“Here he is,” Lula's face lit up as she released my hand and began applauding with the rest of the room.
Tyler clapped too and I followed suit. Pulling the hem of my dress back over my knees, I joined in as Brent emerged from behind a tall black curtain.
“Thank you, thank you. You're all too kind.” He bowed as he spoke, beaming and proud. “Okay, okay.” The room fell silent as he waved his hands up and down at them. Alice placed her hand on my thigh sitting up straight. There was an air of quiet excitement as everyone waited for Brent to speak.
“My friends, my family. Thank you all for joining me on this glorious, sunny, albeit hot day. We're blessed to be here when so many people weren't so fortunate. God our saviour chose you to survive, to rebuild. He chose me, his prophet, to guide you. Yes, it can be a heavy burden to bare at times, but with you by my side we're creating a new Earth for our children and their children to come. A better world, full of love, support and equality.”
Tyler's fist tightened on the bench beside me and I looked up to find his eyes locked on me. He was searching my expression for a reaction, a clue to see if I believed the lies Brent was spouting. I had no idea what a prophet was, or a god. I did know Brent was in this for himself, not the people around him who appeared to hang on his every word. I placed my hand on top of Tyler's to reassure him I wasn't being sucked in and his fist relaxed. I couldn't imagine what it'd been like for him, sitting through this each week watching his sister get sucked in by Brent's false charms. Realising Brent had stopped speaking I looked up to find him staring at Tyler and me, and I pulled my hand away placing it back in my lap.
“As you all would've heard by now we have new guests in camp, who I believe were sent to us by the lord himself. They're refugees from the floating city Utopia, and we've taken them into our homes and lives to give them the safe haven they need to heal and get over their ordeal. I know my views on the floating cities can be grim, but I believe these people were given a chance at salvation and it's up to us to teach them God's way. I ask you to welcome them with open arms and aid them where you can while they settle in. Can our new arrivals please stand?” He looked towards me beckoning me to rise.
Catching Tyler's sympathetic gaze I swallowed hard and he gave me an encouraging nod.
Alice tugged my arm in excitement. “Aurora, that's you.”
Rising slowly, I smoothed down my dress and Brent nodded in approval. Turning I found my teammates all rising, each of us looking into each other's eyes. There they were. My friends. But although they were mere meters away I couldn't get to them. The congregation applauded and cheered and when I couldn't take it anymore I plonked myself back onto the wooden seat willing the tears prickling my eyes to stay hidden. Alice's hand rested back on my thigh helping calm me.
As Brent continued with his speech I found it hard to listen. My mind reeled with the thought of being separated from my friends for a long period of time. Would I become like the rest of these people and grow blind to the horrible things Brent did? But Tyler wasn't blind. He saw Brent exactly for who he was, and he was our way out. I'd play Brent's game. I'd get close to Tyler and Alice, and when the time was right I was going to retrieve my father's pendant and escape with my friends.
When church was finished and Brent had declared himself the prophet of God, more times than I could count, Lula made us wait until the hall was empty before she led Alice, Tyler, and me back to her home.
Chapter Nine
When we arrived back at Lula and Brent's home I was eager to remove the horrid dress I was wearing but disappointed when Lula handed me a pile of clothes consisting of a long grey skirt and white baggy t-shirt. On the plus side, there were no flowers. With a groan I pulled them on while Alice changed into a light pink dress.
“Ready Aurora?” Brent's voice sounded from the other side of the curtain.
Without answering I stepped through finding him leaning against the wall in a pair of knee length shorts and a button up top. He snickered in amusement at my obvious discomfort and disapproval of my clothing.
“Tuck in your shirt and I'll show you around before showing you where you'll be working.” He waited for me to push my shirt into the waist of my skirt then led me outside.
We made our way along the dirt path in the opposite direction to both the hall and the bushland where I'd had my conversation with Tyler the night before. People waved and smiled as we passed, but most were preoccupied with going about their day. The sound of banging grew louder as we turned between two homes and above us a man was hammering new thatching to a roof.
