Ravensborough

by Christine Murray

  ‘He wasn’t civil yesterday.’

  ‘Maybe not, but he was just worried about you. He doesn’t want you falling into a dangerous cult. He was only trying to protect you.’

  That night, I was researching a project on Avalonian history on the internet. History had been my favourite subject in school at in Dublin, but I had never studied Avalonia in depth. It was interesting, but learning the history of a country from scratch was still pretty daunting. Especially when everyone else in my class had been steeped in Avalonian history since they were children.

  After an hour of researching Avalonia during the interwar period I decided that I’d earned some type of distraction and went to my Facebook page to reply to some messages that friends from back home had left on my wall. I clicked onto Lindsay’s profile. She had posted some new photos, pictures of her Sam and the gang at a gig. They were all laughing and smiling for the camera, looking like they were having an absolute blast. I felt a pang of loneliness, so sharp that it took my breath away. I had decided to come here, to start my life all over again, and life was going on just as I remembered it back in Dublin. Everyone was having fun without me, while I was stuck in a crazy country with soldiers everywhere, and people seemed to hate each other for no good reason.

  An idea struck me. I typed the name Aradia Nighthawk into the search bar and clicked enter. I smiled when a hit came up. I clicked on the link and it opened up. A picture of Aradia in the upper left-hand corner confirmed that I had the right person. I clicked on a link to her photos. There weren’t many, perhaps twenty or so. There was a picture of Aradia with her dad, obviously on the site of some dig, her hair caught in the wind and both of them caked in mud, in front of lines of newly exposed masonry in a large pit. There were the usual pictures of crowds of friends, piled together at parties and pizzerias. Then there was a final picture of Aradia, with her arm around the waist of the most handsome man I’d ever seen. His hair was black, and his dark brown eyes seemed to stare out at me seemed from the picture. It took me a few seconds to realise that this was the same guy I’d met at the protest last week. Gethan Ellis.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Aradia and Gethan were laughing as they looked into camera. They were in the middle of a wood and Gethan was holding what looked like a large plant root in his hand.

  Strange. And stranger that the one random Pagan guy I knew happened to know Aradia.

  I clicked on the link to her friend list, and scrolled through the list hoping to find a link to Gethan’s page. I didn’t know why it was so important, but then I’d always had a nosy streak.

  Eventually I found him, Gethan Ellis. But when I clicked on the link to his page it wouldn’t come up. His profile was private, not public.

  Disappointed, I navigated back to Aradia’s page. I clicked the ‘add as friend’ link, and logged out. I wasn’t even sure that she would accept my friend invitation. After all, my stepfather had insulted her yesterday. And I was beginning to understand that Pagans and Rationalists led two separate existences in Avalonia. Why on earth would she want to be friends with me?

  I didn’t have long to wait for an answer. When I came home from school the following day and turned on my computer I found that Aradia had accepted my friend request. Not only that, but she’d also sent me a message asking if I’d like to meet up sometime next week. Underneath the message was her mobile phone number. I was happily surprised: she obviously didn’t hold me to blame for my stepfather’s appalling manners. I texted her, and we arranged to meet up for coffee the following week. My newly active social life felt like a feast after famine, because Cat had invited me out with her and her friends at the weekend, and now I could get to know my new step-cousin. I was childishly excited about the whole thing.

  So excited was I, in fact, that I woke up way too early on Saturday morning. A glance at the clock beside my bed told me that it was five fifteen. I sat up in my bed, and pulled back the curtain. Because Chesterfield sat on the top of a hill I could see the city waking up in the distance, lights blinking as the sky turned from navy blue near land to a lighter blue at the point where the sky met the horizon. Dawn was making a firm appearance.

  Knowing that I was unlikely to get any more sleep, I pulled my mp3 player from my school bag and put the earphones in my ears. I turned to an album I’d bought recently, and lay back listening to the music and dozing. At half seven it was light enough out for me to get up. It was still too early, but I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. It had been so long since I’d been out socially that I was looking forward to the trip into the city like a five year old looks forward to Christmas. I had spent a lot of my time in classes planning my outfit, although I was still deciding what to do with my hair. Not that I knew why I was putting so much thought into it: the wind would pull it down in minutes and my outfit, no matter how lovely, would be hidden most of the time under my oversize thermal jacket. Still, there were always shoes.

