by Lynda Engler
“You don’t deem him crazy?”
Her husband’s odd vocabulary still threw her sometimes, but Isabella had gotten good at almost automatically rephrased into her own speech pattern. “No, I don’t think he’s crazy. More like – determined. I think he’s an old man who’s worked alone on something for so long that he isn’t in his right mind anymore and that kind of determination can only be about something important. Araddea’s right. He has to be working on a cure for humans. A way to live out here…” she spread her arms wide in the dim moonlit room, to indicate the Outside world, “without getting mutated.”
“So the shelter-folk can come out and live in safety,” Malcolm finished her thought.
“Or stop the new humans from dying so young,” added Isabella, as an afterthought.
“Maybe. But I doubt he’s working on a cure for mutants’ short-life. No, you’re probably right. He’s got to be finding a way for your people to come out of hiding.” While Malcolm didn’t say it in a judgmental tone, she suspected he felt that was a bad thing.
“So, what do we do?”
“What can we do?” Malcolm asked. “We don’t know where he is and even if we did, we can’t help him. We don’t understand medicine or science!” His brow furrowed whenever the subject of intelligence came up, especially his own.
“We go find him!” Isabella couldn’t restrain her irritation. She pushed herself up onto her elbow and shoved her face within a few inches of her husband’s nose. “We don’t have to understand science. This isn’t about being smart Malcolm! This is about doing the right thing. We need to find him – see what he’s doing. I don’t know if we can help but we have to go see anyway. If he’s actually working on a way to stop shelter-folk from mutating, then they’ll all come out – soon! – not in fifty years like the government estimates. That changes everything.”
“Why? You want your people to be able to live out here safely, don’t you?” asked Malcolm.
Few shelter-folk would willingly give up their long life spans to come Outside and be slowly poisoned by the world. Isabella lay back with a soft thud.
“Of course I do,” she all but whispered. “But if they can come out of hiding, then so will the government. Remember? Those maniacs who want to exterminate your people. Or have you forgotten why I came with you?” She chastised her new husband and playfully elbowed his side.
“I thought it was because you loved me,” he said sadly, but with a hopeful gleam in his expressive green eyes.
“I do. And that’s precisely why I want to help you and all the others.”
Malcolm got quiet for a while, then finally snuggled closer to her and nudged her with his elbow. “Hey, Belle – did you fall asleep?”
“No, I can’t stop my brain from working.”
“Me too. Okay, so let’s go find this crazy old man. See what he’s truly doing. Maybe Araddea is wrong. Or maybe she’s right but he’s not close to finding the cure. Any way you look at it, we should go find out the answer, right?” asked Malcolm.
Twenty-Three
Neither Malcolm nor Isabella had ever heard the sound of tanks rolling down the road, but they both knew instantly that the loud, rumbling noise coming through the walls of their house was not natural. Something was very wrong.
Malcolm jumped out of bed and pushed aside the curtains. He peered into the early morning light and his face contorted in pain, imagining the terror that would be caused by the monstrous machines. “Belle, get up. Get the kids,” he urged as he pulled on his pants and cinched his belt.
Isabella pulled on her own shirt and shorts, pushed her bare feet into thin sneakers and rushed across the hall into the girls’ room. She pulled back the covers from Shia’s bed and said, “Get up. We need to go right now.” The three year old did not hesitate, rolling out of bed instantly.
A night table separated the twin beds. Isabella stepped to Andra’s bed, pulled back her blanket, took her quickly but gently into her arms and hugged her tight. “Time to go honey.” Their adopted daughter didn’t wake up easily and trying to get her going on her own would take more time than they had.
By the time Malcolm and Isabella got into the living room with the girls, Oberon was already at their front door. His hair was a mess and he was only half dressed, just a pair of thin beige shorts. He ordered, “Move! It’s the military! We need to hide.”
Malcolm replied sarcastically, “Yeah, I pretty much figured that out when I heard the noise. Why are they here now?”
