The Grower's Gift (Progeny of Time #1)

by Smythe, Vanna

  "I'm going to the Ring," she blurted out before her courage failed.

  Both of her parents turned to her sharply. Then her mother smiled tentatively. "What are you talking about, Maya?"

  Maya steeled her voice, her heart. "Giles told me they have a school for people like me in Neo York, people with special abilities."

  Her father leapt to his feet and slammed his fist against the table. "You have no special ability. And even if you did, you can't go to the Ring. They'll never let you in. You'll die in the wilderness."

  "The same will happen here," Maya shot back.

  "You can have a full life here, if you are careful," her father replied. "Like Mary. She was 101 years old."

  Maya had made up her mind during Mary's funeral. The lush green grass Mary remembered from her childhood could grow back, if only Maya learned to use her ability properly. And that meant going to Neo York. "You can't stop me. I'm of age."

  "You can't be serious," her father bellowed. "How will you even get there?"

  Her mother had tears in her eyes as she looked from one to the other. She locked her eyes on her husband's and held them. He shook his head, but she nodded, silently asking him to agree to something. He shook his head fiercely, and her mother looked away, clutching her hands together so tightly they shook.

  She turned to Maya, her eyes still wet with unshed tears. "Let's sleep on it. We'll talk more in the morning."

  Maya's fire died under the pleading in her mother's voice. "Yes, alright."

  She followed them upstairs and lay down on her bed fully dressed. The whooshing of the river grew louder outside as the night grew deeper. She counted the seconds in her mind, not wanting to even think of the silent decision she had made downstairs in the kitchen.

  It was childish to think her parents would just let her go. She was naive to expect it. At least this way, when they would find her room empty tomorrow morning, they'd know where she went.

  And hour or so later, her father's snores filled the hallway. Maya rose and began to pack. It took her all of five minutes to cram an extra set of clothes, a comb and her toothbrush into a black backpack. She decided to leave the shiny black tablet that held her books and photos. If worse came to worst her parents could trade it. Still, at least they'd have one less mouth to feed after she was gone.

  Her father's snores followed her as she tiptoed from her room and down the stairs. She nearly screamed out when a hand clasped her arm in the kitchen.

  Her mother materialized in front of her. "Shhh, don't wake your father." Then she pulled her into a tight embrace. "Don't go," her mother whispered.

  Maya didn't want to let go, but had to, before her resolve melted away in her mother's warm arms. "I don't want to. I have to."

  Her mother brushed a strand of Maya's hair away from her face and kissed her cheek. "I know. Even if we stop you today, you'll just go some other day. You have such life inside you, Maya, such fire. I always knew you couldn't be tamed. Please come back and see us again. Please come back."

  "I will. I promise, Mom. Thank you for understanding."

  Tears made her choke on the last words.

  She would be back. No matter what.

  Her mother's ghostly white face looked through the window, watching Maya run across the field towards the town. She only turned back the one time. Any more, and she'd run right back.

  ~

  The light was still on in Giles' kitchen. Maya rapped loudly on the window and pointed for him to let her in.

  "What now?" he asked when she walked past him into the house. She hadn't expected such coldness in his voice. Perhaps it was for the best. This was goodbye after all.

  A half empty bottle of wine sat on the kitchen table. Of course he'd be drinking, today's was the first funeral since his sister's.

  "I'm going to that school tomorrow," she said. "But I'll be back soon."

  Giles laughed a harsh laugh. "Of course you are, and of course you will."

  "What do you mean?"

  "And of course I'm coming with you," he finished.

  Maya shook her head. "No." Although, if she were honest, she'd expected him to say it.

  "I can't let you go wandering in the Badlands on your own, now can I?"

  He sat down at the table and took a swig of wine from the bottle, chasing away the sadness that spilled from his eyes, no doubt.

  She took the bottle from him and took a drink herself, the sour taste burning her throat. "What will you do there? You can't enter the school with me."

