In opstand

by Marieke Veringa

  All the way in the back of the hallway is a beer cellar. It’s always locked, because Saul says beer should be under lock and key. We only pour alcohol on special occasions – weddings and such. It’s quite a chore to make.

  Saul and Ben are standing by the beer cellar door, Ben supporting a man with blood running down his right temple. He’s hanging limply in Ben’s arms.

  Who is this man? One thing’s clear: he’s not from the village. I’ve never seen him before, and I’m pretty sure I know all the people in Newexter. That rules out the possibility of him being a spy for the Eldest as part of the intervention my mother mentioned. The only thing I can think of is that he might be a Fool. But why would they knock one unconscious and confine him to a cellar?

  Then again, he may have already been hurt. Perhaps they found him like this. Perhaps they’re going to help him.

  Saul opens the door with a tiny, silver key from his keychain. Ben pushes the wounded man over the threshold, causing him to trip on his way into the dark beer cellar. Without saying another word, Saul slams the door shut and turns the key.

  Looks like they’re not going to help him after all.

  “Let’s go get Max,” Saul tells his brother. “I want to discuss our next step with you two.”

  When they turn around, I dodge away, heart hammering in my throat. Please, please don’t let them come up the stairs. I have no idea where Max is.

  Fortunately, I can hear the door to Saul’s room close with a thud. The hall is silent. I carefully glance around the corner again, my eyes landing on the cellar.

  My jaw drops. Saul’s keys are still in the door. My mouth turns dry when I spot the ancient, intricately-decorated key that fits the lock of the library room upstairs – the room hosting The Book. My heart speeds up. This is the only chance I’ll ever have to find out more about what Saul’s been keeping from us.

  I dash forward, take the entire set of keys in one hand to prevent them from jangling together, and use the other hand to take the library key off the chain. Sweat is pooling in my palms.

  The sound of voices makes me jump. Not on the stairs, but behind one of the doors. Fragments of sentences, Saul’s loud and annoyed voice. “… does he think he is… not crazy… nobody on the island…”

  As quickly and quietly as I can, I sprint toward the stairs, taking two, three steps at a time on my way up to the library.

  How long will it take Saul to discover that the key to The Book Room is missing?

  I don’t have much time.

  7

  THE FLICKERING candle in my hand casts eerie shadows on the wall. I bite my lip as the door to the little room squeaks on its hinges. Very slowly, I push it open and slip inside.

  The Book is on the table. It has a hardcover, a spiral binding at the side, and an image of Luke on the front. He’s our ancestor, one of the first men to have lived on the island. He’s wearing a white outfit and he’s holding some sort of weapon that doesn’t exist anymore. Next to him is his sister Leia, who I’m named after. Her sword emits light because she’s a firm believer in the Force, so the story goes. On the other side of Luke is his friend Han. He also has a luminous sword, wielding it to protect the twins. Too bad Saul – derived from Han’s second name Solo – isn’t exactly living up to his ancestor’s good name.

  And all the way at the top is a man wearing a black mask – Dark Father, who betrayed his children and used his powers to do evil.

  I shiver and reverently touch The Book, running a hand over its cover. This is the only book on the island with a different kind of cover. It’s glossy and smooth. All the books in the library are bound with raw threads and have soft covers made out of bark, paper or leather, and this feels so different. This is the first time I’m actually touching The Book. Of course I’ve seen the front of this tome many times, because Saul always parades down the rows of people listening to his speeches while he’s reading from it. He carries it around like a symbol of his power.

  I’ve always been proud of having been named after one of the legendary twins who once lived on the island, but at the moment, I feel anything but brave and strong. My heart is still slamming against my ribcage, causing me to put down the candlestick with a trembling hand.

  I open The Book.

  My eyes take in the words on the very first page. They were written by Luke himself.

  “They have abandoned us,” I quietly read out. “My mom and dad said they’d come for us, but they lied. Most children are still waiting at the dock. Night and day. They are stupid. They are fools. Our parents will never come back. We have to save ourselves.”

  His full name is written underneath. Luke Skywalker. There are lines around it, like he wanted to draw a radiant sun around the letters of his name.

  The next page features a simple drawing of the manor house. All white and shiny, no ivy covering the walls. New and clean. Luke’s story continues underneath, but I can’t risk reading everything. It would take me hours – time I don’t have. I skim through the pages, looking at drawings of primitive bows and arrows, weapons, a spinning wheel.

  A picture of the sea catches my eye. Dark, ominous clouds at the horizon. The clouds we still fear today. But these clouds have a peculiar shape I’ve never seen before. They look a little bit like mushrooms. One single word is written underneath.

  “Poison,” I whisper.

  Suddenly, I hear voices echoing in the corridor next to the library. “How the hell should I know who has the damn key?” Ben shouts, sounding frustrated. “You left your key ring in the door, not me.”

  No! They’ve already found out. I quickly slip The Book into the waistband of my pants. There’s no time to tear out pages of incriminating evidence. Besides, I haven’t found any yet. I storm out of the door, looking frantically around me. The library has two exits, but they both lead to the corridor where Saul and Ben are currently biting each other’s heads off. The only other way to get out of here is the window.

