Set Me Free Read Free Page A

because it was obvious
     what it was. She looked at Victor and then back down at the ground.
    “It’s a baby,” Victor said.
    And it was. It was lying there on the ground, on an old gray blanket, with its eyes open, looking up at them. A real live
     baby. A changeling child, like the one they’d been conjuring. This was serious.
    “What do we do?” she asked, but not of Victor.
    He turned and looked at her, then slowly swiveled his head back toward the school. “We should get someone.”
    Amelia glanced back down at the baby. It was puckering its mouth. Its little hands and feet were pumping in the air. It seemed
     very small below them.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe we should leave it.”
    Victor’s jaw dropped. “We’re not leaving it. I’m getting your dad.”
    “We’ll be in trouble.”
    But Victor was already running. “I’m not going to let that baby die,” he called. He was already nearing the fence. It seemed
     as if he were flying.
    Death. She hadn’t thought of that. Victor was right. This baby could die. Anything could die. Amelia took off her sweatshirt
     and laid it down over the baby, which was dressed in only a small yellow T-shirt and a diaper. When she squatted close to
     the baby, it smiled at her. She put her pointer finger in its warm little hand, and it tried to pull it into its mouth. The
     baby’s breath smelled good and milky. Amelia turned to look for Victor, but he was out of sight, probably running over the
     creek bed, already on the grounds of the school. “He
is
brave,” she thought. She was ashamed for acting like a little kid. She hoped he wouldn’t tell her father what she’d said.
    She’d never been alone with a baby before, this close. Part of her wanted to pick it up, but she was scared she would drop
     it. She couldn’t really imagine how heavy it would be. Of course, she’d seen babies before. She’d even held them on her lap.
     There were new mothers coming by the school all the time. But she’d always felt brave with these mothers watching her, telling
     her where to put her hands, ready to take the baby if it started crying. This was different. She knew you weren’t supposed
     to let the head fall back, or it could break its neck or something. She didn’t want to break the baby’s neck.
    That was when she noticed the white cloth tied to the tree. Almost like a banner. That scared her a little, because it seemed
     like something a sorcerer would do. Maybe there was an invisible magic spell woven into the cloth. She began to notice how
     quiet the world around her was, and how alone she was in it. So she sang. First “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” then “I’ve Got
     Sunshine,” then the melody to Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A major, and then she ran outof songs. The baby didn’t seem to care all that much. It kept puckering up its mouth and waving its hands in the air and kicking
     up at her. It didn’t look happy, but it didn’t look sad. It just looked.
    Victor was taking a long time. Probably her father hadn’t been in his office. Since it was after hours, there was no one else
     down on the main campus, not even Victor’s mom, who was grading tests. Maybe her dad was making dinner. Amelia was pinched
     with a pang of hunger. She suddenly had to pee. It was funny she hadn’t felt it before, but now she thought she might wet
     her pants. She would have to go to one of the bushes and pee behind it. And she would sing to the baby the whole time, so
     it wouldn’t feel alone.
    She leaned down quickly and kissed one of its toes. The baby foot was sweaty and squirmy like a thick pink worm. It smelled
     like it wanted to be nibbled on. “I’ll be right back,” Amelia said. “I just have to pee now.” The baby gave a belly laugh,
     and she kissed its toes again. It smiled at her, and she made a funny face. “Okay,” she said, “I’ll be right back.”
    She went to the closest juniper and squatted behind it. She knew it probably