The August 5

by Jenna Helland

  3

  TO AVOID SUSPICION, Tommy made himself stop running when he reached Miller’s Road. He reminded himself that he had every right to be here if he wanted to—it was his father’s land. He rehearsed what he would say if the soldiers stopped him. I’m going for a hike. I was heading up to Giant’s Ridge, but the storm set in. He wondered where Bern was, and if he’d already made it home. Tommy walked quickly, splashing through the puddles that formed in the deep ruts made by wagon wheels. As he approached the bend near Harrow Trailhead, Tommy raised his arm to wipe his eyes and was horrified to see blood on his sleeve. He realized his clothes were covered with the cottager girl’s blood. He imagined what the soldiers would say: Going for a hike, huh? Then who bled all over you?

  His gray sweater was completely ruined, but the stain wasn’t too noticeable on his dark jacket. With numb fingers, he was trying to close the brass buttons when he heard the engine of a fast-moving rover approaching from behind. Tommy dove into the undergrowth just as the vehicle came into view. It was a newer model with the clay vats holding the volt-cells mounted in a padded box at the rear. The driver’s platform was on the same level as the spoke-wheels, but unlike the standard model, there was a boxy passenger compartment fastened in the middle of the extended chassis. It looked exactly like the rover that Colston had had shipped to Aeren at the beginning of the summer holiday.

  The rover stopped a few feet away from where Tommy was hiding in the bushes. The engine sputtered off, which was a surprise. Rovers were notoriously hard to start, and it was often a two-person job to crank the wheel and flip the appropriate levers. Usually, the driver would keep the machine running unless he was certain that it was done being driven for the day. When the door to the passenger compartment opened, Tommy could see the golden Shore crest that his father had affixed to all his machines. It was his father’s rover. But why was it up here, in the middle of nowhere? The rover had been driving up and down this stretch of Miller’s Road as if the occupants were searching for something, but what? Rebels? Him and Bern? The girl? What if they’d seen him with her?

  Frozen with fear, Tommy huddled in the bushes, expecting to see his father. Instead, a Zunft soldier emerged from the rover. The driver hopped down and waited while two more men climbed out. With a sigh of relief, Tommy saw that none of these men were Colston Shore. The three men crossed behind the rover, then headed for the entrance to the Harrow Trail. From his hiding place, he watched the men closely as they passed by him. The two soldiers were dressed in silver-and-black uniforms with green patches on their lapels. He’d seen one of the men, the one with the curly blond hair, with Colston at the manor. He hadn’t seen the other soldier before. The third man was tall and wearing clothes that were more appropriate for a Zunftman in Sevenna City than in the wilds of Aeren. Tommy didn’t see his face clearly, but he wore a long black coat over a bright purple silk vest and he had a bowler pulled low over his forehead.

  The men were obviously heading somewhere specific—not searching for the wayward son of Colston Shore. Tommy felt the knot inside his stomach relax a little. The Zunft were already searching for the rebels. Maybe they even had information on who was responsible for the Port Kenney fire. Still, he wouldn’t risk the road anymore because there was no good explanation for the state of his bloody clothes. He tripped down the ridge to the flatlands and didn’t stop running until he reached the garden gate.

  “Tommy!” Bern was standing in the open kitchen door. His clothes were dry and his face flushed, probably from sitting in front of a comfortable fire. While Tommy had been running scared in the rain, Bern had been cozy as a cat. Trying to hide his irritation with his brother, Tommy slipped off his jacket and held it in front of his ruined sweater.

  “You made it back,” Tommy said, stumbling into the warm kitchen. He expected to see Mrs. Trueblood, but she was nowhere in sight. Bowls of flour, diced vegetables, and uncooked meat sat on the table. It was almost dinnertime, and it wasn’t like Mrs. Trueblood to be late with anything.

  “Where is everyone?” Tommy asked.

  “Father’s waiting for you in his library. He said to get changed and then report to him.”

  “I meant Mrs. Trueblood,” Tommy said.

  “Oh, all the cottagers are to report to the barracks in Black Rock,” Bern said.

  “They’re arresting them?” Tommy asked.

