by Rook Winters
“This is where she lived the last time I was here. Watch out for the dog.”
As if on cue, snarling came from the tall grass but the dog didn’t come out.
“Moriya,” Court hollered. “Are you home?”
There was no answer and Court’s shoulders slumped. A child came near and looked at them with curiosity. Between the long, matted hair and dirty face, Elle wasn’t sure if it was a boy or a girl.
“Are youse looking for the Fix-It Lady?” he or she asked.
“A lady named Moriya. Does she live here?” Elle asked. Elle didn’t have a lot of experience with children but assumed she would seem less threatening than Court.
“I dunno her name. We jus’ caller the Fix-It Lady.”
“That’s her,” Court said. “Moriya fixes up old things and barters them.”
“Fix-It Lady’s down at the cookhouse.”
“Can you take us?” Elle asked.
“What’s wrong with your hair?” the child asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Where’s all the color?”
“My hair is this color,” Elle said as she ran her fingers through her hair, which was down since she had no one to help her braid it again.
“Can I touch it?”
Elle looked to Court for an opinion and he shook his head side to side.
“Maybe some other time, alright? Can you take us to the Fix-It Lady?”
“No, I got to play with Jean while she’s gone.”
“Who’s Jean?”
“Fix-It Lady’s wolf dog. She doesn’t like me visiting Jean on account she’s a attack dog but I bring her treats.”
The little one pulled a bone from under their shirt that was stuffed into the waist of their pants. Bits of raw meat still clung to it.
Elle curled her nose at the sight and the child walked into the tall grass calling, “Jeannie doggie, where ares you?”
“Cookhouse is this way,” Court said as he started walking.
“Why was it a bad idea for them to touch my hair?”
“Lice. A kid with long hair like that is probably full of it.”
Elle resisted the impulse to shudder. She’d heard of lice, of course, but she’d never known anyone to get it. It was just something kids teased each other about when they were young.
“There’s the cookhouse.”
They drew fresh stares from locals as they went in. A few people were chopping vegetables but otherwise it was empty inside.
A young woman with a scarf tied around her head looked up at them and said, “We’re between meals. No lunch for another hour or so. You’re welcome to the old eggs there before the dogs get to them.”
The woman bent her head in the direction of a pile of dried out eggs in a bowl. Elle’s stomach rumbled again.
“Do they cost anything?” she asked.
The woman in the scarf laughed. “If you’re willing to pay for that, you must be starving. They’re all yours.”
Elle grabbed the metal sheet and shoveled food into her mouth with her fingers. Only when her mouth was full did she offer the tray to Court who declined with a wave.
“I don’t recognize the both of you. You new here?”
“Passing through,” Court said. “We’re looking for someone, actually. A woman called Moriya. I met her here a few years back.”
“The Fix-It Lady. Yeah, she’s out back doing dishes. Since your girlfriend there is going to inhale all those eggs, you can take the plate out to her to wash.”
Out back, a trio of people swayed side to side between a mountain of food-smeared plates and a collection of clean ones. A broad-shouldered man with white hair was scraping food into a bin then dropping the plates into a bucket of opaque brown water. A short, squat woman was scrubbing the plates in the brown water, dipping them in the less-brown water of a second bucket, and dropping them into a third bucket of steaming cloudy water. A man as short as the woman but much thinner was pulling the plates out with tongs and spreading them across a wide table.
“Excuse me,” Court said. “We’re looking for Moriya.”
All three stopped moving when he spoke. As they turned, almost in unison, Elle realized that the wide-shouldered man was actually a woman. She smiled when she saw Court.
“As I live and breathe, is that Harcourt?”
Surprised, Elle looked at him. “Harcourt?”
“It’s just Court now. I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”
Moriya wiped her hands on her pants and hugged him enthusiastically.
“Remember you? You nearly ate me out of house and home. Hard to forget an appetite like that. You must’ve been, what, sixteen at the time?”
“Seventeen the last time I was here.”
“Right, seventeen.” She stood back to look him over. “Well, you’ve gone and aged into a right fine-looking specimen. But blazes you smell bad. Worse than Marsh did last week. He didn’t mention anything about you coming down. It’s a treat to get visitors so close together. And who might this be?”
“I’m Elle,” she said with a bow.
“You’re all dressed up like Marsh’s folk but that bow gives you away. City raised, I’m guessing.”
Court interjected. “When Marsh was here, did he tell you much about the errand he was on?”
“Now that you mention it, he didn’t. Said it might be trouble. He was supposed to stop back in to see me on his way home but he didn’t show. Such is life in the new order of things though.”
“Do you think we can talk in private?” Court spoke softly, hoping not to offend the dishwashers who were trying to look like they weren’t eavesdropping but were fooling no one.
“Yes, yes, of course. Ezra, Suri, you mind finishing without me? You can split my tab credit between you.”
The squat woman wiggled her hand to wave Moriya away.
“Was doing some dishes to work off some of my meal tab,” Moriya said as they walked. “Fixin’ work’s been a bit slow of late. Not sure why, but less demand coming up from Alma.”
