Akropolis

by Catherine McCallum

  Norika breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared us,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t want to do that,” Frederick said from the doorway. He wore a long coat as if he’d been out in the weather. He stepped further into the room and stood looking at them.

  Nat froze. Again he experienced the brief and utter absence of sound. When it rushed back the rock was humming. Norika turned to him, surprised at his lack of response and the rock’s warning. She hesitated when she saw his ashen face.

  Nat was looking at Rick Delaney. He took a second or two to think clearly. Rick didn’t drown. He knew this now. Rick’s voice here was different, he affected a different tone, a different accent. Which was the real one? Was he Frederick or Rick? Was he tracking Seb?

  Facing him Nat felt a further flash of recognition. His long, high-collared coat, the way he stood‌—‌Rick had been the intruder in his room, Nat was sure of it.

  The humming increased. Nat glanced at Norika. We’re in danger. He knew she understood, was ready to act.

  Rick had a look of concern on his face. He spoke calmly. “I don’t know how you got here, Nat, but you need to leave. It’s not safe for you here.”

  For a second Nat wavered. Rick was his brother’s friend, someone Seb had trusted, a friend whose death, whose supposed death, Seb had mourned.

  “We’re leaving when we find what we came for,” Nat said evenly. “You tried to steal the rock from my room in St Annes. Why?”

  The rock had kept up a low hum.

  “For protection,” Rick said. “The rock is not yours. I need it more than you do.” His voice had become more like the voice Nat remembered, with its slightly mocking tone.

  Nat said, “Why should you have it? You don’t deserve it.”

  “Be careful. You don’t know me enough to judge me.”

  “Who are you?” Nat said.

  “Frederick Wincroft‌—‌Emmeline’s brother. She can tell you herself.” Rick turned towards his sister and gave a slight smile. “Poor Emmeline. I’m sure you wish I were more like Edward. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

  Emmeline and Norika hadn’t moved, observers transfixed.

  Nat filled the silence, gaining time. “What were you doing in St Annes?”

  “I was repositioned with the others, a temporary arrangement. We became the Delaney family‌—‌none of us what we seemed, all of us escaping from something. We didn’t know St Annes would change our lives.”

  “Was it you who tried to kill Seb?”

  “Seb is still alive, isn’t he?” His voice was hard. “Don’t worry, I’ll never go back. Lost at sea‌—‌that’s what the inquest found. Give me the rock, Nat, and I won’t call the servants.”

  Nat felt his pocket. The rock was safe. They were edging backwards towards the open window. Rick was close. “I’ll say you were thieves, stealing from my family, and I stopped you. The house is full of guests who will believe me. Even my mother.”

  “Emmeline will know the truth,” Norika said.

  Rick smiled again. “I am her brother.”

  They were almost at the window. Rick made a sudden movement, gripped a poker from the fireplace and raised it to strike. Nat stumbled.

  ‘No!” cried Emmeline, throwing herself at her brother with all her force, beating at him with her arms. They both fell heavily to the floor.

  Emmeline screamed, “Run!” as Rick scrambled to his feet.

  Norika grabbed Nat’s arm and they leaped from the window. He was again falling slowly, this time to the carriageway below. But this time, he was ready to run.

  18

  They were running across the vast expanse of lawn in front of Halston Hall. Nat noticed for the second time an impression of speed. In the distance he could see the guests returning to the manor but their movements were blurred. A motion blur.

  The effect didn’t last. As they reached the open fields bordering the woods the terrain changed from smudged green shapes to shrubs and hedges, distinct blades of grass. The woods loomed up, dark and sheltering. In the forest they stumbled across a rough track and followed it to the bank of a wide river, where they stopped, exhausted.

  “Nat, we’re safe, we’ve gone far enough.” He’s afraid, thought Norika. “We have to return for the map segment.”

  Nat removed his pack and sat on the bank, catching his breath. “I think it’s hidden under the seat cover of the chair in the dolls house. I felt a bump when I ran my hand over it.”

  Norika sat beside him and touched his arm. “Then let’s go back.”

  He looked at her. “I know you think I’m afraid of Rick, but it’s the connections I’m afraid of‌—‌who he knows. Does he know where Seb is?” He sighed and stood. “Nothing’s the same as it was.”

