“You got to be joking!” cried Measure. “After I brought her all the way here? And she wants to testify.”
“I'm sure she does,” said Alvin. “But after the papers are through hacking at Amy, how will Ramona feel then? She'll always remember that she betrayed a friend: That's a hard one. It'll hurt her. Won't it, Peggy?”
“Oh, you actually want my advice about something?”
“I want the truth. Fve been telling the truth, and so have you, so just say it.”
“Yes,” said Peggy. “It would hurt Ramona greatly to testify against Amy.”
“So we won't do it,” said Alvin. “Nor do I want to see Vilate humiliated by having her hexes removed. She sets a store by being taken for beautiful.”
“Alvin,” said Verily, “I know you're a good man and wiser than me, but surely you can see that you can't let courtesy to a few individuals destroy all that you were put here on this earth to do!”
The others agreed.
Alvin looked as miserable as Verily had ever seen a man look, and Verily had seen men condemned to hang or burn. “Then you don't understand,” he said. “It's true that sometimes people have to suffer to make something good come to be. But when I have it in my power to save them from suffering it, and bear it myself, well then that's part of what I do. That's part of Making. If I have it in my power, then I bear it. Don't you see?”
“No,” said Peggy. “You don't have it in your power.”
“Is that the honest torch talking? Or my friend?”
She hesitated only a moment. “Your friend. This passage in your heartfire is dark to me.”
“I figured it was. And I think the reason is because I got to do some Making. I got to do something that's never been done before, to Make something new. If I do it, then I can go on. If I don't, then I go to jail and my path through life takes another course.”
“Would you go to jail?” asked Arthur Stuart. “Would you really stay in prison for years and years?”
Alvin shrugged. “There are hexes I can't undo. I think if I was convicted, they'd see to it that I was bound about like that. But even if I could get away, what would it matter? I couldn't do my work here in America. And I don't know that my work could be done anywhere else. If there's any reason to my life at all, then there's a reason I was born here and not in England or Russia or China or something. Here's where my work's to be done.”
“So you're saying that I can't use the two best witnesses to defend you?” asked Verily.
“My best witness is the truth. Somebody's going to speak it, that's for sure. But it won't be Miss Larner, and it won't be Ramona.”
Peggy leaned down and looked Alvin in the eye, their faces not six inches apart. “Alvin Smith, you wretched boy, I gave my childhood to you, to keep you safe from the Unmaker, and now you tell me I have to stand by and watch you throw all that sacrifice away?”
“I already asked you for the whole rest of your life,” said Alvin. “What do I want with your ruin? You lost your childhood for me. You lost your mother for me. Don't lose any more. I would have taken everything, yes, and given you everything too, but I won't take less because I can't give less. You'll take nothing from me, so I'll take nothing from you. If that don't make sense to you then you ain't as smart as you let on, Miss Larner.”
“Why don't those two just get married and make babies?” said Arthur Stuart. “Pa said that.”
Her face stony, Peggy turned away from them. “It has to be on your terms, doesn't it, Alvin. Everything on your terms.”
“My terms?” said Alvin. “It wasn't my terms to say these things to you in front of others, though at least it's my friends and not strangers who have to hear them. I love you, Miss Larner. I love you, Margaret. I don't want you in that courtroom, I want you in my arms, in my life, in all my dreams and works for all time to come.”
Peggy clung to the bars of the jail, her face averted from the others.
Arthur Stuart walked around to the outside of the cell and looked guilelessly up into her face. “Why don't you just marry him instead of crying like that? Don't you love him? You're real pretty and he's a good-looking man. You'd have damn cute babies. Pa said that.”
“Hush, Arthur Stuart,” said Measure.
Peggy slid down until she was kneeling, and then she reached through the bars and took Arthur Stuart's hands. “I can't, Arthur Stuart,” she said. “My mother died because I loved Alvin, don't you see? Whenever I think of being with him, it just makes me feel sick and… guilty… and angry and…”
“My mama's dead too, you know,” said Arthur Stuart. “My Black mama and my White mama both. They both died to dave me from slavery. I think about that all the time, how if I'd never been born they'd both still be alive.”
