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how much meat is on a goose?”
    â€œAre there any more geese inside?” Clover asked.
    â€œNo, those were the only ones we caught.”
    â€œWe needed food.” Tim shot Wally a look. “Obviously catching geese wasn’t the answer.”
    â€œWe have some food upstairs,” Jude said. “It’s not goose, but it should fill you up.”
    â€œThank God, ’cause I’m so hungry. I could have eaten a whole
Canada
goose by myself.” The boy ticked off the parts of the bird on his fingers. “Feathers. Bones. Beak—”
    The third boy was Wally’s older brother, David, who swiftly backhanded Wally on the shoulder. “Jesus, shut up about your stomach.”
    Wally shoved his brother. David. “Don’t tell me to shut up!”
    Jude took Clover’s hand and pulled her up, away from the boys. Tim got between the brothers and said, “Both of you shut up. Right now.”
    The rest of the walk was less eventful. Now Clover almost didn’t want Jude to open their door and let these boys in. More than almost, if she was being honest. “Is this how you felt when me and West first came here?”
    Jude squeezed her hand, then let it go without answering her. There was something he wasn’t telling her, but she filed that away until they were alone.
    Jude walked to the utility room at the end of one hallway and flipped a couple of breakers. A few minutes later, they went into room 1528 and he switched on the light. The three new boys exploded with questions about how the lights came on, all at the same time, but Jude held up a hand to quiet them.
    â€œThere’s electricity? We’ve been living in the dark, and there’s power here?” David asked.
    â€œLater.” Jude opened the food closet. They kept preserved fruits and vegetables, some jerky, bags of stale cookies and crackers stolen from the Academy dining room, and mason jars filled with dry rice and beans. “Eat. We’ll be next door. We have something we have to do, and then we’ll be right back and we’ll answer your questions.”
    â€œNot all of them,” Clover said.
    None of the boys were listening. They were fighting for space in front of the food closet. Jude led her to his old room, retrieved a duffel bag from under the bed, and then they locked themselves into the adjoining room.
    For the first time that Clover could remember, Mango was more rattled than she was. The fight to stay with Clover rather than follow his instincts and chase the geese had upset the dog. Clover took his lead off, gave him a bowl of water, and let him catch his breath.
    â€œWhat aren’t you telling me?” she asked.
    â€œClover.” It sounded like there was more, there had to be more, but he didn’t go on.
    â€œYou weren’t surprised they were here,” Clover said, feeling the pieces slip into place.
    Jude hesitated, then said, “No.”
    â€œYou told them to come here.”
    â€œI told them about this place,” Jude said, as if there were some distinction there. “I told them how to find food.”
    â€œYeah, it doesn’t look like they’ve figured it out yet.”
    â€œNo, it doesn’t.”
    â€œDo you know what would happen if they got caught and gave you up?” It hit Clover, all of a sudden. So far, Jude was under the radar. If Bennett found out about him—that he’d been out of the city with her and Bridget—it would be bad. Very bad. “Jude.”
    He sat on the edge of the bed. “I had to do something.”
    â€œWhat are we supposed to do about them? We can’t just leave them here, can we?”
    â€œWe can’t send them back to Foster City.” Jude took the laptop and illegal wireless modem from the duffel. He’d stolen both from his abusive house father when he escaped Foster City several months before. The scar that ran down the left side of his face was