The Phoenix Project Series: Books 1-3: The Phoenix Project, The Reformation, and Revelation

by Pritchard, M. R.

  Raven runs his finger over the names etched in the stone. He moves to the stone next to it, placing his hand on the plain granite. This stone is much less adorned than the one my mother chose for herself and my father. “Those are your great-grandparents,” I tell him. His fingers rove over the etchings. “Constance S. Salk and Franklin E. Salk. Your great-grandmother was an orphan,” I tell him. “She swore that she would keep the Salk name going as homage to the family that adopted her. Your great-grandfather Frank even changed his last name, something that was unheard of.” Raven turns to stare at me. “Yes, our last name is Somers. I took your fath-… umm… Ian’s last name when we married. I wanted to be a bit normal and Sam could carry on the Salk name. I wish they could have met you, Raven. I wish they could have been around, all of them, they would have loved you so much.”

  He looks at the gravestone of his great-grandparents and then down at the ground before he moves to the next gravestone. He sets his hand on the half-crumbled, lichen-consumed stone.

  “No,” I shake my head at him. The etching says B. C. Bertrand. “I don’t know who that is-”

  I hear a loud cawing from the other side of the graveyard and turn, looking across the hill. A large blackbird sits in a giant oak tree cawing towards us. For a second I think I see another person standing in the graveyard near where Adam’s family is buried. I see a shadow, movement, an image of a man with dark hair. It seems to turn and stare at us. It wavers in the sunlight; a mirage, a ghost.

  My breath catches in my throat, the feeling almost chokes me. It’s not a mirage, it’s a result of me sniffing his T-shirt like a crack addict. Seeing him out in the daylight like this is nothing but a bad acid trip.

  “Raven,” I reach out to pick him up and make our way back to the SUV by the road.

  chapter six

  Staring at the empty seat across from me, Crane speaks and I do my best to ignore him. I’ve done my work. I’ve updated him. He’s seen the data, the pairs, the families which will be made, the children they will have. I am bored now. I watch the children through the viewing glass that separates the committee room from the children’s play area.

  “Andromeda?” I hear Crane ask me. His voice has the edge of agitation. It won’t be long before his ears turn as orange as his hair.

  “Yes?” I ask.

  “The Volker seat?”

  I didn’t hear them nominate anyone. Still, I tell him, “No.”

  For some reason I am also thoroughly agitated today. I’m not ready to have Adam’s seat filled, not yet. I look across the table. Ian is giving me a face. He doesn’t bother to wink at me anymore-not at a meeting, not like he did those other few times; as we left for the Tour and the day he showed up at the Pasture. There were other times after that, but I put a stop to them. I said a full sentence to him once and asked him to stop.

  “You’ve denied each and every prospect. It’s been over a year. This can’t go on any longer.”

  “What about Remington?” I ask.

  Remington was our Runner, the one before Adam, the one who got caught divulging the secrets of the District to a woman at a bar while he was out getting supplies. That was before the Reformation.

  “He’s gone,” Crane responds blandly, his features devoid of emotion. He doesn’t even care that he ordered Remington’s death. But Remington’s not really dead.

  Alexander shifts in his seat.

  “I know he’s still alive in the convict faction. You could bring him back.”

  A look of smooth irritation coats Crane’s face. “You may be taking the place of Morris, but you’re not there yet,” Crane tells me. “I’m tired of waiting for a decision from you. Soon, I’m going to override your vote.”

  “Let’s get things straight, Crane. You control the vote here. We all know that.” I hear a rough gasp from Alexander. Ian closes his eyes. Morris, he’s in the hospital, but I’m sure he’d be just as disappointed. “Are we done here?”

  “No.” A thin smile spreads across Crane’s lips. I ready myself for the backlash. “Sam Salk will take the Volker Sovereign seat.”

  “No!” I stand in objection.

  “Your vote has been overridden. He has excelled in his Volker training over the past months. His training to take the Sovereign seat will commence immediately.”

  Crane ends the meeting. I don’t even bother to look at Ian or Alexander to judge their responses.

