Garinor decided that Jinorrah was right. If he was discovered, it would be all over for everyone else. He’d already risked danger coming to this place. It would be so much worse if that danger led to the harm of all these other boys as well. With a heavy sigh, he turned away from the door and checked to see what else was happening in the room.
Jinorrah was glad at the expression that came over Garinor’s face; he could see that their newest visitor was not going to make a run for it. He visibly relaxed and led Garinor over one of his favorite entertainments. Garinor had never seen anything like it.
Set low to the ground was a large square table covered in a soft, tightly stretched fabric. A low ridge ran all along the border, and at each corner and halfway across each wall there was a cutout and a bag-like net hanging from it. On top of the table were eight wooden balls with numbers carved into them and one other ball that was numberless. Jin handed Garinor a wooden pole that was the length of his forearm and took one for himself.
“This is Bounders,” he explained. “You hit that ball there—it’s called the lead—and make it knock the other balls into those nets. You get points if you get them in. More points if you call out which net you’re aiming for before you take a shot. We used to have the whole set of twelve balls—plus the lead of course—but they get damaged if you hit them too hard and that makes it hard to play. So now we play with eight. Dallios over there,” he said, pointing to a boy off by himself in the corner, “takes the damaged balls and tries to fix them. He’s pretty good at it. Only problem is that they come back a tiny bit smaller. But they still work.”
“One of us is even numbers and the other is odds. We could be really tricky and go in number order, but it looks like your first time at Bounders so we’ll stick with the easy game.” He took up his pole and dropped down on his knees. He aimed the pole into the lead, supporting the pole with one hand and working it with the other. He let loose and the lead smacked into the other balls, sending them scattering. Some of them rolled about and bounced off the walls and others deflected each other. One ball fell into one of the nets in the corner.
Jin claimed the ball and smiled. “See? It’s the four ball, so I’m evens. But it’s your turn now. Then, if you get one in you keep going until you miss.”
Garinor had an awkward time trying to hold the pole in place while on his knees. He missed his first few shots and Jin laughed and tried to guide him properly, always cautioning him not to scrape into the fabric on the table.
“That’s really hard to replace, so be extra careful of it.”
Garinor managed to win the third game, but only because they weren’t keeping exact score. Jin had mentioned about a scoring plan but they decided to see who hit in his balls first and judge the winner that way. He was having a good time and forgot all about why he was there until the door opened and one of the Sisters came inside.
“Trouble is gone now everyone,” she called out. “Whose turn is it today?”
Five of the boys got up and walked forward and Jin explained. “We take turns going up and spending time with everyone else. This way, if we’re ever discovered, it won’t be everyone, just a few. But we wouldn’t last being stuck down here all the time either. We have groups set up for going outside and whenever it’s time, the next group goes.”
“Sounds very organized.”
Jin grinned at him. “Yep. Leave it to the Sisters. Oh, she’s waving you over.”
Sure enough, the woman was beckoning to him with her hand. Garinor went over and she greeted him warmly. “Welcome,” she said. “You’re new to us, so we would like to talk with you today.”
“Is everything okay? I hope it didn’t cause trouble for you.”
She smiled. “Aren’t you a dear? There were two gentlemen after you, but we sent them on their way. They won’t trouble us further.”
Relieved, Garinor let himself be led through the dark hallway and up the stairs. She guided him to a room that was off the main area and she asked him to wait inside for them to see him. He went willingly.