Ed spluttered. “A year! Don’t you think you should talk to me before you decide something like that?”
This time she did look at him, and he didn’t like what he saw in her expression. She had tears in her eyes and her lower lip was trembling. “That’s the problem. I feel like I have to run everything by you. It’s my job, not yours.” She paused, then said, “I need this job.”
“It’s not the only job in the world. We can support ourselves some other way.”
“You don’t understand.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, but not before a single tear fell to the ground. Where it fell, the ground absorbed it instantly and the nearest blades of grass turned a very slightly brighter shade of green. “I need this job for me. Not for us. I have to prove to myself that I can do it. I used to rely on my father for everything. Then I left and moved into the Guru’s house, and he provided for me. Then he died and I moved in with you. I’ve never tried to make it on my own.”
“But you don’t have to be on your own,” said Ed. He could see where this was headed, and he didn’t like it.
“Yes,” Sarah said. “I do.” She took a long, shuddering breath. “I’ve decided to move out.”
Those words hit Ed like a slap in the face. “Where?” he managed to say.
“I don’t know. Somewhere else. I love you, but…” She looked up at the sky and bit her lip. “I don’t know who I am anymore. Maybe I never knew.” Ed reached for her, but she pulled back. “And it’s not just me. You’re not ready for this either, Ed. All you think about is your wife and Nathaniel and getting your revenge against him. You don’t think about me at all, not really.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true. Getting back at Nathaniel is all you think about. That’s the only reason you care about this Novus business. You want to find it so you can kill Nathaniel.”
Ed wanted to argue. He could think of several ways to counter her argument. But in the end, he knew she was right. As much as he cared about Sarah, he still dreamed about Eleanor at night. His old life had been ripped away, and he couldn’t try living a new one until all the old matters were settled. Nathaniel had killed Eleanor, and Elmer Nosgrove had put him up to it. Until those two were dead, Ed knew he would never be content.
“You need time to yourself,” Sarah said. “Go get your revenge or whatever it is you want. Get it out of your system. But leave me out of it. I don’t want to be around to watch you get yourself killed.”
She was right, but this hardly seemed like a solution to the problem. He thought that if he could come up with the right thing to say, he could bring her around. The right words were all he needed. “I just…” He halted, tried again. “You’re… You and I…” He trailed off, still trying to think of the best possible words.
“Joy’s here,” Sarah said. It was too late. The conversation was over.
* * *
The three of them sat together on a rocky hillside that overlooked the valley with the big tree. Joy was practically bubbling over with excitement, but refused to explain what she was excited about until Rayfield arrived. Perla appeared next, looking a bit wan. She only stayed for a few minutes before excusing herself. “My gut’s not feeling too good tonight,” she explained, then vanished. She had been absent from several of their gatherings lately. Ed hoped she was all right.
Rayfield was next to arrive. They sat in a circle, leaving two open places where Danny and Perla should have been. Ed looked at Danny’s spot a long time before he spoke.
“I think Joy’s about to rupture something,” he said, doing his best to hide the fact that he wanted to break down and cry. “Can you talk, now that Rayfield’s here?”
Joy beamed and took Rayfield’s hand. “We picked somebody up in the Vee-Dub today,” she said. “You’ll never guess who!” She was looking with wide eyes at Sarah as she said this.
Sarah seemed a little uncomfortable under that gaze. It was hard to look directly at Joy when she got this excited about something. “I have no idea, Joy.”
Joy squealed. “Give up? You’ll never guess! She was being chased by that crazy woman from the ladies’ room, remember her? And we picked her up and then the crazy lady came after us, but she crashed and we got away. Rayfield’s a wonderful driver.” She smiled warmly at Rayfield, who looked embarrassed. Ed thought he might actually be blushing. “Almost as wonderful as Perla,” Joy said. “But then, Perla used to be a professional driver.”
“Joy,” Ed said gently, “who did you pick up?”
But she was on a roll, and it was hard to stop Joy once she got on a roll. “So we took her home, just for the night, and I wanted to bring her here to meet you all but I don’t know how to bring somebody else here. I don’t really understand how I come here myself, I just do. So she’s at our place now, sleeping, but she says she wants to see Sarah as soon as she can!”
