by Jason Letts
“It’s always a pleasure to see an old friend.”
Will swiveled to find the greasy, dark-haired young man stalking closer from around a tree. Zipping up his fly, his grungy appearance complemented his snickering, and together they were enough to make Will sick. He had been able to avoid seeing Jeremy the last few times he arrived, and hadn’t spoken to him in months, but these special circumstances made it unavoidable.
“Hi, Jeremy,” Gloria greeted him.
“There’s a bath for you in the guardhouse,” Will offered, feeling like he had to say something. It took a lot for Will to muster that much generosity, and to have Jeremy meet it with scoffs ate away at his insides.
“A bath? The Savior and I don’t believe in baths. This crude existence is only an extension of our inner purity. We don’t want to tie ourselves down with pompous customs or silly rituals. The only thing that matters is the individual spirit and the hunger that drives it. I can see you haven’t been living by his doctrine, maybe haven’t even been listening to the prayers,” Jeremy subtly accused.
Gloria looked to Will to gauge his reaction, and he felt both the mocking pressure of one and the curious pressure of the other. Will shook his head and tried to play it cool.
“Don’t question our dedication to the Savior. We’re here doing his work, tirelessly, and we know we’ll be rewarded for it. I’d say our mountain lifestyle brings us closer to him than you are,” Will shot back.
Jeremy gave a heckling laugh, making Will feel more uncomfortable and catching the attention of some bystanders outside the forge’s bay doors.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he sneered, coming closer. “He knows it was I who came to his aid when our odious classmates threatened him, and that’s why he rewarded me with this position. Soon we’ll begin our undertaking of the final mission, and I’m confident I’ll be chosen to accompany him.”
“Me too,” Gloria spoke up. “I wish he had seen me fighting for him. Then he’d know for sure how firmly I believe. You’re lucky to have been in his presence at such a monumental moment.”
Will noticed how she now showered Jeremy with her admiration. As soon as it was gone, he suddenly missed it and felt disappointed it had gone to someone of such a craven, despicable nature.
“Oh, it was monumental, watching my classmates break down in despair when their last hopes were dashed. Now to own them as we do is just delicious. There’s nothing I like better than to watch ’em just toiling in misery. Don’t you?” Jeremy asked Will point blank.
“Of course. I always knew I was smarter than them. Now the Savior’s taught me I’m better than them too. I don’t ever hesitate to rub it in,” Will lied.
He hated having to say these words. It made him feel like he was going back on his love for Roselyn, but he told himself he was saying it for her, so he could keep this position and make things better for her. Jeremy smiled, revealing teeth that were slowly rotting.
“Right. Well that’s how I feel about it at least. Are we ready to do this? I don’t want to waste any more time talking to you,” he said, brushing past them and heading toward the forge’s entrance. Turning with him, Will and Gloria could see the witch standing by the large doors. Will still didn’t understand why they needed so many people to load the caravans, but he started to approach the assembled group.
“I can’t believe he was just like us and now he’s in charge of a whole division,” Gloria beamed at the young man walking in front of them. Will only noted his smell, which vouched for his unclean behavior.
“You know it’s never the ones who gloat about it who are the real believers. He might just be covering up.”
Gloria gave Will a double take and then giggled, putting her hand to her mouth. When she removed it, some of her green goo had smeared against her chin.
“Wait, are you jealous? Oh Will, you don’t need to get so defensive around me. You’ll always be one of my biggest inspirations.”
Gloria reached out for his shoulder, but they both became aware of her outstretched hand and she shamefully retracted it. Another few steps and they were mingling amongst the others, all of whom turned their attention to the woman with one eye and a walking stick.
The witch lifted her head to the sun and reached for it. Basking in its warmth even as it tanned her wrinkled skin, she bore the glow of a much younger, free-hearted woman. The others waited for her to instruct them. They stood just as they would have had they been in temple, penitently and soulfully.
“The time has come to transfer our specialized parts. Finally, his vision will become our reality, and soon he will extend down to us his wisdom and truth. And in that moment, our society will reach the pinnacle of perfection.”
The massive doors swung open, forcing the crowd back. They huddled together to catch the first glimpse of the wondrous tools that would enable them to do the impossible. Will’s interest had been piqued, and his mind started to turn with thoughts of how all of this fit in with Mira and her mystery.
From the hillside, it looked like a massive metal cylinder. They rushed in to take a closer look, finding that it was just as tall as any of them. Blades curved around it, becoming thinner the further out they stretched until they could split a sheet of paper. Some of the boys started climbing on it, jumping up and down to see if they could make it shake. It wasn’t until Will followed a blade all the way up to the center and looked down on it from the top that he figured out what it was.
“It’s a propeller!” he gasped amidst lots of murmurings and chatter.
Looking around the forge’s warehouse, he also saw a few guys playing with a pair of tubes with hollow balls at the end. They put their hands inside one, trying to reach the other but never quite managing to do it. It was hooked to lots of bare wires. A generator, a turbine, and a rudder were nearby, and plenty of other complicated-looking equipment was spread about the floor space.
