Chapter Forty-Four
ANGEL SINCLAIR
“Please report to the front of the building after breakfast at oh seven forty-five and wait for further instruction.”
It was Friday morning, and all eight of us were eating breakfast in the cafeteria. I’d tried to make eye contact with Jax, but he had headphones in and was sitting with his back to us. I wasn’t sure how to handle what he’d told me last night, but it made me see him in a new and different light.
When the announcement to go out front came over the loudspeaker, I dropped what was left of a bagel on my plate and exchanged a worried glance with Wally.
He looked at me, scared. “Why are we going to the front of the building? Are they going to take us somewhere?”
“Probably.”
He nervously wiped his hands on a napkin. “I just hope that whatever we do today, it’s not physically demanding. I think my body has reached final capacity on that front. Everything hurts.”
I hurt, too, but the truth was, we were all looking leaner and stronger. I kind of liked the way it made me feel—a bit more confident and sure on my feet. Unfortunately, the exercise hadn’t seemed to improve my awkwardness or social skills. Guess that was going to take a different kind of training. Still, I agreed with Wally’s sentiment. The last thing I felt like doing was grappling with another round of push-ups, pull-ups, and chin-ups that I couldn’t manage. Not that I had any control over what we’d do next.
A little before seven forty-five, we all filed out of the front of the building. A bus was idling, waiting for us to get on. My heart started pounding in my chest, and every cell in my body wished it were twenty-four hours from now.
Wally leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Oh, boy. Here we go.”
“Good luck,” I whispered back. “You’ve got this.” I tried for an optimistic inflection in my voice, but it sounded fake and stilted. Wally was too nervous to notice.
Once we were loaded, including Mr. Donovan, the bus drove past the UTOP campus. We looked at the buildings with undisguised curiosity, particularly because it was forbidden to us. I assumed the students were in class, because there were just a few kids walking around. The campus was prettier than the KIT compound, with strategically placed redbrick colonial buildings, pretty courtyards, and well-kept flower beds. We passed the campus and kept driving on a paved road into the woods. It made me wonder how many square miles the entire area encompassed.
The bus stopped in a small lot, where a couple other cars were parked. We got off the bus and waited for further instructions. Mr. Donovan slid on his sunglasses and waved a hand at us. “Students, please follow me.”
We walked up a tree-lined path toward a rectangular building sitting at the top of a small hill. I couldn’t get a clear view of the building, because it was obstructed by a screen of large bushes. When we stood in front of the bushes, Mr. Donovan held up a hand, stopping us.
“Your trial will take place here. There are several stations you must successfully navigate. After the first station, you may proceed individually or as a group. Unlike previous challenges, not everyone is required to finish together in order for you to complete the course.”
I glanced at Frankie, who shielded her eyes with a hand pressed against her forehead as she listened to Mr. Donovan speak. She seemed remarkably calm, which in turn relaxed me. If Frankie wasn’t afraid, I shouldn’t be, either. She was right—we should do our best and let the chips fall as they may. The best two people would be selected, and that was how it should be. I felt the band of anxiety gripping my stomach ease.
“There are five stations in the final trial, with a two-and-a-half-hour time limit to complete all the stations,” he continued. “To get started, an individual will be randomly selected to be the ‘eyes’ for the first station. After that, you can decide for yourselves how you intend to address each challenge.”
I felt someone looking at me, and when I turned, I saw Jax’s eyes on me. I gave him a tenuous smile, and he nodded briefly but said nothing.
“Throughout the trial, there will be multiple obstacles or objects that are painted red or lit with red lights.” Mr. Donovan spread his arms. “These objects may not be touched by any student, nor may any object be used by a student to touch a red area. For example, a student may not walk across a red-painted moat, nor may you lay a board on the moat to walk across it. If any competitor touches a red area, or an item they’re controlling touches a red area, it will result in a five-minute penalty for that individual and they must return to where they were before they touched the red area along with any items. Progress will be monitored and penalties assessed by video monitoring.”
That sounded ominous. Wally exchanged a worried glance with me.
