The Seventh Hour

by Tracey Ward

  “None of the other towns can spare a truck?”

  He spreads his hands helplessly. “They’ll all be using them for the same purpose we will. To join the souk in Porton. It’s an important time of year for all of us. We can’t miss it. It would cost the entire town too much.”

  “I understand. It’s only that…” My shoulders sag under the worthless weight of my own argument. “No, you’re right. You’re absolutely right. Gaia can’t suffer for my own selfishness. He’s alive. I should be grateful for that. I can wait to see him when we’re both back on the ship.”

  “You’re not selfish, Livandra,” he assures me kindly. “No one here can imagine what you’re going through. What you have been going through for the entire season. Personally I think you’ve done a commendable job adjusting. You’ve handled yourself with strength and dignity. You should be proud. We all are.”

  I smile sadly, savoring his words. They sting a bit. They bite in a place that has been neglected my entire life. That center of a girl’s being that begs for the glow of her father’s smile. The warmth of his eyes. The strength of his voice. A place left empty in me for so long that it aches at being filled.

  I thank the Mayor quickly before darting out into the hall, out of his stuffy office with the overpowering pipe smell and dim lights that leave my head aching.

  Fren is waiting for me. I’m his responsibility during the day. Grayson will take over at dinner, keeping tabs on me until the morning when Fren will follow me to work again.

  “What’d he say?” Fren asks eagerly.

  I shake my head, my lips pinched together tightly. “It’s not happening. It’s too late.”

  His face falls. “I’m sorry, Liv. That sucks.”

  “It’s okay. I understand why it can’t happen.”

  “Still sucks though.”

  I chuckle. “It does. It definitely sucks.”

  “We’ll tell Gray tonight after work. He can take you to Captain Fuller to send a message. You should at least wire back and forth with your brother for as long as you can.”

  “Do the lines always go down?”

  “Not every time. With the vishers asleep and no snow or ice to weigh on them, the lines might last through the entire season. You just have to worry about earthquakes.”

  “That’s something at least. Thanks, Fren.”

  “No problem.” He glances up and down the hall awkwardly. “So… I guess it’s back to work?”

  “Yes. I guess it is.”

  For the next six months. Another six long months without worrying but I will absolutely be wondering. What is Gav’s life like in Camdon? Is he safe? Happy? Are they taking care of him the way they’re taking care of me?

  Has anyone tried to hurt him the way they’ve tried to hurt me?

  My questions rattle around in my head all day at work. Twice Fren has to snap his fingers and wave his hands in front of my face to get my attention. I’m fading in and out of conversations, barely listening when anyone talks. I know I need to pull it together. I have to be strong, the way Mayor Gustafson praised me for being. The way Grayson has taught me to be. And being strong, being brave, means accepting this blow and moving on. I cannot wallow in this, because the most perilous thing in the world is idle sorrow. It’s a quicksand that will suck you under, burying you before you can blink.

  And I refuse to drown.

  “Grayson,” Fren calls out, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

  I look up from the file I was sorting into the desk drawer. Grayson is striding into the lobby, a casual smile on his face.

  “I was walking my rounds. They brought me by. I thought I’d stop in and see what you two were up to.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, man. Can you take over a second? I need to hit the head.”

  I shove the drawer shut hard. “Fren, you can use the bathroom. You don’t have to be with me every second of every day.”

  Fren grimaces at Grayson.

  He mirrors the expression. “Yeah, Liv, he kind of does. Captain’s orders.”

  “He’s not allowed to pee? What have you been doing, Fren? Holding it?”

  “Basically,” he admits uncomfortably.

  I point down the hall. “Go. Now.”

  Grayson waits for Fren to disappear before closing in on me. He lowers his face slowly, stealing a kiss and my breath. He’s grinning when he backs away.

  “I’ve been wanting to do that all morning,” he confesses.

  “After the morning I’ve had, I needed that.”

