Chapter 47

I know where Mabel lives but I don't usually go to her house so I know my presence on her doorstep will catch her off guard. My feet feel like lead as I climb the rickety wooden steps to her porch. I knock twice and wait for her to open the door.

"Miss Madge? What on earth are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"I needed to talk to you if you have a moment." My voice comes out steady and calm but I'm shaking inside.

"Of course, come in, come in." She waves me in and gestures to a chair at her small kitchen table. I take a seat and wait for her to do the same.

"Would you like anything? Some tea maybe?"

"No thank you."

"Alright then. What's this all about dear?" She asks as she sits in the chair across from me.

"I need to know what my mother's plan for keeping me safe was." I don't tell her how much I've already discovered because I want to see if just how forthcoming she'll be with me.

"Oh, I see. Miss Madge, it really isn't for me to discuss with you." The immediate discomfort of the topic registers clearly on her face as well as in her voice.

"No. I need you to tell me. I have a right to know. I mean it is my life after all. And it isn't as if I can go ask my mother."

She sits in silence for a few minutes and fiddles with her hands in her lap. Finally she looks up at me and begins to explain. "Your mother was devastated, almost irreparably, when Maysilee was reaped and lost her life in the games. So naturally, when she had you that became the biggest fear. She was so sure, so confident that they were going to pull your name from the reaping bowl. She knew first hand that having only a few entries wasn't enough to keep you safe from the terrible fate that took her sister. So she made a plan. One that would keep your name out of the reaping bowl forever. Your name hasn't been put in the bowl a single time. Ever."

"But what did she do for that to happen? How could she possibly make that happen?"

"She went to the Capitol. She had connections being the wife of District 12's Mayor and she sought out the Head Game Maker. He listened to her concerns and then offered her a deal."

"What deal Mabel? What did she agree to?" Fury laces through my words.

"Miss Madge, I really think this is best coming from your father and not from me."

"No. You owe it to me to give me the truth."

"Your mother promised your hand in marriage in exchange for permanently eliminating your name from the list."

"Who?"

"The Head Game Maker. Senneca Crane."

I feel bile rising up in my throat and have to swallow hard to keep from getting sick all over the table. "When? When am I marrying him?"

"Your 18th birthday."

"And none of you felt this important enough to tell me about? What were you going to do? Just hand me over to him with no warning? No explanation?"

"It wasn't our deal. It wasn't a plan that your father and I knew about until after your mother signed official documents. Your father was devastated and probably the most angry I've ever seen him. Your father has spent the past several years trying to work out a new deal that would override the one your mother signed."

"And was he successful?"

"No. Not yet. I don't know the details of that at all but it's why he spends so much time visiting the Capitol. All he's told me is that it's extremely confidential. He hopes to resolve it all before your 18th birthday."

"It's a sick and disgusting plan to have your child's hand promised in marriage to an adult more than twice her age. I won't do it. I will not marry him. I never signed any deal. They can put my name in the reaping 500 times if they want but I will not go through with this marriage."

"You won't have a choice. But remember, your father is still hard at work on this. You may not have to do anything at all."

"Is this why you told Gale he shouldn't date me?" I actually already know that it is but I want her to know that I know she tried to break Gale and I up.

"Yes. We, your father and I, were concerned. We worried that if you dated anyone that you might fall in love only to have your heart broken once you turn 18. We thought it easier if you didn't date anyone."

"Well, guess what? You and my father do not get to decide who I date. And as for the falling in love, you're too late. I love Gale and I intend to be with him."

"Miss Madge, I really wish you would speak to your father about all of this."

"Believe me, I intend too." And with that I stand up and leave her house. She doesn't call out after me. She just watches me go. I'm sure she'll be at my house in a matter of minutes ready to tell my father everything. I won't be there though. Nope. Not this time. I am finished playing games. I'm going to Gale's house. My boyfriend's house.

Gale's sitting on his front step when I walk up. I don't say a word but instead press my palms to either side of his face and my lips to his. He startles for only a moment before his arms encircle my waist and pull me closer to him. It's the first time we've gotten to kiss publicly in ages and it feels wonderful.