  “Andromeda,” he interrupts my departure.

  “What?”

  “Sign your agenda.”

  Even though I don’t want to, I reach down and press my fingertip on the screen. An image of my fingerprint shows up, signifying that I agree with the proceedings. I don’t agree at all. Crane knows this already.

  “Andromeda?”

  “What?” I snap at him.

  “I want you to remember this moment and the reason for my needing to force you to meet with Dr. Akiyama.”

  “For what reason?”

  Two red brows rise on his face. “Your attitude. I can’t have you involved in making decisions for the Residents when you are clearly out of control.”

  Turning, I find Ian and Alexander standing next to each other, watching us. “Fine,” I mumble as I move to collect Raven from the play area and leave the building, headed for my own vehicle. I don’t wait for Ian. He’s been driving himself. We drove together once and it was extremely uncomfortable.

  I drive home, probably faster than I should with a child in the car.

  Parking next to the barn I take Raven inside and replace the keys. As I walk across the courtyard I can hear the sound of shots being fired, muffled by the thick barn exterior walls. Someone must be at the target range. It’s probably Sam.

  It was a complete surprise that Adam found Sam and brought him back after the bombings, the last of my family that wasn’t already here. But now, with Crane’s nomination, it feels like he’s being taken away from me.

  As I walk through the courtyard, Lina runs out of the schoolhouse, towards me.

  “Can we swing, mom?” Lina asks.

  “Sure,” I tell her.

  She runs for the swing set in the courtyard. Elvis found it in someone’s backyard. He disassembled it and brought it back here for the children to play on. Pushing Lina and Raven on the swings, Lina sings as I wait for the sound of the gunfire to cease. It’s not long before Raven starts to rub his eyes.

  “I’m going to bring Raven in for a nap,” I tell Lina. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay, mom,” she responds mid-song.

  Opening the front door to the house, I release Stevie who races to the swing set where Lina is. I hear Lina giggle as Stevie jumps in the air, trying to nip at her feet.

  I lay Raven down and on my way out the door, I notice the Guardian sleeping in the corner of the living room.

  “What’s wrong?” Sam asks as he pushes Lina on the swing. I walk towards him, unable to control the scowl on my face.

  I motion for him to move away from Lina so she can’t hear us. “They didn’t tell you?” I ask.

  “Oh, I’ve known. Aren’t you happy for me?” Sam asks, flashing a smile of straight teeth. That’s a smile he used to give the girls in high school, not his sister. Something’s up.

  “Why didn’t you tell me, Sam?”

  “I was instructed not to.”

  “Sam! Crane just made you Volker Sovereign, that’s a huge deal. I can’t believe he’s having you keep secrets from me already.” I cross my arms over my chest.

  “Andie,” Sam adjusts his uniform, “Can’t you just be happy for me? I know this isn’t the life we expected, but some good can come out of it. I still have a life to live.”

  “I’m scared for you,” I tell him honestly.

  “Why, Sis?”

  “Because Crane always has another agenda. You becoming the Volker Sovereign is just another punishment for me because I am defiant and I was rude to him in today’s committee meeting.”

  “Maybe this
isn’t about you.” He scowls down at me. He’s never looked at me like this before. It’s intimidating. “Maybe I want more than just to be your little brother here. I don’t need to be anchored to this place, to you. There are things that I can still do.”

  “It’s not that cut and dry, Sam. These decisions aren’t made with our best interest in mind. They are made with the best interests of the Districts in mind. Do you know what that means? We are nothing but pawns to them.”

  “You think I haven’t realized that already?”

  I take a deep breath. “Sam, things will get worse before they get better. You saw what they did to me before you arrived.”

  “Yeah, I did.” He steps towards me; he’s so tall that I have to look up to keep eye contact.

  “If things were different, I’d be so happy for you right now. But to tell you the truth, I’m scared for you.”

  “I can take care of myself.” He wraps his arm across my shoulders and squeezes me into his ribs.