“Morning Prophet,” the man stopped hammering and yelled towards us. “Great sermon today.”
“Thank you, Patrick.”
The man returned to the job at hand.
Brent continued walking, turning down another lane. “Everyone has a job around here. There are the camp mothers who look after the children and educate them on religion, cooking, sewing, farming and etiquette. Builders who fix and build our homes. Guards who keep our people safe from wildlife and outsiders. Scouts, who travel far and wide to bring us back goods and materials we can use. Hunters and gatherers who bring us meat, berries, and useful plants. And you'll be working with the farmers. They plant and pick fruit and vegetables, and sort them for rations. We also have a butcher and a baker. I think you'll find we run much like Utopia in that way.”
“How do you know so much about Utopia?” I asked.
“Our scouts and guards have come across Utopian Guards and Utopia's exiles from time to time. You'll find the serum we gave you loosens most people's tongues.” His calm demeanour sent a shiver down my spine. “Here we are.”
Before us stretched an orchard of fruit trees spread out in rows. Further to the right garden beds were built from fallen trees. Despite the lack of metal, Brent was right, it looked eerily similar to the gardens on Utopia.
A lady around Domino's age noticed our arrival and promptly made her way over. Her long brown hair trailed behind her kept from her face with a piece of material tied around her head.
“Prophet.” She curtsied and looked towards me. “You must be one of the new arrivals.”
As I opened my mouth to reply I was cut off by Brent. “Samantha this is Aurora, her arm is still healing but I'm sure you can find a job for her so she's still contributing.”
“Of course, Prophet. Come with me Aurora, I have the perfect job for you.” Samantha stepped beside me and placed her hand in the small of my back ushering me towards a small building to the left of the last row of trees.
“I'll be sending Seth over to keep an eye on her,” said Brent before walking away.
Of course he was. He couldn't leave me to have five minutes alone, could he? I would've been surprised if he hadn't had someone watching me while I was in the shower. Bile rose in my throat at the thought. He obviously believed our group were a big threat if he was watching us so closely. I wondered what jobs the others had been given, and did my best to scan the faces between the trees and gardens as we continued towards the small building. But none of them looked remotely familiar.
“You don't know if any of my friends are working in the gardens, do you?” I asked Samantha.
She gave me a kind smile, ignoring my question. “Here we go. In here.”
She guided me through an open door and inside the building a small group of ladies were organising the harvest. The ladies turned and offered me polite smiles before returning to their work and Samantha led me to a long bench towards the back of the room. Behind the bench were stacks of crates filled with fruit.
“Those are mangos. All you need to do is sort them into trays of ten and place them in a stack over there.” She pointed towards the empty wall at the end of the bench. “You can count to ten, can't you?”
I shook my head slightly in disbelief, “I'll do my best.”
Ignoring my sarcasm she continued, “If you have any issues lifting I'm sure Seth will help when he gets here. Better make him do s
omething other than standing there watching you.”
As if on cue, Seth stepped through the main doorway his eyes scanning the room until they landed on me. Bee lining his way across the room he came towards us embracing Samantha.
“I've finished instructing her on what to do. She says she'll be fine but you'll need to lift the crates for her,” she told him.
“Not a problem Sam.” His smile shocked me, so warm and genuine. It was hard to imagine the guy who'd forced potion down my throat could be kind to someone.
The moment Samantha left us his expression returned to a scowl.
“Let's hope for your sake the wind doesn't change,” I quipped at him.
“What's that supposed to mean?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Pass me up a box of…” I stalled, eyeing over the smooth orangey yellow fruit.
“Mangoes,” he growled, “and you obviously didn't do any etiquette classes growing up. Don't they teach you manners on Utopia?” He lifted the box up onto the bench beside me.
