If the Enforcer was surprised or frightened at the sight of us pelting round the corner he hid it well. He pulled Angela between us like a human shield but Daniel was tall and he easily punched the Enforcer in the face, well above Angela’s head. In the shock, the Enforcer let go of Angela and I sat her down by the warehouse. Daniel punched the Enforcer in the stomach. The Enforcer retaliated with two quick punches. I reached into the pack for rope I had taken from the ghettos. Daniel kicked the Enforcer between the legs and punched him again in the nose. My fingers finally clasped the rope.
“Pin him down,” I said.
Daniel tackled the Enforcer, knocking him to the ground. I moved swiftly, getting hold of the Enforcer’s wrists and binding them with the rope. I knotted it and then let out some length, enough to bind his feet. Then I reached into his pocket for his Plan-It.
“You can’t use that without the lenses,” the Enforcer said sternly. “And they are custom made for the wearer.”
I didn’t like the thought of pulling plastic out of someone’s eye. “How do you send a message to your team?”
The Enforcer turned away.
Daniel punched him. “Tell her.”
“I was not instructed to tell her,” the Enforcer said. “I was instructed to capture you,” he looked at Daniel, “and you.” He nodded at me with narrowed eyes.
His gaze chilled me to the bone. His face was slack – emotionless. Looking at him make me want to get as far away as possible. There was something inhuman about him.
“It’s useless,” I said. “He will never tell us. We could torture him and he would never tell. We need to get out of here before the others come.”
Daniel punched the Enforcer one more time. I dropped the tiny piece of plastic to the floor and stomped on it. Angela passed us our packs. We sprinted through the open area towards the road. I turned back to look at the Enforcer one last time. He sat perfectly still, staring into space.
“He’s like a robot,” Daniel said. “A robot programmed to capture us. I’ve never seen an Enforcer like it. Do you think they have more like him?”
“Maybe,” I said. “They could have an army.”
If I had ever had any doubt that the Ministry could mess with our heads it was eradicated. Now I knew that the Operation caused all those women to lose their minds. I thought of all the women who gave up and committed suicide. The Ministry didn’t just murder people who broke the law; they murdered Blemished women simply for existing.
“Now I know that we have to get to the Clans,” I said.
Daniel turned to me. “Why is that?”
“Because one day we have to stop all this. We have to stop the Ministry,” I said firmly.
“You’re crazy,” he said. He sighed. “But I’m in. Wherever you go – I go.” He sighed again, heavier this time. “Even if it kills me.”
I frowned at him. Daniel sprinted ahead, crossing the road to the forest in just a few steps. I didn’t understand why he would say that.
44
THE WOODS STRETCHED for miles. It was dark and I had no idea where we were. I described the map to Daniel and he set off with purpose. I followed. According to him, the forest curved around the outskirts of Area 14 and if we followed the curve we would find the farm.
We had to keep moving. I swallowed more painkillers and matched Daniel’s pace. There was no time for breaks. We were exhausted, dirty, wet, but I still loved it; the smell of the pine and the sound of owls. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I enjoyed feeling the leaves underfoot.
There was no talking, only us moving swiftly and silently. Daniel cocked his head to one side, listening out for followers. Angela breathed heavily beside me. Our clothes were still sodden and we all shivered our way through the trees. My ankle was hot, and I knew that was a bad sign. We walked for hours until the sun started to rise and the owls stopped calling.
Daniel looked up at the sky. “We’ve gone east but we need to get high up to see if we’re heading in the right direction.”
“How are we going to do that?” Angela said. “We can’t see above the trees.”
Daniel strode over to an oak with a couple of low branches. It climbed high up into the sky.
“Oh no you don’t,” I called after him, keeping my voice low. “You’re not climbing that tree!”
Angela placed a hand on my arm. “Let him be. We used to go walking in the woods all the time. He’s really good at this.”
Daniel ignored me and swung himself up on the branch like a monkey. He stood up and my breathing stopped as he wobbled. But then he was under control and he reached for the next branch. Daniel kept on going, moving from branch to branch, his bulky body surprisingly flexible, until he disappeared up into the sky. I held my breath, waiting for him to come back into view. I wanted to shout to him, to check he was all right, but I had no way of knowing if the Enforcers were following us.
“You know, you can’t have them both,” said Angela.
Her words took me by surprise. I tore my eyes from the tree. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t love both of them – Daniel and Sebastian. You’ll have to choose.” Her face was stern.
“I don’t… They are just friends, Angela,” I said tentatively. My hand drifted to the necklace under my tunic. “Daniel and I are just friends.”
“Not to him,” she said curtly.
I turned to her. “I’d never do anything to hurt you. You do know that? Don’t you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Then answer me one thing. Have you and Daniel kissed?”
My mouth tightened and I thought back to the shed; Daniel’s salty lips on mine; the warmth and the softness. It was the briefest of kisses. I hadn’t even kissed him back, not really.
“Only for a second.”
She turned her back on me and shook her head. She still wore her headscarf but I’d shoved mine in my backpack. Her arms folded.