“If you incur too many penalties and run out of time, you’ll fail the challenge. Please be reminded that only two competitors will be selected. There are a lot of points up for grabs in this final challenge, so good luck to each of you. Are there any questions?”
We stared at each other, but no one spoke. I had a hundred questions, but without having seen the challenges, it was difficult to articulate them. Instead, I wrapped my arms around my waist and kept quiet. Everyone else must have been in the same boat, because no one else spoke up.
“Fine. I’ll move on.” Mr. Donovan unsnapped his briefcase and pulled out a flattened brown paper bag. He opened it and stuck his hand inside. “For the first challenge, there are no red zones, which is good because most of you won’t be able to see. I’m going to draw a name out of this paper bag. That person will be referred to as Eyes. The rest of you will don swim goggles that have been painted black so you cannot see. We will then proceed around those bushes behind me. You’ll be required to assemble the object on the far side. I will show Eyes a picture of what you’re to assemble. Once you begin, Eyes will not be able to touch anything to help you with the assembly nor can they tell you what it is you’re assembling. However, Eyes will be able to provide you with directions to assemble the item. Once you hear a bell, you’ll know that the item is satisfactorily assembled. You may then remove your goggles and proceed to the next station. I will leave as soon as we proceed around the bushes, after I show Eyes the picture. I will give Eyes up to two minutes to survey the station and develop a plan. The timing for the overall challenge begins at the end of two minutes or when Eyes gives the first instruction. You’ll have to figure out where to go and how to pass each subsequent station on your own. You will not see me again until after you have completed the trial or the time limit is up. There will be timers along the way to show you how much time is left. Pay close attention to them. Every minute matters. Are you ready?”
He studied us one by one, waiting for us to nod. Was it my imagination or did his look linger a little longer on me?
He reached into the brown bag and pulled out a piece of paper. He lowered his sunglasses and said, “Angel Sinclair.”
I blew out a breath, and everyone stared at me. Anxiety flooded my veins. If I failed in my duty, I would sink everyone. Holy crap. No pressure.
Mr. Donovan remained staring at me, waiting for an acknowledgment, agreement, or something. I straightened my shoulders and gave him a curt nod.
I could do this.
Satisfied, he put the bag away and pulled out a handful of swim goggles that had blackened eyepieces. He handed them out to everyone but me and instructed the students to put them on. Once they were on, he checked each student for tightness and fit to make sure no gaps were visible.
“Just a reminder, we will be monitoring each of you by video and will issue severe penalties for anyone caught cheating.”
Once we were duly warned, he arranged everyone behind me in a straight line, each person holding on to the shoulders of the person in front of them. I walked slowly as everyone shuffled awkwardly behind me.
We came out into a grassy clearing near the side entrance of the large white building we’d seen on our trek up. I could see a closed door with a large number two over it. I assumed that would be where we’d go if we completed the first obstacle.
Mr. Donovan moved toward me holding a card. “Ms. Sinclair, please remember you may not tell your fellow students what they’re assembling. If you do, you will fail the obstacle. Do you understand?”
I nodded. “I understand.”
He handed me the card. It had a picture of a large four-pole awning, the kind that people raised at the beach and soccer games to stay out of the sun. The card also contained a one-sentence instruction that read: Raise the awning.
My eyes widened. Raise an awning? I’d never even put up a tent in my life.
A closer look at the grassy area indicated there were some indistinguishable items located there. I started to hyperventilate. Why the heck had he pulled my name out of the paper bag? Why couldn’t it have been Bo or Mike who could have easily explained to us how to assemble something like this?
I had the worst luck!
Mr. Donovan clapped me on the shoulder. “Okay, students, I’m going to leave now. You’re on your own. We will be watching carefully. Good luck to all.” He turned and disappeared back down to the parking lot.
For a moment, I stared at him, wishing I could shout at him to come back and take this responsibility from me. But the rest of the kids were standing there blindly with blacked-out goggles, waiting for me to lead them.
I breathed deeply and stared at the photo of the large tent-style awning, trying to decide what the right order of tasks would need to be performed. Time was going to be of the essence.