  At ten o clock I left the house. The air was cold, but the sky above was a pretty pale blue with wisps of cloud which lent a cheerful note to the day. I walked down to a bus stop near the school, where I’d agreed to meet Cat. Ben was already there, shifting from foot to foot in an effort to keep warm. He gave a nod of recognition as I walked up to the stop.

  ‘How goes it?’ he said, folding his hands across his chest.

  ‘Not too bad, thanks. How many of us are heading into the city?’

  ‘About five or six of us I think. It depends who turns up.’

  There was a shout from across the road as Cat arrived, flanked by Mei and a boy I hadn’t met yet. Cat looked stunning, with fresh flowers in her hair and a bright red jacket showing up the olive tones in her skin.

  ‘Hey! How are you doing? Will, this is Scarlett, she’s new. Just arrived in from Ireland. Scarlett, this,’ Cat gestured to the guy on her left, ‘is Will. He lives down the road from me. Will, you already know Ben, right? Moody, cynical, overbearing?’

  ‘You make me sound so charming’, Ben drawled.

  Cat laughed. ‘I’m sure your ego can take it, honey.’

  The bus pulled up to the stop and we all piled in. It took around half an hour to reach the main city centre.

  Ravensborough was a strange place. The main centre was situated on the banks of Lady’s Lake. The old, medieval part of the city was built further back into the hills, and behind this lay the Pagan suburbs. The city itself was neutral, like Rupert had said, with a mix of old and new architecture and different religions living side by side.

  ‘Have you been into the city yet?’ asked Mei as the bus crossed the bridge.

  ‘I have been, but I haven’t seen much of it. You’ll have to show me where all the cool places to hang out are.’

  ‘Ravensborough is a decent enough city, but Northport is the hub if you know what I mean. All the good bands tend to play there, and there are lots of cool galleries and clubs. I’m hoping to move there for college,’ said Mei wistfully.

  ‘It can be violent though can’t it?’ I asked frowning. ‘Wasn’t there a stabbing there yesterday, in the middle of a riot?’

  Mei sighed. ‘There’s a lot of that here as well. But don’t worry about it,’ she assured me seeing my expression. ‘As long as you keep your head down, you’ll be ok.’

  ‘Look at her face!’ Will laughed looking at me. ‘Way to make the new girl feel welcome, Mei!’

  She just stuck her tongue out at him in response.

  We got off the bus on Willow Street, which looked like a young and hip area. It was a wide street, lined with coffee shops, thrift stores and music shops. Groups of young people congregated around its main plaza. We walked across to a large record store. Posters for local bands were taped to the door, and dirt clung to sticky patches caused by posters long since pulled down. I was familiar with a lot of the music on sale in the shop from home. Talking about music gave me something in common with my new friends, and I finally had something to talk to Ben about. It turned out that he was a fan of Pegas
us Weeps, the band I’d introduced Aradia to. No one else in the group had heard of them, and Ben looked at me with something close to respect. Cat looked vaguely put out and instantly tried to make up lost ground by fluttering her eyelashes hard.

  ‘Cat, have you got something in your eye?’ Will asked innocently.

  The look she gave him would have knocked a lesser man over.

  After that we went to a nearby coffee shop, the Willow-Tree, and balanced on stools by the window. We chatted about school, music, things like that, and for the first time since I arrived in Avalonia I actually felt like I belonged and not like I was an outsider.

  Looking out the window at the cobbled street outside, I saw a shop across the street that called itself a blacksmith’s forge. ‘Is that a tourist attraction’, I asked, peering out the window. ‘There can’t be much need for a forge nowadays, can there? I mean, there can’t be many people wanting horseshoes in the middle of a city.’