“He kissed me, Angela. Look, I don’t even want a boyfriend. I don’t want anything except my dad back and you and Daniel as my friends.” I hesitated. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“I love him, Mina,” she said meekly.
“I know,” I said. “I’ve always known.”
“Do you think it’s weird? He’s like my brother.”
“Not if you don’t think of him as a brother.”
She paused. “Does he think of me as a sister?”
I swallowed. “I don’t know, Angela. That’s something only he knows.”
There was a thud behind us and I turned to see a grinning Daniel. His crooked smile set my body tingling. His eyes glistened in the early morning sun. I wanted to kick myself in frustration. What was the point in wanting something you could never have? I looked at my feet instead.
“I saw it!” he said, breathy and excited. “I saw the farm. We just need to head deeper into the woods and it peters out into a clearing surrounded by fields. It’s a good few miles. Might take all day. We should get there by night-fall.”
He took a deep breath and let out a small laugh. Angela stepped forward and hugged him.
“What are we waiting for?” she said. “Let’s go!”
We set off. Daniel hung back for a moment to talk to me.
“I thought you would be more excited?” he said.
I forced a smile. “I am excited. I’m just tired.”
How could I tell him that my heart had just been torn open?
~*~
The day continued. We walked like zombies, legs moving but our minds elsewhere. Daniel and Angela talked quietly to each other but I didn’t join the conversation. Occasionally he looked across at me, frowning slightly. I fiddled with my necklace when he wasn’t looking. Morning sun turned to midday sun turned to afternoon drizzle and our food ran out. We poked out our tongues for water. The evening came and the sun set. The trees began to thin. My muscles tensed as I thought of Daniel and Sebastian meeting each other. Perhaps Sebastian’s father would turn us away? And then we would be back wher
e were started.
“We’re nearly there, I can feel it!” Angela said. She was full of excitement and optimism. She skipped along.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked. “You’re not worried they won’t let us in are you?”
Angela’s face fell. I couldn’t let her lose hope.
“Of course not.” I forced a smile. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Daniel knew me better than that. He spotted my glance to Angela and he frowned.
“You’re worried,” he said quietly to me while Angela picked flowers. “What’s wrong?”
“I turned him down,” I said. “What if he turns us away?”
Daniel’s face set. “He won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know that I wouldn’t.” He sighed. “Just trust me. I know he won’t turn us away.”
Daniel picked up the pace to leave me behind, confused again. I jogged to catch up. I’d taken more painkillers from our pack which took the sting out of my ankle, but the heat was travelling up my leg. It felt wrong but I’d been ignoring it for hours. Our wet clothes had dried out hours ago and the smattering of rain had hardly been enough to wet us through yet my tunic was damp with sweat. It was me. I was burning up.
“Look!” Angela called.
I jogged a little faster, her enthusiasm finally infecting me. Just like Daniel said, the forest petered out onto a field which dipped into a steep bank. At the bottom of a patchwork of fields lay the farmhouse.
“We’re here,” she said.
I laughed. “We really are.”
I took a moment to think about how far we’d come – the Enforcers, losing Matthew, Billie helping us, the speed boat chase and the fight at the industrial estate. We had a taste of freedom now. Angela took my hand and on her left she took Daniel’s. Together we ran down the bank. Finally we reached the field fence and came to a stop with smiles on our faces, out of breath but happy. We took turns to climb the stile in the limestone wall.
It was a clear night and the light from the moon trickled over the grass. I’d lost track of the time but it felt like late evening. My stomach growled with hunger. The next field was vast and descended slowly into the valley. We marched forward like a tiny army. Three soldiers, orphaned but tough.
Angela grasped my arm. “Look.”
I followed her gaze to a large shadow moving in the right side of the field.
“What is that?” I said.
We froze, exposed in the centre of a large clearing. We had nowhere to run.
“It’s too large to be human,” Daniel said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t an Enforcer. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. The blob moved towards us in a slow curve, as though circling us.
“Is it a horse?” said Angela.
“It could be,” I breathed. “I guess it’s the right shape.”
“Or a cow,” Daniel offered.
“Whatever it is, it’s huge,” I whispered.
The beast came closer and I saw the slow bob of its head as it walked. Grass rustled eerily beneath its hooves and through flared nostrils came a snort. It sounded like the funny machine in the Café Sebastian had taken me to in the town. Angela moved forward with her hand outstretched.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“I’m making friends with it,” she replied.
“Come back!” Daniel whispered. He moved closer to me and grabbed my arm but I pulled it away. He frowned at me.
The beast snorted again, softer this time, as though sussing us out. Angela moved closer, cooing, her hand outstretched. It stepped forward into the moonlight and I gasped. I had never seen anything so beautiful. The pale gaze of the moon revealed the wide black and white forehead of a cow. It had kind, dark eyes and a black nose glistening with spit. A large pink tongue flicked out to clean a nostril and all three of us jumped back. The cow snorted and jerked its head but then settled. It assessed us curiously with its blinking eyes.
Angela walked forward confidently and stroked the cow right between the eyes. It bowed its head and nuzzled against her side. She giggled.