“Joy,” said Ed, more firmly. “Who is she?” Sarah leaned forward impatiently.
Instead of answering, Joy dropped her voice almost to a whisper and said, “Oh my goodness!” She was on her feet in an instant. Rayfield looked where she was looking, and immediately stood up to get in front of her.
“What is it?” Sarah asked.
Ed turned and inhaled sharply. He and Sarah stood up together. Six men were approaching, walking up the gentle slope from the valley. As they came closer, Ed saw that only five of them were actually walking. The sixth, much larger than the other men, was floating upright, his feet six inches off the ground. He had what appeared to be a burlap bag over his head, and his hands and feet were stiff and unmoving. Of the other five, four of them had painted their faces a deep blue that was nearly black. Only one man, the one who walked in front of the rest, wore no paint. His skin was pale and his hair was a thin scrub of short, blond bristles. A pink scar ran from his left eyebrow down almost to his mouth, and there was an empty, lidless socket where his left eye should have been. His remaining eye glowed a fierce, unsettling shade of red.
The men stopped a few paces from where Ed and the others stood. Nathaniel looked stronger than the last time Ed had seen him. He was not physically bigger, but something in the way he carried himself was more assured, more arrogant. “Ed,” said Nathaniel. “Or do I call you Blake now?” He said this in a mocking tone, as if Ed was unworthy of the name he had been using.
“Call me whatever you want,” Ed replied. He gestured toward the man with the bag on his head. “Who is that?”
Nathaniel glanced at his prisoner, then turned his red gaze back to Ed. “He’s an olive branch. He’s my peace offering.” He looked around at the others and said, “Where is your new friend? Don’t you bring him to your meetings?”
Sarah exchanged a confused glance with Joy.
“He’s not a friend,” Ed said. “Just an acquaintance.”
“He seemed very eager to defend you,” said Nathaniel. “Who was he?”
Ed ignored his question. If Nathaniel didn’t already know who Jonathan Mason was, Ed saw no reason to give him extra information. “Rayfield,” he said, “you and Joy and Sarah should get out of here.”
Joy and Sarah both folded their arms in unison, assuming a stubborn pose. Rayfield looked at each of them, turned back to Ed, and shrugged helplessly. The women clearly had no intention of being moved, and Rayfield knew better than to try to force them.
“These are my Horsemen,” Nathaniel said, indicating the blue-faced men at his side.
“Ohhh,” Joy whispered. “He’s the blue horse.”
Nathaniel smiled at her. “Ed has been dreaming of me, hasn’t he? Who else do you dream of, Ed? Do you see the three-headed man in your dreams, too? The monkey and the snake?” He waited, but received no reply.
Ed stepped forward, putting himself between Nathaniel and the others. The blue-faced men shied away from him a little bit, although Nathaniel himself didn’t move. “You’re trespassing,” Ed told him. “I told you before, I want you out of my mind. Get out, and don’t ever com
e back.”
“But I had to find you here, because I can’t find you out there.” He waved his hands in a large circle, indicating the world outside. “I came to bring you a present, and to talk to you.”
“I don’t want any presents from you.”
The man’s red eye flashed brighter in anger. “We’ll see.”
“And I have nothing to talk to you about.” Ed’s heart was pounding, but he was determined not to let his fear show. The sound of Nathaniel’s voice took him back to his dark days, when the gnome had tormented him to the point of insanity. That voice filled him with the deepest terror he’d ever known.
“Oh-ho,” Nathaniel replied. “You didn’t listen. I’m not here for you to talk to me. I’m here to talk to you. You’re being counterproductive.”
Ed raised his eyebrows. “Counterproductive?”
“Focusing on me. Trying to find out what I’m doing. Do you know what I’m doing?”
“Novus,” said Ed, hoping Nathaniel wouldn’t figure out that he had no idea what Novus was. “You’re making a weapon.”
“What I’m doing is trying to save this world from itself! You and I are on the same side. Urizen is your enemy, and mine. The three-headed man. Yes, I’m creating a weapon. A weapon to break the Cycle, to destroy Urizen and every person who might serve as his vessel.” He took one step closer. Ed could smell something rotten on his breath. “You need to join me,” Nathaniel whispered. “Keep your eyes on the real enemy, not fake ones.”
