The Wordsmith

by Forde, Patricia; Simpson, Steve;

  The stream flows on

  In the heather morning

  Quiet as a swan.

  Letta saw Noa’s face suffuse with colour.

  ‘Damn you!’ He spat the words at the woman in the cell. ‘Terminate her.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Carver said, moving towards the cell. ‘We’ll take her to the forest and –’

  ‘No! Do it here,’ Noa said, grabbing his arm. ‘We can’t take any chances. They might be watching for her. And, Carver?’

  The gavver looked at him, waiting.

  ‘Do it now.’

  No! A voice inside Letta screamed. Not Leyla.

  But Carver was already opening the cell door.

  ‘Come!’ Noa said, putting an arm around Letta’s shoulder. ‘Enough of this.’

  Letta heard the deadening sound of a blow, and Leyla cried out in pain.

  Letta longed to turn around and fight for Leyla, or at least to hold her in her arms and say goodbye. But she knew it was impossible. Carver would kill her too. Instead, she followed Noa back up the stairs and out onto the street.

  The walk up the hill to Noa’s house was a silent one. Letta walked behind Noa, her dress clinging to her back, cold sweat drenching the fabric, her hip still aching from Carver’s boot. Images of Leyla’s face taunted her.

  You have to keep it together, she told herself. Think! You need to reassure him, convince him you are on his side. That’s the only chance Leyla has.

  He opened the door and strode ahead, not looking back to see if she was following. As she walked down the corridor towards his office, she felt herself calming. She could do this. She had to.

  She sat opposite him, the great desk between them. As soon as he sat down, he picked up a document and started to read. Letta waited. Was she supposed to talk?

  Finally, he looked up. ‘You had something you wanted to discuss?’

  His eyes were like a hawk’s, she thought. Alert and wary.

  ‘I had a thought, master,’ she said, hardly daring to look at him.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I think the List should be even shorter.’

  ‘You do?’ he said, with a half-smile. ‘So you have changed your mind. And why is that?’

  I have to make him believe me, Letta thought. This is it. I won’t get another chance.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said the last time we talked,’ she said, ‘and I don’t think Ark will survive if the ordinary people have that many words.’

  ‘Go on,’ Noa said, and Letta could see he was watching her, judging her.

  ‘I see it with people every day,’ she said. ‘Even though their words are limited, they still come up with ridiculous ideas, they still spend their time giving out about Ark, complaining about animals running wild on the streets. They are never happy. And then I thought, maybe we could have a much shorter List and a law against idle chatter. People should use words for function not for nonsense!’

  For a moment, Noa said nothing, then he threw back his head and laughed.

  ‘What did I say?’ Letta asked, trying to look as though he had hurt her feelings.

  ‘You sound like me when I was a young man,’ he said. ‘So strange to hear the old arguments again.’

  ‘Again?’ said Letta, and now she wasn’t acting. What did he mean ‘again’?

  Noa stood up and walked to the window.

  ‘Before the Melting,’ he said, ‘the government found a way to remove language from the criminal elements in society.’

  Nicene, Letta thought, trying to hide her excitement.

  Noa turned to her, his blue eyes sombre.

  ‘Not everyone agreed with it, of course, as a device, but it was effective.’

  ‘How?’ Letta asked. ‘How did they do it?’

  ‘Not by way of List,’ Noa said. ‘They found a way that was less kind and more deadly.’ He hesitated.

  ‘Did it work?’ Letta asked eagerly.

  The old man sighed. ‘Yes. It worked. It worked very well.’

  ‘Can we use it then?’ Letta said. ‘Can we do what they did?’

  ‘I never wanted to go that way with Ark,’ Noa replied. ‘I thought, you see, that we could create a sort of Eden here, where the lamb could lie down with the lion. I thought we could use language in a limited way, to communicate, but man is always so arrogant, so arrogant.’

  Letta could see the despair in his eyes.

  ‘But we could use it?’ she pushed him. ‘Against the Desecrators?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Noa. ‘Against Desecrators. The gavvers tell me they are gathering support. They are planning to move against me.’