“I don’t know! They shouldn’t have come back for months.” Oberon was very confused but remained calm.
“Where do we hide?” shouted Isabella frantically, still holding Andra in her arms. Shia was clinging to her father’s leg.
Oberon replied, “We have a safe house, under the library. Violet has already gone there with our boys. Go quickly.” He turned and bounded down the two steps of their front porch to spread the word to the rest of the community.
Malcolm ran with Isabella and the little girls toward the library. Kalla materialized out of the woods with a few other almost-adult girls and joined them in their mad dash. But suddenly they stopped dead in their tracks. A tank loomed directly in front of them, cutting off their path to the safe house. Its front-mounted, main gun faced the village as it rolled toward the houses but they were all pretty sure that the soldiers inside could turn the weapon on them quickly if they were seen. Without losing a step, Malcolm pulled Kalla from the group of girls and took off between the houses, with Isabella and his daughters right behind him. Clay emerged from the young men’s community house as they neared it. “What’s going on?” he asked, still wiping sleep from his eyes.
“Tanks!” Malcolm replied. “Oberon told me when I talked to him about this the other day that they’re rounding up the healthy young adults. He doesn’t know why they showed up now, but we need to run.”
“I know a way out,” said Clay, still the best among them in finding his way anywhere.
Kalla was running in step with Isabella now, directly behind Clay and Malcolm. She grabbed Shia by the waist and hefted the little girl onto her hip. As a group, they ran through the trees, cutting between houses along the lake in spaces too small for the tanks to follow. Branches whipped by them, scratching Isabella’s face and tangling the hair of the little girls as they were carried over stumps and brushwood by Kalla and Isabella.
Fifteen minutes of hard climbing on well-worn trails brought them out of Telemark and into the heavily wooded area east of the community. They followed a trail that zigzagged up the hill. Out of breath and near the top of the hill, the group stopped along a stream and bent to refresh themselves.
Malcolm climbed to the top of a rocky outcropping to get a clearer look at the village below them. “Doesn’t look like they followed us.”
“Do you think everyone got away?” asked Kalla, between handfuls of water. She was exhausted after the frantic run carrying the little girl. Shia was fairly light, but Kalla wasn’t a big girl herself and the weight of the three year old on her hip took its toll on her. After drinking her fill, she dropped to the rutted earth, trying to catch her breath.
“Maybe,” replied Malcolm. “I hope most got to the safe house.”
Isabella paced the ground, her foot kicking at small stones that intruded on her space. “I don’t understand, Malcolm! Why is the military rounding up the people from Telemark so soon after their last raid?” She could barely breathe from the exertion of climbing the hill carrying Andra and her muscles burned as if fire were coursing through her veins. Her legs ached from the exertion and she could feel a vein in her neck throbbing. She wasn’t sure if it was from the escape or from the anger that bubbled inside her, threatening to overflow.
“I don’t know,” replied Malcolm and swore. “I hope everyone got hidden. I don’t want them to take anyone!” Malcolm had no choice but to wait until it was over and they could go back and see what happened to everyone.
“Maybe once they have enoug
h mutants for their experiments, the soldiers will go back to their base over the mountain and leave Telemark alone for a while,” suggested Clay.
It was obvious that if they wanted to, the military could destroy the entire village in a few minutes. Armored tanks with machine guns left no doubt who was in control. The only reason the mutant community of Telemark still existed was because the military allowed it to.
They waited for two hours, but no one else arrived at their hiding place; hopefully everyone from their tribe had made it to the basement shelter. But Malcolm knew that some wouldn’t. Some had gotten caught and taken away.
Finally, Malcolm decided to risk sending a scout to check the situation. He couldn’t go himself because he needed to protect Isabella and the girls. Although Malcolm was reluctant to send him, Clay was the obvious choice and the boy set out down the trail to the village.
Malcolm watched Clay until he could no longer see him, then waited impatiently until he returned half an hour later.