  He winces briefly. “Yeah, I heard. I’m sorry. At least you know he’s alive now. That’s something.”

  “It’s a big something. And I’m happy. I just have to get over the disappointment of not getting everything I want.”

  “Hard for a Posher Princess to manage.”

  I sneer at him. “She’s working on it.”

  “You’re tough. You’ll make it. You’re more Mole than Posher at this point.”

  “I’m taking that as a compliment.”

  “No other way to take it.”

  I fall forward on my elbows on the desk, nodding toward the bathroom. “Is he really not allowed to leave me alone long enough to go?”

  Grayson shakes his head seriously. “We both got briefings on it when Fuller set up this schedule. It’s why it’s not just me anymore. He felt like we’d be fresher and more alert if we had some time off. He’s right. It helps.”

  “You know what would really help? Finding out who poisoned me.”

  He flexes his jaw stiffly. “Yeah. I agree.”

  “All this time and he still has no idea who did it?”

  “Time is making it harder. The trail goes cold. People’s memories fade. No one saw anyone break into the closet or your apartment. We searched every apartment of every person tied to Forces, Medical, and Farming. No one with a key to that closet had possession of the Narthenol.”

  “Did you search the pigs?” I joke. “I bet it was the pigs.”

  His eyes are wary. “Why do I feel like there’s a bad pun coming?”

  “Because it’s sow obvious.”

  “I’m gonna kill my brother.”

  “Liv!” Fren shouts. His boots pound down the hall in a steady rhythm, regulated like a heartbeat.

  “Fren, you don’t have to come sprinting back,” I tell him. “You barely took any time at all. It’s not right.”

  Grayson frowns. “She’s right. You were really quick, man. Did you wash your hands?”

  “No, I didn’t have time,” Fren answers breathily.

  “This is a hospital! Go wash your hands,” I exclaim.

  “I will, but shut up. Listen.”

  “Don’t tell me to shut up.”

  “She hates being told to shut up,” Grayson warns him.

  “Both of you shut up!” he shouts angrily. “Liv needs to get outside. Right now.”

  “Why? What’s happening?”

  “I got a call on the radio from Fuller. The Porton cable crew is back. They’re heading for Gaia. They radioed ahead to say they have a package that they picked it up from the Ambrios crew. It’s from her brother.”

  I’m on my feet in a flash, running for the door. Grayson and Fren fall in step on either side of me, running with me down the street, through the city, and out the doors. The cold hits me hard, reminding me I forgot to grab a jacket. I don’t bother complaining because I don’t care. I’ll get hypothermia, I’ll lose a toe or two, but I’ll comfort myself and my mangled body with whatever my brother has sent me. I can’t imagine what it is. There’s not much he would have had on him when the ship sank, but even if it’s his left sock I’ll be happy to see it.

  There’s a small crowd gathering by the road that runs past the town. The Porton cable crew plowed it on their way to fix the line. I can see their trucks making their way back down it now, rumbling roughly over the hard packed earth. The engines rev and fade, taking forever, but finally they’re here. They’re pulling to a stop in fron
t of us as we stare dazedly at their dull gray sides coated in dirty snow and mud.

  A door opens on the lead vehicle, a tall portly man stepping out onto the running rail along the side of the truck. He leers down at me. “I’d ask if you’re Liv, but unless there’s another Eventide holed up in this mountain I’m guessing you’re her.”

  “I am,” I answer reservedly.

  “Christmas came early to you, sweetheart. I got a hell of a package here for you.”

  He pounds on the roof twice before disappearing back inside the truck, slamming his door decisively. The back hatch on the truck opens. There’s some shuffling, muffled talking, a round of laughter, and then the hatch is closed again. There’s another two note knock from the inside of the truck. This one sends it into motion, rumbling down the road. The other two vehicles behind it follow closely.

  When they’re gone, when the road is cleared, there’s a man standing there alone. He has a bag slung over his shoulder, muddy boots on his feet, roughhewn clothes on his back. Russet skin and my mother’s eyes.

