Scavenger Girl: Season of Toridia

by Jennifer Arntson

  “Don’t talk to me out here,” she said, not moving her lips. “They’re watching.”

  I slowed and let her get ahead of me. Bending down, I took my shoe off, pretending I had a rock in it. Faking a limp, I got to the front porch of my house and sat on the step. Continuing with the charade, I removed it completely and pounded out the invisible stone from inside. From the corner of my eye, Qarla disappeared, presumably to the back of the house to enter through the servants’ entrance. I casually looked around the neighborhood and down the street but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Taking off my other shoe, I stood and entered the house through the front door.

  Qarla waited for me in the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “My Lady, you cannot speak to me in public. It’s not proper,” she chastised me.

  “Who was watching you?”

  “Everyone, all the time,” she replied, filling up the teapot with water. “I didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to us, that’s all.”

  “It doesn’t have anything to do with your family?”

  “No, my Lady.”

  I sat at the nook table. “So, where are they?”

  “They’re not coming,” she smiled, “but thank you so much for your generous offer.”

  “What about the others?”

  “I’m afraid not.” She lit the stove and put on the teapot.

  I slammed myself back in the chair. “Why not? Do they not believe they are welcome? Look at all this room!”

  Qarla sat across from me. “Please don’t be angry, my Lady. They don’t know you like I do.”

  “What do you mean?” I said more sharply than I intended.

  “They cannot trust you. They would never feel like they belong here.”

  “Did you tell them I am a Scab?”

  “Yes, my Lady, actually I used the proper term, but yes, they know you and Lord Calish were once Reclaimers. That’s not the point.”

  “You said long ago there was not enough room, did you tell them how big this place is? How they’d all have a room?”

  “Why is this so important to you? They are not your concern.”

  I wiped a tear from my face. “If I can’t help your family, Qarla, then it’s stupid of me to think I can do anything for those families out there. If your children don’t trust me, or Calish, how will anyone else?”

  The teapot’s whistle grew loud, and she stood to relieve it. “My Lady, it has very little to do with you.” She returned with two cups, poured each one half full of tea. “There are rumors about a rebel group forming beyond the hills who wish to overthrow the Authority.” She handed me the cup.

  “Do they have a name?”

  “They call themselves the Resistance.”

  My heart began to beat a little faster. “What do you know about them?”

  She sat. “Not much, really, but the people are very angry and believe the Resistance will do better. They are upset with the Authority and how they’ve handled things, and for good reason. The group that came here yesterday thought if they took control of this community, it might please the leaders of the Resistance. Maybe they would be rewarded for killing or wounding so many high-ranking officers. With the Authority crippled, they expect power would change hands and things would improve.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Calish about this?” I asked, pushing my cup away so I wouldn’t knock it off the table.

  “His efforts are honorable, but he said it himself, he has no support.” The front door opened, compelling her to complete her thought quickly. “Those people will be coming back, and our families don’t want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Calish entered the room. “Una, someone is here to speak with you.” He stepped to the side.

  “Hawk!” I leapt from the table to hug him.

  “I’m happy to see you, too.” He laughed as I nearly toppled him over.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “I have a couple of new recruits for the Authority, thought I’d bring them in myself for uniforms, not that we’ll find one that fits.”

  I cried when Ino, Marsh, and Trisk came into view. I ran into my brother’s arms and sobbed. It felt like a lifetime since I’d seen him.

  “You’re joining the ranks?” I asked Marsh.

  “Good gods, no!” he roared. “That was a joke.”

  Hawk got Calish’s attention. “We need to talk somewhere private. Your study should work.”

  “Qarla, will you please bring in some tea and muffins for our friends?” Calish asked.

  “Of course, sir.” She bowed.

  I expected the meeting to be between Hawk and Calish, but with the others following behind, it became clear the Resistance’s security team was in on it. Figuring they’d return when they were done, I sat to finish my tea. I blew over the edge of the cup, watching the ripples fluttering over the dark surface.

  “Are you coming?” Trisk asked impatiently.

  “Me?”

  She grabbed my elbow and lifted me off my seat. “Um, yeah!”

  We left the kitchen and walked down to the study. “Wow,” she whispered, slipping her arm in mine, “no wonder you haven’t come back. This is way better than our tent.”

  “You can have it. I’m miserable here,” I confessed.

  “He’s Calish?” She eyed him from behind as we followed him down the hall.

  “Yes, but you can’t have him.”

  “And why not?” she chirped.

  “He’s married.”

  “Oh!” She added a hop to her step. “Look!” She pulled a medallion from under her shirt.

  “You’re engaged?” I gasped.

  Poor Marsh!

  That must have crushed him. Knowing my brother, he would continue on as if he didn’t mind, but deep down, I know it broke his heart. He really liked Trisk.

  We reached the study before she could tell me more. Calish, Marsh, Hawk, and I entered, and Trisk and Ino stood guard, one in the hallway and one outside on the office’s private porch to ensure no one could eavesdrop.

  “Is everything all right at the camp?” I asked, sitting on the couch next to Calish, accepting his hand.