  Giles shrugged. "You can't be in the school all day. And my two brothers are somewhere in Neo York. I haven't seen either of them in eight years."

  Maya smacked herself on the forehead, a little too hard. "Of course, you still have family there."

  He grinned at her as she rubbed the sore spot on her forehead.

  "Now we have to figure out how to get there," Giles said. "We had that hovercraft when we left, but my father traded it years ago."

  Maya sat down at the table across from him. "Don't worry, I have it all figured out. We'll ask those kids to take us. That Tyberious owes me a favor for saving his cat today."

  Giles threw his head back and laughed.

  "You're joking, right?" he finally managed to say, still shaking with laughter.

  Maya felt the blood rush to her head. "No, I'm not. You said yourself he was like the ruler of Neo York. If anyone can get us in, he can."

  "Right. And you just have to ask him nicely and it's done. Come on, Maya."

  "That about sums it up, yes," Maya said. "And if it doesn't work, we'll walk there."

  "I guess we're walking then," Giles said and took another swig of wine.

  "Why would he say no?"

  Giles wiped a drop of wine from his chin. "Because no one from the Badlands is allowed into the Ring, and because he's a Remarque. He's most likely just like his mother. He already looks exactly like her."

  Maya screwed up her eyebrows, not even sure what kind of question to ask. "What's that got to do with anything? I saved his pet, and he will return the favor."

  Giles' hands shot up, and Maya instinctively jerked back. But he just held the palms towards her, wiggling the stumps of his missing fingers. "He stood right by her side, her mirror image, when she ordered this done to me! Right before she kicked my family out of the city. He'll never do you any favors, and he'll never go against his mother."

  Maya gasped, too horrified to speak. After a few breaths she found her voice. "But…but…why?"

  Giles lowered his hands. "My father displeased her. Got an order she placed wrong. He was to make her shoes from real crocodile leather, only he couldn't find the animal anywhere. So he faked it, and sold it to her as real. He lost his right hand as punishment, me and my brothers all lost fingers."

  Maya's stomach turned at the barbarity. "But Ty…he couldn't've been much older than you. Surely he had nothing to do with your punishment."

  "That's all you heard? I knew you liked him. It was all over your face last night."

  "I don't like him. I'd actually prefer never to see him again. His dead eyes scare me. But I need him, and I'm being practical."

  "Can't argue with his cold eyes. He never so much as flinched while I screamed."

  Maya took Giles' hands and willed some of her warmth to calm him. "He's our best chance of getting into the city. Once we're there, we never have to see him again."

  Giles stared at her for a moment, then smiled. "Like I said. I guess we're walking."

  Ty couldn't be all bad. He had jumped into the water to get Mary's body out, and he'd been so worried about his cat.

  Maya let go of Giles' hands. "We'll see. Go pack now. We leave at dawn."

  CHAPTER SIX

  The alarm buzzed into Ty's ear at six in the morning. He slowly rose, careful not to wake Lana or any of the others sleeping in the command room of the craft. Rober rose too and joined him by the door.

  "Wait here, I'll go alone," Ty whispered as he passed him
.

  "Yeah, Rober. Let your boyfriend have some breathing room for a change," Lana muttered, her voice thick with sleep.

  "Go back to sleep, Lana," Ty said. He gave up convincing Rober to stay after that.

  Before they left, Ty filled a bag with as many weapons as would fit.

  "Arming the Badlands, Ty?" Rober asked wryly once they were outside. "Isn't that punishable by death?"

  Ty was in no mood for jokes. "What? Are you going to turn me in? We'll say we took the weapons on a hunt and forget them on the way back if anyone asks."

  They walked the rest of the way to the hospital in silence. Maya stepped out of the shadows followed by the boy who was with her at the pub. She clutched a tightly wrapped bundle of blankets, and Isis' head was poking out at the top. "Here, she's still sleeping."

  She handed the bundle to him. Ty placed the bag of weapons on the ground and nudged the bag towards Maya with his foot.

  "Take those. In case any more pumas come. Or to trade. I put some money inside as well."

