by Jen Minkman
There’s no time to waste. I close the window behind me, push off and try to bend my knees at the right moment to absorb the shock of hitting the lawn. Pain shoots through my calves, but I have to ignore it if I want to keep going. I stagger away and hide behind a bush a few steps away from the house.
Holy Luke. I’ve just stolen the most important object in the entire manor. I hold the power to end Saul’s terrible leadership, and Saul knows it all too well.
What am I supposed to do? Hiding The Book in my tent is out of the question – Saul will probably single-handedly dismantle the whole camp and turn every tent and hut upside down in a frantic search for The Book. And if they find it on me, they will punish Colin too. Siblings are held accountable for each other’s actions under Saul’s insane rule.
And here I am, still cowering behind the shrubs, which is none too smart. Any moment now, they‘ll come crashing through the door, and yet I remain frozen. I need a plan. Fast.
I look up at the night sky. There’s no moon, so I might make it out of here without being spotted if I cover my face with the black scarf I’m wearing and run from bush to bush. I should climb the fence around the manor house and run all the way to the border of our territory. The area close to the Wall might have some good hiding places. I’ll stash The Book there and return later so I can read more. Maybe Colin and Mara can join me tomorrow.
Not waiting for Saul and Ben to appear, I disappear into the night. If I’m quick, they won’t ever notice I was gone in the first place.
-7-
THE ONLY thing I can hear in the dark forest is the hooting of owls and my own ragged breath. The leaves rustle eerily when the wind picks up from the sea. Although I can hardly make out anything in the darkness, I run like crazy. I have to get as far away from the manor as quickly as possible. The Book must be hidden. I still can’t wrap my head around what I’ve done.
Suddenly, my foot catches behind a thick branch on the forest path. I lose my balance and plunge headfirst onto the trail. It was once paved with flat stones – put there by the ancestors? – but they’ve been mostly removed now, due to cracks in the surface. My knees scrape painfully over the stones, bringing tears to my eyes. I hit the ground with a thud. I moan softly, rubbing my sore legs.
In the nocturnal silence, I suddenly hear a sound in the bushes. Something is walking around there. Something large. A wild animal? This close to the house? They usually don’t risk that.
And then, a blinding light shines in my eyes out of nowhere. Incredibly bright – as if I’m staring straight into the sun. Before I can even draw a breath to scream, a hand clamps down over my mouth, stopping the shriek in my throat.
“Be quiet,” a male voice tells me.
Saul?
The voice doesn’t sound very old, so it could be someone from the manor. But where’s that terribly bright light coming from?
“If you promise not to scream, I’ll let go of you. Okay?” the voice continues. That’s odd – this guy speaks differently than I’m used to. The words are more melodious, and he pronounces the R more rounded than rolling. A stranger.
I nod silently.
He takes away his hand. I breathe deeply in and out and then bat at the light with both hands. “Keep that out of my face!” I hiss. “You’re blinding me, for Luke’s sake!”
Thankfully, he takes the light away. For a moment I see spots dancing before my eyes. Then the boy – he doesn’t look much older than I am – shines it at his own face. The light travels from his chin upward to the rest of his face, distorting his features with sharp shadows. I was right – I don’t know him.
“What is that thing?” I whisper in shock. “And who the blazes are you?”
“My name is Walt,” he replies. “I got this lamp from one of the shipwrecked men.”
“Ship… what?” I mumble.
“The man who washed up on our beach.” Walt gestures toward the west part of the island. “Across the Wall.”
I stare at Walt incredulously.
He is a Fool. So they really do exist.
“What about you?” he continues, moving the light away from his face a little. It now illuminates the tree next to us. He was probably blinding himself too.
“I’m Leia,” I answer softly. “I live in the manor house.”
“You live on this side of the Wall?”
“Yes.”
“An Unbeliever,” he whispers. “So you guys are real.”