  I reach the window in three giant steps, crawling onto the windowsill and opening the window as fast as I can. I have to jump down two floors if I want to get away without being seen. And I have to make absolutely sure I won’t be seen – if Saul finds out I’ve been reading The Book, I’ll be locked up in the beer cellar for all eternity, just like that Fool.

  There’s no time to waste. I close the window behind me, push off and try to bend my knees at the right moment to absorb the shock of hitting the lawn. Pain shoots through my calves, but I have to ignore it if I want to keep going. I stagger away and hide behind a bush a few steps away from the house.

  Holy Luke. I’ve just stolen the most important object in the entire manor. I hold the power to end Saul’s terrible leadership, and Saul knows it all too well.

  What am I supposed to do? Hiding The Book in my tent is out of the question – Saul will probably single-handedly dismantle the whole camp and turn every tent and hut upside down in a frantic search for his treasure. And if they find it on me, they’ll punish Colin too. Siblings are held accountable for each other’s actions under Saul’s insane rule.

  And here I am, still cowering behind the shrubs, which is none too smart. Any moment now they‘ll come crashing through the front door, and yet I remain frozen. I need a plan. Fast.

  I look up at the night sky. There’s no moon, so I might make it out of here without being spotted if I cover my face with the black shawl I’m wearing and run from bush to bush. I should cross the fence around the manor house and run all the way to the border of our territory. The area close to the Wall might have some good hiding places. I’ll stash The Book there and return later so I can read more. Maybe Colin and Mara can join me tomorrow.

  Not waiting for Saul and Ben to appear, I disappear into the night. If I’m quick, they won’t ever notice I was gone in the first place.

  8

  THE ONLY thing I can hear in the dar
k forest is the hooting of owls and my own ragged breath. The leaves rustle eerily when the wind picks up from the sea. Although I can hardly make out anything in the darkness, I run like crazy. I have to get as far away from the manor as quickly as possible. The Book must be hidden. I still can’t wrap my head around what I’ve done.

  Suddenly, my foot catches behind a thick root sticking out of the forest path. I lose my balance and plunge headfirst onto the trail. It was once paved with flat stones – put there by the ancestors? – but they’ve been mostly removed now, due to cracks in the surface. My knees scrape painfully over the stones, bringing tears to my eyes. I hit the ground with a thud. Moaning softly, I rub my sore legs.

  I freeze when suddenly, in the nocturnal silence, I hear a sound in the bushes. Something’s walking around in there. Something large. A wild animal? This close to the house? They usually don’t risk that.

  And then, a blinding light shines in my eyes out of nowhere. Incredibly bright – as if I’m staring straight into the sun. Before I can even draw a breath to scream, a hand clamps down over my mouth, stopping the shriek in my throat.

  “Be quiet,” a male voice tells me.

  Saul?

  The voice doesn’t sound very old, so it could be someone from the manor. But where’s that terribly bright light coming from?

  “If you promise not to scream, I’ll let go of you. Okay?” the voice continues. That’s odd – this guy speaks differently than I’m used to. The words are more melodious, and he pronounces the R more rounded than rolling. A stranger.

  I nod silently.

  He takes away his hand. I breathe deeply in and out and then bat at the light with both hands. “Keep that out of my face!” I hiss. “You’re blinding me, for Luke’s sake!”

  Thankfully, he takes the light away. For a moment I see spots dancing before my eyes. Then the boy – he doesn’t look much older than I am – shines it at his own face. The light travels from his chin upward to the rest of his face, distorting his features with sharp shadows. I was right. I don’t know him.

  “What is that thing?” I whisper in shock. “And who the blazes are you?”

  “My name is Walt,” he replies. “I got this lamp from one of the shipwrecked men.”

  “Ship… what?” I mumble.

  “The man who washed up on our beach.” Walt gestures toward the west part of the island. “Across the Wall.”

  I stare at Walt incredulously.

  He is a Fool. So they really do exist.

  “What about you?” he continues, moving the light away from his face a little. It now illuminates the tree next to us. He was probably blinding himself too.

  “I’m Leia,” I answer softly. “I live in the manor house.”

  “You live on this side of the Wall?”

  “Yes.”

  “An Unbeliever,” he whispers. “So you guys are real.”

  I raise an eyebrow. What did he just call me? I believe in the Force with all my heart and soul. He obviously has no clue what he’s talking about.

  “Yes, that’s what I was just thinking about you,” I say snippishly. “You’re one of the Fools.”

  He chuckles. “None taken. Is that what you call us?”

  I fall silent. Only now do I realize how incredibly absurd and exciting this all is. I’m sitting in a dark forest, talking to a Fool who crossed the Wall. On top of that, I’ve stolen our holy Book. Whatever next?

  “Listen up,” Walt says, his voice suddenly intent. “I’m actually here looking for someone. A man in his forties with reddish hair. Is he with your people at the manor house?”

  The man in the beer cellar – he had red hair. That’s why I knew for sure I didn’t know him, because the only two people in Newexter with red hair are both women.