  Maya looked at the bag and back at Ty. Even in the half light of dawn, her eyes shone. "What is it? Medicine?"

  "Guns," Ty replied.

  Horror and revulsion had it out in her eyes. Her friend snorted derisively. "And how will guns help us?"

  Ty turned to him. Faint recognition vied with wondering what Ty had done to wound him enough to warrant that murderous glare. "You could, for example, learn to hunt for yourself."

  "Stop it, Ty. Let's just go," Rober urged.

  Ty was about to thank Maya, gaze into her vast, light-filled eyes for the last time, when she spoke. "Take us with you to your city."

  "What?" Ty and Rober asked together.

  "Please. I saved your cat. I need to go to school there."

  "No, absolutely —" Rober started.

  "I'm sorry," Ty interrupted him. "We can't bring the displaced into the city. I'd need special clearance, and I can't get it. Not on such short notice and not from out here."

  He was rambling. She had to understand he'd help her if he could.

  "Why do you want to go there anyway?" he asked finally.

  Maya swept her arms out to encompass the town. "To learn how to help them."

  "No school can teach you that," Ty said without thinking. The hurt and anger in her eyes made him look away.

  "Can't I go to one and decide that for myself?" she asked.

  "We could, you know—" Rober said, but Ty motioned for him to shut up.

  Maya looked at Rober hopefully, then turned back to Ty once she realized Rober wouldn't help her.

  "Fine. I'll find another way. I did save your pet for you though."

  "You can't go into the Badlands on your own," Ty protested, heat rising in his cheeks. "You'll get blown to bits a hundred times before you reach the Ring. If some wild beast or men don't kill you first."

  "She won't be alone," her friend said.

  "Ty, you can't just let them walk into the Badlands," Rober said. "We can get them into the city."

  Maya shouldered her backpack and took her friend's hand. "It's alright. I won't trouble you any further."

  She meant it, Ty could tell. She'd try to walk all the way to Neo York. And die. Ty didn't know how he knew, yet he was certain of it.

  "Alright, you can come with us," Ty called after her, not sure where exactly the words came from. The warmth of summer rippled around her, shone from her pleading eyes. He'd never have to be cold if she was beside him. He couldn't let her die.

  Maya stopped only long enough to place the bag of weapons into the hospital.

  "Let's hope Lana doesn't make too much of an issue over it," Rober said as they trekked back to the craft.

  Ty shrugged. "Or my parents for that matter. You can help with Lana."

  "How? By knocking her out?" Rober asked. "However, the idea is tempting."

  "If all else fails." Ty turned back to Maya, who was listening to their exchange with a confused expression.

  All Ty had to do was get her past the guards and into the city before his mother found out about it. She could disappear after that. The first obstacle to that plan lay sleeping in the hovercraft, the second the guards on the gate who'd be much easier to get past.

  ~

  Once they reached the hovercraft Ty motioned for Maya and Giles to climb in, warning them to be quiet. He led them into the cockpit and locked them inside to deposit Isis in her cage and make sure Lana was sleeping.

  He returned to the cockpit and punched in the coordinates for Neo York, then let the autopilot take over. He told Maya and Giles to stay put and led Rober outside, stopping near the engine where there was the least chance of being heard.

  "Right, don't freak out. The only way past Lana that I can see is telling her you like Maya's friend and want to take him back home," Ty blurted it all out in one long whisper, ignoring the mounting hurt and anger in Rober's face. "Then we'll say Maya insisted she come too."

  "Maya, is it?"

  The question confused Ty. "Yes, so?"

  "You must really like her to go to all this trouble to hide her from Lana."

  "Like her? She helped me and I can help her. That's all it is."

  "You like this girl so much you're asking me to submit to a full day of taunting by my sister in closed quarters?" Rober's voice rose in pitch. "And since we're broaching the subject, you're asking me to do this, knowing how I feel about you and flinging it in my face."