  Hawk brought the two chairs from the desk to join us, and Marsh plopped down in one. “Actually, yes. We’re a little crowded, but it’s working out.”

  “Nik sent us.” Hawk sat. “A wanderer failed approval a few days ago. Nik said he didn’t have a real reason to deny him, but his future didn’t exist at the camp, he lived here in a house in this neighborhood.”

  “He lives here?” I asked.

  “No, Una. He saw you pass the man a bowl of something through the bars of the gate. He knows what you’re planning, and he sent us to stop you.”

  Calish let go of my hand and turned toward me. My mouth ran dry. A light rap at the door prolonged the silence. Trisk opened the door for the housemaid to enter with a tray crowded with the tea, cups, and muffins.

  “Pardon me, my Lord.” Qarla bowed and set them on the small end table next to the couch.

  “Thank you,” Calish dismissed her, but his eyes never shifted from me.

  Sensing the tension in the room, she hurried out without the customary bow I’d come to expect. Marsh grabbed a muffin as the door shut.

  Calish cleared his throat. “What have you been planning, Una?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Maybe she hasn’t thought about doing it yet,” Marsh said with his mouth full.

  “No, she’s supposed to start it soon.” Hawk leaned forward, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. “You know nothing about a stew?”

  I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Calish. Nothing had actually happened. “I’m just a little thirsty. Can I have some tea, please?”

  Calish shook his head. “Not until you answer him.”

  Marsh stopped chewing, and his eyes darted back and forth between us. “Wait,” he gulped down his food, “something’s diff
erent about you two. What is it? Why aren’t you acting right?”

  “What is it, Una?” Calish folded his arms across his chest, waiting.

  “Fine.” I shrugged. “Yes. I have something planned, sort of. But nothing’s happened. I don’t have the supplies…yet.” I avoided Calish’s stare.

  “Supplies?” Calish yelped. “Supplies for what?”

  “Stew!” Marsh answered. “Weren’t you listening?”

  “Are you kidding?” Calish shot up and found room to pace. “What was your plan, Una? Were you just going to cook all day and deliver it by horseback while I was on duty?”

  “No,” I whined. “I wasn’t going to leave the neighborhood—”

  Calish stopped.

  “—We were going to hand it through the gate.”

  “We? We who? Not the other wives!” Calish struggled not to yell.

  “Other wives?” Marsh tilted his head to the side.

  “No, just me and the, um, the maids.” I cringed.

  “Ha! So, you and the three of them?” Calish spun around with his hands in his hair. “The Lord’s wife and her servants, who she’s not allowed to talk with, in case you forgot! So, you are going to feed the valley with stew!” He chortled. “Wow!” He pressed his lips tightly together.

  “Not stew, actually. Thistle soup…”

  “Wife?” Marsh ignored the conversation completely. “Are you two married?” He gasped, and I nodded. Marsh clicked his tongue. “Damn, I can’t believe you pulled that off, little brother!” He fell back into his chair and bit the side of his finger, unable to look away from the two of us.

  “Can we please get back to the reason we’re here?” Hawk said loudly.

  Yes. Let’s talk about it!

  “How is serving food to Citizens bad for the Authority,” I demanded. “Or the Resistance?”

  “There’s going to be an attack here,” Hawk interjected.

  “There’s already been one.” Calish leaned up against the wall and focused outside the window. “It didn’t end so well.”

  “This one will be a lot worse,” Hawk said, pouring himself some tea. “While you are serving food from the gate, you mistake them as transients, not radicals, and suddenly, they are given reason to be close to this place. You get hit before you know what happened.”

  “This is why I told you not to mess with things, Una.” Calish breathed heavily while still focused on something outside.

  “Then tell me how I can feed them.”

  Calish pushed himself off the wall and yelled, “You can’t!”

  “The Resistance is coming, one way or another,” I informed him. “Isn’t it, Hawk?”

  “Right now, we’re just taking in those who need a place to live,” he assured us.

  “Oh, please, spare me your political promises,” I spat. “You and I both know the plan is to overthrow the Authority. The Resistance and the Authority cannot coexist. You don’t need to be a Seer to figure that one out.”

  “It’s a bit more complicated,” Hawk admitted.

  “So how long have the two of you been working together?” I asked Calish.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked angelically.

  “I’m not as good as Nik at seeing things, but I’m not stupid. You’re using the Citizens, just like Reinick, just like Noran.” I stood. “I finally get it. I can’t believe it took so long… You are tending to your own agendas.” I seized some muffins and threw them in disgust at each of them. “It must be nice to not worry about where your food comes from. I’m not surprised you don’t know any different, Hawk, but you two brothers should be ashamed of yourselves. We know what being hungry is like,” I said, raising my voice and glaring at Calish. I headed for the door.

  “Una, wait.” Marsh reached to stop me.

  “What? What can you possibly say that would make any of this acceptable?” I put my hands on my hips. “The one who controls the food controls the stomach. The one who controls the stomach controls the heart. I will feed these people, you all can go to war if that’s what your heart desires.”

  Hawk stood before I could leave. “Una, you die.”

  The air left the room, and voices lowered. Calish’s hands dropped to his sides. “How do you know that?”

