?”

“He overheard us one night,” says Bayan softly, and I look at him.  “Did you see me?  Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“I suspected,” says Bayan quietly.  “But you’re right, Master Aber.  Sloan can bring you to Penny.”

“Why should we trust her?”

“Do you trust me?” asks Bayan, and I look at him.  He looks at the ground.  “Your wife did.”

“I know,” I say quietly, looking at Nua.  “I know.  We trust you.”

“Good,” says Bayan, looking back up at me.  “Then you can trust Sloan, and you can trust Penny.”

“You’d come with us, right?” I ask, and he hesitates.  Nua looks at him.  “Bayan, we wouldn’t just leave you here.”

“I’d be alright,” he says quietly, and Nua laughs humorlessly.  “Look in a mirror.”

“She’d probably want us to bring you, you know,” I say quietly.  Bayan shuts his eyes for a quick moment, smiling, then opens them again and nods to us.  He’s finished, he’s going to the door.  “I’ll sort it out for the both of you.  Penny and I have been in contact for a while.”

“But you never told my wife.”

Bayan pauses at the door, then turns back to me.  He exhales, pressing his lips together, then shakes his head.  “No, Master Aber.”

Nua over by the window laughs again, but it’s dry.  “You hid her twin from her.”

Bayan keeps looking at me.  “Penny asked me to.  Their mother doesn’t know that I know, Master Nua, Master Aber, I couldn’t risk...”

“Yeah,” I murmur, picking at my fingers.  “Yeah, I get it.”

When I look up again, he’s gone.