Aquifer

by Jonathan Friesen

  “Veterinarian.” Lendi covers his face with his hands and peeks at me between the cracks. “Have you ever heard of a tanner joining a vet? It will never be! She would save critters and I would skin them!”

  I frown. “That does seem to be an inherent contradiction …”

  Lendi circles me. “I will likely be joined to Lorna, the plump future baker.”

  “You will eat well —”

  “But who can eat when the girl they … When another man joins the girl, they …” Lendi cannot finish his sentence. He can’t name what he feels. He only knows the heart whisper is real, and that it makes him miserable.

  “Perhaps we should pay Tamari a visit,” I say quietly.

  “Oy, mate. Would you have me undone? Come!” He mutters and grabs my arm, and we hurry past Tamari’s home.

  A breeze, stiff and swirling, flutters flags and carries a few muffled voices. Seadogs, grunting on the wharf.

  “Luca?”

  I turn toward Freemanl Pier. Seward bends over empty nets. He’s the biggest scammer in New Pert, yet I always hope to see him. Seward never seems anxious, which always puts me at ease.

  “Why out today?” He squints from Lendi to me. “Is Massa all right?”

  “He’s fine. In fact, he just left. Good fishing?”

  Seward straightens and hints his crooked smile. “Always on the seventh of the seventh. I own the seas. I have the Freemanl to meself. Think I be wasting that chance?” He pauses. “You two be heading the wrong way.”

  “We are,” I say. “Happy Water Day.”

  “Why do you speak to him?” Lendi hisses as we leave. “My father says he’s a pirate.”

  “Mine says the same thing. Which is precisely why he’s a good man to know. Father says to keep close eyes on your enemies — especially ones with large stashes of water on hand.” I pause and lean into his shoulder. “Had we stopped at Tamari’s, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

  We turn inland from the shore and head through Kwinza sector and toward the old mine pits. We are far enough from home that we will walk back in darkness. Lendi hates darkness.

  He turns down the wide road that leads to Glaugood.

  “Why are we heading toward the mine?” I ask, and slow my pace.

  Shadows dart on my left from inside old miners’ quarters.

  “Wishers,” I whisper.

  Lendi freezes. “Where?”

  I gesture for him to follow and light-foot it toward the building. The window in the door is cracked, but what remains is smeared with mud. I carefully swipe the grime from it, peer in, and point.

  Thirty, maybe more, kneel in a circle. Wishers often do that. Some say they practice an old magic, others claim that they fall into a trance. Father says they pray, though he doesn’t know much beyond that.

  It is rare to see so many in one place, given their status as enemies of the PM. They are a constant target of the Amongus; Barker has marched hundreds through our gate. Their crime? The frequency each was given at birth has somehow been silenced, overwritten. Amongus dials can’t detect Wishers.

  They wander the streets as free men and women.

  I squint through the dark glass. The sight of them always thrills me, quickens me.

  “What do you think they say?” I whisper.

  “Leave them to their mumbling.” Lendi tugs at my sleeve. “Come on, Luca!”

  I pull free and press my ear against the crack.

  “Has anyone heard the Voice today? Has anyone heard from God?”

  They’ve lost their minds.

  “I … I think the Voice spoke,” a young girl pipes up. “I know I’m only an Eight, and the Voice has no business speaking to me, but —”

  “Tell us, what did you hear?”

  The girl’s tone strengthens. “‘The prophecy’s fulfillment is in motion, even now.’ That’s what it said.”

  “Come on, Luca! Time is against us,” hollers Lendi.

  I raise my finger to my lips and peek back through the window. I see no one. I peer to the right and left, but the room is empty.

  I sigh. Prophecies and voices. What’s possessed them?

  Lendi starts to jog, and I break free from the door with questions about a prophecy dancing through my mind. We climb over three fences and squeeze through rusted blockades. Lendi sprints ahead, stopping at the lip of the mine. I catch up, catch my breath, and stare down into the largest open-pit gold mine ever dug in Australya. Now it’s a hole, a saltwater-filled hole three times wider and deeper than the Boddington excavation and stripped of all metals. Immense and abandoned, there’s a heaviness about this place.