  “Not the ones who report to the barracks,” Bern said with an odd smile on his face. “Come on, get changed. Father wants to talk to you before he goes.”

  “Goes where?”

  “The cottagers attacked more than Port Kenney,” Bern said. “Something is happening in Sevenna, too. There could be a massacre.”

  “He’s going back anyway?” Tommy asked.

  “Father isn’t afraid of the rebels,” Bern said. “Some of the Zunftmen might cower in their estates, but not him.”

  “Why didn’t you wait for me?” Tommy asked. Lose fifty honor points for deserting your brother.

  “I thought you were right behind me,” Bern said. “Wait here. I’ll grab you some dry clothes.”

  Tommy added logs to the woodstove. He waited until Bern was gone to toss his sweater and jacket into the flames. He shut the iron door of the stove and hoped they would burn to ashes eventually even though they were soaked from the rain. Then he turned his attention to the uncooked food on the table. He wrapped up the meat and vegetables. In Sevenna, they had iceboxes that could keep things cool for a few hours, but his father hadn’t purchased one for the manor yet. Tommy wasn’t sure how long Mrs. Trueblood would be gone and he didn’t want the meat to spoil. He considered throwing it in a pan, but he didn’t know anything about cooking.

  “Father’s getting impatient,” Bern said, coming back with fresh clothes for Tommy. “Quit fussing with the food. I’ll find you something to eat afterward, okay?”

  Under normal circumstances, Bern would never have volunteered to get Tommy food or dry clothes. Tommy wondered if he actually felt bad for leaving his brother behind.

  Colston Shore’s third-floor library had high ceilings and a large bay window with a view of the sprawling lawn and the wooded ridge in the distance. Standing on the threshold of the library, Tommy knocked lightly and waited for his father to acknowledge him. Colston was a tall, lean man who always wore an impeccable Zunft uniform. He hated things around him to be disorderly or imperfect. Tommy always felt like an unwelcome speck of lint in his father’s otherwise tidy life.

  Colston finished the sentence that he was writing, jabbed his pen into the inkwell, and impatiently waved his sons into the room. “Bernard. Thomas. Sit down. I only have a few minutes before I leave for Sevenna.”

  The twins sat in the two straight-back chairs in front of Colston’s desk. As they waited for Colston to speak, Tommy tried to remember the last time he’d visited Colston in Sevenna. It had been years. He vaguely remembered the quiet street lined with plum trees that blossomed in the spring. The house reminded him of his mother, and the awful night she died. He was too young to remember it himself, but his imagination filled in the details if he let his mind dwell on it. Instead, he made himself focus on his father.

  “Unless they are stopped, the cottagers will slaughter every one of us,” Colston said. “After Port Kenney, the violence will escalate. The news of the rebellion here stirred up the rabble in Sevenna. There are riots going on now, and cottagers have taken the Grand Customs House.”

  Colston pointed out the window at a group of soldiers patrolling the grounds.

  “You will be safe while I’m gone,” Colston said. “Unfortunately, not every Zunft family is so well guarded. Hywel must be held personally responsible for every life lost during this travesty.”

  “This is going to be bad for Hywel, isn’t it?” Bern asked. He sounded almost gleeful.

  “Hywel deserves everything that’s coming to him,” Colston said. “He didn’t have the moral fortitude to make the correct decisions and now he’s ruined Seahaven.” />
  Tommy knew what his father considered to be moral and correct: The Zunft were the rightful leaders of Seahaven and the estate system was the foundation of their rule. The Zunft were expected to provide dwellings for the cottagers, who, in turn, must provide labor for the estate owners. Women should know their place, and that was in the home. For the peace and prosperity of all, certain rules must be obeyed.

  “You witnessed a sad chapter in the history of the Zunft,” Colston said. “I’ve warned that the cottagers were capable of this sort of violence for years, and the Zunftmen in the Chamber didn’t listen.”

  “Yes, sir,” the boys agreed.

  “And instead of listening,” Colston continued, “Hywel gave them cheap bread and inflated wages. No one learns how to take care of themselves when everything is handed to them by the government. Waves of emigrants leave Aeren and overcrowd Sevenna. Our income has suffered with the loss of our bond families, and the life of the cottagers is far worse in the city than when they worked the land as intended.”