  ‘No!’ Letta said, jumping up. ‘They can’t be.’

  ‘They use words to corrupt the people, to fool them into believing, just like they did before the Melting.’

  ‘We have to stop them,’ Letta said. ‘Surely there is a way to stop them spreading their – filth?’

  She found it easy to act the part of the outraged wordsmith. She only had to remember how she used to feel about the Desecrators.

  ‘Don’t worry, little one,’ Noa said. ‘I have a plan. We may not need List any more.’

  ‘Like that method you mentioned, before the Melting?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Just like that.’

  He was staring at her again and then he seemed to make a decision.

  ‘You should go now Letta,’ he said. ‘I am glad you told me about Hugo. I will speak to the gavvers and explain. Go now, child.’

  Letta nodded. ‘Thank you, master,’ she said, and turned to go..

  ‘One last thing,’ he said. ‘In a day or so, I will send you some bottled water. I want you not to drink any other water but that until I tell you otherwise. It is important. Can you do that?’

  He is going to do it, Letta thought wildly. He is going to put the Nicene in the water tank, but he has decided to spare me. She tried to show no sign that she knew what was going on.

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘But why?’

  He waved his finger at her. ‘Sometimes, Letta, we have to follow orders and not ask questions. Can I rely on you?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said again, standing up. Her legs were shaking. Her head felt light.

  Noa had turned back to his work. Rage stirred inside her. She stood for a second looking at his bowed head and imagined killing him. She had never felt an impulse as strong in her life. This man did not deserve to live.

  He looked up. ‘Was there something else?’ Cold blue reptilian eyes.

  ‘No,’ Letta said. ‘Nothing.’

  Her thoughts were in turmoil as she made her way back to the front door. She had to tell the others that she knew the water was about to be poisoned, and she also had to warn Finn that they were going to kill Leyla.

  Amelia appeared from one of the closed doors just as Letta approached it. Her face was white and drawn, her eyes too bright, like someone with a fever.

  ‘Leyla is your sister?’ Letta said softly.

  ‘Yes,’ Amelia answered, ‘my sister.’

  ‘There were three of you?’ Letta said, remembering what Solam had told her in Tintown.

  Amelia looked at her, eyes boring through her. For a moment there was silence. Then Amelia spoke again.

  ‘Yes. Three. My other sister was lost,’ she said. ‘But Leyla and I survived.’ Amelia looked down the corridor as though searching for something or someone. ‘Leyla once worked with us, here, building Ark, but she and John –’

  ‘They didn’t get on?’

  ‘She was a musician. When John banned all music, Leyla couldn’t, wouldn’t accept it. She was always stubborn. My father spoilt her. His little colour-catcher. That was what he called her.’

  ‘What will happen to her now?’ Letta asked.

  Amelia shrugged. ‘John will protect her. She doesn’t deserve it, but he will do it for me.’

  I have to let her know, Letta thought. She can still save her. Even if it means Noa’s anger is directed at me, I have to say
something.

  Letta shook her head. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said. ‘He has already ordered them to kill her.’

  Amelia’s eyes flashed for a second, then her hand shot up and slapped Letta across the face.

  ‘How dare you! John would not do that,’ she said, air hissing through her mouth. ‘Get out of my house.’

  Letta turned, opened the door and left. She could only hope that Amelia’s anger would extend to Noa, and that she could stop him destroying Leyla once and for all. It would be worth any pain if that happened, but in her heart she knew it was already too late.

  Overhead, a gull screamed and Letta quickened her step. She had to talk to Finn.

  Back at home, she threw herself into Benjamin’s chair and let the tears that had lodged in her throat fall freely. She hugged her knees to her chest and tried to stay calm. She replayed the scene at Leyla’s cell. Had Leyla known all along that Noa would kill her? Had she hoped for mercy? What had she meant about the women in Letta’s family. What women?

  Marlo came in so quietly that she didn’t hear him till he appeared in the door.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  He was beside her in a heartbeat, kneeling beside her chair.

  ‘Sh!’ he said. ‘It’s all right.’

  ‘You know about Leyla?’

