Truth Read Online Free PDF Page A

one could expect.” She dismissed Hal. As the door closed behind him, she said, “Your tutor will be a great help with this.”
    “Who?” I raised myself to sitting.
    “You are beginning tutoring in ancient sciences soon, are you not?”
    Rosie. My Cliste Galad lessons. How did she know? “Not for a while. I couldn’t . . .”
    “I understand. No matter, you will learn other things. You are far from alone.”
    “I need to go home. Gran and Pops must be worried sick.”
    “Yes, you should go straight home.” Mrs. Marchant handed me another tissue. “Now that CPS has the case, they will do whatever they will do.” She checked the wall clock. “You have friends. Ask for their help.” She whirred back to her desk.
    “Thank you,” I said.
    “The truth will out, Miss Oberon.” She didn’t even look up from her papers. “Carry on.”

V
    W hen I got outside, Wei was waiting for me. “You look terrible. What happened?”
    I glanced around, this wasn’t something I wanted overheard. “There’s been a Writ of Unsuitability filed against Gran and Pops. CPS came and questioned me in Marchant’s office. Someone’s trying to take Dee away.” I checked out each student who filed out of the building, hoping against hope to see Sal. “Where’s Sal? I saw him with Paulette when I was going to Marchant’s.”
    “He . . . yeah, business.” She gave me a knowing look.
    “Yeah, right.” It took a minute for me to stop peering at the faces trickling past. I bit my tongue. Sal had been straight with me. I had no reason to doubt him. But Paulette . . . Gah! I didn’t want to waste more than that one sarcastic moment on Paulette. I’d talk to Sal later.
    The last bell rang. “Skivs! Dee’s been waiting.” I called her on my PAV. She’d taken refuge from the cold inside a designer shop and was wondering where I was.
    “We’ll be right there.” I clicked off and motioned to Wei. “Come on. I’ll tell you the details while we’re walking.”
    I filled her in: “You know, I could ask Mr. Long if he’ll let me work full-time. If Gran and Pops can’t . . . Well, I can. I’ll quit school and look after Dee. I will not let her go.” A thought grabbed me. “Wei, what if it’s not the CPS system they send her to? What if they send her to Ed’s family? I can’t let that happen! I—”
    “Dad will know what to do,” Wei said.
    Dad. What about my dad? And my sister’s dad—her real one, that is. Wei’s mother was the only person besides my father and me who knew that he was Dee’s father, too. Surely he’d do something if they took her away. He had to, right? But then I realized what would happen. It wasn’t safe for anyone to know that Dee was really Alan Oberon’s daughter—things were dangerous enough after the incident with Ed. And the only way anyone could be absolutely sure that Dee would be safe was if she went into hiding with him. Underground. Disappeared, presumed dead—just like him. Chills ran through me. I’d lost my mom; I never had my dad. I couldn’t lose my sister, too—there had to be a different way.
    “Hey, Wei, did you talk to your friends?” I asked. Maybe, just maybe the Sisterhood could help. How, I didn’t know.
    “Yep. Whenever you can come over to my house, you can meet them. We’ll set up a face-to-face.”
    “I don’t work again until tomorrow. So, maybe tonight?”
    We were still trying to figure out timing when Dee came running out of the shop. “They were about ready to throw me out.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Oh, never mind that. Guess what? Miss Maldovar chose me to be her assistant for the rest of the school–– Zats! Nina, you look awful.” Like a little nurse, she swiped her wrist across my forehead. “Are you sick or something?”
    Wei gave my arm a quick squeeze. “See you later. Bye, Dee.”
    Taking a deep breath, I explained the situation to Dee, stopping only long enough for us to board the trans.
    When I was