“Malcolm!” Clay almost shouted, out of breath and panting. “The soldiers aren’t leaving. They are searching, house by house. They are tearing the place apart!”
“Slow down Clay! Tell us what happened,” said Malcolm calmly.
The boy caught his breath and then started his story. “I got into Telemark undetected. The library looked empty, so I snuck around the little houses all around the lake and still didn’t see anyone. But when I rounded a corner and saw the entire squad of soldiers, milling about, talking, it was all I could do to control my breathing! The tanks weren’t moving, but I heard the commanding officer giving orders to the rest of the men and one of them was on a radio. I think he was calling their home base on the other side of the mountain. I ran back up here as fast as I could.”
Clay took a long breathe and then finished, “I don’t think they are just collecting a few people this time, Malcolm. They are looking hard for something.”
“Or someone,” interjected Isabella. “They are searching for someone. Do you think they are looking for us?”
“No, Belle,” said Malcolm. “They don’t know us – why would they care?” He turned away from the group and wrinkled his face in thought before turning back. “They are looking for you, Belle.”
“Me?! What would the military want with me?” Her face crumpled as realization dawned on her. She sat down hard on a thick tree trunk that had fallen across the deer trail they had followed. “Oh.”
“Yes, Belle, your grandfather must have told them you were missing. We can’t go back,” said Malcolm as he paced around in the woods. “I’m glad it has taken this long to track you down, but now that the authorities are so close to finding you, we have to get as far away as we can. If the military found you, I’m sure they would force you to go home, whether you want to or not.”
“We were leaving anyway, weren’t we?” she replied, standing up and facing him, although she had to look up to meet his eyes.
“Yes, but not like this! Not without our gear and supplies.”
“We were leaving?” asked Kalla. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Isabella and I were going to try to find the scientist in Araddea’s visions. We only decided it last night. You don’t have to come with us,” said Malcolm.
“Yes, you and Clay should go back and settle down in Telemark,” Isabella said. “The military isn’t looking for you. Please take the girls with you – see if you can get Milora and Guy to care for them for a month or so. We’ll be back! It’s too dangerous out there for little children.”
Andra and Shia didn’t agree. Andra’s lower lip dropped in a heavy pout while Shia was more direct in her disapproval of Isabella’s suggestion.
“No way! I’m going with Papa!” She stomped her feet and shouted so loudly that Isabella was worried that the soldiers would hear her.
“Shhhhh!” Isabella hushed her. The little girl quieted down, but the look on her face was semi-murderous. She wasn’t going to be taken back to Telemark easily.
Kalla’s reaction surprised Isabella. “I deem it sounds fun. I’ve got plenty of time to settle down later. What deem you, Clay?” She looked at her intended mate. Isabella often forgot that they were just eleven years old. In this strange Outside world, they were years ahead of her own people in maturity at that same age. She remembered that they would be officially married once they both turned twelve.
“I’m not sure,” he said tentatively. “If anyone can find this crazy guy, it would be me. But winter is coming…” Clay’s voice trailed off as he weighed the alternatives.
“We’ll be back by then!” promised Malcolm. “If we don’t find the old man by first frost, we’ll turn back. But,” he looked from face to face, “you do have a point. Telemark is what we’ve searched for. It’s wrong of me to ask you to leave on a wild goose chase.”
Isabella nodded. “And I’m the only who has to leave. You can safely stay, as long as you avoid these raids. Maybe once they realize I’m not here, they’ll leave Telemark alone again for a long time.”
But Kalla was adamant. “I’m going. And we need Clay. He’s the best tracker in the tribe but you need us both because I’ve got a much better sense of direction. Without me, he’ll just walk in circles.”
Clay scowled and laughed simultaneously at her joke. “I’m in.”
“Okay,” said Malcolm. “You come with us if that’s your choice and we’ll be back before winter, whether we find the old guy or not.”
The group all nodded in agreement. Shia was finally smiling, her chocolate complexion shining brightly in the mid-morning sun.