I raise an eyebrow. What did he just call me? I believe in the Force with all my heart and soul. He obviously has no clue what he’s talking about.
“Yes, that’s what I was just thinking about you,” I say snippishly. “You’re one of the Fools.”
He chuckles. “None taken. Is that what you call us?”
I fall silent. Only now do I realize how incredibly absurd and exciting this all is. I’m sitting in a dark forest, talking to a Fool who crossed the Wall. On top of that, I’ve stolen our holy Book. Whatever next?
“Listen up,” Walt says, his voice suddenly intent. “I’m actually here looking for someone. A man in his forties with reddish hair. Is he with your people at the manor house?”
The man in the beer cellar – he had red hair. That’s why I knew for sure I didn’t know him, because the only two people in Newexter with red hair are both women.
“Why?” I ask cautiously. I don’t trust Saul one bit, but I don’t trust this Fool either. My eyes scan his face, which looks less threatening in the half-darkness than when he used that strange lamp to illuminate his pale features. His light-blonde hair is clearly visible in the light hitting the tree. Oh no… the light. Someone might spot it!
“You have to put it out,” I bark at him in a panic. “The lamp. They’re looking for me. They shouldn’t find me.”
Walt acts immediately, turning off the lamp with a sort of switch. “Done,” he says drily. “And now I’d love to know why you’re running away from your own people. I take it you’ve seen Henry? The man with red hair?”
I swallow. “I have, but that’s not the reason I’m on the run.”
Walt frowns. “So… why are you?”
After a moment’s hesitation, I decide to tell him. I have to get this off my chest. “I stole something that belongs to our leader.” In fact, it doesn’t even belong to Saul - it should belong to all of us.
Walt takes my hand in the dark. “Don’t be scared,” he reassures me. “You’ve got nothing to fear from me. I’d be the last person to rat you out. So what did you nick?”
I don’t know the word ‘nick’, but I get what he means. “A book. It contains the words of our ancestors. My friend Andy claims that our leader, Saul, is deliberately keeping things in The Book from us. I didn’t mean to steal it. I just wanted to secretly read it, but if I hadn’t run away, they would have walked in on me.”
“What are you planning to do with it now?” Walt says. “You can’t very well read it in the dark.”
“You know, for a Fool you’re pretty smart,” I reply sourly.
Walt huffs out an irritated breath. “Will you do me a favor and stop calling me stupid? You have no idea what it’s like on the other side of the Wall. You’ve never been there and you don’t know us.”
“Well, you don’t know the first thing about me and my people either,” I throw back. “Or you wouldn’t have called me an Unbeliever.”
We stare each other down, as far as that’s possible in a dark forest.
“I wouldn’t mind finding out more about the other side,” I finally admit quietly. “But I don’t have time to talk. I have to hide The Book somewhere safe.”
“Why don’t you give it to me?” Walt suggests.
My heart skips a beat. “To you? Why would I?”
He sighs condescendingly, as though I’m a Foolish child asking stupid questions. “I just told you, your people have never been on the other side of the Wall. It’s probably the last place your leader is ever going to look for his precious book, I should
think.”
He might be a Fool, but his idea is pretty solid. Still, he doesn’t have to sound all smug about it. “But I haven’t found the writings I was looking for,” I object.
“So we’ll meet again. Different time, same place, tomorrow. I’ll bring the book along if you’ll bring a smile.”
Is he actually teasing me? I glare at him but realize instantly he won’t be able to see that in the dark. “What is it you want to know about Henry?” I change the subject.
Walt takes The Book from me and puts it away. “Henry and his friend Tony sailed here from across the waters, but that freak storm this afternoon wrecked their ship. It wasn’t a particularly well-built vessel, and those towering waves were the death blow to it. That’s how Tony landed on our shore.”
I gape at Walt breathlessly. The man he’s looking for comes from across the waters – far beyond the horizon that has always been the end of our world. Is this really happening?