  “Why?” I ask cautiously. I don’t trust Saul one bit, but I don’t trust this Fool either. My eyes scan his face, which looks less threatening in the half-darkness than when he used the strange lamp to illuminate his pale features. His light-blonde hair is clearly visible in the light hitting the tree. Oh no… the light. Someone might spot it!

  “You have to put it out,” I bark at him in a panic. “The lamp. They’re looking for me. They shouldn’t find me.”

  Walt acts immediately, turning off the lamp with a sort of switch. “Done,” he says drily. “And now I’d love to know why you’re running away from your own people. I take it you’ve seen Henry? The man with red hair?”

  I swallow. “I have, but that’s not the reason I’m on the run.”

  Walt frowns. “So… why are you?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, I decide to tell him. I have to get this off my chest. “I stole something that belongs to our leader.” In fact, it doesn’t even belong to Saul - it should belong to all of us.

  Walt takes my hand in the dark. “Don’t be scared,” he reassures me. “You’ve got nothing to fear from me. I’d be the last person to rat you out. So what did you nick?”

  I don’t know the word ‘nick’, but I get what he means. “A book. It contains the words of our ancestors. My friend Andy claims that our leader, Saul, is deliberately keeping things in The Book from us. I didn’t mean to steal it. I just wanted to secretly read it, but if I hadn’t run away, they would have walked in on me.”

  “What are you planning to do with it now?” Walt says. “You can’t very well read it in the dark.”

  “You know, for a Fool you’re pretty smart,” I reply sourly.

  Walt huffs out an irritated breath. “Will you do me a favor and stop calling me stupid? You have no idea what it’s like on the other side of the Wall. You’ve never been there and you don’t know us.”

  “Well, you don’t know the first thing about me and my people either,” I throw back. “Or you wouldn’t have called me an Unbeliever.”

  We stare each other down, as far as that’s possible in a dark forest.

  “I wouldn’t mind finding out more about the other side,” I finally admit quietly. “But I don’t have time to talk. I have to hide The Book somewhere safe.”

  “Why don’t you give it to me?” Walt suggests.

  My heart skips a beat. “To you? Why would I?”

  He sighs condescendingly, as though I’m a Foolish child asking stupid questions. “I just told you, your people have never been on the other side of the Wall. It’s probably the last place your leader is ever going to look for his precious book, I should think.”

  He might be a Fool, but his idea is pretty solid. Still, he doesn’t have to sound all smug about it. “But I haven’t found the writings I was looking for,” I object.

  “So we’ll meet again. Different time, same place, tomorrow. I’ll bring the book along if you’ll bring a smile.”

  Is he actually teasing me? I glare at him but realize instantly he won’t be able to see that in the dark. “Why are you looking for this Henry?” I change the subject.

  Walt takes The Book from me and puts it away. “Henry and his friend Tony sailed here from across the waters, but that freak storm this afternoon wrecked their ship. It wasn’t a particularly well-built vessel, and those towering waves were the death blow to it. That’s how Tony landed on our shore.”

  I gape at Walt breathlessly. The man he’s looking for comes from across the waters – far beyond the horizon that has always been the end of our world. Is this really happening?

  “Henry must have drifted ashore on your side,” Walt continues, taking my hand in his again. It feels different than when Colin or Andy holds my hand – Walt’s hands are rougher, more callused. Suddenly, I feel flustered, and I don’t know why.

  “Henry is being kept prisoner in the manor house. I think he’s tried to tell Saul about his… shipwreck,” I reply slowly, remembering the words I heard through the door. Who did Henry think he was? That’s what Saul had said.

 
Our leader probably doesn’t believe a word Henry has said. Saul and Ben think Henry is a Fool. Or who knows - they might actually be afraid the familiar and safe world around them would change for good if other people heard Henry’s story. If they discovered Fools aren’t that crazy after all.

  “Let’s meet here around noon tomorrow?” I propose. “When the sun’s at its highest point?”

  Walt nods. “Fine with me. I’ll report back to the people in Hope Harbor. That’s the name of the place where I live. With a little luck, some strong men will volunteer to come with me and Tony to rescue Henry.”

  “All right. See you then,” I say. “The Force be in you.”

  “Faith, hope and love,” Walt replies in what is most likely a goodbye on his side of the Wall. The word ‘love’ somehow makes me blush. Thankfully, Walt can’t see that, because his strange lamp is still switched off. He turns and walks back in the direction of the Wall, the dark branches of the trees obscuring his receding figure.

  I let out a sigh and start making my way back.

  9

  IT’S ONLY when I reach the fence around the manor grounds that I notice my pendant is damaged. It probably cracked when I fell down.

  There’s no time to worry about it, though, because the whole manor is in turmoil. People are standing outside their huts or tents and some young men with torches are walking around, entering every dwelling.

  I climb the fence and sneak to the nearest cabin, which fortunately turns out to be Ami’s. I take care not to make too much noise when I knock on her door.

  “Who is it?” Colin’s voice comes through the door.

  “Colin?” I whisper in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  The door opens slightly and Colin pulls me inside. The hut is illuminated by a single candle in the far corner. In the half-dark, I can see the worried frown on his face.