Peggy shook her head. “I know you think of that, Arthur, but you mustn't. They want you to be happy.”
“I know,” said Arthur Stuart. “I ain't as smart as you, but I know that. So I do my best to be happy. I'm happy most of the time, too. Why can't you do that?”
Alvin whispered an echo to his words. “Why can't you do that, Margaret?”
Peggy raised her chin, looked around her. “What am I doing here on the floor like this?” She got to her feet. “Since you won't take my help, Alvin Smith, then I've got work to do. There's a war in the future, a war over slavery, and a million boys will die, in America and the Crown Colonies and even New England before it's done. My work is to make sure those boys don't die in vain, to make sure that when it's over the slaves are free. That's what my mother died for, to free one slave. I'm not going to pick just one, I'm going to save them all if I can.” She looked fiercely at the men who watched her, wide-eyed. “I've made my last sacrifice for Alvin Smith– he doesn't need my help anymore.”
With those words she strode to the outer door.
“I do so,” murmured Alvin, but she didn't hear him, and then she wag gone.
“If that don't beat all,” said Measure. “I ask you, Alvin, why didn't you just fall in love with a thunderstorm? Why don't you just go propose to a blizzard?”
“I already did,” said Alvin.
Verily walked to the door of the cell. “I'm going to interview Ramona tonight in case you change your mind, Alvin,” he said.
“I won't,” said Alvin.
“I'm quite sure, but other than that there's nothing else I can do.” He debated saying the next words, but decided that he might as well. What did he have to lose? Alvin was going to go to prison. And Verily's journey to America was going to turn out to have been in vain. “I must say thalt I think you and Miss Larner are a perfect match. The two of you together must have more than seventy percent of the world's entire store of stupid bullheadedness.”
It was Verily's turn to head for the outer door. Behind him as he left, he heard Alvin say to Measure and Arthur: “That's my lawyer.” He wasn't sure if Alvin spoke in pride or mockery. Either way, it only added to his despair.
* * *
Billy Hunter's testimony was pretty damaging. It was plain that he liked Alvin well enough and had no desire to make him look bad. But he couldn't change what he saw and had to tell the truth– he'd looked into the jail and them was nowhere Alvin and Vilate could have hidden.
Verily's cross-examination consisted merely of ascertaining that when Vilate entered the cell, Alvin was definitely there, and that the pie she left behind tasted right good. “Alvin didn't want it?” asked Verily.
“No sir. He said… he said he sort of promised it to an ant.”
Some laughter.
“But he let you have it anyway,” said Verily.
“I guess so, yes.”
“Well, I think that shows that Alvin is unreliable indeed, if he can't keep his word to an ant!”
There were some chuckles at Verily's attempt at humor, but that did nothing to ameliorate the fact that the prosecution had cut into Alvin's credibility, and rather deeply at that.
It was Vilate's turn then. Marty Laws laid the groundwork,
and then came to the key point. “When Mr. Hunter looked into the jail and failed to see you and Alvin, where were you?”
Vilate made a great show of being reluctant to tell. He was relieved to see, however, that she wasn't quite the actress Amy Sump had been, perhaps because Amy half-believed her own fantasies, while Vilate… well, this was no schoolgirl, and these were no fantasies of love. “I should never have let him talk me into it, but… I've been alone too long.”
“Just answer the question, please,” asked Laws.
“He took me through the wall of the jail. We passed through the wall. I held his hand.”
“And where did you go?”
“Fast as the wind we went– I felt as though we were flying. For a time I ran beside him, taking strength from his hand as he held mine and led me along; but then it became too much for me, and I, fainting, could not go on. He sensed this in that way of his and gathered me into his arms. I was quite swept away.”
“Where did you go?”
“To a place where I've never been.”
