us, but we were famous, in our own way,” Oscar said. “Who else dared to do anything? We were cool. We even started attracting a Baron kid or two, rebelling against their parents.”
Luke looked up, startled.
“Lee,” Luke said.
“Yep,” Oscar said, nodding. “The real Lee Grant. Or
maybe I should say, the original version.”
Luke leaned forward, waiting. He realized he was barely breathing.
“Lee wasn’t our first Baron kid, but he had the best connections,” Oscar said.
“But why would he—,” Luke began.
“If your dad’s the richest man in the country, and you’re mad at him, what’s the best way to get back at him? Mess up the Government Such fun.” Oscar shook his head. “None of us trusted him.”
“Then, why did you let him join?” Luke asked.
“Don’t you see?” Oscar asked. “He was Lee Grant. What a great weapon for our cause.” He looked down. “Some in our group thought the best thing we could do was to kidnap him and ask for ransom. We could have financed our operations for years to come.”
“But you didn’t do that,” Luke said, almost as a question.
“No,” Oscar said impatiently. “We thought he’d be more useful in other ways. And he was. He. . . matured. He was turning into a fine subversive. When he was home on break from school, he relayed lots of plans he stole from his father. Plans that helped us know what the Government was up to so we could counter their activities.”
“What did he do for you when he was away at school?” Luke asked. In spite of himself, he was fascinated by this new version of Lee’s life. Luke felt like he was putting together a jigsaw puzzle: Here’s one piece showing Lee
pulling his younger brother, Smits, in a red wagon. Here’s the piece from his mother: Lee as the gifted musician, the talented athlete, the brilliant student. Here’s the piece from Mr. Grant—Lee as the stubborn troublemaker.
Somehow that was the only piece that seemed to jibe with Oscar’s story.
aHe went to one of those fancy, richy-rich prep schools. And while he was there”—Oscar chucked~uhe tricked all those sons of the establishment into helping us without even knowing it. He was a piece of work, that Lee.~
“But he died,” Luke said. For the first time he put together what Smits and Smits’s parents had said. “He was killed doing something for you. For your group.” It wasn’t a question. That had to be the “illegal activity~ Mr. Grant had referred to. That had to be the reason a Government soldier had shot Lee. Smits hadn’t been lying about that at all.
Oscar frowned.
“Unfortunately, yes. He was killed during one of our secret missions,” Oscar said.
“NVhat was itT’
Oscar narrowed his eyes, as if trying to decide how much to tell Luke. “Last spring we thought maybe we had our chance to act. There’d been an anti-Government rally in the capital. We weren’t part of that—we knew it was doomed from the start. But it shook some people up. A lot of kids died, right there in public, and there were actually some officials who got upset. Public deaths are
so much more offensive than private ones.”
Luke wasn’t sure what to make of this news. Was Oscar talking about the rally that Jen had led and died in? Had the rally had an impact after all?
We thought we’d strike while the enemy was in disarray,~ Oscar said. “But we had to get weapons out to everyone in our group as quickly as possible. Some of our people were in the far north. Lee was a good cross-country skier. He volunteered to cross the mountains to deliver the munitions.
TM Munitions?” Luke repeated.
~Guns,~ Oscar said.
Luke tried to imagine a boy his age, alone in the mountains, carrying guns. He’d never seen any mountains for real, but he pictured them as desolate places. Just snow and trees and Lee, carrying guns.
“So they caught him. The Government caught him,” Luke said.
Oscar nodded. TM Lee had the sense to try
Luke looked up, startled.
“Lee,” Luke said.
“Yep,” Oscar said, nodding. “The real Lee Grant. Or
maybe I should say, the original version.”
Luke leaned forward, waiting. He realized he was barely breathing.
“Lee wasn’t our first Baron kid, but he had the best connections,” Oscar said.
“But why would he—,” Luke began.
“If your dad’s the richest man in the country, and you’re mad at him, what’s the best way to get back at him? Mess up the Government Such fun.” Oscar shook his head. “None of us trusted him.”
“Then, why did you let him join?” Luke asked.
“Don’t you see?” Oscar asked. “He was Lee Grant. What a great weapon for our cause.” He looked down. “Some in our group thought the best thing we could do was to kidnap him and ask for ransom. We could have financed our operations for years to come.”
“But you didn’t do that,” Luke said, almost as a question.
“No,” Oscar said impatiently. “We thought he’d be more useful in other ways. And he was. He. . . matured. He was turning into a fine subversive. When he was home on break from school, he relayed lots of plans he stole from his father. Plans that helped us know what the Government was up to so we could counter their activities.”
“What did he do for you when he was away at school?” Luke asked. In spite of himself, he was fascinated by this new version of Lee’s life. Luke felt like he was putting together a jigsaw puzzle: Here’s one piece showing Lee
pulling his younger brother, Smits, in a red wagon. Here’s the piece from his mother: Lee as the gifted musician, the talented athlete, the brilliant student. Here’s the piece from Mr. Grant—Lee as the stubborn troublemaker.
Somehow that was the only piece that seemed to jibe with Oscar’s story.
aHe went to one of those fancy, richy-rich prep schools. And while he was there”—Oscar chucked~uhe tricked all those sons of the establishment into helping us without even knowing it. He was a piece of work, that Lee.~
“But he died,” Luke said. For the first time he put together what Smits and Smits’s parents had said. “He was killed doing something for you. For your group.” It wasn’t a question. That had to be the “illegal activity~ Mr. Grant had referred to. That had to be the reason a Government soldier had shot Lee. Smits hadn’t been lying about that at all.
Oscar frowned.
“Unfortunately, yes. He was killed during one of our secret missions,” Oscar said.
“NVhat was itT’
Oscar narrowed his eyes, as if trying to decide how much to tell Luke. “Last spring we thought maybe we had our chance to act. There’d been an anti-Government rally in the capital. We weren’t part of that—we knew it was doomed from the start. But it shook some people up. A lot of kids died, right there in public, and there were actually some officials who got upset. Public deaths are
so much more offensive than private ones.”
Luke wasn’t sure what to make of this news. Was Oscar talking about the rally that Jen had led and died in? Had the rally had an impact after all?
We thought we’d strike while the enemy was in disarray,~ Oscar said. “But we had to get weapons out to everyone in our group as quickly as possible. Some of our people were in the far north. Lee was a good cross-country skier. He volunteered to cross the mountains to deliver the munitions.
TM Munitions?” Luke repeated.
~Guns,~ Oscar said.
Luke tried to imagine a boy his age, alone in the mountains, carrying guns. He’d never seen any mountains for real, but he pictured them as desolate places. Just snow and trees and Lee, carrying guns.
“So they caught him. The Government caught him,” Luke said.
Oscar nodded. TM Lee had the sense to try
Similar Books