  “Hello, Liv,” he greets me with a smile.

  I laugh in the back of my throat, my eyes brimming with tears. “Hello, Gav.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Gray

  Liv’s brother is a surprise. She told me that out of the two of them he’s the one who’s good at politics, the one that’s going to take his dad’s seat on their Council and fit right in. Maybe it’s my fault for assuming that meant he was uptight, because the guy makes himself comfortable in Gaia like he was born to it. He’s the kind of guy that can fit in anywhere he goes. He’s a social chameleon, charming everyone with every word. Every glance. This afternoon he spent all of five minutes in the Mayor’s office before he came out with the old man’s hand on his shoulder and the keys to the city.

  He reminds me a lot of Easton.

  It comes as no surprise that they hit it off immediately. When we sit down to the dinner that night our table is the center of attention, and it’s not just because we have two Eventides eating with us. It’s because of the noise. The endless back and forth of stories between Easton and Gav that leave them ruddy faced from laughter.

  I haven’t joined in. I’ve barely smiled. It’s weird and I know it, I feel it, but I can’t help it. Liv is the opposite. She’s ecstatic that her brother is here. I can’t blame her for that. I know I’d feel the same way if our roles were reversed, but what has me down so low that I can’t find my way back up is that Liv is leaving. She’ll go back with him.

  This is the beginning of our end.

  “Hey.” Liv nudges my leg under the table. “What’s wrong? You’re frowning.”

  “I’ve heard this story before. It ends with him getting the girl.”

  “Don’t all of Easton’s stories end that way?”

  “That’s my point,” I mutter, taking a drink water, wishing it was stronger.

  “Are you going to be sour all night?”

  “As a lemon.”

  Liv smiles slowly to herself.

  “What’s funny?”

  She shrugs. “I like lemons. That’s all.”

  “You’re in the minority there.”

  “I’m the minority everywhere.”

  “You’ve got company now.”

  She pauses, her eyes on her brother. “Yes, I do,” she agrees quietly. She reaches under the table, taking my hand in hers, twisting her fingers with mine. “But that doesn’t mean I love your company any less.”

  I grin faintly. My thumb moves over the back of her hand, over her perfect smooth skin. I try not to memorize the feel of it. I try not to look at her too hard, etching her face into my memory. Drinking in her scent. The sound of her voice. I try so hard not to start packing her away into a protected corner of my mind because it feels like saying goodbye, and it’s not time yet. I’m not ready yet. But I can’t stop.

  “How did the Porton crew get you back here so fast?” Fren asks, wrapped up in Gav’s stories of survival.

  We’ve already heard about how he and the other two survivors rode out the storm on a broken section of their ship. How it finally landed them fifty miles outside Camdon. They walked that distance, half-dead and sure they were going the wrong way when they were discovered by kids playing on the beach. They brought them back to the town where they were treated like kings. Revered and doted on by the small two hundred head village. They took them to Ambrios to wire other towns, Gaia included, letting them know they had Eventide survivors. They had little hope they’d find anyone else, but they had to try. Gav was stunned by the only answer they got – Liv.

  Gav wipes his mouth, swallowing his food before answering Fren. His manners remind me of his sister. The little niceties that they both observe that none of us Gaians bother with.

  “The Porton snow plow was garbage,” he answers plainly, his accent thicker than Liv’s. “It broke down three times. The Ambriosans found the break in the line over half-way to Gaia, and since they had me in their league and they had plenty of time, they agreed to keep driving until we met the Porton team. We found them only a few hours later. Broken down for the third and final time. The Ambriosans handed me off, and with an already plowed road to ride it was smooth sailing for the Portons coming back this way. The wire office in Ambrios must have gotten their message through to you about the same time I was taking up with the Portons.”

  “It’s a bold move joining a convoy of Portons alone,” Easton comments.