There were some titters at that, which seemed to fluster her a little. Apparently she was not aware of her own double entendre– or perhaps she was a better actress than Verily thought.
“By a lake, Not a large one, I suppose– I could see the far shore. Waterbirds were skimming the lake, but on the grassy bank where we… reclined… we were the only living things. This beautiful young man and I. He was so full of promises and talk of love and…”
“Can we say he took advantage of you?” asked Marty.
“Your Honor, he's leading the witness.”
“He did not take advantage of me,” Vilate said. “I was a willing participant in all that happened. The fact that I regret it now does not change the fact that he did not force me in any way. Of course, if I had known then how he had said the same things, done the same things with that girl from Vigor Church…”
“Your Honor, she has no pergonal knowledge of–”
“Sustained,” said the judge. “Please limit your responses to the questions asked.”
Verily had to admire her skill. She managed to sound as if she were defending Alvin rather than trying to destroy him. As if she loved him.
Chapter 16 – Truth
When it came Verily's turn to question Vilate, he sat for a moment contemplating her. She was the picture of complacent confidence, with her head just slightly cocked to the left, as if she were somewhat– but not very– curious to hear what he would ask of her.
“Miss Franker, I wonder if you can tell me– when you passed through the wall from the jail, how did you get up to ground level?”
She looked momentarily confused, “Oh, is the jail below ground? Well, I suppose when we went through the wall, we– no, of course we didn't. The jail is on the second floor of the courthouse, and it's about a ten-foot drop to the ground. That was mean of you, to try to trick me.”
“My question still stands,” said Verily. “That must have been quite a drop, coming through the wall into nothing.”
“We handled it gently. We… floated to the ground. It was part of the remarkable experience. If I had known you wanted so much detail, I'd have said so from the start.”
“So Alvin… floats.”
“He is a remarkable young man.”
“I imagine so,” said Verily. “In fact, one of his extraordinary talents is the ability to see through hexes of illusion. Did you know that?”
“No, I… no.” She looked puzzled.
“For instance, he sees through the hex you use to keep people from seeing that little trick you play with your false teeth. Did you know that?”
“Trick!” She was mortified. “False teeth! What a terrible thing to say!”
“Do you or do you not have false teeth?”
Marty Laws was on his feet. “Your Honor, I can't see what relevancy false teeth have to the case at hand.”
“Mr. Cooper, it does seem a little extraneous,” said the judge.
“Your Honor has allowed the prosecution to cast far afield in trying to impugn the veracity of my client. I think the defense is entitled to the same latitude in impugning the veracity of those who claim my client is a deceiver.”
“False teeth is a bit personal, don't you think?” asked the judge.
“And accusing my client of seducing her isn't?” asked Verily.
The judge smiled. “Objection overruled. I think the prosecution opened the door wide enough for such questions.”
Verily turned back to Vilate. “Do you have false teeth, Miss Franker?”
“I do not!” she said.
“You're under oath,” said Verily. “For instance, didn't you waggle your upper plate at Alvin when you said that he was a beautiful young man?”
“How can I waggle an upper plate that I do not have?” she said.
“Since that is your testimony, Miss Franker, would you be willing to appear -in court without those four amulets you're wearing, and without the shawl with the hexes sewn in?”
“I don't have to sit here and…”
Alvin leaned over and tugged at Verily's coattail. Verily wanted to ignore him, because he knew that Alvin was going to forbid him to pursue this line any further. But there was no way he could pretend that he didn't notice a movement so broad that the whole court saw it. He turned back to Alvin, ignoring Vilate's remonstrances, and let Alvin whisper in his ear.
“Verily, you know I didn't want–”
“My duty is to defend you as best I–”
“Verily, ask her about the salamander in her handbag. Get it out in the open if you can.”
Verily was surprised; “A salamander? But what good will that do?”
“Just get it out in the open,” said Alvin. “On a table in the open. It won't run away. Even with the Unmaker possessing it, salamanders are still stupid. You'll see.”