“Stand by,” I said to the others. “I’ve got two minutes to figure how to best do this.”
I dashed out into the clearing and saw at once what my problem would be. The items for the awning were in different piles and not centrally located. The awning fabric was rolled up on one part of the clearing and appeared to have some kind of tie around it. Farther away on the same side, I could see some long poles. About fifteen yards from the poles was a pile of ropes. I dashed to the opposite side of the clearing and found a small canvas bag with a hammer lying in the grass. I couldn’t see what was in the bag, but my best guess was they were the stakes that would hold the awning up once it was raised. My eyes lingered on the hammer. Trying to hammer stakes in the ground without being able to see was going to be extremely difficult, not to mention downright dangerous.
How in the heck was I going to walk them through that? I forced myself to calm down. We’d just have to cross that bridge when we got to it.
“Red?” I heard Jax call out. “What’s going on?”
I jogged back to the group. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. I want Bo, Mike, Jax, and Kira to hold on to each other’s shoulders and take ten large steps to your direct right and wait for me. Frankie and Wally, you go straight ahead fifteen steps. Hala, turn left and take ten large steps.”
The group starting bumping into each other and cursing, tripping over each other. It might have been a funny situation, except we didn’t have time for my incompetent direction.
“Stop,” I shouted.
Everyone froze.
What was I doing? I had to guide them every step of the way. I was the only eyes of this operation. Success would hinge upon me using the limitations given and a lot of creative thinking.
Think outside the box.
I ran over to the awning fabric. “Bo, Wally, Mike, and Kira, walk toward the sound of my voice.” I kept shouting and encouraging them until all four stood next to the fabric. I quickly did the same for the others until I had those I wanted at each pile.
“Bo, kneel and reach out in front of you.” When he did what I asked, I explained further. “You’ll find a large canvas tied with some kind of rope. It looks like it’s tied in a bow. Undo the tie and unroll it. It’s large, so Kira, when Bo tells you he has freed it, get down on your hands and knees and help him smooth it out. Jax, you and Mike take three steps to your left and then ten steps forward. You’ll find four large poles at your feet. One end is sharp, so be careful. Pick them up and stand by to bring them back to Bo and Kira on my command. I’ll be right back.”
I ran over to Frankie and Wally, who stood patiently waiting for me. “Guys, there are four coils of rope in front of you. Each of you pick up two and then wait for my next instruction.”
I dashed over to Hala, who stood near the bag with what I assumed were stakes and hammer. Upon closer inspection I saw the bag had a knot in it.
“Hala, sit down and grab the soft cloth bag that is front of you. It’s next to a hammer. Forget the hammer for now. Focus on the bag. It’s tied with a knot. I need you to untie it so we can get what’s inside.”
“Okay,” she said and promptly sat down. I guided her to the bag and she pulled it in her lap and started working on the knot.
“I’ll return in a minute,” I told her and ran back to Frankie and Wally. They had successfully gathered all of the ropes.
“Good job, guys. Follow my voice this way.”
I led them over to where Bo and the rest of his group were trying to unroll the fabric. It wasn’t going well. The fabric was only half unrolled, and they were arguing. Kira was sitting on half of it, Jax had his knees on another part, and it was crooked. They were completely clueless as to what to do, and that was my fault.
Despair shot through me. Time was ticking. We’d never be able to complete this station and move on if they didn’t know what they were doing.
I replayed Mr. Donovan’s instructions word by word in my head, looking for a loophole. Then, I suddenly had it. He’d told me I couldn’t tell them what they were assembling, but he never said I couldn’t describe the effect it would provide.
I clapped my hands so everyone stopped talking and listened. “Guys, we’re already down at least fifteen minutes,” I said. “We need to focus so we can get this task done. Trust me, it will be nice to have a little shade when you’re done. I don’t think it will take us longer than ten minutes, although I haven’t done anything like this since my last Girl Scout campout.”