  The whole conversation went too deep for comfort too fast. "Rober…I told you…It wouldn't be right. I don't feel the same about you. I'd only be going through the motions. Is that what you want?"

  "You said you couldn't feel that way about anyone." Rober's voice was barely audible above the hum of the engine.

  "It is the truth. And none of that's changed now," Ty answered, wanting the conversation to end. "Look, I know it's a huge favor. I'll make it up to you. But if you don't want to help then say it, and I'll think of something else."

  Lana's whoop rose from the command room and killed the conversation. "Yes! We're finally going home."

  "Fine, we'll tell her your story. You owe me a favor too now," Rober whispered. "By the way, you'll want to take more care with how you look at the girl."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The only person I've ever seen you look at with such devotion is Eve."

  "Eve? That's totally different. She's my sister, I just want to make sure she's alright."

  "All I'm saying is, Lana's not stupid. She'll see it too," Rober said and walked to the command room from which Lana's humming could be heard.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Maya sat on the floor of the hovercraft's cockpit, afraid to go near the pilot seats. Lights flashed across the transparent control board, the terrain they were flying over a constantly changing hologram off to the side of it. Giles slid down the black metal wall next to her.

  "Now what did we get ourselves into?" he asked. "If this adventure involves meeting Violetta Remarque then I'm not sure it was one of your better ideas."

  He chuckled after he said it, but there was an edge in his voice. Maya had growing doubts of her own. Should she have stayed at home? What if her mother didn't make it through the winter? How would she get back?

  Meeting Ty's mother was the least of Maya's worries.

  "Ty was eager to avoid her. He seems to think he can."

  The doors slid open with a faint hiss. Ty stood in the doorway and motioned for them to accompany him. Another kid with white hair and coal black eyes came in and sat down at the control board.

  "Call me once we reach the first checkpoint, Adam," Ty told him before shutting the door behind them.

  A strip of blue light illuminated the sides of the vehicle's main hallway. Ty still wore his black bodysuit, and his thick black hair was wet, combed back off his forehead, forming perfect waves. His winter eyes never met Maya's. For all the recognition he gave her, they might have been complete strangers.

  "Where are you taking u
s?" Maya asked.

  Ty didn't turn around at her question. "Follow me and don't speak unless someone asks you a question. We've had to make up a reason for you to be here, and it's in your own interest to go along with it."

  "What kind of reason?"

  "You don't need to know."

  He spoke to her as though she were his servant. Maya grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "I want to know."

  "Calm down, Maya," Giles whispered urgently.

  Ty shook off her hand and continued walking. "Do as I say, or find your own way to Neo York."

  "Fine. Let us out now!" She didn't want any favors from this cold, commanding kid. He was nothing like the one who'd begged her to save his cat yesterday.

  Ty looked around, as though making sure they were alone. Just as he was about to speak a door slid open. The snake-eyed girl grinned at her menacingly. "Look who it is. The loudmouth from the pub. I should have known."

  Ty walked over to her and slid his arm around her waist. Maya and Giles followed them to a large common area of the hovercraft. Another control board with a wall screen dominated one of the walls, but this one was turned off.

  The rest of the hunting party sat in chairs around the room. Four had their eyes covered with the black strips of virtual reality glasses Maya recognized from her current history class in school. The other four stared at them as they entered.

  Ty's girlfriend eyed Giles from head to toe, leering. Something a lot like jealousy sparked in Maya's chest, but likely it was only a desire to keep this vicious looking girl away from anyone Maya cared for.

  Ty sat down and pulled his girlfriend into his lap, then introduced everyone in the room: a girl with a last name Montague, who had the same white hair and black eyes as the boy they left in the cockpit; a Greenwood, a Schwarz, and a couple of Weinsteins, a Northman. "And this is Lana Orsini and you've met her brother Rober. And I am Tyberious Remarque."

  He didn't bother to introduce her and Giles to the rest. Maya recognized none of the names, yet Ty's tone as he spoke them suggested she was expected to curtsy, like people in the Middle Ages used to in the presence of kings and queens.