Will knew at once all of Mira’s answers were right here. Even though he didn’t understand how it all worked, she would know enough to be able to figure it out. She could sabotage this, or make it die on them somewhere out at sea. They could finally be rid of this persecution and domination forever!
Some others had climbed up and were encroaching on his space. Climbing down, Will knew he had to get to Clara and get the message to Mira. He could almost taste that moment when they would all be saved. The commotion made sneaking away seem like an easy proposition. He started back for the large doors, hoping to leave unnoticed.
But Gloria jumped in his way. Flashing another bright smile, she forced him to turn back and check out some of the other machines with her. Even as she pointed and wondered at the gadgets big and small, Will kept looking back at the wide open door. Any minute they would begin loading the caravans, forcing him to suppress the screaming impulse to get the message out until they finished and making it even harder to do so unseen.
Feeling like he had no choice, he quickly came up with an excuse. Taking a few steps back to the propeller, he put his hands under the edge and tried with all his might to lift it.
“We don’t have nearly enough people to lift this thing! And if we don’t gather some more, we’ll never get it out the door. I’d better go start rounding up the slaves,” he said to Gloria regretfully. She seemed to buy it, and he turned away quickly only to run into Jeremy’s gurgling laughter.
“That’s the problem with you, Will. You’re just not a problem-solver.”
Crushed at being thwarted again, Will crossed his arms and offered Jeremy the same disinterested, glum stare he usually saved for Gloria.
“And how exactly do you plan to solve this problem? I don’t think you’ve got enough flies to lift it.”
Will felt a hand drop on his shoulder. Then immediately a strange sensation swept over him, making him tingle as though he were numb. Turning, one of the caravan attendants had a hold of him, and her gold nose ring startled him when he turned to look at her. The strange feeling persisted, spreadi
ng to every part of him. She tugged on his uniform with just her index finger and thumb, managing to lift him off his feet in the process.
“Don’t be so dense,” she chuckled, letting go and dropping him on the floor. Will caught his balance and shrugged his shoulders at her.
“I guess it’s no accident you’re part of the caravan team,” he mumbled.
“Probably not,” she agreed.
Will cast one more unamused glance at Jeremy, who shook his head. Putting his dirty fingers in his mouth, he whistled to get everyone’s attention.
“Play time is over! Let’s load this equipment so we can get back to the road. This place reeks anyway.”
All of the Sunfighters converged around the massive propeller. Even with thirty of them putting both hands on it, there was still space for more. The girl with the nose ring joined them at last. She put her hands on it and took a deep breath.
“Don’t cut yourself on the edge,” she warned.
Gloria, her hands tucked behind her back, stood next to Jeremy and the witch. When the old woman gave them the signal, they all lifted at once. Will still didn’t think it would work on such a big object, but when they all heaved, the massive cylinder left the ground and wobbled in their hands. Slowly, they all inched toward the door, straining and wheezing.
Surprisingly, the propeller felt easier to carry as time went on. Soon they were all able to catch their breaths, some even used just a single hand. Some continued lifting harder than they needed to though, making it bauble and shake.
“Be careful!” the girl called, slowing them down. “If this thing gets out of my hands, not one of us will keep our toes.”
Her warning was enough to calm them. They moved slowly and evenly together, passing through the door and down the hill to the carts. Following another signal, they lifted it higher and brought it over a low, wide cart. Once they had it in place, everyone let go except for the one girl with the nose ring.
“I’m not going to be able to let go of this thing for at least a week,” she moaned as the others started back to the forge.
None of the other pieces proved too heavy for the crew to carry. Grabbing the end of one of the tubes, Will tried to get a good understanding of exactly what he would need to tell Mira. The inside of the orb at the top had a handle running through it. Most of the other machinery was too complicated for him to comprehend.
“What do you think this thing’s for?” he casually asked his companions but got nothing productive in the way of responses. He trusted that Mira would have the answer.
Loading it into a wagon, he went back for more. Different groups carried out the various pieces until the caravan looked like a giant junk heap. Just itching to leave, Will continued to imagine ways to escape. He couldn’t wait to get the news out and finally solve their intractable dilemma. Walking slowly up the hill after dropping off his last load, it looked like he would just miss the group taking out the last piece. What a shame.
Taking a quick look around, Will took off around the side of the forge and sprinted up the hill. Jeremy and Gloria watched him from down near the caravan. They communicated their suspicion to each other through raised eyebrows.
“He seems in an awful hurry. What do you think is going on there?” Jeremy asked.
“I don’t have any idea,” Gloria replied.
Racing up the hill, Will wondered what would happen next. Would he find Roselyn first or be forced to grope along the side of the mountain for Clara’s cave by himself? He was already winded, making his gallant leaps dwindle to trudging trots. Passing the temple and then the girls’ bunkhouse, he thought he heard something at the top of the camp.
“Guard! Guard!” a harsh female voice screamed, but it came from so far up that none of Will’s peers at the forge would be able to hear. This seemed like a needless distraction, one Will hoped to avoid. No matter what it was, it would get worked out on its own.