  Outside the window, Tommy could hear a horse and carriage approaching the manor along the gravel drive. He resisted the urge to turn and see who was arriving. Tommy knew that Colston expected absolute attention when speaking to his sons. As children, Bern had been better at sitting still and listening to lectures. Tommy had spent hours standing in corners as punishment for fidgeting in front of his father.

  “The rebels are trying to tear down what I’ve worked so hard to build,” Colston said. “To destroy my legacy. Hywel made them feel like they were entitled to rights. And how did that turn out?”

  Colston paused, and Bern piped up: “Disastrous!”

  “I am the only man who can save Seahaven from slipping into degradation and economic chaos,” Colston said. “Now the Zunft Chamber will listen to me. Now they will join the Carvers. Otherwise they will be massacred by cottagers, and I will personally remind each and every one of them of that fact.”

  The carriage rolled into the front circle and stopped out of sight under the window. A horse nickered. The door slammed. Faint voices could be heard below.

  “Thomas, tell me exactly what happened in Port Kenney.”

  “We came down Miller’s Road and turned onto the Strand,” Tommy said. He tried to keep his voice from shaking. He couldn’t betray anything about the girl in the lavender dress or he’d be in trouble. “We decided to see if there were soldiers in the customs house, but two men chased us.”

  “When did you and Bern get separated?” Colston asked.

  “After we left Port Kenney,” Tommy said. “I headed into the woods near the top of the ridge and that’s where I lost them.”

  “I stayed on Miller’s Road,” Bern said. “I thought Tommy was right behind me.”

  “Did you see anyone else in the forest?” Colston asked.

  “No, sir,” Tommy said without missing a beat. He was relieved that he had been able to lie to his father so easily. Usually it was Bern who was good at deception, not Tommy.

  “Good,” Colston said. “You boys are not to leave the manor until further notice. I’m headed to Sevenna tonight for an emergency session of Chamber. I’m going to demand that Hywel take appropriate actions. Let him try to defend the cottagers now.”

  “Yes, sir,” the twins said together.

  “My driver has arrived to take me to the port at Black Rock,” Colston said. “Seminary begins in a few weeks, and you will relocate to Sevenna as scheduled. I will not let thugs disrupt my sons’ education.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Bern said.

  “You can thank me when there is justice,” Colston replied.

  4

  COTTAGER REBELLION!

  Sevenna City is in a state of siege as the cottager rebellion that gripped the islands spread to the capital city. In Norde, the Long Barracks was destroyed in a fire and the cottagers took control of the port. In Catille, the governor’s mansion was ransacked and the governor’s children were terrorized by cottager thugs. But the worst is in Aeren, home to the largest population of cottagers in the islands. The rebellion began in Port Kenney. The entire village was razed to the ground and three brave soldiers died in the ensuing battle for the port.

  —Zunft Chronicle, August 5, Evening Edition

  Tamsin cried out and felt a hand clamp down over her mouth. Her eyes flew open and she expected to see fire. But instead she saw the dazzling stars in the night sky above her.

  “Shhh, Tamsin, it’s all right,” said a voice in her ear. It was her younger sister Eliza. One of her braids had come loose and her face was smudged with dirt. It was Tamsin’s job to keep her sisters tidy, but she hadn’t been there this morning to help them get dressed or bring in water for washing. Eliza patted her arm and it was such a motherly gesture that it made Tamsin feel guilty. Maybe she would wake up and find that Port Kenney was a dream. She could fix Eliza’s hair and everything would be normal again.

  “Eliza?” Tamsin muttered. “Where are we?”

  “Heading to the coast,” Eliza said. “We’re almost there.”

  The girls were tucked under wool blankets in the back of a wagon, bumping down a rough road. They were surrounded by hay bales so Tamsin couldn’t see much of the countryside. But the scratchy wool against her skin and the sickening lurch of the wagon were too real for Tamsin to pretend otherwise, even in her groggy state.

  “I’m not asleep, am I?” Tamsin asked.