  ‘Yes. We thought we had lost both of you.’

  His hand caressed her arm. She looked into his eyes.

  ‘Leyla –’ she began.

  ‘Finn has gone to see what he can find out.’

  ‘How did they catch her?’

  Marlo got up and walked to the window. ‘They had done the show at the bridge, when the gavvers arrived. They ran. They had a head start. It shouldn’t have been a problem, but –’

  ‘But?’

  She could hardly bear to hear the answer.

  ‘Leyla tripped. Fell. She’d been getting cramps in her legs.’

  ‘Cramps?’

  ‘She’s pregnant.’

  ‘She and Finn?’

  ‘Yes,’ Marlo said. ‘The gavvers frog-marched her through the town. People in the street stopped to throw stones at her. There was almost a riot. In the confusion, Finn managed to give her a blade.’

  Letta’s heart leapt. ‘To attack them with?’

  He shook his head. ‘He gave her the blade, Letta, so that she can cut her wrists, take her own life – if she needs to.’

  Letta looked at him and all her words deserted her. Take her own life.

  ‘She won’t tell them anything,’ Marlo continued. ‘But, well, we don’t know how much she can endure. She’s vulnerable.’

  ‘You don’t have to worry,’ Letta said softly. And then she told him all she had heard outside the cell door. ‘They are going to kill her, Marlo. She didn’t tell them anything.’

  When she had finished, Marlo was silent for a moment, taking it all in. Then he looked up at her and she thought her heart would break at the pain she saw in his eyes.

  ‘I’ll get Finn,’ he said and then he was gone.

  CHAPTER 21

  #165

  Earth

  Ark’s planet

  FINN looked twenty years older, Letta thought, as she put a cup of burdock tea in front of him.

  ‘Did she see you?’ he asked, hugging the hot cup to his chest.

  ‘Yes,’ Letta said. ‘She did. I think they wanted her to betray me. It was a test. I’m sure of it.’ She waited for a second. ‘Finn!’ she said. ‘Did you know that she was Amelia Deer’s sister?’

  Finn’s head snapped up. ‘Amelia’s sister?’

  Letta told him what she had learnt.

  Finn shook his head. ‘I never knew,’ he said. ‘She never mentioned –’

  Marlo put a hand on Finn’s shoulder. ‘She must have had her reasons,’ he said.

  Finn stood up. ‘I’m going to talk to some people,’ he said. ‘See what I can find out. If they have killed her, I need to know what they did with her body.’ He stopped for a minute. Nobody spoke. Finally, Finn turned towards the door. ‘We’ll meet back here this evening,’ he said as he walked away.

  ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ Marlo said as the door closed behind Finn. ‘If Noa has killed her and her baby …’

  ‘He is capable of anything,’ Letta said. ‘His plan to put the Nicene in the water is getting closer too. There can be no doubt about that now. But we still have no idea exactly when he will do it.’

  ‘Any chance Werber would tell us what’s happening?’

  ‘We can’t trust him,’ Letta said, putting down her cup. ‘When I receive the bottles of water, I suppose that will mean the Nicene is about to be added.’

  ‘We’ll have to warn people not to drink the water,’ Marlo said.

  ‘Yes,’ Letta answered, but in her heart she knew that was impossible. Who would listen to them?

  ‘I’d better go back home,’ Marlo said. ‘People are anxious about Leyla.’

  Letta nodded. She didn’t want him to leave, but at the same time she needed space to think. He touched her arm before he left, and once more she got the faint, bitter scent of sage. Then he was gone.

  Next morning, Letta got up early and headed for the beach. The fresh air might clear her head, she thought, and give her some clue as to how to proceed.

  When she reached the beach, the tide was coming in, the sand soft and wet under her feet. She stood looking out at the water, not really seeing anything, until a flock of small birds rose up noisily in front of her. They circled over her head twice, three times, and then set off out across the ocean.

  Benjamin’s voice in her head was so clear it was as if he was standing right beside her. The birds still fly south.