Having veered left away from the mines, he looked into the cabins for Roselyn as he passed. There was another call from just up ahead, making Will glance in time to see two women grappling Roselyn and dragging her around the side of the topmost building. She wriggled and squirmed, her face red. Catching sight of her made his heart skip a beat. The two captors held her arms behind her back and supported her by another arm around her neck.
“Finally! We been wondering where in the heck everybody is,” the matron howled scornfully. She and her companion dropped Roselyn face first into the ground as Will approached.
“I came as soon as I heard you. Now why are you treating her like this? Repercussions for abuse are severe,” Will threatened them.
“We caught her!” the younger one said, pointing to Roselyn as she got up and moved alongside Will. The matron jumped in before any more could be said.
“She disobeyed a direct order by not feeding the witch’s pet her medicine. And that’s after we found her skipping out on duty in her bunk,” she proclaimed.
Will crossed his arms, trading glances with the three women.
“You don’t have any proof to back this up. We should just all forget about it and move on,” Will decided, hoping that Roselyn’s working partners would just accept his decision. But the glare in the older woman’s eyes told him she was out for blood.
“We got plenty of proof. All you gotta do is head down into the cave. Enough medicine got spilled on the ground to almost cover up the stink. She must’ve been at it for months! Now if that doesn’t qualify for a beating, I don’t know what does. Go on. Punish her!”
Wide-eyed, Roselyn turned pale at the matron’s calls for violence. She watched Will intently as he studied the grim situation. When he acted, it was not Roselyn he stalked toward but the haggard matron.
“I think I know what the problem is here,” he said, getting right in her face. “You obviously are incapable of directing your own team. I’m stripping you of your responsibilities, and you’ll be doing the very same work you delegated to her. As for delivering the medicine, from now on I’ll do that myself. Is that clear?”
“But…” the matron mumbled through her confusion.
“I’ll take over!” the silver-haired girl announced.
Just as Will thought he had managed to turn around a potentially terrible situation, he heard a stern voice ring clearly through the crisp, bright air behind him.
“What’s going on here?” Gloria barked.
He could hear how much she enjoyed getting involved, and he turned to shoo her away, but it startled him to find Jeremy following just behind her. Seeing his crooked grin, he cursed himself for being so sloppy about leaving the forge.
“I heard there was some commotion going on here, and I ran up to investigate,” Will covered.
“Wow, your ears are better than mine. What happened?” Gloria asked.
Will opened his mouth to answer, but the matron beat him to it. As soon as she started talking, he jerked his head to give her the most malicious death stare he could muster, but it didn’t stop her in the least.
“This girl hasn’t been feeding the witch’s pet like she been told too. We caught her at it red-handed. She’s been obstinate and disobedient and in need of somebody to smack some sense into her,” she barked.
The rise of Jeremy’s prickly laughter, so much like a hyena’s, made Will sick to his stomach.
“Sounds like a clear cut case of insubordination to me. It’s not surprising since she’s not a believer like us. Now the only thing left is to give Roselyn what’s coming to her. It’s a good thing you don’t ever hesitate, right Will?”
Feeling the cold implication of Jeremy’s words and the terrible situation he had been forced into, Will slowly turned to Roselyn, who was already half in tears. Jeremy’s sniveling never died away, and neither did the pressure Will felt at the critical decision before him. He had to either expose himself as a traitor and give up the benefits that kept them alive or satisfy their demands and strike the one woman he cared for above all others.
; A bead of sweat trickled down his temple as he raced to come up with a lie or an excuse that would let him escape. There was nothing he could say, and for the flush and frustration he felt he couldn’t tell how much time was passing. He locked eyes with Roselyn in a look so deep she seemed to be all that existed. Her blonde curls hung around her watery blue eyes. Pale as a sheet, she stood frozen as if the humanity had drained out of her.
“What are you waiting for, Will? What’s going on?” Gloria asked.
He could hear his opportunity to hold on to what he had slipping away as Gloria began to wonder. Desperate to buy a few more moments to think, he raised his right arm over his head. His own eyes welled up, and it seemed anything he did would be a mistake. He didn’t know what to do, and he couldn’t think. Keeping his eyes fixed on her beauty, he saw her give him the slightest nod, the faintest hint came into her eyes.
Will’s open palm collided with Roselyn cheek, making a smacking sound that crackled in everyone’s ears. It surprised him when Roselyn fell to her side, and he knew she had done it to make it appear more brutal than it was. He couldn’t tell if she had the same intention when he looked back at him in horror and fear, but he hated himself for causing it all the same.
Jeremy’s cackling intensified as he turned and started to stroll down the hill.
“It’s been a good day today. Time to hit the road,” he said.
Gloria just put her hands on her hips impatiently.
“Now we’ll have to go report this to the witch. She’ll let us know what she wants to do about her pet. Come on, Will,” she ordered.
Will couldn’t bear to leave Roselyn, but even helping her up would ruin what he had so dearly bought. Feeling torn and defeated and above all regretful, he left his love behind with nothing but a woeful glance to comfort her.