Bending down I picked up a pile of trays with my good arm and separated them on top of the table before starting to pick through the mangoes and sorting them into trays of ten as Samantha had instructed. I may not have wanted to be there, but they were feeding me. After seeing how hard everyone worked it wasn't right sitting back and doing nothing to help. Even if they did think the people of the floating cities were uneducated and useless. I couldn't help but believe these people were blindly following Brent and believing each word he spoke because it kept them safe, fed and with shelter over their heads. They had no idea what he was capable of. Seth on the other hand wasn't blind, he was actively participating.
“Manners? Do you think its good manners to force poison down someone's throat?” I kept my eyes on the mangoes as I spoke.
“It wasn't poison. It was a serum. And it's not like it was going to kill you.”
“Have you ever had it before?” I asked.
“No,” he admitted. “I've always been truthful.”
“Well you should try it sometime. See what torture you're putting people through.”
I left him with that thought as I continued packing the fruit. We worked in silence. Seth picking up the crates and piling up the trays by the wall as they filled. I was placing the last few mangoes in a tray when Samantha stepped through the doorway dinging a bell.
“Lunch,” is all Seth said before lifting the last tray onto the pile against the wall.
I followed the ladies as they all filed out of the doorway and towards the back of the orchard where they sat under the shade of the trees. Two young girls wound their way through the group, one handing out apples and the other sandwiches. I took mine and found a shady spot away from everyone. Seth followed, taking his own lunch and sitting not far from me.
“Hey stranger,” Domino's voice was a welcome surprise and I found myself springing up into her arms. She wrapped me in a hug and I swallowed to stop myself from crying.
“How are you? Are you okay?” I asked looking her over.
“Perfectly fine. Everyone is being lovely.” She looked over my shoulder towards Seth. “I see you still have your leech.”
“Lucky me, right? Apparently, Brent doesn't trust me to eat lunch unsupervised. I might choke on my apple or something. How's Maya? Have you seen any of the others?”
“Maya's doing well. They're still keeping us separated, but everyone appears to be fine. They seem to want us to settle into their life here. And for now, that's what Lark wants us to do,” she said.
I took her words as cautionary. Lay low and fit in for now. It was what everyone was doing.
“Okay ladies, time to break it up. Reunion's over.” Seth stepped towards us.
“I'll see you later okay? Keep your head down,” instructed Domino before walking off towards a group of ladies.
Sitting down on the soft grass I bit into my apple with a crunch enjoying its juiciness. My friends were okay. And there was something in the way Domino spoke that made me confident we'd be getting out of this place. I hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
Half way through my apple I spotted Tyler walking towards us.
“I've got her from here,” he told Seth as he arrived.
“Our Prophet has me on her all day.” Seth eyed him over.
“And now I'm telling you I'm taking over. Brent needs you on a scout. You'll be gone for a few days so I'll be watching Aurora while you're gone.” Tyler crossed his arms over his chest.
“A scout?” he huffed out a breath. “Why can't you go on the scout and I'll stay on my post?”
Tyler shrugged. “Brent's orders. I'm just the messenger.”
Seth mumbled something under his breath before stalking off.
I watched after Seth with a smirk. “Brent wants you to watch me now? He does know having you stalk me won't make me like you more?”
“He said it would be a great opportunity for us to get closer. Plus, I may have suggested it because I know how creeped out you are by Seth.”
Patting the grass beside me I beckoned for Tyler to sit. He sat beside me leaning back onto his arms and stretching out his legs. “This beats guarding the hole.”
“The hole? As in where you kept Braven and me?” As in where the pendant was buried.
“The one and only. There's no one in there at the moment, but Brent is insistent there be someone on the door at all times.” He shrugged.
“So, you'd be able to get someone in and out if you needed to?” I questioned, hoping it wasn't giving too much away.
He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Yeah I guess so. But why would anyone want to get in there? Most people are trying to get out.”
I swallowed hard. “No reason. But if I was to get thrown in there again you could get me out, right?”