  Lendi’s eyes widen. “When Teacher One offered me the special assignment, the Dangerous Animal Pursuit, I thought, where could I go to look for an undiscovered species?”

  “Dangerous Animal? He asked you to gather insects.”

  “Yes, but there was a bit of mystery in the request.” Lendi nods large and slow. “Couldn’t you feel the tension? My dial wiggled.”

  “Didn’t see it. Go on.”

  “So I wondered where I might find even a strange insect, and it hit. Glaugood, a pit vacant for a hundred years. In all this time, there must be a new beetle or something crawling around near the bottom.”

  “It’s filled with seawater.”

  “That’s what I thought too. And it’s a long way from home. Still, I figured it would be worth a look, and the seventh of the seventh provides the only opportunity to safely take a peek. So last year, after Massa left and I left you, well, I did.” Lendi jogs onto the dirt road that rings the perimeter, spiraling endlessly down into the basin. “Follow me!” He takes off in a sprint.

  I test the firmness of the road with my foot. “You failed that assignment. You reported that you found no new insect species. And your dial didn’t wiggle, so I know you weren’t lying!”

  Lendi doesn’t slow. “That’s right. I didn’t find bugs. I found something else!” He waves to me. “Oh, Luca, I’ve been waiting a whole year to show this to you. Do you know how hard it is for me to keep a secret for a day?”

  I do, and I stare down into the pit. Even half filled with water, Glaugood is massive and deep. Whatever gives my fidgety mate courage to descend must be worth the effort.

  CHAPTER

  6

  An hour later, we’re still stumbling downward. The road that once carried dump trucks of gold ore to the surface has, in many places, washed away. One misstep and we would tumble onto the next stretch of spiraling road, one hundred feet below us. The Amongus would not care that Lendi died. The world would mourn my passing.

  I think about this. Left, slight jog right … what lies in my mind makes my life more valuable than my mate’s. It isn’t right. The route should be given to all children — all should be forced to memorize it, right along with the pledge to Rabal and the present-day PM.

  I’m not worth more.

  “Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three,” Lendi counts as we pass each cave. “We need to hurry. It will soon be too dark for me to keep track.” He mutters, “Large number thirty-four on the other side, with thirty-five …”

  His anxious recitation fills me with joy. He too knows a route. His life is certainly valuable.

  I’ll have to tell him.

  But now, I have questions for my mate — questions about the caves, which were blasted, I know, into the sides of the mine. Why are some small? Why does the air chill me when I pass?

  How deep do they go?

  We quicken our pace. Lendi no longer glances at the path; he is driven, and his desire excites me. A tingle runs my spine, first up and then down. Excitement, the ultimate wrinkle. I descend, like my father descends. Right now, we both wind into the heart of the earth, toward the promise of water.

  I am every bit his son, and the tingle strengthens.

  “We are close. Cave fifty-four. I found it in fifty-four. The water is higher this year. We’re lucky. Next year it may be too late.”

&
nbsp; Lendi stops. This is good, as water from the flooded mine now laps my shoes. My mate turns triumphant, his arms spread at his side. “Welcome to fifty-four!”

  The cave is unremarkable, its mouth neither large nor small. But the damp air that floats from it smells of something Other, a scent I’ve never smelled.

  “Yep. That smell is what stopped me last year. That and the water — I couldn’t go down much farther. Come on.” Lendi digs into his pocket and pulls out his red orb, which offers a pale glow. “I thought we’d need light, I just didn’t think we’d need it so soon. Follow me.”

  He climbs over rubble and vanishes into the tunnel. I crawl after him, following the shadows and pinkish glimmer dancing on the walls.

  The cave is broad and spacious, and Lendi is soon well ahead of me.

  “Don’t get lost!” he calls back.

  “Don’t go so fast!”

  Minutes later, we still descend, and my ears pop. The walk is easy; the breathing is not. Foul air hangs like turtle soup — and I force it in, force it out.