Ed noticed Rayfield edging around to try to flank Nathaniel’s men. He caught Rayfield’s eye and shook his head slightly. These men would kill Rayfield without hesitation, if he gave them an excuse. He didn’t know what would happen if Rayfield died here, inside Ed’s mind, but this was not a good time to find out.
“You want to kill everybody who could be a host for Urizen,” said Ed. “That means you want to kill―”
“Everyone,” Nathaniel whispered. “My Horsemen will live. You will live, if you’re with me. Everyone else will die.” He regarded Rayfield and the others with a contemptuous look. “Some of yours might be allowed to join up and paint themselves blue. Maybe.” He leered at Joy. “Some of them would look very good in blue.” Rayfield scowled, looking ready to take on all five of them at once.
“And what about Arthur?” Ed folded his arms, attempting to look unafraid. He thought Nathaniel might be able to smell fear, like a dog could. “Even if you can take care of Urizen—if you can even find him—you’re still no match for Arthur.”
Nathaniel threw his head back and laughed. Ed could see right down his throat, and the smell from down there was overpowering. “No match!” he shouted. He took a moment to recover, then said, “Why don’t you ask me about my gift?”
Ed couldn’t see what this had to do with his question. “What gift?” he said peevishly.
The one-eyed man turned and put his hand on top of the burlap bag that covered the other man’s head. “For you,” he said to Ed, “and for you,” to Sarah. He whisked the burlap bag off, letting it drift to the ground. Nathaniel’s prisoner was still hanging in midair with his head bowed, so all Ed could see was a big, round, perfectly bald head.
The prisoner looked up. Ed was astonished to see that he was Arthur.
“How…” Ed couldn’t find the words. “How did you…?”
Arthur looked back at him calmly, but did not speak. His mouth seemed clenched tight. Perhaps the men were preventing him from talking.
“My present to you,” Nathaniel explained. He patted Arthur on the head and said, “He’s a good kitty.”
Ed stepped back and gaped at Nathaniel in shock. “I don’t want him! What would I do with him?”
“Not to keep. Just to see. I have Orc, and I will take Urizen the same way. I could have done the same to you, if I wanted. But I didn’t want to. See? I’m not so bad.”
Ed thought of their last meeting, when Nathaniel had goaded him into attacking. Mason had arrived and sent Nathaniel away that time. But Mason was not here today. Ed and his friends would have to fend for themselves, and he didn’t like their chances against the blue men.
“I’ve got the whole blooming bunch!” Nathaniel said with a wild grin. “His whole Society, I’ve collected them all!”
That sounded to Ed like a very bad thing. “Why? What are you going to do with them?”
“They’re going to join my army. They’re living at my house now, and they will fight for me once I break them. Some are already broken. Do you want to come to my house, Ed?”
Ed started taking some small steps backward. This conversation was making him feel uncomfortable. “No,” he said casually, “No, I don’t think so.”
Nathaniel’s smile turned to a snarl. “I have been very patient with you. Ever since your Eleanor came to me―”
“Since she what?”
“—I’ve done everything I could to show you what’s right. But you just won’t do the right thing! This is it. This is your last chance! Tell me where you are out there so I can come get you. Come to my house. Listen to my music. My music will make you forget your friends and follow me. It’ll be easy.”
Ed’s instinct told him to get away, to take off into the sky. Just looking into that red eye filled him with horror. But he had been searching for Nathaniel for so long. This could be a chance to get his revenge, if he was smart. If he could think of a way to resist whatever Nathaniel wanted to do to him. He fought down his fear and said, “Okay.”
But his answer was drowned out by Joy, who came forward and glared at Nathaniel, arms folded in a severe pose. “You leave Ed alone!” she demanded. “Take your stupid blue people and get out of here!” Nathaniel stared at her open-mouthed, unsure what to make of her.
The distraction was just what Rayfield had been waiting for. With a mighty roar, he pounced on the nearest Horseman. Joy threw herself at another, knocking him on his back, and began pummeling him with her fists.
“Don’t,” said Ed. “I’ll go with him! Stop!”