  ‘They don’t really shoe horses anymore, but blacksmiths are still needed here,’ Ben said. ‘Superstitious people, the Pagans and gypsies, wear an iron bracelet on each wrist to ward off fairies.’

  ‘Haha,’ I winked at him. ‘Good one.’

  ‘Seriously,’ Ben insisted.

  ‘No way, you’re winding me up, right? Making fun of the new girl?’

  ‘No it’s true’, Cat piped up. ‘Even babies in Pagan communities wear irons. They’re made in one continuous loop, soldered together with no fastener so they can’t fall off or be removed. Every time a kid grows, they need to have their bracelet recast, so a forge gets a lot of business.’

  ‘But iron bracelets would be really heavy, too heavy to carry around surely,’ I argued.

  ‘Nope’, said Will, ‘they’re made really thin so they don’t way too heavily on their arms. Honestly, just look at people on the streets. Lots of Avalonian people wear them.’

  ‘And it’s good practice for them, you know? Wearing irons? Because most of them grow up to be criminals anyway,’ Cat said tartly.

  Now that I was looking for them, I saw thin iron bracelets everywhere as we slouched our way around the city centre. This place got weirder by the minute.

  ‘Do you believe that fairies actually exist?’ I asked Ben later on the bus home.

  ‘I don’t actually, no.’ He grinned at me. ‘Though if you’re scared I believe surrounding your bed with mouldy bread is supposed to keep them away too’.

  ‘Gee thanks’, I said sarcastically. ‘I’ll bear that in mind.’

  CHAPTER SIX

  The next day was Sunday. We got up early, and Rupert made a gorgeous breakfast of French toast and bacon for the three of us. He won extra brownie points for getting in my favourite brand of coffee.

  ‘This is really good,’ I said to him through a mouthful of food. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘No problem,’ said Rupert smiling at me. ‘I’m glad you like it. But you’re going to have to hurry if you want to finish your breakfast before church.’

  ‘Church?’ I asked. This was a new development. My family had never been particularly religious and I could count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I’d been inside a church. I looked to Mum for confirmation.

  ‘Rupert goes to church every Sunday, most people in the Rationalist areas do,’ said Mum. ‘It’s a real family thing. You will come, won’t you?’

  I heard the slight pleading note in her tone. I sighed. An hour in a cold building listening to interpretations of a book I had no interest in reading did not sound appealing. But I supposed once wouldn’t hurt. I’d talk to her another time about changing this family custom though. There was no way I was signing up for church on a weekly basis.

  I went upstairs and changed into a loose dress that was suitably modest. I shrugged on my heavy coat.

  When I got to the bottom of the stairs Rupert sighed.

  ‘Do you not have another coat that’s a bit more...well...suitable?’

  I shook my head. ‘No, this is all I have.’ I could see a solution in his eyes so I quickly interrupted before he could say anything.’

  ‘I’m not going without a coat, I’ll freeze.’

  ‘It isn’t that cold yet,’ he argued smoothly.’ It’s only autumn, after all. And we’re driving there in the car. A cardigan will keep you warm enough.’

  ‘No it won’t. I’m not acclimatised yet.’

  ‘Well you can’t go like that.’

  ‘Then I won’t go at all,’ I said firmly.

  It was our first stand-off. We’d never so much as exchanged a cross word before. But there was no way I was backing down. Rupert must have sensed this because he said that my coat was ok for this week. As this was the one and only week I was planning on going that was good enough for me.

  When we got to the church I could see why Rupert had been so worked up about my clothing. Going to church in affluent Chesterfield was apparently a very big deal. The men were all dressed like Rupert, in suits that were cut so sharp that even I could see how expensive they were. The women were dressed like they were attending a society wedding. The whole thing reeked of money.

  ‘Do people dress like this every week, or is this a special occasion?’ I asked Mum.

  ‘As far as I know this is how they dress every week,’ she replied.

  Right, I was definitely not coming next week.

  In the middle of what seemed to be a homage to Sex and the City, I was surprised to see a familiar face among the crowd.

  ‘Hey, Cat!’ I shouted over to her.

