Hourglass

by Pauline C. Harris

  But either way, I’m smiling as I walk back into Prince’s camp.

  * * * *

  “I want to see my crew.”

  I feel like I’ve spouted these exact words a thousand times, but to no avail. Prince merely looks at me with a funny smile plastered on his face like I’m a little kid who wants a candy bar. And he’s not going to give it to me.

  “All in good time,” he trills, sidestepping me to go wherever it was he was originally going before I confronted him.

  “But it’s been days,” I protest, following him. “All I want is to see that they’re okay. I don’t even know if they’re alive—you won’t let me see them!”

  “You’ll see them when I let you see them,” he answers.

  “I’ll tell the children,” I call after him. “About how long we’ve really been here.” My voice is practically a shout, and Prince stops in his tracks and slowly turns around. His smile is gone.

  “And what makes you think they’ll believe you?” he asks with a shake of his head.

  “Why wouldn’t they?” I shoot back, although I know that they really have no reason to. They’ve known Prince most of their lives, and I’m some new and odd stranger who’s wandered into their midst.

  “And even if they did know,” Prince says in a low voice, leaning down, his face inches from mine. “Why would they care?” He laughs. “I don’t understand how you don’t see it, Jude. You were always searching for the things you couldn’t have.” He snorts. “I gave you immortality, and you went searching for a reason to die. Well, thankfully not all these kids are as silly as you.”

  “Everyone should have a choice,” I counteract, slowly realizing that however wrong Prince’s actions have been, he’s climbing to the top of this conversation and staying there. He’s manipulating his words and mine and I’m never going to win this argument.

  “Everyone wants immortality, Jude. And on top of that, who wouldn’t want an immortal childhood? To never be lonely?” He shoots me a gloating smile with just enough ire in his eyes to show me he’s done with the conversation, before turning on his heels and sauntering away. I grit my teeth and glare at his receding form as he exits the clearing.

  I head back to my tent in a huff, mentally kicking myself for failing so horribly. In my head, in black and white, stealing those children from their families and holding them for hundreds of years merely to be his companions is a horrible thing to do. But then, who wouldn’t want to be a child forever? To never grow up?

  Sometimes I wish I never had.

  A few minutes later, Win finds me in the tent and smiles as she takes a seat beside me. I’ve grown accustomed to her following me around and showing up in different places. But I still think of her as this cute little kid...and not quite my sister yet. Because “sister” comes with so much more – memories and life experiences and the gift of knowing each other.

  Win sits in silence for a moment, fiddling with a loose thread on her tattered, pink dress. It shocks me to realize that the reason that tiny dress looks so worn and old and faded is because it’s centuries old. I swallow.

  “What do you think of Prince?” I ask her, craning my neck so I can see her face.

  She doesn’t look at me, she merely shrugs.

  “You must think something about him,” I coax. “Is he nice? Do you like him?”

  She cocks her head to one side as if considering the question. She shrugs again.

  “What about the camp, do you like it here?”

  Win shrugs again and I’ve just about resigned myself to the fact that she’s not going to say anything at all when she bursts out, “I wanted to go with you.” Her blue eyes blink up at mine. “When you left.”

  I’m stunned to silence, not sure what to say. I’m barely remembering anything of how I left, other than Dad rescuing me, so I can’t say why Win ended up staying behind when I took off. “I’m sorry,” is all I can think to say.

  She shrugs yet again.

  A question pops into my mind and I glance sideways in her direction, wondering if there’s any chance in her knowing the answer. Or actually telling me. But I decide to take a chance anyway. “Do you know where my crew is?” I ask gently, praying that there’s a sliver of a chance that she knows.

  She shakes her head and my heart sinks. “He doesn’t tell me,” she answers. “He doesn’t really like me.”

  I frown, slowly putting the pieces together that Win and Prince don’t seem all that close. I wonder if she’s an exception, or if Bella is.

  “But Bella knows.”