Verily turned back to face the witness. “Miss Franker, will you kindly show us the lizard in your handbag?”
Alvin tugged on his coat again. Mouth to ear, he whispered,
“Salamanders ain't lizards. They're amphibians, not reptiles.”
“Your pardon, Miss Franker. Not a lizard. An amphibian. A salamander.”
“I have no such–”
“Your Honor, please warn the witness about the consequences of lying under–”
“If there's such a creature in my handbag, I don't have any idea who put it there or how it got there,” said Vilate.
“Then you won't object if the bailiff looks in your bag and removes any amphibious creatures he might find?”
Overcoming her uncertainty, Vilate replied, “No, not at all.”
“Your Honor, who is on trial here?” asked Marty Laws.
“I believe the issue is truthfulness,” said the judge, “and I find this exercise fascinating. We've watched you come up with scandal. Now I'll be interested to see an amphibian.”
The bailiff rummaged through the handbag, then suddenly hooted and jumped back. “Excuse me, Your Honor, it's up my sleeve!” he said, trying to maintain his composure as he wriggled and danced around.
With a flamboyant gesture, Verily swept his papers off the defense table and pulled it out into the middle of the courtroom. “When you retrieve the little fellow,” he said, “set him here, please.”
Alvin leaned back on his chair, his legs extended, his ankles crossed, looking for all the world like a politician who just won an election. Under his chair, the plow lay still inside its sack.
Alone of all the people in the court, Vilate paid no attention whatever to the salamander. She simply sat as if in a trance; but no, that wasn't it. No, she sat as if she were at a soiree where something slightly rude was being said, and she was pretending to take no notice of it.
Verily had no idea what would come of this business with the salamander, but since Alvin wouldn't let him try any other avenue to discredit Vilate or Amy, he'd have to make it do.
* * *
Alvin had been watching
Vilate during her testimony– watching close, not just with his eyes, but with his inner sight, seeing the way the material world worked together. One of the first things he marked was the way Vilate cocked her head just a little before answering. As if she were listening. So he sent out his doodlebug and let it rest in the air, feeling for any tremors of sound. Sure enough, there were some, but in a pattern Alvin had never seen before. Usually, sound spread out from its source like waves from a rock cast into a pond, in every direction, bouncing and reverberating, but also fading and growing weaker with distance. This sound, however, was channeled. How was it done?
For a while he was in danger of becoming so engrossed in the scientific question that he might well forget that he was on trial here and this was the most dangerous but possibly the weakest witness against him. Fortunately, he caught on to what was happening very quickly. The sound was coming from two sources, very close together, moving in parallel. As the sound waves crossed each other, they interfered with each other, turning the sound into mere turbulence in the air. When Alvin listened closely, he could hear the faint hiss of the chaotic noise. But in the direction where the sound waves were perfectly parallel, they not only didn't interfere with each other, but rather seemed to increase the power of the sound. The result was that for someone sitting exactly in Vilate's position, even the faintest whisper would be audible; but for anyone anywhere else in the courtroom, there would be no sound at all.
Alvin found this curious indeed. He hadn't known that the Unmaker actually used sound to talk to his minions. He had supposed that somehow the Unmaker spoke directly into their minds. Instead, the Unmaker spoke from two sound sources, close together. Then Alvin had to smile. The old saying was true: The liar spoke out of both sides of his mouth.
Looking with his doodlebug into Vilate's handbag, Alvin soon found the source of the sound. The salamander was perched on the top of her belongings, and the sound was coming from its mouth– though salamanders had no mechanism for producing a human voice. If only he could hear what the salamander was saying.
Well, if he wasn't mistaken, that could be arranged. But first he needed to get the salamander out into the open, where the whole court could see where its speech was coming from. That was when he began to pay attention to the proceedings again– only to discover, to his alarm, that Verily was about to defy him and try to take away Vilate's beautiful disguise. He reached out and tugged on Verily's coat, and whispered a rebuke that was as mild as he could make it. Then he told him to get the salamander out of the bag.
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