  Of course! How could she have been so slow? If the birds still fly south, then they must be going somewhere. There must be another place, far from here. Were her parents there? Her heart quickened. They could be. That was what Benjamin had been trying to say: Don’t lose hope. She had to survive this, she needed to be here if they came back. She had to. And she wasn’t going to be wordless.

  As she turned to leave, something caught her eye: a lone figure walking slowly towards her. A woman with her head down. As Letta watched, she walked past the men loading barrels of sea-water, past the small stone jetty. Letta waited until she came nearer. With a start, she realised that it was Amelia. Letta had never seen her outside Noa’s house before. Curiosity kept her standing there, waiting for the older woman. Amelia’s progress was slow but Letta didn’t move. Amelia stopped a few strides away from her.

  ‘You were right,’ she said, her voice flat, the words curdled and sour. ‘He has killed her.’

  There was an emptiness in Amelia’s eyes that Letta found frightening.

  ‘You didn’t know her,’ Amelia said, as though talking to herself. ‘She was unique. Talented as well as beautiful. We washed up here after the Melting. Three sisters. John took care of us. He had a good heart. He only wanted to save the planet. Was that so wrong?’ She looked at Letta, her eyes searching the girl’s face.

  Letta said nothing.

  ‘Leyla turned against him. Became a Desecrator. It broke my heart.’

  ‘And now she’s dead,’ Letta said quietly. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘There are worse things than dying,’ Amelia said.

  ‘I agree,’ Letta said, her eyes searching the other woman’s face for any clue that they were both referring to the same thing.

  ‘Soon all of Ark will know that,’ Amelia said.

  She was talking about the Nicene. Letta was sure of it.

  ‘And you? Will you stay with Noa? Will you be part of it?’

  Amelia shrugged. ‘What choice do I have?’ she said. ‘A broken old woman who can’t even breathe efficiently. How long would I last without Noa?’

  ‘We all have choice,’ Letta said.

  ‘Who knows what the future will bring?’ Amelia said. ‘We can only wait and see.’

  ‘Or we
can influence it,’ Letta said, not wanting to let her off the hook. ‘You have great power, Amelia.’

  The other woman laughed, which brought on a bout of coughing, a wet, desperate cough that left her gasping for air.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Letta put an arm around Amelia’s shoulder and lowered her on to a rock.

  ‘I have no power,’ Amelia said. ‘I couldn’t even save my own sister.’

  ‘I know what it is to lose someone,’ Letta said.

  ‘Your parents,’ Amelia said softly, not meeting Letta’s eyes. ‘Yes,’ Letta answered. ‘And Benjamin.’

  Amelia nodded. ‘Benjamin was a good man. Sometimes I did try to influence the future, you know, without much success. But I tried. I tried to let you know.’

  In a flash, Letta knew what she was talking about.

  ‘BENJAMIN NOT DEAD. That was you, wasn’t it? You left that note for me.’

  Amelia shrugged. ‘What does it matter now?’

  ‘It mattered to me then,’ Letta said. ‘It mattered an awful lot. It gave me hope and it meant I got to say goodbye to him.’

  Amelia lifted her hand and touched Letta’s cheek, tears in her eyes. ‘You are so like your mother,’ she said.

  ‘My mother? You knew her? Leyla told me she remembered her too.’

  ‘How could we forget her?’ Amelia spoke so softly that Letta had to strain to hear what she said. ‘Freya. Poor little Freya. She was the youngest and the most adventurous of us. The bravest too, braver even than Leyla.’

  Suddenly, Letta could hear Leyla’s last words to her.

  Be strong like your mother. Like all the women in your family.

  ‘She was your sister.’ Even as Letta spoke the words, she knew they were true. ‘That was her song, the one Leyla sang. I knew there was something familiar about it.’

  Amelia turned away from her, looking out to sea.

  ‘She sang it to you all the time. You were the focus of her whole life, of all of our lives. We came to Ark with nothing, three sisters orphaned and alone. John took us in and cared for us. You were born in his house and lived there for the first four years of your life. John adored you.’

  ‘What?’ Letta struggled to process what she was hearing. ‘Why did I not know this? Why did no-one tell me?’