  My breathing catches in my throat. “Bella?” I ask.

  Win nods. “Prince likes her. He likes her more than me.”

  I stare at Win for a moment, an idea slowly forming in my mind and coming to life. I can get my crew back. I know I can. And I can do it the same way that Prince is getting what he wants from me. By taking what’s most precious—the weak spot.

  Hooks and Knives

  “I’ll get you for this Pan, if it’s the last thing I do.”

  - J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

  Chapter Twelve

  “I know how to find the others,” I say to Sylvia, Angelica, and Andrew the next time I make it back to Hourglass. We’re sitting in the diner again, going over plans and new things learned. Angelica has an idea about what’s wrong with the engines and is in the process of testing her theory, making my plan all the more exciting. For the first time in what seems like a long while, I feel like we actually have a chance of getting off this planet. “Through Bella,” I tell them.

  Sylvia and Angelica exchange puzzled looks but Andrew’s eyes light up. “I remember her,” he says. “She was always the oldest, although...I guess we’d be older than her now.” He considers this for a moment before continuing. “She always had a way of getting on Prince’s good side.”

  I nod, my eyes flitting away from his the moment his gaze meets mine. I’m still a little uncertain about what happened, caught between wanting to pretend it never happened, or forcing myself to address it. I can’t tell if he feels the same way, and I surely hope he can’t read me well enough to know that my mind is practically doing summersaults over this. “And I know he still feels the same way about her. Win told me she’d be in on any of Prince’s plans. If any of the kids know where the guys are, it’d be her.”

  Andrew nods in agreement and Sylvia and Angelica shrug, taking our word on it.

  “So what do you want to do about it?” Andrew asks. “Have you talked to her at all?”

  “If she has a good relationship with this Prince guy, I’m not sure she’ll be willing to give away information like that,” Sylvia jumps in.

  I purse my lips together and swallow. “I wasn’t thinking about persuading her, really,” I admit. Andrew’s eyebrows shoot up.

  “You want to kidnap her,” Sylvia finishes for me, reading me like a book. I nod and she nods back, knowing that would be my answer.

  “Kidnap?” Angelica chimes in. “But that’s what Prince did to the guys, we’d be stooping to his level,” she protests, her brown eyes widening. I stare at her for a long moment and then finally shake my head.

  “You haven’t known me as long as Sylvia has, but I’m a pirate,” I tell her. “And I don’t play fair.”

  Angelica’s expression softens as if she’s only now remembering that since she signed on with this crew, she’s become a pirate too. This interlude with the planet has delayed that, shifted everyone’s attention from the original goal.

  “That’s right,” Sylvia stands up for me, a smile forming on her face. “If there’s anything I’ve learned from my life aboard this ship, from Jude’s dad and everyone on his crew, pirates are exempt from rules.” She smiles. “We put ourselves out there and do whatever we want.”

  I smile back at her, my gaze sliding to Andrew and Angelica as well. “And it’s time to show Prince that we have no problems with playing dirty.”

  Minutes later, I’m with Sylvia in the medical lab as she scrambl
es through medicines. We’d come to the conclusion that bringing Bella back to the ship unconscious would be the best plan all around. That way, we could question her without her knowing exactly where we are, and without worrying about being out in the open. The plan is for me to lure Bella far enough away from the camp to give her something to immobilize her long enough to get back to Hourglass.

  “Propofol,” Sylvia says from beside me, pulling out a needle and a bottle of something liquid and milky white. “This will put her out immediately, but only for a few minutes. Ten at the most. Which means you have to have her pretty close to the ship when administered.” I nod as Sylvia places the plunger into the bottle and slowly fills the syringe. “Where do you want me to wait?”

  I consider it for a moment, mentally going over the trail in my head. “I’ll tell Andrew. He’ll most likely know where I’m talking about. Besides, we’ll probably want him to carry Bella back to the ship, so he can wait with you.”