Bo stilled, and then a smile crossed his face. One by one, I saw the understanding dawn on their faces. Bo felt the fabric and then told Kira what to do. Jax and Mike bent down to help. Suddenly everything started falling into place. Now that they understood what they had to do, they could coordinate their own efforts. Relieved, I dashed off to see how Hala was doing with the knot. She was still struggling.
“Angel, I can’t get it,” she said in frustration. “I can’t see what I’m doing.”
“I know it’s hard, but you’ve got small hands like me. You’re the best person for this job. Just keep it at. You can do it.” I instructed her to turn over the knot a couple of times, but without being able to see, she wasn’t making any progress. Encouraging her to keep trying, I ran back to the other group.
They had already spread out the awning and positioned the poles so the ends with the metal spikes were all aligned and pointed down. Those spikes would go into the ground and the other side would slide through the grommet hole at the top of each corner of the awning. Once those top poles were through, the ropes would loop over the metal top where it came through the fabric and be tied to a stake and pulled taut. Now that everyone knew what we were doing, the process would be a lot faster, since they would understand the mechanics.
“Great job!” I shouted enthusiastically. “I need one pole and one coil of rope at each corner. Remember, sharp point of the pole pointing down. Slide the other end of the pole through the grommet, then loop the rope in, too. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I rushed back to where Hala was swearing in what I assumed was Arabic. “I take it that means you’re not making progress.”
“It’s not working, Angel.” She threw the bag to the ground. “I can’t undo the knot.”
I knelt down to inspect it closely. The cord was extremely thin, which made the knot small and difficult for her to feel with just her fingertips. She picked it up again, and I tried to direct her, but it just wasn’t happening.
I glanced over at the others. Time was slipping away at an alarming rate, but they’d assembled the tent and gotten the poles and the ropes looped through the grommets. Now they were standing there waiting for one thing to secure it. The stakes. But once we got the stakes, how in the world would they hammer them blindly?
Hala had started making small, panicked noises as she struggled with the knot. What in the world were they thinking when they presented us with an impossible task?
I froze for a moment considering that.
Impossible.
Maybe it was an impossible task.
Perhaps they never intended for us to get the bag open. It could be that recognizing that was part of the test. I pulled the card out of my pocket and read the instructions again.
Raise the awning.
They didn’t say anything about securing it. We just had to raise it and we could move on, or at least that would be a literal interpretation. But given the way things were going, it was worth a try.
Hoping I was right, I straightened.
“Drop the bag and leave the hammer,” I said to Hala. “We’re not going to use them.”
“What?” Hala looked up with blacked-out goggles. “Why not?”
“Let me worry about that. Just come on, okay?”
She stood, and we dashed back to the others. Bo, Jax, Kira, and Mike already stood at the corners, awaiting my orders.
“Red, what’s next?” Jax said calmly.
I took a calming breath. “Okay, I want each of you at the four corners to grab the rope connected to your pole. Jax, call out to Frankie. Frankie, go to him, and when you get there, steady his pole. Hala, you do the same with Bo, and Wally, you assist Kira. Mike, I want you to just stand by, okay? Hold your rope and the pole, but don’t move yet. We’re going to raise your side last.”
Soon as everyone was in place. One person held a rope and one person steadied the pole, except for Mike, who continued to hold both.
“Now, on the count of three, I want everyone except Mike to step back two paces holding the rope taut and the pole steady,” I said. “One. Two. Three.”
Everyone except Mike stepped back in near perfect sync. Three sides of the awning went up perfectly. I almost cheered, but we weren’t done yet. I gave a few additional adjusting commands and then had Frankie move to where Mike held the remaining rope and pole. His side was still partially collapsed, but Frankie grasped the pole and Mike held the rope.
“On my command, Frankie, you and Mike take two steps back and hold on tight,” I instructed. “The rest of you stay where you are and hold your sides tightly.”
Two steps later, the last side of the awning was raised. It looked perfect, even if it wasn’t nailed to the ground with stakes.
Heart pounding, I spread my arms and turned in a slow circle. I had no idea where the monitoring cameras were located, but I swept my hand toward the awning and hoped with all my heart I had done the right thing.
“Task completed,” I shouted. “It’s officially raised.”