Crowam 281 Read Online Free PDF Page B

lap, then repositioned his plate and utensils.
    “What are you doing?” I asked.
    “I’m eating.”
    “You call that eating?”
    “I don’t understand what you mean?”
    “Forget it.”
    “Say, what is your name?” Owen asked.
    “Thomas, and yours?”
    “I’m Owen. You already know Jake, of course.”
    “I’m Charles!
    “Would you not eat with your mouth open!” I yelled.
    Food just flew out of Charles’s mouth. “Say, Thomas, how long have you been here for?”
    “Two weeks and three days, to be exact.”
    “What goes on around on here? This is not your run of the mill orphanage,” Owen said.
    “How do you figure?” Thomas said.
    “Well, for starters, look at all the guards.”
    “Maybe they’re here to protect us?” Charles said.
    “From who, the boogeyman? Hell, the Bus Driver smacked Charley here in the face on the ride over.”
    “It hurt too. My cheek is still red.”
    “It’s not the first time a boy has been hit in an orphanage, Jake.” Thomas took a bite of food.
    “Maybe. Say Thomas, you know anything about this Mr. Hugo guy?” Charles got engaged in the conversation.
    “Not really. I haven’t seen him much. But the boys that have been here seem terrified of him.”
    “Why?”
    “I wish I knew. There are rumors of course.”
    “What kind of rumors?” I needed to get to the bottom of this.
    “I hear that Mr. Hugo was a former British Colonel who spied for the Germans, that he specialized in torturing and interrogating POWs and double agents. But I mean the worst kind of torture. Other rumors that he was a doctor who abused his patients, conducting unusual experiments liking removing their brains and putting them into animals.”
    “Oh give me a break,” I said.
    “I also hear that boys have gone missing, disappeared, never to be seen again.
    “Disappeared?” I didn’t believe that. People couldn’t really disappear.
    “Yes. It’s frighteningly odd, Jake. But, of course, they are only rumors. I try not to take such claims seriously.”
    “By the way, you still haven’t told me why you’re here,” I said.
    “You’re still curious about that aren’t you?”
    “Yea,” I said.
    “It’s quite embarrassing actually.”
    “Oh come on, you’re among friends here, right fellas?” If I had to live with this kid, I needed to know what he was about.
    “Do tell us Thomas,” Owen said.
    “Well, if you must know, it was because of my grades.”
    “Your grades?”
    “Yes. I received perfect marks in all my classes. At the end of the school year, I earned a perfect score on my proficiency exam.”
    “I’m a little confused, Thomas. You’re saying you were put here because you got straight A’s?”
    “They thought I was cheating. I would never do such a thing. Of course, they had no proof. Nonetheless, that didn’t matter.”
    “Looks like you got the raw end of the deal.”
    “I suppose that is one way to put it.”
    “You’re a smart egg, Thomas. Don’t let anyone tell you different,” I said.
    “A smart egg? What on earth does that mean?”
    “Brother, why do I bother opening my mouth.” The bell rang. “Alright boys, looks like lunch is over.” They escorted us from the lunchroom and out into the courtyard.

Chapter 6
    After lunch, we headed to the courtyard. We went through this narrow hallway that displayed pictures of some old geezers that probably ran the place before any of us boys were even born. I noticed on the way to the courtyard that many of the windows were either boarded or covered up. One of the boards covering one of the windows had a crack where you could see outside.
    “What are you doing, Hudson?” Owen asked.
    “Wait a sec.” I noticed something odd when I looked through crack of the window. It was a courtyard blocked off from the rest of the building, with high reaching cement walls surrounding the yard. I noticed some people standing in the courtyard. Funny thing is, they weren’t really doing much. They weren’t running