"Can we go somewhere and talk privately?" I whisper.

"The clearing?"

"Let's go."

In minutes we're sitting in the clearing, face to face, with my legs straddled over his.

"We were right Gale. I'm promised to be married to Head Game Maker, Senneca Crane."

"When?"

"On my 18th birthday." I let silent tears roll down my face for the first time since Mabel confirmed everything. I'm a whole blend of emotions right now. Anger, panic, fear, sadness. Gale doesn't speak for a moment but his face is drained of all emotion.

"I should probably know this anyway but when is your birthday?"

"I'll be 17 on June 1st."

"That's in two weeks." I can tell he's trying to grasp the situation, to wrap his head around the lack of time. "That gives us one full year and two weeks to figure out how to get you out of this mess."

"Mabel said my father has been working on some top secret confidential deal for years to try and get me out of having to marry Mr. Crane. She didn't know any details other than he wasn't having much out that's partly why he has to go away to the Capitol so often."

"Wait, so your father didn't sign the deal when your mother did?"

"No. Mabel said my mother did it without asking or telling anyone about it. By the time they found out about it, official Capitol documents were already signed and sealed."

"That's insane." He shakes his head in disbelief.

"I won't do it Gale. I didn't sign anything, ever. They can't make me marry him."

"Madge, they can do whatever they want. We both know that. And we know they're going to hold you to the deal your mother signed. But you're right about one part. You won't be marrying him. I will not let that happen to you."

"Do you want to know what else?"

"How can there be more?" He sighs and braces himself for more bad news.

"I'm done hiding my relationship with you. As of right now, I intend to kiss you, hug you, hold hands with you, to flat out love you and be with you anytime we please. I will not pretend to be your friend for one more minute."

"Now that part I actually like." He says with a smile and a peck of his lips to mine. "Your father might not be okay with that though. Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Being with you is the only thing I am sure of."

"Then be with me you shall, my love. Be with me you shall." He says in the most adorable way before kissing me.

"Right now though, I should probably get home. I'm positive Mabel"s already there telling him how I know about everything now. I want to talk to him, see if he'll have anything optimistic to offer me."

"Let me walk you home then?" He asks as he pulls us to our feet.

"Yes please."

We walk, hand in hand all the way to my back porch where Gale kisses me goodnight before heading back to the Seam. After having to hide ourselves for so long I can't even begin to explain how freeing it is to be out in the open with him in this way. I'm pretty sure it's having the same effect on him. Despite having just confirmed my awful marital fate, we're both smiling like kids on Christmas morning. I don't think either one of us realized how suffocating it was for us to have a secret relationship. Inside I find Mabel and my father waiting for me at the kitchen table. Each with a cup of tea in front of them.

"Madge, I'm glad you're home. Sit. We have a few things to discuss." My father tells me.

I sit but stay silent. I really want to hear what he has to say before I start talking. He pauses a moment before continuing.

"As you've discovered, your mother made a deal to keep you safe as a child but in doing so she sold your future. I want you to know how very sorry I am that she did this to you."

"You should have warned me years ago. This isn't something I should've had to try and figure out on my own."

"My hope was always that I could fix this mess and you'd never have to know about it. I didn't want you to ever have this weight on your shoulders, it's too much to bare."

"I won't do it. I won't marry him."

"I will do everything in my power to keep you from having to go through with it. I won't stop trying to over ride the deal. We still have time Madge. We can still fix this. It's important to keep hopeful."

"I'm dating Gale Hawthorne. Have been for awhile now. We'd been keeping it a secret but I'm done with that."

"I had my suspicions. I won't try to stop you. Not now anyway. But you must still remember your role and set a good example. And be aware of the risk of heartbreak should you have to marry Senneca next year. Know what you're getting into, okay?"

I nod and excuse myself to bed. My father pats my hand gently as I get up to leave the table and Mabel just looks at me with sadness and what I think is a bit of guilt from having kept this secret from me for so long. I go upstairs and get straight into my nightgown. I'm so emotionally drained and exhausted that all I want to do is sleep. I crawl under my comforter and bury my head beneath the pillows and fall into a dreamless sleep.