The Disappearance of Ember Crow

by Ambelin Kwaymullina

  If I help you, you will be indebted to me.

  I’ll pay you back, I promise. I knew it was reckless to say that to an ancient spirit, but I didn’t care. I’d do anything to save Em.

  She leaped down and padded across the floor to jump onto my lap. Is this supposed to be the help? I asked, stroking her silky fur.

  Starbeauty didn’t answer, just purred.

  Leo put the bean carefully on the table. “What is it that you want for these?”

  “Information,” Jules answered. “On our old friend Terence.”

  “Something you don’t feel able to ask him yourself?”

  Jules spread out his hands. “He and I have had – a falling out.”

  “Indeed?” Leo eyed him up and down. “May I compliment you on being surprisingly healthy. People who have a falling out with Terence generally begin to feel rather ill.”

  Jules grinned. “I’ve found a way to solve that problem. Leo, we think Terence is holding someone here in the city.”

  “A red-haired girl?”

  “Yes!” I exclaimed. Leo and Jules both looked at me – Leo with interest and Jules with a frown.

  “Um, I mean,” I stammered, “yes, that’s who we’re trying to find.” Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I asked, “Do you know if she’s okay?”

  “From what I understand, she is well enough,” Leo replied. “And I do not think she is being ‘held’. She appears to be with Terence of her own accord.”

  “The situation is complicated,” Jules said, shooting me a glare that I had no difficulty in interpreting as “shut up”. “Is Terence staying in his usual place?”

  “He is.”

  I heaved a silent sigh of relief. Even if Leo wouldn’t help us, we had a location, and Jules knew the layout of that house. We can save her.

  “I won’t attack Terence, Jules,” Leo warned. “Not even for Blackout Greys. It would invite retaliation, and I have no intention of starting a war with him. At least, not over some scheme of yours.”

  “I’m not asking you to attack him. I just need to know exactly where the girl is in that house. And I want a way in. A quiet way.”

  The Lion sat back, subjecting Jules and I to a contemplative stare. He wasn’t sure about helping us. I called out to Starbeauty, What should I do?

  Wait. He has not yet asked you the question he must ask.

  What question?

  She didn’t answer. Leo’s gaze dropped to Starbeauty, then lifted to my face. “She does not usually take to strangers, although I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you are good with animals, Ashala Wolf.”

  I froze, clutching Starbeauty’s fur. She hissed, and I relaxed my grip as I stared at Leo. He knows who I am!

  He is a very clever pet.

  “Ah, Leo,” Jules began, “it’s–”

  The Lion held up a hand. “Spare me the denials. Did you really think the leader of the Tribe could come into Spinifex City and I wouldn’t know?”

  “Does anyone else know?” I demanded. “The government – or Terence …”

  “Of course not,” Leo replied in an offended tone. “This is my city. And I have no interest in anyone discovering you here. In fact, quite the reverse. I do not want other governments in the world to begin paying attention to what is happening in Spinifex City. But,” he added, fixing me with a cold stare, “for exactly the same reason, I will not have a revolution here, Ashala Wolf. It will cause a disruption that could affect the taffa supply.”

  “Believe me, I’m not here to cause a revolution.”

  “Then why are you here? For this girl who does not appear to be in trouble, and who is involved with Terence in some way? A man who is known to loathe Illegals?”

  Jules opened his mouth to speak. Leo shook his head at him. “No. I want to hear from her.”

  The question he must ask … He’d always known who I was, and he suspected my motives because of it. I thought reproachfully at Starbeauty, You might have told me that he knows who I am.

  You are not my pet. And you should tell him the truth. About why you wish to rescue her.

  It wasn’t as if I had another plan. “I don’t have a scheme, and I’m not here to disrupt the taffa, or anything! All I want to do is save my friend. The red-haired girl. Her name is Ember, and whatever you think, she’s in terrible trouble.”