“You have to feel this, it’s so weird!”
Daniel and I approached cautiously. I pressed my hand against the soft, furry skin of the cow and stroked its surprisingly silky coat.
The cow moved its head and the pink tongue flicked out. Before I could move it licked the length of my face with its raspy tongue.
“Urgh.” I backed away. “That’s so gross!”
Daniel laughed.
With a snort the cow turned and slowly walked away from us. With an almighty moo it instructed us to follow.
45
WE TRAILED HOOF-PRINTS like the solemn followers of a religious procession. The cow was a sign of things to come, our luck changing; it showed us that miracles really do exist. When Sebastian told me about the farm, about living independently from the Ministry, part of me hadn’t really believed him. Now I did.
The field stopped at a dry-stone wall with an old rusting gate. We climbed over and I winced at the pain of my ankle. On the other side lay a muddy track, worn by hooves and boots. The track led to a yard with a large barn on the right. On the left stood a small farm cottage which was old but not dilapidated and in much better condition than some of the houses in the ghettos. Pot plants framed the steps leading to the farm-house door.
“Are you ready, Mina?” Daniel asked anxiously. “It should be you who knocks on the door. You know that.”
“It must be late,” I said. “There aren’t any lights on inside. Maybe they are asleep and they won’t hear us.”
“If they don’t hear we’ll just have to set up camp nearby and wait ‘til morning,” said Daniel.
“Don’t worry, everything will be okay,” Angela said encouragingly. She squeezed my shoulder for moral support.
I sucked in air and moved towards the cottage. The painkillers were wearing off and I limped. Every bit of me ached, and as I walked I felt like my legs were made of lead. I lifted a tired, trembling hand to the door. Doubts flew through my mind: What if they turn us away? What if they turn is in? Will Sebastian and Daniel fight? Does Sebastian hate me? I ignored them all and knocked hard and loud.
We were greeted by the barrel of a gun. I gulped and raised my hands. The man wielding the gun was handsome and middle aged. He had deep-set dark eyes and hair that greyed at the temples. I forced the tingle in my palms to come, just in case I had to take the gun out of his hand. I didn’t want it to come to that. I didn’t want to reveal myself.
He looked surprised. “A Blemished girl?” He narrowed his eyes. “Who are you? What do you want and how did you find us?
“My name is Mina Hart,” I said slowly. “I know your son, Sebastian.”
The man turned his head away. Next to me Daniel twitched and I placed a hand on his arm. The last thing we needed was Daniel tackling Sebastian’s father to the ground.
“Seb? Do you know these people?”
Inside the house there was a shuffle and the sound of squeaking door hinges. Eventually Sebastian appeared in front of his father. He saw me and smiled.
“You came!”
It was as though nothing had happened between us. He was still Sebastian, easy going and friendly. My stomach unclenched.
“You gave this girl directions?” said his father.
Sebastian looked up guiltily. “She needed help, Dad. Remember how I told you about her?”
I watched this exchange, eyeing Sebastian’s father’s reactions. He wasn’t happy to see us but there was no malice there. He seemed mildly irritated with Sebastian but not particularly worried. It was almost as though they’d been expecting us. But why would he pretend to be surprised? I decided to stay alert. My ankle twanged and I shifted my weight.
“Are you hurt?” Sebastian touched my arm and looked at me with concern. Next to me Daniel stiffened.
“My ankle was bitte
n by a dog a few nights ago,” I said.
“Well, you three look like you’ve been through the wars and then some,” Sebastian’s father said. “You’d best come in.”
We followed them in, Sebastian held me by the crook of my elbow and I didn’t protest, my muscles felt suddenly very weak. My forehead was burning.
“You feel hot, Mina, feverish,” Sebastian said.
He steered me into a lounge and helped me onto a soft, cushiony sofa. Daniel watched with his arms folded and his lips pressed tightly together. Sebastian hadn’t really looked at him.
“Were you followed?” Sebastian’s father asked.
“No,” I mumbled.
“We lost the Enforcers in the Industrial Estate about twenty miles from here,” Daniel said. He spoke with a stern authority I’d never heard before. “We moved fast through the woods. Didn’t hear anyone following.”
Sebastian looked at Daniel for the first time. They stood facing each other, both with stiff backs and arms folded. Daniel jutted out his chin.
“Just because you didn’t hear them doesn’t mean they didn’t follow,” Sebastian said.
Daniel smiled – it was a sarcastic, caustic smile. “No, but they can’t have been anywhere near us. The woods are so deep they’ve probably given up by now.”
I thought back to the way I disarmed the Enforcers in the ghettos and wondered if they would give up so easily after seeing me do that. A woman bustled into the room. She was plump and pretty, with silver tinged strawberry-blonde hair.
“We have visitors?” she said to her husband, her expression one of confusion but not fear.
“Mum, this is my friend, Mina,” Sebastian said. He ignored the presence of Angela and Daniel.
“Nice to meet you Mrs Cole,” I said weakly.
“My goodness. You look just terrible,” she said. She looked around at the others. “What are your names, dears?”
“I’m Angela,” she said shyly.
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