  “Do it now,” Sylvia tells me. “I don’t want to stay on this planet any longer than I have to.” She pulls the syringe out and readies it in a small container as I exit the room.

  I’m pretty confident I’ll find Andrew in one of the crew quarters—that’s where I saw him heading when we all left the diner, but my feet seem to want to go the opposite way as I head down the hallway. All I can think about is Andrew kissing me a few days earlier. It’s the only thing occupying my mind, pushing everything out as it takes center stage. I shake my head, trying to get rid of it, trying to focus on what really matters. Anything else. And before I know it I’m at Andrew’s door. And my hand reaches up and knocks before I can stop it.

  The door opens and Andrew stands in the threshold. For a long moment neither of us says anything. I resist the urge to turn around and practically run away. But I grit my teeth for a few seconds and force a smile. “I wanted to talk to you about the plan.” Andrew doesn’t reply. “To kidnap Bella.”

  His eyes widen and he nods vigorously. “Oh yeah, of course. Did you need something?”

  I swallow. “I’m thinking you and Sylvia should wait somewhere along the trail, and that’s where I’ll lead Bella to. You’ll have to carry her back to the ship once she’s passed out.”

  Andrew nods again. “I can do that.”

  “Good. Sylvia’s getting the injection ready and then you guys should be good to go. Sorry to ask you, but I think it’s a good idea for you to wait there indefinitely. I’m not sure when I can get Bella away, but I don’t want to arouse suspicion.”

  “Makes sense,” he answers. “I’ll pack supplies for staying out overnight.”

  “Good.” I nod curtly and turn to head back down the hallway, my body alight with adrenaline and hype, when Andrew’s voice stops me in my tracks.

  “Jude?” he calls. I turn around, my legs begging me not to. “Are you mad?” he asks tentatively. “About what happened?”

  I’m shaking my head before I deem it acceptable and words are already tumbling out of my mouth. “No,” I say, shocked to find it’s true because any other time, I would have been furious if someone kissed me. Kissing is not what you do when you’re a captain, when you’re in charge, when you’re fighting for your life, trying to lead a crew, and escape a dangerous planet. But for some reason I can’t find it in myself to be angry at him. I’m not even angry at myself and that’s what shocks me the most. Because my mind has been taken over by thirty seconds of my life—the thirty seconds that his lips touched mine and shredded my brain to bits. I hate myself for it but...I don’t wish that it never happened.

  Andrew is looking at me with an expression I can’t read and I’m too terrified to stand here and try to figure it out.

  “But it can’t happen again,” I tell him bluntly, even though I’m not sure whether I fully agree or not. “At least not until this whole thing is figured out.”

  Andrew nods and takes a small step back, glancing at the floor for a second before looking back up at me.

  I send him a small smile before turning and heading down the hallway.

  * * * *

  It’s been a day and I still haven’t found time to talk with Bella. It’s frustrating how much time she spends with Prince. It’s like they’re tied at the hip. They’re always off talking or laughing or going on some adventure in the woods. Do they spend any time at all with the other children? I feel guilty for how long Andrew and Sylvia have waited outside. They walked with me when I left the ship and I showed them where I thought they should wait. I haven’t seen them since. I’m sure Angelica is equally as worried—she’s spent nearly twenty-four hours alone in a ship without any knowledge as to what’s happening. Our crew is scattered throughout the forest and it’s beginning to grate on my nerves, my mind tipping between panic and rage.

  All because Bella and Prince can’t seem to spend a second apart. I glare reproachfully at the dying embers of the fire while I sit on the log in the center of the camp. What does Prince expect to do with me, anyway? I still can’t understand why he’s keeping my crew from me, or why he ever wanted me back in the first place. It’s not like I want to be here, and surely he knew I’d just spend my time moping around and making his life harder. I’m not a child anymore, however much he still wants me to be one. I’m not going to go gallivanting off into the woods pretending I’m living in a fairytale. And he doesn’t even seem that attached to me. Or to any of the kids now that I think about it. Other than Bella. She’s the only one.