“Has that happened before?” Elle asked.
“Occasionally. Sometimes there’s a clamp down on underground trade. The big machine likes to get its piece of the pie, even when poor people are just trading patched up junk to each other.”
Moriya shooed away the young one who was still playing with Jean and ushered them inside her trailer.
When the door latched shut, she asked, “Alright, Court, what’s going on? I can see in your eyes that something’s wrong.”
Court paused just long enough for it to be uncomfortable. Elle was about to fill the silence when Court said, “They came for the village.”
“The Others?”
“No, humans.”
Elle added, “But they had Qyntarak tech. They killed everyone.”
“Marsh?”
Court nodded solemnly. Moriya collapsed into the old leather chair.
“I need a drink.” She opened a compartment mounted to the wall and reached behind a stack of folded fabrics. She pulled out a bottle that was hazy from scuffs and scratches. Clear liquid sloshed as she drank straight from the bottle. “Do you know why?”
Elle answered, “They wanted a data vault that Dr. Donovan brought to Marsh.”
“Donovan? Why does that name sound familiar?”
“He was a researcher with Aldebaran.”
“He was a friend of Marsh’s, wasn’t he?”
“Yes,” Court said.
“What was on that data vault to cause them to slaughter a village over it?”
Elle locked eyes with Moriya. “Are you sure you want to know? Everyone who’s gotten involved has been killed.”
“I think I can risk it. Hell, it’s not like I’ve got much longer to go regardless. I’m worn out from just keeping myself fed.”
Elle and Court exchanged looks, wordlessly deciding that they would tell Moriya more.
“Apparently, there’s a new law coming that’s going to take away more rights from
humans,” Elle said.
“There’s hardly anything left to take.”
“Dr. Donovan wanted Marsh to help find someone named Nora Barrett, an old friend of theirs.”
“Not a name I recognize. Why her?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where is she?”
“We’re not sure,” Court said. “But Marsh said she used to work at the University of Toronto. That’s where we’re headed.”
“Toronto?” Moriya laughed and swigged from her bottle. “You going to walk there? That’ll take a month, if you survive the trip.”
“It’s the best plan we have.”
“You have any money?”
“We have some,” Elle said. “And things to sell.”
“We were hoping you’d help us with that part,” Court said.
“Let’s see what you got.” Moriya put the bottle aside and sat forward in her chair.
Elle pulled out the medical supplies and Court dumped the pouch of coins on the floor, the only free space in the cramped trailer.
“Elon’s fire. Well, the good news is you won’t have to walk.”
“How much is all this worth?” Court asked.
“The coin alone would get you room and food for the both of you for a month around here. You won’t get a great deal on converting it to qynars but I know some traders who aren’t complete scoundrels. The medical supplies you can sell for qynars. More than enough for passage to Toronto.”
“What are qynars?” Court asked.
“Currency,” Elle said. “Money for buying things.”
“Currency of the Others,” Moriya added. “The introduction of the qynar set the stage for their dominance over the global economy, but you aren’t here for history and economics lessons. You want to get to Toronto and now we know you have the resources to do it.”
“Good,” Elle said.
“But can I ask you something? Why do this? Why not stay, keep your head down, and use this to survive?”
Elle unconsciously straightened her shoulders when she answered. “People are dying. The man who raised me was killed over this. He believed it was important that we find Nora Barrett. Maybe it won’t make a difference but I’m not going to take that chance. It was important to him, so it’s important to me. Dr. Donovan wouldn’t have abandoned our life and his work if it wasn’t worth the risk.”
“And if Marsh was still here, he’d be helping, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“And even in death, that old bastard is roping me into his schemes.” Moriya slapped her hands on her knees and stood up. “We best get moving. It’s almost lunch then you two need clean clothes, a wash, and some qynars before we go to Alma and sneak you onto a grav train.”
CHAPTER 24: COURT
Court didn’t care for the soapy smell or the constricting fit of his new shirt. It was deep purple and held shut with hidden buttons. The vendor had sworn the color and style were very much in vogue. Court had been too embarrassed to ask what “in vogue” meant.
Elle had opted for blue pants and a green top that reminded her of things she had once owned. Moriya had approved of their wardrobes but Court worried that the old woman’s insight into what was appropriate to wear in Toronto came from experiences at least a quarter century out of date.
After walking an hour to Alma, he’d gained an appreciation for his new clothes which turned out to be both comfortable and breathable.
“We’ll try a man called Polk,” Moriya said. “I’ve done a fair amount of repair business with his people over the years. He’s our best bet for getting you transport.”
When they arrived at their destination, the building was a blackened husk.
More fire, Court thought.
Moriya grabbed the sleeve of a young woman passing by.
“My dear, what happened to The Squid and Whale?”
“Burned down, obviously.”
“Yes, I can see that. But what happened?”
“The Others, I think. One of their small ships set down right in the street. Everyone ran off to hide so not many people saw it but I heard they set it on fire.”
“And the people inside?”
