The Variables

She looked at Blair. “And you’re with Gordy on this?”

Blair looked to the ground. “We know my father,” was all she said. “Let us save you. Once you leave, it becomes our war to fight, our battle and our battle alone.”

Lucy turned to Galen, and she was about to ask him what to do. If Blair and Gordy knew that the King family was alive, would they ever be free from the shadow of Kymberlin and the threat of discovery? She wanted to believe that Gordy would hide their disappearance from Huck. But what if it served himself to bring them back? Would he hunt them down again? She would leave if it meant she could be free of Kymberlin and the Trumans forever.

“How do I know that no one will find out what happened to us?” Lucy asked. “How do I know my family will be safe?”

Gordy walked to Lucy. She stood tall before him, pulling her spine upward, tilting her chin in defiance.

“I am offering you a boat. And a small window of time. And you will promise me that you will never come back here...ever. My father will think you are dead. Only Blair and I will ever know the truth. Over time people will forget you...don’t roll your eyes...it’s true. We will continue to grow our empire and let the earth heal, and you and your family will fade away.”

“That’s not true,” Galen said. “People will wonder where we’ve gone!”

Gordy shook his head. “No.”

“In one hundred years, you’ll be a myth,” Blair said. “A bedtime story. A cautionary tale. If you slip out in the darkness, you are dealt a kindness that we ca

“People forget,” Gordy added. “It’s nature’s kindest flaw.”

“It’s time,” Blair said. She walked to Lucy. “If you believe that the people here on Kymberlin will fight for you...you may not be wrong. But my father will fight for your destruction. You can choose, Lucy. But if you don’t take our out, we can’t guarantee your life or the lives of your siblings...”

Lucy nodded. “Give me a minute.”

“We don’t have a minute,” Gordy said.

“You will give me a minute,” she said, firmer this time. Lucy looked at Galen, “Get the kids. Pack some things. Only necessities and one artifact each.”

“Lucy—” Galen said.

“Do it,” she whispered. Turning her back to her visitors and her brother, she ran up the stairs and knocked on her mother’s door. When she opened it, her mother was awake, sitting against the bed on the floor. She was staring at the wall. There was a single bulb burning from a lamp. It’s light was dim and it cast long shadows against the wall. Lucy walked over and touched her mother’s arm. Maxine didn’t look at her. “Mom, we’re going. Right now. I need you to get up and come with me.”

“Going?” Maxine asked. She shook her head. “No. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Mom,” Lucy said, not trying to hide the panic in her voice. “Come with me. What do you want to take? Anything.” She rose and went to the dresser. The top was empty, bare. She opened up a drawer and there was nothing in there either. “What can I take for you?” she asked and turned.

“Lucy, I’m staying here. I will not run scared for my entire life. I made my choice to stay and I will stay. I owe it to your father to fight for what he wanted for us. I won’t cower to those fools...I will stand tall until the end.”

She watched as her mother stood and walked to the door and held it open. She wasn’t crying or yelling. Her eyes lacked brightness or awareness, but she stood firm and pointed to the hall. She was unwavering.

“Go, Lucy. You go.”

Lucy hesitated.

She could hear the voices of Monroe and Malcolm beneath the loft. Galen was corralling them, zipping them into coats, checking their backpacks. His voice carried to her.

“We have a long way to go, little one,” she heard him say. “You can pick one more thing to take. Your book? Okay. Let’s get your book.” He was a good big brother. He was a good friend.

“Your father died here. And this is where I wish to die. You can’t take that from me. Let me die, Lucy. Let me join him. Save the kids.” She pushed Lucy gently out into the hallway. And then Maxine started to close the door. Lucy pushed back against the closing door and it banged against the wall. Then she reached in and grabbed her mother’s hand.

“You’re the strongest woman I know.”

“It’s a lie,” Maxine said without hesitation.

“It’s not.” Lucy pulled her mother gently into the hall and she resisted. “Dad’s sacrifice was in vain if you just sit here in this bedroom and wallow. We have been offered a chance out of this nightmare and we’re taking it. Do you hear me?” She waited, and when her mother didn’t answer, Lucy took another step forward. “Don’t make me say goodbye to you, Mom. I’m leaving. I made the choice and it’s my choice and we’re leaving Kymberlin right this instant. And I’m not leaving here without my mother. So, you have a choice...you will pack a bag and come downstairs and help me with the kids. Those kids are not losing their mother and father in one day.”

Maxine lifted her eyebrows. She paused as if she were going to launch into one of her patented diatribes; when Maxine made up her mind, no one changed it. Lucy could see her mother slipping from her. Then Maxine smiled. Her face scrunched up and she tried to push away the tears; she smoothed down her bangs and cleared her throat. “What’s my choice?” Maxine asked in a shaky voice. “You said I had a choice and then only listed one option…”

“Mama Maxine staple parenting tactic,” Lucy replied. “I lied.” She held her head up high. “There is no choice.”

Maxine leaned in and pulled Lucy into a hug. She rested her head against her daughter and pushed their cheeks together. Then in a whisper, she said, “Well shit, Lucy Larkspur. That’s a pep talk I wasn’t expecting from you. Like a slap in the face. On the way out...maybe you can advise me on my financial future?”

The statement seemed incongruous and Lucy pulled back. “What?” she asked, confused, looking at her mother, whose dark eyes sparkled.

“Because I think you just did it. You got what you wanted. You grew up. In that moment…you grew up. And if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you sounded just like that Darla you talked about.”

There was a hidden dock. In order to access it, they had to journey down to the Remembering Room first; then Gordy led them to a secret elevator off the control room. It took them back up to the surface of the ocean and into a small loading dock with a collection of boats. Big and small, luxury, and military. When they slipped through the control room, Lucy noticed that the cameras were off. Kymberlin was experiencing a visual blackout. The operators were gone, too. Gordy and Blair had orchestrated a series of open windows for them—and as she realized the lengths of their charade, she knew that she would be forever indebted to them for this second chance.

As they neared the bottom of the stairs, she looked up to the mirror in the top of the control room where she and Grant had just stood...yesterday? Had it only been yesterday? And she tried to picture them up there now, looking down on the people below and hoping for a miracle.

Grant knew then that he was leaving. He had stood next to her and kissed her and held her hand, and the whole time he knew that he might have to say goodbye. The group of escapees only had a few hours head start, but Lucy hoped that their plan had been a success and that they could catch up to them. She didn’t want to be the one to tell Ethan about their father. She didn’t want to watch his face when she admitted that they couldn’t all make it off the Island.

She wanted to say or do something for him. She wanted to stop and pray—could she remember Grant’s prayer for Salem? But she knew that she would never have the right words to memorialize the moment. They were alive: her mother, her, Galen, Monroe, Malcolm, and Harper. They were alive and they were together. That was enough.