“Henry must have drifted ashore on your side,” Walt continues, taking my hand in his again. It feels different than when Colin or Andy holds my hand – Walt’s hands are rougher, more calloused. Suddenly, I feel flustered, and I don’t know why.
“Henry is being kept prisoner in the manor house. I think he’s tried to tell Saul about his… shipwreck,” I reply slowly, remembering the words I heard through the door. Who did Henry think he was? That’s what Saul had said.
Our leader probably doesn’t believe a word Henry has said. Saul and Ben think Henry is a Fool. Or who knows - they might actually be afraid the familiar and safe world around them would change for good if other people heard Henry’s story. If they discovered Fools aren’t that crazy after all.
“Shall we meet here around noon tomorrow?” I propose. “When the sun’s at its highest point?”
Walt nods. “Fine with me. I’ll report back to the people in Hope Harbor. That’s the name of the place where I live. With a little luck, some strong men will volunteer to come with me and Tony to rescue Henry.”
“All right. See you then,” I say. “The Force be in you.”
“Faith, hope and love,” Walt replies in what is most likely a goodbye on his side of the Wall. The word ‘love’ somehow makes me blush. Thankfully, Walt can’t see that, because his strange lamp is still switched off. He turns and walks back in the direction of the Wall, the dark branches of the trees obscuring his receding figure.
I let out a sigh and start making my way back.
-8-
IT’S ONLY when I reach the fence around the manor grounds that I notice my pendant is damaged. It probably cracked when I fell down.
There’s no time to worry about it, though, because the whole manor is in turmoil. People are standing outside their huts or tents and some young men with torches are walking around, entering every dwelling.
I climb the fence and sneak to the nearest cabin, which fortunately turns out to be Ami’s. I take care not to make too much noise when I knock at her door.
“Who is it?” Colin’s voice comes through the door.
“Colin?” I whisper in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
The door opens a crack and Colin pulls me inside. The hut is illuminated by a single candle in the far corner. In the half-dark, I can see the worried frown on his face.
“I’m sitting here with Ami because she’s scared out of her wits,” he says softly, but indignantly. “Saul is going nuts. He woke everyone with his raging and screaming, telling us there’s a despicable thief among us, but he doesn’t want to tell us what he’s lost.”
“His mind, probably,” Ami quips.
Colin scoffs. “Nothing new under the sun. Why kick up a fuss over it now?”
“I know what Saul has lost,” I say.
Silence pervades the hut for a moment.
“You do?” Colin then hisses. “What is it?”
“I stole The Book,” I reply matter-of-factly.
“You didn’t.”
“Did too.” I’m sounding as smug as Walt now.
“But... why?”
“Because there are things in it that Saul’s keeping from us. Andy said so. If we knew what was really in there, Saul could never be the leader that he is today.”
Colin breathes out in surprise. “Okay,” he mumbles. “If Andy says so...”
“What did you do with it?” Ami asks, looking at me in total awe.
“I hid it somewhere far away, in a place Saul will never find it. I couldn’t have kept it hidden close to the house.” Letting out a deep sigh, I sit down. “Have they searched this hut yet, by the way?”
“Twice,” Colin nods grimly. “Saul would’ve loved to catch me red-handed, I assure you. He can’t stand me.”
Dazed, I shake my head. “Colin, this is insane. Why are we still listening to Saul? No one particularly likes him. We can all see he’s a dishonest creep. And yet, we let him take charge.”
My brother looks conflicted. “Because he’s the strongest. And you know what The Book says – we need a strong leader. Someone who teaches us how to survive.”
“No, that’s not what The Book says. At least, that’s what Mara told me. And Andy told her.”
Ami shakes her head in denial. “If you don’t like someone’s leadership, you have to step up and become a leader yourself. But if you can’t, there’s nothing you can do about it. Well, you can file a complaint with the parents in Newexter, but who in his right mind would want that? You’d make yourself dependent on them. You’d disconnect from your own Force.”