  Jules chimed in. “It’s Terence you should be worried about, Leo. Ember is a Tribe member, and Terence brought her here. He’s the one who’s delivering problems to your door.”

  Leo ignored him. “She is your friend?”

  “My best friend.” I suddenly remembered the bleakness I’d seen in him before. I’d experienced enough loss in my life to know grief when I saw it. I have spent my life seeking the perfect moment … A glimpse into the beyond. The Lion knew what it was to lose somebody, and to be desperate to see them again.

  I’d been keeping a tight control on my emotions ever since we’d arrived in the city. I stopped, allowing my own desperation to rise up and show in my face. “She’s in danger. She’s alone. And I won’t abandon her. So if you want me out of this city, help us. Because I’m not leaving without her.”

  For an endless moment the Lion and I stared into each other’s eyes. Then he gave a slow nod. I leaned back, feeling at once shaky and triumphant.

  I have given you wise and sage advice.

  And I’d thought Grandpa could be annoying.

  Leo switched his attention to Jules. “I have someone in the house. I will arrange for them to let you in, and you can wear their face. It will allow you to move about undetected.” His hand hovered over the Blackout Greys. “Do we have a deal?”

  “We’ll need to know exactly where she is,” Jules said.

  “My agent will tell you that. But, Jules – I will only get you in. You must get yourself out.”

  Jules nodded. “We have a deal.”

  Leo swept up the bag.

  “How long will it take you to organise this?” Jules asked.

  “Not that long. Are you staying in your pod?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll get word to you there. You should expect to hear from me this afternoon, or tomorrow.”

  “We’ll be waiting.”

  Jules rose to his feet, shimmering back into Diego. Starbeauty jumped down from my lap to curl up at Leo’s feet. I stood as well, dusting cat hairs off myself as I followed Jules out.

  I will not forget that you owe me a debt.

  I paused, hand on the curtain. I figured you wouldn’t. Then I hesitated, watching Leo. He wasn’t paying attention to me; he’d tipped the beans onto the table and was examining them one by one. He seemed so … isolated in his obsession. So sad. Would I have become like this, if I hadn’t had Georgie to help me after my little sister died? Probably. Even with Georgie and the Tribe, I’d only recently been able to remember the joy of Cassie’s life without being overwhelmed by the horror of her death.

  On impulse, I said, “You know, I saw the sunrise over the desert this morning.”

  Leo glanced up, blinking as if he was surprised to find me there.

  “I’ve never seen a sunrise like that,” I continued. “The colours are softer where I’m from. Here it’s all reds and oranges, the same as the sand and the rocks. For a while, it seemed as if the land was in the sky, and the sky was in the land.”

  He frowned. “Is there a point to this?”

  “Yeah. I think there’re a lot of perfect moments in this world.”

  He stared at me for a moment longer. Then, for the first time since I’d met him, Leo smiled. It was a surprisingly sweet smile, with something open and innocent and joyous about it.

  “Go save your friend, Ashala Wolf.”

  THE REVELATION

  We had some time, so the three of us wandered through the market. A few hours and a good meal later, and we were all back in the pod, sitting on the floor among the crates of taffa.

  “We should talk about who goes in to get Ember,�
� Jules said. He’d changed into himself again and was leaning over a piece of paper, sketching out a map of the house.

  “All of us!” I replied.

  “We’re trying to be sneaky, darling. I’m the one who’ll be masquerading as someone who belongs there. It’s better if it’s only me.”

  “You won’t be able to convince Ember to go,” Connor pointed out.

  Jules stopped sketching, and nodded in my direction. “You could tell me something to say to her, something that only you would know. She’ll come if she knows you’re here.”

  She would too, because she’d realise I wouldn’t leave this city without her. It was still a bad idea. “You’re not going in alone!”

  “No,” Connor agreed. “I’m coming with you, Jules. Ashala – I do think you should stay here.”

  “What?”

