Choke: 2 (Pillage Trilogy (Pillogy)) by Obert Skye Page A

had ever eaten. As usual I ate at the counter in the kitchen by myself while Millie puttered around me cleaning up.
    “You should sell this recipe,” I said honestly.
    Millie smiled for the first time since I had been home. “You’re a nice child, Beck. I just wish your father would show up.”
    “He said he was going after something important,” I reminded her. “That’s gotta take at least a day.”
    “I suppose,” she said sighing and drying her hands on her apron.
    “Millie?” I asked. “What do you think about trains?”
    “I haven’t given it much thought, but I suppose I like them. Why?”
    I just shrugged. I guess I was hoping she knew and would suddenly blurt out the answer to where those tracks went.
    “It was windy last night,” Millie said.
    “I know. Plus I’m having kind of a hard time sleeping,” I told her. “I think it’s because of all that time in the hospital. I’m sorry if my wandering around wakes anyone up.”
    “I didn’t hear you wandering,” she insisted.
    “Last night I actually walked outside for a little bit,” I told her. Just to stretch my legs.”
    “The outdoors can be quite invigorating,” she replied.
    I sighed, feeling better about having to slip out later and follow the tracks. After all, I would just be stretching my legs again.
    After dinner I went straight to my room. I lay in bed and looked at The Grim Knot for about an hour. I reread some of the pages and stared at all the notes and pictures that were drawn in it. I knew there was more there somewhere. I just couldn’t see it. The book was kind of like the manor, filled with secrets and hidden things you couldn’t easily distinguish. I wished my dad was around to talk to, but chances were even if he were here he wouldn’t say much about the book. It wasn’t a subject he enjoyed talking about. I stared at one of the pages as if it had some hidden picture that would pop out at me. My new pasty friend had told me to look closely, but I couldn’t see anything I hadn’t noticed before.
    I closed the old book and set it on my nightstand next to my dictionary and Mr. Binkers. Then I set my alarm, turned out my light, and fell asleep.
    When the alarm rang at eleven forty-five, I jumped out of bed. I was tired, but my body was up for some excitement. I changed my clothes, used the bathroom across the hall, grabbed the metal detector and a flashlight, and then made my way out of the manor. I didn’t have a watch, but I made it back behind the garage before midnight.
    “What are you doing?” Wyatt whispered fiercely as he sprang out from behind some trees.
    Instinctively I dropped the metal detector and hit him right in the nose. He flew back howling as I tried to calm myself enough for my heart to slip back down my throat and into its proper place.
    “What the heck,” I breathed. “You scared me to death.”
    “You look plenty alive,” Wyatt said holding his snout. “I think you broke my nose.”
    “Good. You don’t spring out of the forest at someone at night.”
    “It was worth it,” he laughed. “I bet you jumped at least six feet.”
    “I should have hit you harder.”
    I couldn’t see Wyatt clearly but I could tell he was wearing a white shirt with a jacket over it. He was shorter than me with dark hair and long arms.
    “So how are you?” I asked.
    “I was fine up until now.”
    “Are you guys not getting along?” Kate asked, stepping out from around a corner of the garage.
    “He hit me,” Wyatt complained.
    “You probably deserved it.”
    I liked Kate.
    We walked over to where the track had been and I turned on the metal detector. It squealed like a hot microphone, sending feedback into the forest and probably waking all the animals. I adjusted the volume while Kate and Wyatt plugged their ears.
    “Now that you’ve woken up the entire mountainside . . .” Kate complained.
    “Sorry,” I said. “Come on.”
    The metal detector gave off a low beep as I traced the track away