  “Lendi!” I turn a gentle corner. “Slow —”

  I bump into my friend. Sweat pours from his face, and his eyes are large and bloodshot in the orb’s light. “We’re here.” He points. “Through that pinch, in that offshoot. You won’t find bugs. I’ll let you go first.”

  I step back and bend, hands on knees, searching for air. “I’m a little winded. Maybe you should go first.”

  Lendi shakes his head. “You, friend.”

  Friend. Though I’ve never doubted it, he’s never called me by the term. His voice — its cadence and strength — is different. His breathing, light and free. This is not the Lendi I know, and on the heels of that thought worms in another.

  No! I shake my head. Lendi couldn’t be an Amongus.

  Yet it would be so like them. Planted in our lives, sleepers waiting to reveal themselves after information is gathered.

  Lendi saw Walery! He saw the Wishers. My heart both rejects and aches with the betrayal.

  “Remind me.” I straighten and peek back up the tunnel. “Where do your parents think you are?”

  “Caesar’s. Or was it Kern’s? I forget, but it doesn’t matter. Once you’re inside, you’ll forget all about what was said to reach here.”

  I step back. “Why will I forget?”

  “Trust me.” Lendi advances and hands me his orb. “Go in.”

  I reach out and take the light. I can’t outrun him; I never could. He’s always been quick, strong. A little too strong. Why didn’t I see?

  “I’ll go.” I march by him and drop to my knees. “No matter what, you’ve been the best friend I’ve had.”

  Lendi frowns and gestures toward the pinch. “It’s getting late, we have a long walk back, and I’m not going to wait another year to show you!”

  I creep forward through the tube, the rock rubbing my shoulders. For once, it’s good to be small. What torment to be here forever! To be trapped. I think of Father, descending into the hideous lair of the Rats. Strange, I never asked if there were any tight passages.

  I never asked him about Lendi either, and now my mate knows my greatest act of rebellion. Walery’s rescue is an undoable offense. Would Lendi do the punishing deed in this cave? Nobody would find me.

  The squeeze loosens, and I stand and hold up the light. And drop the light.

  Lendi is not an Amongus.

  He grunts in behind me and places the orb back into my hand. “Well? Not bugs, eh?”

  Stacks and stacks of bound papers, large and small, lean against every stone wall. The musty smell is overpowering, the same smell hinted at near the mouth of the cave.

  “I found them. Hundreds of years old, I’d say. From the Scratching Time.” Lendi walks toward an open one, then bends over and hands it to me. “Books, right?”

  “Books,” I whisper. “Filled with words, words that nobody can read. And there are so many.”

  Father cherishes the one he has. I bet he’d love more.

  “You’ve heard Teacher Two say it, and it’s a quote from the PM himself: ‘There’s nothing so dangerous as a man poisoned by words.’ Lendi picks up another book and shakes it. “But seeing them now, I don’t understand the danger, why people fought and killed for them. Why did Rabal want a bunch of paper stacks destroyed?” Lendi scratches his head. “But here’s the rub. If it’s discovered I found a stash and didn’t turn them in, I’ll be undone. And if I do turn them in, it’ll at least warrant a debriefing. It is the ultimate wrinkle.” He sweats more profusely, and he wipes his forehead with each sleeve. “But I had to tell somebody. Before I destroyed them, I had to show you. Nobody else would believe me.”

  “Destroy them?”

  “Do you know why I had to stay a Fifteen twice? Why I failed? All day, every day, I sit in school circle and stare at my dial. I don’t listen to Teacher. I can’t. I must will my dial still, because pounding inside are thoughts of this room, this cave. I can’t hide it anymore, Luca.”

  He gnaws a fingernail and continues. “My father says what’s scratched inside these can steal you, control you. I tell you he’s right. I can’t read scratches, but just finding them has controlled me. Books are not supposed to exist anymore.”

  I wander among the stacks. “Hard to see how a bunch of marks could hurt anybody.”

  I stare at the weapon in my hand; the one we’re told brought ruin on the world. I flip the page, squint, and rub my fingers over the crinkled paper.

  “This is called the Table of Contents,” I whisper.

  Lendi steps beside me. “What do you mean? How do you know?”