  “Ember will know you’re here the second she sees me, so we don’t need you with us to persuade her, and two people are better than three for getting in and out quietly. If there’s trouble you can’t defend yourself with your ability.”

  “I can use the stunner!” But the second I spoke, I saw the problem with that idea. If I had the stunner, Jules didn’t, and he couldn’t use his ability to defend himself either. Which meant if we got into a fight with the minions, Connor would have to protect whoever wasn’t armed.

  It would put him in danger, and I wasn’t going to do that.

  “All right,” I agreed reluctantly. “I’ll stay behind.”

  Jules still didn’t seem very happy. “You’d be better to give me the stunner and let me go alone.”

  “You need someone to watch your back,” Connor said.

  Jules shook his head. “Why don’t you both come out and say it? Neither of you completely trust me.”

  “No,” I told him cheerfully, “we don’t. Now how about finishing that map?”

  He sighed and went back to drawing. When he’d finished we all stared down at what was, I had to admit, a pretty good blueprint.

  “How many of the minions are likely to be in the house?” Connor asked.

  “Probably three,” Jules answered. “He generally keeps three with him.”

  Connor ran a thoughtful gaze over the map. “It’s a big house. If we’re careful, if we’re lucky, we should be able to avoid all three.”

  He and Jules got into a discussion about escape routes, while I kept staring at the drawing. There was something about the arrangement of the space that was bothering me. The long room that fronts onto the internal courtyard … the upstairs room right above it, the one with the balcony … it couldn’t be. She’d told me her house had been reassigned to another family after they’d left.

  “Is there a fountain in that courtyard?” I demanded. “One with Hoffman quotes etched into it? And a tree right beside it, that has pink flowers in the spring?”

  “Yeah,” Jules said. “How did you know?”

  “It’s Ember’s house!”

  Connor frowned. “This is where she lived before she came to the Firstwood?” He eyed Jules suspiciously. “And you didn’t know?”

  “Hey, that house was empty the first time I saw it. I figured Terence picked it at random.”

  “When did he start using it?” I asked.

  “’Bout three and a half years ago. Before that … he never used to come to this city. Sent me a few times when there was something he wanted here.”

  “Ember and her dad left over four years ago.” So it made sense that Jules didn’t know about the house. “He must have taken it over after they went.”

  Jules grinned. “She’s done this.”

  “What?”

  “Think about it, darling. Out of all the places in the world Terence could have taken her, she’s here. Somewhere she knows. Somewhere she understands.”

  Somewhere she has friends. All those reformer types her dad had been involved with, for a start … I grinned back at Jules. He was right, Ember had to be responsible for Terence being here. It made me feel better that she was acting like her usual tricky self.

  The three of us talked for a while longer, making plans until we ran out of things to discuss. Then we settled in to wait. Jules lounged on the bed. Connor sat with his back against a taffa crate, and I cuddled up against him with my head pressed to his chest. The afternoon wound slowly on, creeping towards evening. I measured the passage of time by the sound of Connor’s heart beating against my ear, and didn’t mind the wait at all.

  I was starting to wonder if we’d hear from Leo today when there was a knock at the door.

  Jules shimmered into Diego, and bounced over to open it. He spoke to someone outside – Elle, from the tent – and closed the door again, rippling into himself.

  “Well?” I demanded.

  “We’re on. We need to be at the back entrance of the house at seven tonight.”

  Yes! We had our way in.

  “We should leave pretty soon, actually,” Jules said. “It’ll take the best part of an hour to get there.”

  He bit his lip, seeming – nervous? It was hard to tell; I’d never seen him nervous.

  “Jules? Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. ’Course! It’s only … I mean, I’ll be seeing her again … I wonder what she’s …” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Can I talk to you? About Ember?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “It’s, um, kind of personal …”

  I couldn’t be sure from this far away but I thought he was actually blushing. I exchanged an amused glance with Connor.