  “Nik saw it,” he replied. “That’s the reason he sent us to stop it.”

  Marsh nodded. “It’s the truth.”

  I thought back to my training with Nik. He never did teach me to see the future, only the past. I always considered it a good starting point and figured seeing what had yet to happen required more effort, more from my ability than I knew how to use. Any time I saw the future, it was relatively close. It was always something coming in a few days or a couple of moon cycles. Was the future static, a predetermined reality, or fluid, constantly rewriting itself?

  Can it be changed?

  Hawk said Nik sent them to stop me, but something didn’t quite add up. Maybe our future changed, it certainly did the night the Authority came for me during Talium.

  Is that why he judges people on their intentions and not their actions?

  Actions were reactive, a decision made upon a set of options given at one time. Actions were representative of a person’s free will. A person’s character would be long-lasting, despite the potential outcomes. Choices made of free will would always support the content of one’s character. Nik didn’t want to interfere with free will because he couldn’t. He may have an inclination as to what their decisions would be, but only because he predicted their behavior with above average accuracy. He waged everything on the ability to trust the past, not the future.

  The people approved by Nik weren’t a threat to the Resistance because they proved themselves to have a history of strong, respectable character.

  That’s why the Resistance works so well; it is full of like-minded people united by the desire to change the wrongs of the world as they know it.

  The people would do great things. That must have been Nik’s intention for the camp; maybe not at first, but it quickly formed a mission others could support.

  Nik said he didn’t look into my future; he didn’t know how I died, he said so himself.

  Now that he thinks he knows, he’s trying to change it. He is manipulating the future with my free will.

  But…

  “Nik once told me I am to serve on the Council. Does that happen before or after I die with a ladle in my hand?”

  Marsh and Hawk glanced at each other. “He never said anything,” Marsh said. “I mean, you’ve been nominated for the Council, but you’re here with Calish.”

  “You’re saying I have two potential futures?” I hesitated. “Did Nik tell you there would be a time when his judgment would be questioned?”

  Marsh and Hawk shook their heads. “No,” they said in unison.

  “Well, that’s where I come in. I’m your backup Seer. Not that I’m trying to make you doubt him or his gift, but that’s why he trained me. Apparently, there comes a day when his motives are challenged.”

  Hawk took a moment to process what I said before responding. “Nik has always been spot-on, Una. He’s never put himself or his needs above the commission of the Resistance. He’s given us no reason to doubt him.”

  “He’s not a god, Hawk. He’s a man.”

  “He’s more than a man, Una.”

  “I’ll agree he’s a good man, but he’s still a man, and one thing I’ve learned”—I glanced at Calish—“power changes people. Right now, I’m questioning Nik’s motives just as much as I question the three of you and your intentions. Just out of curiosity, did he tell you he asked me not to come find Calish, but to stay with him?” I crossed my arms across my chest. “Oh no, of course you wouldn’t remember, Hawk. You and the rest of the Council decided to have your mind cleared so you wouldn’t know his feelings for me. Apparently, it complicated things. Maybe he thinks letting me go was a bad idea after all, and he sent you to bring me back.”

  Marsh held his hands out
to stop the conversation. “Wait. What?”

  My brother wouldn’t understand any of what I’d just confessed, but I knew Hawk would know it was possible. “Think whatever you want, believe whatever you want. If I die because I’m feeding starving people, at least I can stand before the Great One and know I actually made an effort to relieve their suffering. I won’t let them starve for personal gain. I suggest you look hard within yourselves and determine if you’ll be able to do the same. There are some things that are right, no matter the cost. Besides, no one expects to live forever, do they?”

  Unable to look at any of them any longer, I stormed out of the study and past Trisk as if she didn’t exist. I went straight upstairs to the room overlooking the shanty town and its inhabitants to further fuel my frustration and anger. I was never more sure of what needed to be done than at that moment. Putting my hand on my round stomach, I knew I didn’t want to die, but I’d give my life to make a better world for my baby.

  I just wish I didn’t have to do it alone.

  Chapter 5

  Determined to avoid everyone in the house, I planned on staying up in that suite as long as possible. I just wanted to be left alone, and the room would serve as my private corner of the world. I had plenty to think about in there. My time started by cursing Nik for thwarting my plans.

  How stupid would it be for the Citizens to attack the guarded neighborhood full of Authority personnel?

  Calish became another target of my fury. He refused to help me. He wouldn’t listen to me! Despite all the excuses, we could provide for the people if they wanted to. If they didn’t want to help me, fine, but I resented them for thinking they had the right to control me.

  I am so tired of being subject to other people’s rules. The bondage of being a Scavenger is nothing like that of a woman.

  As angry as the men in my life made me, I blamed myself. I allowed them to dictate my actions.

  Am I the problem?

  I didn’t remember backing down from many arguments in my lifetime. My father called me stubborn on several occasions. If a punishment came from my parents, one could assume I’d earned it by not knowing when to submit to their rule. It didn’t end there. I fought with my brothers, prison guards, and Reinick himself. Yet everyone treated me as if I appeared weak. Why?