  Gav nods his head seriously. “The Ambriosans had a much friendlier feel, I’ll admit. In Camdon they tried to talk me out of coming this way. They warned me about the racism in this area.” He glances around the table apologetically. “No offense to any of you. You’ve all been very welcoming and I appreciate you taking good care of Liv, but I didn’t have a security detail assigned to me in Camdon. There was no reason to.”

  “Gaia is not a bad place,” Liv tells him gently. “It’s a beautiful city full of good people, but like anyone it has its demons. You shouldn’t judge it by its flaws, not without first considering the merit of its strengths.”

  Gav grins proudly. “That’s beautifully put, Liv.”

  She blushes the way she always does when she’s complimented. “Thank you. Like I said, it’s a beautiful city.”

  Gav lifts his glass. “To Gaia, and being bigger than our demons.”

  Everyone at the table lifts their glasses happily. “To Gaia!”

  Throughout the room other voices join the toast, echoing Gav’s words through the dining hall.

  “To Gaia!”

  Liv shouts it loudly, laughing at herself and the wave her brother has caused. He’s a force, that’s for sure. One I would never want to contend with. It gives me hope that he’ll take care of her. That if she has to go back, maybe he’ll be able to keep her off the bowsprit of another boat.

  When dinner is done and the kitchen crew is desperate to shut the dining hall down we file out into the street as a herd. Krysan, Fren, Tae, Easton, Liv, Gav, and me. I saw Karina leaving not long before us. She carefully avoided looking our way and I tried to do the same, but it made me feel awful. I get that she wants space, but I miss my friend. She’s been a part of my life almost as long as Easton has. It’s hard to let that go.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I can go to bed yet,” Easton tells the group. “I’m too hyped. We have to do something.”

  Liv smiles. “Like what?”

  “On nights like this in Camdon we’d get into a little something called Ambrios Ale…” Gav says leadingly, his eyes hopeful.

  “Mathers’,” Easton and I say at the same time.

  He smacks the back of his hand against my arm. “Jinx.”

  “What does that mean?” Gav asks.

  “It means little brother here owes me a beer.”

  “But what’s Mathers?” Liv asks curiously.

  “He runs that tiny store by the welder’s shop,” I explain. “He has a lot of random stuff bu
t he always has beer.”

  “How have I never been in there?”

  “Because you’re too young to buy anything he’s got,” Fren tells her.

  “Drinking age in the cave is eighteen,” Easton agrees apologetically.

  She frowns. “But Grayson’s given me beer before.”

  “Wow,” I mutter. “Sellout.”

  “I’m sorry! I didn’t know.”

  “They literally just told you.”

  “I said I was sorry. That’s all you get on this one.”

  “What else would you give him?” Krysan asks curiously.

  Everyone ignores him.

  Five minutes later we find the small shop dark but open.

  “You coming, Gray?” Tae asks, holding the door for me.

  I wave him on, taking up a post next to Liv. “I’ll stay out here with her. We can’t leave her alone.”

  “No way,” Easton shouts from inside. His face appears in the single small window at the front of the store. Gav’s pops up next to it, followed by Krysan. “You’re buying, remember?”

  “One. I’m buying you one.”

  “Get in here.”

  “I’ll stay with Liv,” Fren offers. “I have a couple bottles at my place. I don’t need to go inside.”

  “Okay. Thanks, man.” Unconsciously I reach for Liv’s hand, squeezing it gently. “We’ll be right back.”

  She smiles as I turn away, her fingers slipping slowly from my grasp.

  When I get inside the store I’m face to face with eight ogling eyes. In the dim light they look like curious animals. Wide eyed and blinking.

  “What?” I ask them reluctantly.

  Tae chuckles, closing the door behind us.

  “Did I just see what I think I saw?” Gav asks slowly.

  Easton nods, watching me with a knowing grin. “Yep. It’s what you think. Has been for months.”

  “Is it a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “I’m biased ‘cause he’s my brother, but I’m gonna say a good thing. A really good thing.”