  “How did you get to Mr. Fields’s house?” Eliza asked. “You were lying on his porch, half-dead.”

  “Am I half-dead?” Tamsin asked stupidly. Her limbs felt heavy and her mind sluggish, like the time when, as a child, she’d broken her arm and her mother had given her root tea to take away the pain. But when had someone given her tea? She tried to remember what had happened since the warehouse, but her mind was almost blank. She had a few blurry images of searing flames, jade-green grass, and a young man’s face.

  “Port Kenney is in ruins,” Eliza said. “Everyone had to report to the barracks at Black Rock. The soldiers are everywhere. You’ve got burns. We’re afraid that if you’re seen, they’ll know you were involved.”

  “Mama registered us?” Tamsin asked.

  “Not on Miller’s Road,” Eliza said. “Don’t worry. The Zunft don’t know where we really are.”

  All Aeren cottagers were required to register their address and employment status with the customs house in Black Rock. Once Michael Henry became famous in Sevenna, he had feared reprisals to his family. So he faked a registration for them in Black Rock, but in actuality they only moved up Miller’s Road to a different cottage. As far as the Zunft knew, none of the Henry family lived on the Shore Estate anymore.

  “What happened to Papa?” Tamsin asked.

  “Oh, Tamsin,” Eliza said. “No one knows. When the fighting started in Port Kenney, it spread to Sevenna. That’s what people keep saying, but I don’t really know what they mean.”

  It meant that Tamsin had been the catalyst for rebellion. What was happening in Sevenna was the result of her and her match.

  “Is Mother all right?” Tamsin mumbled. “Is she mad at me?”

  Instead of answering, Eliza patted Tamsin’s arm again. Tamsin and her mother, Anna, had been quarreling a lot lately, especially over politics. It infuriated Tamsin that her mother wanted to hide her head and hope the Zunft wouldn’t give her a second thought. She secretly believed that her mother didn’t love her father anymore and she’d started to blame Anna for chasing him away from the family.

  “So she’s sending me away,” Tamsin tried to say, but her words came out slurred. Eliza didn’t seem to hear her.

  “Why did you go to Port Kenney?” Eliza asked.

  Candlelight. Flames like a giant flower had bloomed in that empty space and demanded access to the open sky.

  “Papa told me to,” Tamsin said.

  “Who blew up the warehouse?” Eliza whispered, but Tamsin shook her head. She didn’t know who was driving the wagon and whethe
r they could overhear what the sisters were saying.

  “What’s going to happen to me?” Tamsin asked.

  “Mama found friends who can take you to Sevenna,” Eliza said. “You’ve got to get lost in the city for a while.”

  “What will the little ones think?” Tamsin asked.

  “Hush, it won’t be for long. Besides, Papa needs somebody to help him.”

  That wasn’t true—Papa didn’t need anybody. But when she tried to protest, burning stabs of pain shot through her injured side, so she kept quiet. She was getting sleepy despite the pain, the jolting ride, and the sadness about leaving her home.

  “Do you remember Mr. and Mrs. Leahy?” Eliza asked. “They brought their son, Navid, to Aeren a few summers back. The father, Brian, is going to meet you at the docks and give you a room.”

  Tamsin conjured up an image of a curly-headed boy that might be Navid, but she had no memory of the rest of the family. Before Michael Henry moved to Sevenna, scores of people used to come from all over the islands every summer. It was like a weeklong party where families slept in canvas tents on the ridge and played music until the sun rose. Her father always had a lot of friends even before he left Aeren and became the hero of the people.

  Tamsin lost track of time then. In her weary and confused mind, the night sky became like the waves of the ocean, rolling across the heavens. It was past midnight when a rustic fishing boat left from the secluded bay several miles outside of Black Rock. This bay had no Zunft presence. This was a smuggler’s bay, and it was not the captain’s first time carrying human cargo. He laid the semiconscious Tamsin into the small compartment under the deck. It had a glass porthole, but Tamsin never saw it. She slept soundly, courtesy of her mother’s root tea, and dreamed of fire spreading along the cobblestone streets of Sevenna.