  I relish the contact, contact that I haven’t had from him in quite some time since he’s been training. My little brother is growing up. I glance up at him. Nope, I’m wrong, he is all grown up. “Sam.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I am proud of you, really proud. I just don’t want this for you. I wish the world were different, I wish it was years ago.”

  “We can’t go back in time, Andie. All we have is now, all we have is each other, and I don’t plan on sitting around and letting these people tell me what to do. We need to stick together, we’re family. And now there are three of us on the committee. Now Crane’s the odd man out.” I feel the muscles twitch in his arm.

  I still feel this overwhelming need to protect him, even if he is four times the size of me, he’s my little brother after all. “Don’t be naive, Sam. Crane has people all over, and for some reason they are afraid of him. So afraid they’ll do whatever he asks.”

  “I’m not afraid of him.” Sam releases his hold on me and steps back. “Where’s Raven?” he asks, looking around.

  “He’s in the house.” I point across the courtyard.

  “You left him home alone?”

  “He’s not alone, there’s a Guardian with him.”

  “Seriously?”

  “What?”

  “You left a dog as a babysitter.” The boyish smirk I remember from our childhood returns to his face.

  I shrug. “I trust them more than most people.”

  “Me too,” he agrees.

  “Mom?” I hear Lina’s voice from behind me.

  We both turn. “Hey, honey.” Lina walks towards me, pulling a pink knit hat over her head. She’s going to be nine soon and she’s almost as tall as I am.

  “Astrid wants to help me feed the horses today.” She points to the schoolhouse where Blithe is releasing the rest of the children for an afternoon of fresh air.

  “That’s fine.” I look across the courtyard towards the barns. Elvis waits with a bucket of oats and carrots.

  “Can we go to the range after?” she asks as Astrid runs towards us.

  And there goes my little girl, growing up, running off to do chores and spend time with the other Sovereign children. “Sure, Lina, just make sure you have an adult with you.”

  “I’ll meet them there,” Sam says. “I need to practice a little more.”

  I’m sure he doesn’t. Sam has perfect aim.

  --

  In the evening, there is a fire in the courtyard and dinner to celebrate Sam’s promotion. I bring a sweet pear bread, made with the last of the walnuts from my cupboards and ripe pears from the orchard. Elvis brings rabbits to roast over the fire. Blithe brings roasted squash.

  As Elvis arranges the skinned rabbits on a skewer, I watch Ian pluck a few ears of corn from the field and submerge them in a bucket of water.

  If we spoke much I might ask him what he is doing, but instead I just watch as he carries the bucket to the fire and places the wet corn, husks and all, onto the hot coals. The corn sizzles and smokes. The tassels burn away instantly, and after a few minutes Ian pulls the corn off to cool. The children huddle around him as he pulls the husks off, revealing a perfectly steamed cob of corn.

  We eat in the entertainment of the children, releasing all of their pent-up energy from days of instruction within the school house. I sit at the picnic table with Raven on my lap and Lina next to me. Blithe sits across from us, Sam next to her. Elvis and Ian occupy the log bench a few feet from the fire. Stevie chews on rabbit bones at Lina’s feet.

  “Congratulations,” Blithe tells Sam as she pushes the food around on her plate.

  Sam stops midair, about to take a large bite of the pear bread, “Thank you,” he replies to her. And in the early evening grayness I think I see a slight color rise to his neck and cheeks.

  “Sam-” I’m about to ask him if he’s feeling all right, but before I do Raven’s head tips forward. Blithe reaches out, her long arm extending, stopping his head from hitting the table in front of me.

  “Seems we’ve bored Raven to sleep,” Blithe says as she tips his head back towards my chest.

  “I’ll go put him to bed.” I move him to my shoulder and stand.

  Raven barely stirs as I change his clothes and wipe his face with a warm cloth. Pushing the dark locks from his forehead, his eyes flutter open for a just a moment; light blue eyes, just like Adam’s. Without me asking, he holds his chubby little fingers up for me to clean with the cloth.