  I can’t answer. I’m not certain. But it’s there, deep in the dark part of my mind. “It’s divided into sectors, called chapters. Each chapter into para … paragraphs, sentences, words, letters, and sounds. That’s how you use one. Make the sounds your best mate.”

  “Stop it, Luca!” Lendi grabs the book from my hands and throws it to the ground. “This was a mistake. We need to leave.” He takes a matchbook from his pocket. “We’ll start the fire and leave.”

  “Fire? We can’t burn these. They’re … they’re history.”

  “They’re evil, Luca. And it’s the only way. The water will rise, some will float out, someone will find them, we will all hear, and I won’t be able to keep my emotions in check. I’m cursed, Luca, until they’re destroyed.”

  Lendi is right; if a book is discovered, he will not be able to control himself.

  For the third time in two days, I lie. “Let me do it, mate. It’s the best way. Go, and leave me the matches.” I lower my voice. “I’ll take care of them.”

  “You’d do that for me?” His anxious tone returns.

  My feet splash into a puddle. “The cave mouth is above the waterline. How did water —” I raise the orb. “There’s a crawl space in the corner. Did you follow that tube? Where does that go?”

  “Who cares?” The Lendi I know has returned. There is no more determination, only concern. “We need to go now.”

  “Go.” I ease him toward the entrance. “I want to follow that cave. I’ll be fine — I know the way home.”

  “And you’ll burn these.”

  “I will.”

  Lendi presses the matches into my hand and ducks into the pinch. “Don’t say too long. It’s almost dark.” He pauses. “And beware. There’s something about those stacks. The very thought infests the mind.”

  He’s gone, and I lower myself to the floor, my mind thoroughly infested. I inch forward beneath the rocky outcrop into the offshoot. Water licks my chin, laps against my ear.

  I press my face into the small pocket of air, and thankfully the ceiling soon rises. The orb illumines the rocks above and I stand, dripping in a small chamber. And soon jerk back.

  A skeleton reclines in the corner, submerged to the waist. Rags float off its bones and its arm reaches up to a hollow in the stone. Stark white fingers grasp a book resting in the crevice.

  I swallow hard. No sha
ckles ring the wrists or ankles; this one’s life wasn’t taken. This person chose his end. “Who were you?” I raise the light to the book. “You must’ve wanted to keep this one safe.” My fleshy fingers join boney ones on the book’s cover. “Problem is, water’s seeping in from somewhere. It’s going to reach your prize soon, then it will flow up the rise into the bigger chamber as well.” I give thought to Lendi, and then my father. Finally, I think of this ancient one, whose last act was to guard this stack of pages.

  “Honestly, how important can it be, lying hidden for centuries? And I did make a promise to my mate.”

  I dig for the matches; wet and useless. So much for that.

  Father must be nearing his exchange. Father. He would know what to do.

  Take the book, Luca.

  The command is so distinct, it strikes me as audible. A gentle voice, both familiar and safe. I scoff at the thought. That’s what I get from letting Wishers inside my head.

  “I’m losing it, but, hey, I tell you what,” I address the skeleton. “I can keep this book safe for you.” I grasp it, and a boney hand splashes near my knees.

  I stumble backward. “Sorry, I really need to go.”

  Back through the cut, into the bookroom, and through the pinch. I stand and start back up the tunnel, emerging onto the broad path. Lendi runs on the other side, nearing the top.

  There’s nobody waiting for me, and I slowly plod with my ancient book. To hold this thing, this banned thing. To find a stash the Amongus missed, and bones protecting it. It frees me. Tonight, I too feel like a Wisher, living outside the Amongus’s domain. To be unobserved on this day of descent. To feel the thrill of the find, knowing I will not be questioned or worse.

  To be my own person, making my own choices …

  I clutch the book, the book that destroyed Lendi’s year and empowers my night.

  “You will not be burned,” I whisper, and wrap the contraband in burlap.

  What a gift for Father. And there are hundreds more …

  But there will be no other night, not for another year. I need to get them all while the streets are clear, and the Amongus are in their homes.