But they didn’t listen. Rayfield, having subdued the first one, found himself facing the other two. Joy had managed to pin her opponent’s arms behind his back and was sitting on him.
Nathaniel gazed at Ed with his red eye until Ed wanted to look away—but he refused to look away. He looked right back at the one-eyed man until his eyes watered. Finally Nathaniel gave up the staring contest and turned to Sarah. “What about you, young lady? Are you willing to die to protect your man? Or are you smarter than that?”
Sarah glared at him. “Ed’s not going with you.”
“Yes,” said Ed. “I am!”
“Shut up, Ed!” Sarah stepped toward Ed and slapped him hard on the face. “Don’t be stupid!” Then she turned and slapped Nathaniel as well.
Nathaniel ignored the slap. He waved his hand nonchalantly, and Joy squealed in pain. The Horseman she had pinned threw her to the ground and stood over her, grinning lewdly. Another wave from Nathaniel and Sarah suddenly clutched at her throat, struggling to breathe. One more wave of Nathaniel’s hand and Rayfield dropped to his knees, holding his head and moaning. The two remaining blue men stood over him, watching as he writhed in pain. The fourth Horseman still lay unconscious on the ground where Rayfield had left him. Arthur still hung in midair, motionless.
“What if I kill them?” Nathaniel asked quietly. “Out there, their bodies look asleep. But they’re not asleep. Their souls are here. When their minds are dead, what do you think will happen? There can be life without the body, but there is no life without the mind.”
“I said I’ll go with you!” Ed cried. “What more do you want?”
Nathaniel stepped closer to Sarah until his face was only inches away from hers. She spat in his face. Her eyes were full of fury, but Ed could see that she was rapidly losing strength.
Ed had had quite enough. “STOP!” he commanded. His shout echoed across the valley. The ground trembled with his rage. The leaves on the big tree shook with the sound. All
three of the Horsemen stepped back from him in surprise. Nathaniel did not react, not visibly, but Ed could hear his friends coughing and gasping for breath behind him. They had been released from Nathaniel’s grip.
But Ed was not done. At a single thought from him, a wind rose up. It became a gale, beating at Nathaniel and his men with monstrous force, threatening to pick them up off the ground and carry them far away. The Horsemen crouched down and struggled to stay upright. But Nathaniel merely leaned into the wind, watching Ed appraisingly.
Stronger and stronger the wind blew. At first it carried away just the loose topsoil and some small stones; but soon even the larger rocks were moving before it. He focused it fully on his enemies, to drive them out of his mind. As he did this, he sensed that Nathaniel was starting to push back, weakening the wind around him and his men so they wouldn’t fly away. The wind relented slightly, then strengthened again as Ed struggled to assert his will. This was his territory, and he meant to defend it.
Nathaniel said, “Plunkett, I’ve got Terwilliger. Kill the others.” Ed could barely hear him over the roar of the rushing wind. The three blue men began forcing their way against the wind to surround Ed’s three friends. Sarah and Joy edged closer to Ed, while Rayfield prepared to take them all on at once. One of the men reached out toward Sarah with a hungry look on his painted face.
Ed wasn’t sure what he did next. He held out his hands and felt the ground shake, as it had before, only with much more force. The wind diminished as the shaking became an earthquake. Deep, dark cracks began to form in the ground among Nathaniel and his men, releasing hissing steam. One opened up beneath Arthur’s feet. He dangled there over the dark opening in the ground without seeing the pit beneath him, still held up by whatever force Nathaniel was using to control him.
A much larger crack appeared under the feet of the man closest to Sarah, who was still reaching out for her. Inside the opening was nothing at all—perfectly black. The hole opened wider, until the Horseman was teetering with his feet on either edge of the abyss. Sarah dodged his reaching arms and grabbed him by the ear, causing him to lose his balance. She let go just in time to avoid tumbling into the opening with him. He seemed to fall in slow motion, with his arms held out to Sarah as if begging for her help. Then he was gone, swallowed by the darkness. He made no sound as he fell. Sarah hurried to Ed’s side. Joy took the opportunity to kick one of the Horsemen in the crotch. He doubled over and toppled to the ground. Joy stood over him looking quite satisfied with herself.
The Music of the Machine (The Book of Terwilliger 2) Page 24