  When I’m done washing the crumbs from his fingers, I gather him in my arms and hold him close to my chest. “I love you, baby Raven,” I tell him, running my fingers through his silky hair. When it seems he has fallen asleep again, I carry him to his crib and cover him with a knit blanket. As I watch him sleep, I notice a small lump under the blanket. Moving it, I find Lina’s stuffed owl. I hold it in my hand, remembering what it took to get the toy back to Lina, before finally tucking it into the blanket next to Raven.

  My hand moves to the owl charm around my neck, the one Adam had made for me, and I can’t hold back the sigh that escapes my lips.

  “Goodnight,” I whisper to Raven as I leave the room.

  Returning to the party, I take my time walking towards everyone. Elvis, Sam, and Ian talk loudly about crops and guns and Volker recruits. Now Ian sits on the picnic table, Sam and Elvis flank him on each side. The children laugh and dance by the fire as though they were a group of witches plotting a spell. Stevie runs in circles around them. I notice Blithe sitting on the log bench alone, the flame of the bonfire reflected in her eyes as she watches the children. I make my ways toward her, watching the children myself, smiling at these carefree moments of childhood that they may remember forever.

  “It’s good that they have this,” Blithe tells me as I sit.

  “What’s that?”

  “These moments to be children.”

  “Yes.” I agree with her.

  We sit for a few moments in silence, watching the children. Lina and Astrid twirl their hair and intertwine their hands, dancing in some sweet possession by the pale moonlight. I find myself smiling as I watch them, turning to Blithe, wondering if she sees what I see. Her eyes are focused past the fire and the children, watching the men as they talk.

  She begins speaking. “I’ve always enjoyed the company of children, much more than adults most of the time.” She turns to look at me. “That’s why I became a teacher.”

  “You’re very good at what you do,” I tell her.

  “There was a time when I thought I might have children of my own.” She stretches her legs out and twists her hands in her lap. “I’m not sure if I told you what I was doing in Japan?”

  “You told me you were a teacher there, teaching at a private school for the children of U.S. Embassy personnel.”

  She nods her head slightly. “I followed my fiancé there.” Blithe’s eyes soften a bit and a sheen fills them, reflecting the orange glow of the fire.

  “You’re engaged?”

  �
��Was. I was engaged. I spent my days teaching the lonely, well-traveled children of the Ambassadors. Do you know what it’s like for those children, travelling the world, never having a chance to make real friends or moving each time they do?”

  I shake my head. “The children are lucky to have you. What happened to your fiancé?” I ask.

  “I lost him,” she responds flatly.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I thought he was a good man, that’s why I wanted to marry him. I had it all planned out-the wedding, the honeymoon. I wanted to have four children. But none of that transpired.”

  “What happened?”

  “I came home to find him in bed with a beautiful Japanese woman.” I try not to make a sound as my face flames with embarrassment. “They must have been quite satisfied, the two of them, they didn’t even stir as I packed my bags. And as I was walking down the hall of our apartment building, I ran into a peculiar man who made me an offer I couldn’t refuse at the time.”

  “You met Burton Crane in Japan?”

  “Yes. And here I am now.” She glances towards the men who continue their talking. Astrid runs up to Sam and taking his hand, she pulls him towards the fire to join the other children in their moonlight dancing. Blithe smiles a bit. “And now I have more children than I ever thought I could have. But still…” She trails off, never finishing her thought.

  “There are plenty of men here, Blithe. You still might find someone.”

  She blinks slowly and as she does the clouds cover the moon so I cannot see her true expressions, only the shadows from the flames and the trees, spreading across the planes of her face. “Like you have?” she replies dryly.

  Ouch. “I know,” I tell her, and as though Ian were listening to our conversation, I notice him turn towards us. “I know what I did was wrong.”

  “As long as you know,” she replies. And just as she stops speaking, one of the boys-Lex-runs towards us and taking Blithe’s hand, he pulls her to join in the fire-dancing.

  Lina runs towards Ian and Elvis, taking their hands and pulling them towards the fire. Cashel runs towards me, doing the same. We join hands, skipping in a circle as the flames die down, the children sing Ring-around-the-Rosie.