“I guess so. But don't go doing anything stupid okay. Your friends are working things out.”
I finished my apple and started on my sandwich, wondering if my friends told him what they were planning or if he was trying to stop me from going rogue.
* * *
The afternoon was filled with sorting apples and mandarins into more trays and by the time Samantha rang the bell again to signal the end of our day my back and neck ached.
“I'm shattered.” I stretched my neck from side to side.
“Let's get home. Hopefully Lula puts on an early dinner and you can have an early night,” suggested Tyler.
I followed him out of the building and back to Brent's dwelling.
We were halfway home when we heard the excited scream of Alice who ran and jumped into her brother's arms.
“How was your day?” he asked her.
“Good. Mrs Geoffrey's showed us how to make pancakes,” she beamed.
“Did you keep any for me?” He narrowed his eyes playfully.
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. Tyler tickled at her sides producing a series of giggles and screams. I couldn't help but chuckle along beside them. As her giggles settled she proceeded to tell us about her day.
“And Timmy fell over and scraped his knee. He didn't cry though. He's so brave,” she said.
“Is Timmy your friend?” I asked.
“He's my boyfriend.” She shrugged.
“Is that right? Isn't he two years older than you?” questioned Tyler.
“Yes.”
“What do you want a boyfriend for? If you ask me boys smell funny,” I added pinching my nose.
Alice giggled. “Timmy does smell a bit like an old cabbage.”
The three of us burst out laughing as we continued towards their dwelling.
We arrived at the house where Lula stood at the open front door waiting to greet us. Alice ran up and was swept up in a hug. “How was your first day Aurora? Hope they didn't work you too hard?”
“I'm tired. But all I did was sort fruit.” My tiredness had let my guard down a little and I internally gave myself a slap for dropping it.
Lula smiled, enjoying my candid reply. “Be
ing on your feet all day is exhausting, especially when you're sporting an injury. Come in, wash off and I'll have dinner ready before you know it. Brent won't be far away, he was tending to some business last I spoke to him.”
Before I could ask what business it was, I was whisked inside, handed my folded nightdress and a towel, and then ushered towards the bathroom. “You jump in first so Tyler and Alice can be washed up and ready for dinner when Brent gets home.”
Chapter Ten
The word 'grace' echoed around the table before we picked up our knives and forks and began eating the meat and vegetables in front of us.
“Tastes like home doesn't it?” asked Brent leaning back in his chair.
I swallowed the piece of meat I'd been chewing humouring him. “What makes you say that?”
“Where did you get your meat from on Utopia?” he asked.
I shrugged. “It came in our rations from the Utopian Guard.”
“Before then. Where were the animals farmed?” he pressed.
Elysium. The meat came from Elysium. But he knew that. I could tell by the way he questioned me and I no longer wanted to play his game.
“What are you trying to say?” I placed my cutlery down on the table.
“I'm trying to say this meat also came from Elysium. You're fortunate we had some left. Seth brought this back from his last visit.” He waved his hand dismissively as though it wasn't a big deal.
I pursed my lips. “Seth visited Elysium?”
“Him and our other scouts, yes. They barter for meat and information.”
“How do they get up there? Do you have a helicopter?” I hoped my question didn't spark any suspicion, but if they had access to helicopters…
Brent looked across the table at Lula and they exchanged an amused grin, my blood heating beneath my skin at the exchange.
“Didn't you know? Elysium crashed to Earth during the evacuation.” Lula reached out and clasped my hand but I tugged it away.
I shook my head. “What do you mean?”
Tyler sighed, sick of Brent and Lula's games. “What they're trying to tell you is when the fires started further south-west from here, people freaked out and started frantically scrambling for the airships, regardless of if they were or weren't selected to go. A bunch of them managed to deactivate the magnetic force keeping Elysium up somehow and the whole city crashed back to Earth. It killed thousands of people.”
Eden (Secrets of Aurora Book 2) Page 7