“It’s okay, Wynter. I told her,” she explains. “Martha is here to look after us.”
“You won’t tell my father, will you?” I ask, and Martha smiles kindly, shaking her head. She turns to Leonie. “I’ll take it from here. Thank you for letting me know.”
Leonie nods, offering me a small smile before leaving. Jaycee turns from the sink where she’s washing vegetables and begins to dry her hands.
“We know we can trust you,” says Martha, “and it’s very important you keep this amongst us.”
“We’re planning an escape,” Jaycee blurts out, sitting beside me, and Martha gives her an eyeroll.
“An escape?” I repeat, confusion clouding my brain. “Can’t you just leave?”
“We’re as trapped here as you,” Martha explains. “When people arrive here, they surrender everything.”
“Money, houses, debt . . . everything,” says Jaycee. “They sell it like some dream,” she continues. “Come to Paragon Village, where all your troubles will be resolved.”
“And once you’re here, you realise it’s nothing more than a cult set up by men to serve men.” Relief floods me.They see it.They see what I’ve been trying to tell people for too long. “They say this isn’t a prison, that we’re free to leave, but after witnessing what happened to Jade and Abel, we realise that’s not the case.”
“Has anyone ever asked to leave?”
Martha shrugs. “Most of the men in the village want to stay. Why wouldn’t they? And I think some of the wives are too scared to stand up and argue for freedom. Once here, men change, or maybe they’ve always been the way they are and this place gives them the power to control their families.”
“Is that what happened to you?” I ask.
“My husband promised this life was better. Turns out it was just a way to keep me to himself and control my every move.”
“But he’s been gone a while,” I point out. “Why haven’t you asked to leave?”
“And go where?” she asks. “I have nothing and no one. Besides, I’ve been too scared to raise my views in case it upsets the four pretentious pricks,” she adds, and I can’t help the laugh that escapes me.
“How did you end up here?” I ask Jaycee.
“I was trouble back home,” she admits. “I was under the care of the government after my parents died. Their places for kids aren’t very nice,” she adds. “And then I noticed younger boys were being sent here, so I asked if I could come too.”
I look at Martha. “Is that why you said the boys who come here get a better life, because the government don’t take care of them?”
She places a hand over mine. “What they’re doing is wrong, Wynter, but I couldn’t admit that in case you weren’t trustworthy.”
“Why do you suddenly trust me?” I ask warily.
“I thought I could when you were asking so many questions,” she admits, “but when Leonie told me what happened, I knew I could share this with you and you wouldn’t be able to tell a soul.”
I frown. “Because you have a secret on me?”
“Exactly.”
I’m not sure how I feel about her veiled threat, but I give a slight nod. “Okay. Let’s just leave. We’ll go to the gate and tell them to open them. And when we get into the outside world, we’ll tell someone what they’re doing here.”
“Tell who?” asks Jaycee. “No one cares. That’s why they’ve not noticed when kids go missing from the system.”
My brow furrows. I’d never felt able to leave because I was too scared of what awaits me. But if there are more of us, maybe it wouldn’t be so frightening. “What’s the plan?” I ask.
“We don’t have one,” Martha admits. “There’s only the four of us.” I look confused, and she adds, “Anna wants to leave too.”
“We could just leave through the caves, get out from that bar?”
“Impossible,” says Jaycee. “For one, I have no idea how to get there. Do you?” I shake my head. “The bent guards have maps. They also know what times other guards patrol. And even if we made it, there’s nothing to say there won’t be guards waiting in that bar. They won’t risk us getting out in case the forefathers discover what they’ve been up to.”
“Plus, that bar is in the middle of nowhere. It’s miles to the nearest village. We’d need to avoid roads in case the forefathers are driving to or from the village. It’s too risky.”