“They let the customers run away but killed the bartender and the owner.”
Moriya released the woman’s arm, who scurried off, checking over her shoulder as if worried that she’d get in trouble for answering Moriya’s questions. Moriya looked crestfallen when she turned to face Elle.
“Polk is the only person I knew I could trust, and even then, not so much trust as know that he wouldn’t do anything to risk future business.”
“There must be someone else,” Elle said.
“There’s a fellow who used to help me get parts for repair jobs. He has a whole brood of kids and always needed the extra cash. Not as connected as Polk for locating things but he has connections. He used to have parts smuggled by train. That’s our next best bet.”
As they walked through town, Court thought the streets felt emptier than the last time he’d been in Alma and he mentioned this observation to Moriya.
“I imagine people are scared right now. Alma is nowhere, so to have the Others show up and murder people, that’ll give you pause before you stick your head out into the street.”
“It might not have been the Others,” Elle said.
“That’s what the girl saidß.”
“She said it was one of their flyers. The people who destroyed Court’s village were also in flyers.”
Moriya shook her head slowly. “One of the sad side effects of tyranny is that people will turn against their own kind just to survive. But that’s not new since the Others came here. Humans have plenty of dark splotches in their history.”
They passed up a lane, little more than two wheel tracks through tall weeds, to a tiny rectangular house that looked like it would fall over in a strong wind. The weeds were trampled flat around the house. Sticks and carved wooden toys littered the ground.
Moriya called from the lane, “Ho. Is anyone home?”
Within seconds, four, no, five children of varying sizes were staring from windows. A woman in a threadbare dress with a toddler propped on her hip appeared in the doorway.
Court hoped she wouldn’t step onto the porch for fear it might collapse at any moment.
“Speak your piece,” the woman said. “We’re still finishing up lessons in here.”
“We’re looking for Aimar. Is he home?”
“Who is asking?”
“I’m Moriya. This is Court and Elle. We have business to discuss with Aimar. I’ve worked with him before.”
“He’ll be back soon. You can wait under the oak tree down the lane. There’s a bench.”
She closed the door and after a muffled shout, the children looking out the windows disappeared back into the recesses of the little house.
“What did I tell you? A brood of kids. Listen, when Aimar gets here, let me do the talking. You need to walk a careful line with him. He thinks the Others are a judgement from God and somehow people need to repopulate the Earth with the faithful, which is why he’s got more kids than Jean’s got fleas.”
Sitting in the sun waiting felt unjustifiably leisurely to Court even though there was nothing else for him to do. He was unable to enjoy the mid-afternoon warmth and was feeling impatient by the time Aimar came up the lane.
“Ho, Aimar,” Moriya called.
“Moriya? Do my eyes deceive me?”
She held out her palms and Aimar pressed his to hers in greeting.
“It’s been a while. How are you?”
“Life carries on. The kids get bigger and so do their appetites, which means extra shifts when I can get them.”
“And how’s business?”
“What business? It’s vanished. The scraps that Polk left for me have all but dried up.”
“I hear Polk is out of the picture now.”
Aimar shook his head. “So horrific. Perhaps more evidence of the hand of God bringing judgement an
d justice, I don’t know. It is not for us to understand.”
“My associates here are looking for safe passage to Toronto. They were in one of the rural villages and their people were massacred.”
“More horrors. We live in tragic times.”
He moved toward Court and Elle, raising his hands. Court tensed but the man only placed his palms gently against their cheeks.
“Spared by God. How could I refuse? Tomorrow, the morning train will have room. I assume you have no identification.”
“They don’t, and they’ll want to keep a low profile.”
“Of course, of course. No identification means more eyes to pay to look the other way. You have payment?”
“They do.”
“Do they not speak?”
“I’m their broker.”
“Very well. I’ll need to go see a friend and get you a price.”
“They’ll also need a safe place to spend the night.”
“Not a problem. I have bunks in my shed. Let’s call it a free gift with purchase.”
Moriya laughed but Court didn’t get the joke.
“Come up to the house,” Aimar said. “You can eat with my family while I go. Polk would never have given you such service.”
They ate at a sticky and badly stained table amidst the pandemonium of the six children and their visibly weary mother.
“Delicious,” Moriya said. She touched the mother’s hand. “We’ll clean up and watch the kids if you want to go take a nap.”
The mother sat frozen in shock for several seconds. “A nap? I haven’t napped since, well, I don’t know when.”
“Go then,” Moriya said. “Our small thank you for feeding weary travelers.”
Under Moriya’s supervision, Court and Elle washed dishes while the children dutifully put them away, anxious to impress the stranger who had promised them a game afterward.
The nine of them were in the yard of trampled weeds playing a game that Moriya called Freeze Tag when Aimar returned.
He looked confused and concerned until Moriya said, “Your wife is taking a nap.”
Aimar clutched his hands over his heart. “You truly are angels. Let’s go inside to talk.”
Aimar waved over the oldest of the children, took his toddler from Moriya, and placed her in the arms of his eldest.