  Suddenly I hear a rustling of bushes and I turn just in time to see Bella making her way into the clearing, carrying a few twigs and small logs. I nearly jump to my feet, my heart rate picking up. She’s alone.

  “Can I help you with that?” I ask, hurrying toward her and taking a few logs from her arms. Her expression drops with confusion for a few seconds but then slowly melts back to a smile.

  “Thanks, Jude,” she says as we head back to the fire pit to dump the wood. As she straightens up she sends me a shy glance, pleasantly surprised.

  “You know, I wanted to talk to you,” I tell her, and upon seeing her expression become somewhat guarded at my words, I quickly add, “It’s just, you’re the closest to my age of all the kids here,” I explain. “I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better.”

  Bella’s expression brightens and she nods. “Yeah, of course.”

  “Could we go on a walk?” I suggest, gesturing to the path leading into the woods. Bella nods and we head on our way.

  “You know, I don’t really know a whole lot about what happened to you,” Bella admits as we trudge through the underbrush and down the trail. “Other than you left for a few months and now you’re...well,” she laughs. “Older.”

  I’m caught off guard for a moment, remembering that the children don’t realize how long they’ve been here. Bella must think Prince had something to do with my rapid leap in growth, when really all I did was leave the planet for ten years.

  “Uh, Prince and I got into a fight,” I make up the lie. “He let me begin to grow up to show he was serious and I eventually...” I trail off, realizing I have no idea what I’m talking about other than what Andrew told me about his experiences with Prince.

  Bella chimes in before I’m forced to finish my sentence, though. “He can be a bit hasty sometimes,” she admits. “So were you just living alone somewhere else on the planet?”

  I nod. “And what about you? I don’t remember much, and you were much older than me...at the time.”

  Bella laughs a little. “Yeah, you were pretty cute.” Just then, she turns to look at me. “But what about the other little boy? He disappeared around the same time as you. I remember you two were very close.”

  She must be talking about Andrew. But I’m not sure what to tell her. That he’s still living on the planet, alone and banished, and that he has been for ten years? Instead, I shake my head. “I don’t know what happened to him.” I glance around, looking for familiar landmarks to see how close we are to our meeting
spot. I can only hope that Sylvia and Andrew stuck it out and are still waiting for us.

  “Sad,” Bella comments. “He was such a sweet little kid.” She shakes her head like it’s unfortunate, but not that big of a deal and for some reason that seems to hit me in the pit of my stomach. That the disappearance of a child, that the actions of Prince, are just normal, okay.

  We walk for a ways in silence. “Is my crew really okay?” I eventually ask, dying to know the answer and not willing to wait until we reach the ship. It seems a safe enough question to ask.

  Bella suddenly stops, twisting to face me. “Is that why you brought me out here?” she demands. “To quiz me on where they’re being kept?”

  “No, no,” I backpedal. “I just want to know. I...I couldn’t stand the thought of living here knowing that Prince had done something to them. I just want them to be happy here...” I hope against hope that my lie is working, that it’s conceivable enough to change her mind and keep her walking. My shoulders nearly sag in relief as her expression softens and she smiles a small smile.

  “Yeah, Jude, like I said, they’re fine. Prince is just making sure you’re not going to run away again with your friends.” She shrugs. “It’s not like there’s anywhere better on the planet.” She continues walking and for a moment, I stand still in shocked realization. Does she not know about the ship? The idea seems absurd to me. Has Prince not told her that I actually left the planet, that I have a spaceship, and that my crew isn’t just a band of teenagers I’d found in the woods, but people manning Hourglass?

  I decide to keep my mouth shut as I hurry to catch up to Bella as we walk farther down the path. My heart rate quickens as I realize we’re nearly there—Sylvia and Andrew should be around here somewhere. Bella is saying something to me, but I’m too distracted by our location to notice what she’s saying.