  He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and got to his feet. “I’ll wait outside for a few moments.”

  Jules looked relieved. “Thanks.” He came over to drop to the ground in front of me as Connor left the pod, and leaned in to whisper, “You need to speak quiet, okay? He shouldn’t be able to overhear through the door, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “Okaaaay.” I was starting to get a little worried about exactly how personal this conversation was going to be.

  “I’ve got to tell you something. Something Ember left out of the memories.”

  “Wait, what? I thought you were going to talk about–”

  He grinned. “I know.”

  I threw him an exasperated look. “You realise I’m one of the people who doesn’t find you at all charming, right?”

  “Really?” He assumed an exaggerated expression of hurt. “Not even a little?”

  “Jules,” I growled.

  “Okay, okay. Now when I tell you this, I need you to stay calm. Because …” he jerked his head at the door, “… I know he can feel what you’re feeling when you get real upset.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Ember. And you’re going to want to think about what I’ve got to say before you tell him anything.”

  This didn’t sound good. “What’s this about?”

  “You remember how I told you Terence goes by different identities, in different cities?”

  “Yeah. I remember.” It was one of the things we’d talked about on the way to Spinifex City. “So what?”

  “I gave you the impression he moved about a lot, which he does now. Only he didn’t used to. In fact, for as long as I’ve known him, he’s mostly stuck with one city. Gull City.”

  “Terence is from Gull City? What does that have to do with Connor?”

  “You’re concentrating on staying all serene and relaxed, right?”

  I glared at him. “Would you just tell me what you’re trying to say?”

  “He isn’t only ‘from’ Gull City. Until a bit over a year ago, Terence ran Gull City.”

  I choked. “You can’t mean … Terence Talbot? Ember’s brother was the Gull City Prime?”

  “Remember to stay calm!”

  He was right, I had to control my reaction before Connor sensed it and came back in. I couldn’t tell Connor this, not until I’d had a chance to process it. I drew my knees up to my chest and rested my head against them. Then I focused on br
eathing, slow and deep and steady. Don’t feel. Think.

  Terence Talbot. The Prime responsible for the harshest enforcement of the Citizenship Accords in decades throughout Gull City and its associated towns.

  The Assessor who’d scared a Rumbler into causing the quake that had killed Connor’s mother.

  He was supposed to be dead. In fact, it was his unexpected demise that had changed the entire trajectory of Connor’s life, putting him on the path that had led him to the Firstwood, and me. Talbot had died of a stroke.

  Aingls couldn’t die of a stroke.

  I lifted my head. “Why did Terence fake his death?”

  Jules shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. All I could think of was that he’d got tired of having the responsibility of running a government. He didn’t exactly share his reasons with me.”

  And my best friend had always known that Prime Talbot couldn’t possibly be dead. I choked back a bitter laugh. More secrets, Em? “When did she talk to you about this?”

  “She didn’t, exactly. She left me a memory. Contained in a can of soup, of all things.”

  Of course she did. There had been a gap in the memories, between her leaving Jules in Fern City and meeting Delta. Even when Ember was telling me things, she wasn’t telling me everything. “I don’t understand why she’d leave out something so important!”

  “She didn’t want you blurting it out to Connor without thinking about it. I was supposed to find a moment alone to tell you.”

  “And you couldn’t have picked any other moment?” I asked, through gritted teeth.

  “Hey, it hasn’t been easy to get you alone. Besides, I wasn’t going to tell you at all.”

  “Why not?”

  His expression was uncharacteristically serious. “Because I’m here to save Ember. And I didn’t want to take the chance that you and Connor would be here for something else.”

  “You think I’d put her at risk for revenge?”

  “I couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t. Not when it involved him.” He shook his head. “You don’t even see the way you two are with each other. All tangled up together. Why do you think I was trying to get you to let me go into the house alone?”

  “I would never put Ember at risk, and nor would he.”