Redeemer Read Online Free PDF Page B

way out, now that you know it might be an option.”
    She’s right. I know it and she knows it.
    “I’m going to find out. How could I not? But, you could get out with me, Jamie. They can’t feed you enough here. I got my allowances and there wasn’t a single fresh item in the box.”
    She shakes her head and turns away from me. “I can’t leave. How would I sneak a tiny baby out of the city? His crying would alert every guard in the area. Everyone would be caught.”
    “Everyone?”
    Jamie shifts on the couch, frowning. “Well, I hear they leave in groups, but I wouldn’t know for sure.”
    My mind can’t comprehend what she’s saying, what seems to be common knowledge. I scoot closer to her. “Do the guards know this happens?”
    “I don’t see how they couldn’t know it, but I guess they don’t care.” She shrugs and glances Easton’s way.
    I frown and sit back. This whole city is strange. Too laid back. There should be more guards, more security. It is a city of criminals, after all.
    “I’m meeting with a group of Christians tomorrow. You could at least come to the meeting with me.”
    Jamie’s gaze peels away from me and lands on the window. She stares out at the city, biting her lip. “We could probably come to a meeting, just this once.”
    That feeling of hope bubbles up inside me.
    “Where will you go?” Jamie asks. “If you run away?”
    The question stops me in my tracks. Where could I go? There is always Miriam and the Free, but that would mean finding them. I don’t have any other options, though.
    “Out west,” I say. “At least, I would start there. I would have to move fast, though.”
    “If you could sneak out of this city, you could probably sneak back into another city. Maybe you could find Keegan.”
    Her idea makes me so happy I throw myself at her and wrap her in a hug. “That is a great idea.”
    Keegan’s memory burns my heart and eyes at the same time. I haven’t seen him in what feels like forever, but it’s only been a month. His last words to me were in a letter, and they weren’t even written by his own hand.
    K said to tell you he believes.
    The best news I’d had, ever. Keegan decided he believed in God. And now Jamie, too. Mr. Elders said something once, the night Keegan and I sneaked onto his boat. Something about God not letting people forget Him. Mr. Elders said God always leads people to Him, revealing the way to salvation.
    God is good that way.
    My mind spins back to Jamie’s words. Can I get into Middle 1? It is worth a try. What would they do if they caught me? Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than this.
    “Will you think about coming?” I ask, even though I know the answer. She can’t bring baby Easton with her. It would be too dangerous for him.
    Jamie shakes her head, her eyes sad.
    Possibly leaving my best friend behind when I’ve only just found her is excruciating. I take her hand. “It doesn’t matter. There probably isn’t a way out anyway.” And there’s a huge chance my words are true. I’m making plans as if our speculations are fact.
    But we both know it’s not true. Deep in my heart I can feel there is a way out, and I’m going to find it. I could help the Lessers by staying, but I can help them more by going. By fixing things. Changing things.
    Jamie’s eyes begin to droop, and she sighs. “It’s hard taking care of a baby.”
    “You’re tired. Go to bed.”
    She nods. “I think I will.” She hugs me one last time before going to her room.
    I sleep on the couch again, and in the morning I make a decision. “I’m bringing you my food.”
    She frowns. “What? You don’t have to do that.”
    “I might as well stay here. I don’t want to be alone.”
    “You want to live with me?”
    Her words stop me. I turn to her slowly. “You don’t want me to?”
    “Of course I do! I just didn’t think you’d want to, not with the baby and how he cries off and on through the night.”
    She moves toward me and I close