Sometimes, I wish I could find shelter in my mother’s arms whenever times are tough. I’d never actually say that out loud – that would truly make me an Unbeliever, like Walt had called me – but I’ll never forget that warm feeling I always got as a child when my mother rushed over to comfort me when I was crying. It felt… natural.
Instinctively, I reach for the necklace I’m wearing, but the jagged edges of the cracked walnut press painfully into my palm. “It’s broken,” I mumble flatly, holding out the pendant to Colin. “Mother’s necklace.”
Colin takes the pendant from my hand and lifts the beaded necklace over my head. “Did you fall when you ran away?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.” I know Colin has always been a bit jealous of the fact that I got a gift from our mother, and now I’ve gone and broken it.
He turns the walnut around in his hands to check the damaged side and his eyes narrow. “Hey, wait a minute. There’s something inside.” Very carefully, he breaks off a piece of the shell and then picks out a very tiny piece of paper that looks like a note.
Old, yellowed paper like the paper used in The Book.
“What is that?” I whisper. Have I been carrying a secret message all these years?
Could it be that mother left it for me and Colin?
With shaking hands, Colin unfolds the note. His eyes skim the lines.
“Colin, what does it say?” I hiss when he doesn’t read it out loud. I’m so impatient I want to slap him for keeping silent.
“It was written by grandmother,” he quietly replies.
A message from the past? Grandmother’s been dead for a long time. One fateful autumn day, she drowned in the sea when she went swimming too far offshore.
My brother passes me the note. Old-fashioned handwriting stares up at me.
Dear Maya,
When you read this, I will have sent you away. According to the Newexter laws. But according to the laws of Hope Harbor, where I come from, I should have never let you go. Parents and children do not separate. You have been taught that my people are Fools, and I once agreed with them – I left them because I thought it foolish to sit out my days waiting for salvation that will never come, but they were right about one thing. A mother’s love never dies.
Know your roots. Know that there is more to life than our own, small world. When you come back to me and you are open to my love for you, we will cross the Wall together.
Faith, hope and love,
&
nbsp; Your mother Toja.
I feel like somebody has just hit me on the back of the head with an enormous bat.
My grandmother was a Fool. And my mother never knew. She didn’t know she was supposed to open the walnut, and so she never read the message.
My eyes linger on the words that stand out to me most within the short text: a mother’s love never dies. Sudden tears pool in my eyes.
“Grandmother and mother never had the chance to talk when mother came back to Newexter,” Colin says in a muffled voice. “Grandmother drowned before mother came back from the manor.”
“She was from Hope Harbor,” I whisper. “That village in Fool’s Land.”
“How do you know?”
I remain quiet. The words are locked in my throat. For some reason, I want to keep Walt to myself. Besides, Colin might get angry with me if I tell him I handed over our most precious Book to a total stranger – an outsider. “Because Saul is keeping a man prisoner who claims he’s from Hope Harbor,” I tell him a half-truth. “I spied on Saul and Ben when they locked him up in the cellar. After that, I stole The Book and ran away in order to hide it somewhere close to the Wall.”
“Saul is keeping a Fool in his cellar?” Colin looks gobsmacked. “Why?”
“I think this man was trying to tell him things Saul didn’t want to hear. Things he doesn’t want us to hear either.”
Colin blinks for a moment, then nods curtly. “Okay. Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll go and talk to Andy first thing in the morning. He knows more about Saul and he’s one of the strongest in our group. If there is anybody who can take on Saul, it’s him.”
I nod too. “And I’ll go back to the hiding place tomorrow so I can read The Book. I have to find those pages Andy mentioned. If it turns out Saul isn’t sticking to the rules, everybody here will revolt.”
We quietly stay inside until the racket outside finally dies down. Ami crawls forward and peeks out of the door. “The coast is clear,” she whispers.