Just then, the orange cat jumped off a tree branch overhead where it had been hiding, unseen by any of them. Andra scooped up Pumpkin and hugged him to her chest.
Clay said, “I could go back and get our belongings. Or at least enough of it to get by.”
The group discussed what was really necessary and Clay made a mental list.
Malcolm had agreed going back was risky and as much as he didn’t want either of the young people to do the job, he couldn’t do it himself. “If I got caught, there would be no one to take care of Isabella. I have to keep her safe. If she was forced back to her shelter now, she would be miserable. But not as much as I would. Isabella, I just couldn’t live without you anymore. I can’t lose you. You have become a part of me.”
Isabella thought for only a split second before answering flatly, “No. I can’t let a boy do this. I’ll go.”
Malcolm shook his head, “No, I won’t allow it. You are too inexperienced in the woods and they’ll catch you.”
Isabella knew how much she meant to Malcolm, but she couldn’t let his love for her endanger anyone else. Malcolm was still leader of his tribe. His job was to take care of the younger ones: The little girls, of course, but Kalla and Clay as well. They were still children, even if they looked as old as she was.
“If they catch Clay, they’ll take him back for experimentation. Or any of you! If they catch me, I’ll only have to go home. And I’d just sneak out again and make my way back to you. Malcolm, I’m tougher than I look.” She set her feet firmly on the ground and just waited.
Malcolm paced around in a lopsided circle and after two minutes came to her and said. “You are. Isabella you are the strongest person I know, in more ways than one. Go. Be careful, stay hidden, and take as much time as you need, or as little. Just stay hidden.”
“I love you Malcolm,” said Isabella as she stood on tip toes to kiss him, before turning and heading down the trail. She heard him respond in a whisper behind her back, “I love you too.”
When Isabella got back to Telemark, the soldiers were still searching house by house. She had to hide for a long time. But finally when no one seemed to be near the boy’s community house, she snuck in, went to Clay’s room and gathered his clothes and the new toothbrush they had given him.
Unnoticed, she slunk to the girl’s abandoned dorm and did the same for Kalla. But the two bags were very heavy. It
was all she could carry. Slowly, quietly, she carried the bags back to the trail up the mountain and lugged them back up to the waiting group. She saw the relief in Malcolm’s’ eyes.
“I’m going back for our stuff now.” She dropped the bags at Malcolm’s feet and headed down to the village again before he could change his mind and send Clay instead. She worked her way to her own house and gathered their original sleeping bags and two tents, food and water containers, her backpack with her map, harmonica and two paperback books. She put them by the back door then got clothes for all of them and stuffed them in a canvas satchel that she slung over her shoulder.
Laden down with her bags, Isabella was set to head up the mountain, but when she left the house, she immediately heard the heavy footstep of soldiers coming toward the house. She dropped to the ground and crawled to the hedges. Hiding with the stashed gear, she listened as the men walked around the yard. Silently afraid, as if the grass and trees were capable of hearing her breathe, she sucked air in through her mouth as quietly as she could and listened to the men talk as they searched the grounds.
One soldier keyed the microphone on his lapel. “All clear. She isn’t in this one either. Moving on to next house.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and gathered the gear and ventured out of the hedges. The soldiers were gone.
She trudged back up the mountain path to their camp, constantly looking back over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed.
When she reached their hiding place, her breathing was ragged – more from the trepidation of being found by soldiers than from the exertion of hiking the hill.
“They almost caught me, Malcolm. But I hid well. I heard them though. They really are searching for me.”
Malcolm nodded, his suspicion confirmed then wrapped her in a bear hug and wouldn’t let go. “I shouldn’t have let you go down there Isabella. I should have gone myself.”
“No Malcolm, I needed to do it. It was the best plan.”
He nodded, swallowed whatever further argument he was going to make and turned to the bags she brought. He inspected the tents, sleeping bags and food supplies. They were all starved, not having eaten all day long.