  She looked over and smiled at me. I introduced her to Mum and Rupert as a friend from school.

  ‘Cat Rodriguez...are you by any chance related to Councillor Rodriguez?’ asked Rupert.

  ‘I’m his daughter,’ she replied.

  ‘Councillor Rodriguez is a well respected member of the Avalonian government,’ said Rupert by way of explanation to me. ‘With your father in the government, the country is in good hands.’

  Cat smiled. ‘Thank you very much, Mr. Davenport.’

  ‘Oh, call me Rupert.’

  He moved off to introduce Mum to someone else.

  Cat was dressed in long blue DKNY coat that reached to the middle of her calf. I recognised it from a spread in a magazine that I’d read in the plane on the way over. She also wore a pair of black high heeled boots in soft leather.

  ‘I didn’t realise that high fashion was such a part of going to church in Avalonia,’ I said to Cat.

  She gave me a once over with her eyes. ‘Obviously,’ she said drily.

  Ok, that was a bit of a bitchy comment, but there was a bit of truth in it, so I couldn’t really say anything, especially outside a church.

  ‘There are a lot of people here,’ I commented. ‘The churches back home wouldn’t see anywhere near as many people on a Sunday.’

  ‘Well, we’re very religious here,’ said Cat as we walked towards the church. ‘All good Rationalists go to church.’

  I saw what she meant when the service started. The priest went through the usual ritual prayers. But his homily was full of justification for Rationalists being the most powerful group in Avalonia. There was a section demonising Pagans, talking about how they were a danger to the entire country. It was very thinly veiled hate. There was a lot of talk about keeping our hearts free from the dark shadows of Pagan superstition. We were warned of the dangers of fraternising with Pagans. I thought of my phone switched to silent mode in my pocket, containing plans to meet up with someone I suspected was a Pagan. I guessed that wouldn’t fly to well with the good people of Chesterfield.

  The next week was easier than the one that had just gone by. I was losing my new girl status, and hung around with Cat and her friends. I was beginning to get on better with Mei than I did with Cat herself, though – we were more on the same wavelength.

  I had sent a few text messages to Aradia, and we arranged to meet on Friday evening after school. I may have been feeling more at home here, but I still didn’t know my wa
y around Ravensborough very well, so I asked her if she knew the Willow-Tree cafe where I’d been on Saturday. She said she did.

  I kept the meeting a secret from everyone. I knew Rupert would hit the roof if he knew that I was meeting up with Aradia on my own. If he wasn’t comfortable with us talking in his own house, there was no way he’d be ok with us meeting up alone in the city. Because of that, even though I didn’t like doing it, I had to lie to Mum and say that I was going to Mei’s. I didn’t tell anyone in school, because I didn’t want any hassle. Ben, after being told the whole story by Cat, kept referring to me as a witch-lover. I couldn’t see what the big deal was. None of the Rationalists actually believed that magic actually existed. They saw Pagans as members of a faintly ridiculous cult, albeit one that made the whole country a laughing stock to the rest of the world. Most Pagans weren’t harming anyone, so what was the problem?

  School on Friday seemed to take forever to go by. It didn’t help that some sadist had decided that a double class of maths was the ideal way to finish of a Friday afternoon. We were ploughing through the delights of trigonometry, something that I’d already covered at home, making it especially monotonous. ‘One of the aims of trigonometry,’ our maths teacher Mr. Schaffer told us, ‘is to find the length of one side of a triangle through logic, by utilising the known values of the other two sides.’ I refrained from pointing out that a truly ‘logical’ approach would just involve using a ruler.

  Ben and I were in the same class. I looked sideways at him while Mr. Schaffer moved on to angles. Was he really oblivious to the fact that Cat had a major crush on him? Or did he just not care? It was hard to know with him.

  After class we walked out the front gate. Mei, Will and Cat were waiting for us. When I didn’t turn to walk home via my usual route, Cat asked as to where I was going.

  ‘I’m just heading into the city to have a look around. I need some new clothes. I do not have enough jumpers for this weather.’