  They turned, retracing their steps. In Tasmania, this would have been easy. But these were foreign woods, dense trees. Northern skies. When darkness came they realised they were lost, with only a half moon to guide their way.

  There was no Southern Cross, no recognisable constellation. They found an open space where they threw their packs down and lay on the grass. Norika started in fright as a bat swooped low. She sat up and looked around, then grabbed Nat by the arm. There was something in front of them, softly snuffling in the grass. It moved towards them and stopped, facing them.

  “It’s a badger,” Nat whispered. “I recognise the markings. It’s harmless. It’s looking for food.” The badger continued to observe them. They watched it, wondering when it would leave.

  “I thought badgers were very shy,” Norika said. She gently stretched out her hand towards it. “Hello,” she said, conversationally.

  Nat jumped up, agitated. “Did you hear that?” he said.

  “What?” said Norika.

  “The badger said hello back!”

  Norika stared at the badger. “Are you sure?”

  “I didn’t imagine it,” said Nat. He walked slowly towards the badger.

  “We might be trespassing on his territory.” Norika said. “Do badgers ever attack people?”

  Nat held the badger’s gaze. “Who are you?” he asked. “I may be crazy, but I think you can understand me.”

  “I’m known as Finn. I don’t attack people,” the badger replied, “and I understand you perfectly.”

  Nat stared at Finn, then glanced quickly at Norika. “Why can’t Norika hear you?” he asked.

  “She can, but she’s not quite ready,” Finn said. “Her skills have gone. Some take longer to recover them.”

  Norika was looking at Nat. “What are you doing?” she said.

  “His name’s Finn!” Nat said, excited. “Leontios was able to understand Nike and now I can understand Finn. I think he’s here to help us.”

  “You’re perfectly right,” said Finn, “although it works both ways, you know.” He turned, sniffed the air and trotted off at a leisurely pace. “We’d better get moving while the moon lasts. We have quite a distance to go if you want to return tonight.”

  Nat grabbed Norika by the arm. “He’s leading us out of here! Stay close.”

  Norika briefly resisted before deciding that trusting a badger to guide them was preferable to staying lost. And despite her doubts, Finn seemed strangely reliable.

  They followed him as he headed back into the woods. Once, Nat slipped down an embankment and almost fell into the swiftly flowing river. Finn waited patiently until he regained his footing, and continued only when he was sure they were both following.

  Norika noticed Finn paused several times to catch his breath. She noticed he took longer to recover each time. He’s old, she thought. She began to observe him closely. Every time he stopped she signalled Nat to halt, and they would wait until Finn found his pace.

  “Are you tired, Finn?” she asked the next time he stopped. She turned to Nat. “Ask him if he’s okay.”

  Before Nat could speak Finn responded. “Thank you for your concern,” he said. “I’m no longer young and I feel the distance in my bones.”


  Norika stared at him. “Finn, I can hear you! I can understand you!”

  “It takes time to understand someone who communicates in a way different from your own,” Finn said. “Once you practise it, you will find others.”

  “Others?” Norika said.

  “There are many of us in the Network,” said Finn.

  Nat said, “I thought the Network was, well, people.”

  “We are all people,” said Finn, in a slightly aggrieved tone, “some in different forms.”

  Nat hesitated. “I was once told,” he said, “that your names cannot be known, or understood, by others.”

  Finn considered a moment. “My real name is a scientific calculation. It describes an exact point in four-dimensional spacetime and identifies me for life. Each point, and name, is unique.” He paused. “But Finn suits me perfectly well. The science is not yours to understand.”

  “Whose is it then?’

  “I told you‌—‌we are many.”

  “And the rest of us‌—‌we don’t have these names?”

  “Many of us have lost the ability to use them.”

  “Who gave you the name Finn?”

  Finn hesitated, as if recalling the moment. “Your brother Sebastian did.”

  “Seb?” Nat frowned, exchanged glances with Norika. It had been a long day and they were tired. Their questions could wait.

  “Are you okay to keep going?” he asked Finn.

  “It’s dangerous to remain in the woods,” Finn replied. “We need to cross the river further down. The track is overgrown and the river is high. Be careful.”

  As Finn started off, Norika said in a low voice, “He needs to rest often.”

  “I know,” said Nat irritably. “I heard him too.”

  Finn led the way along the narrow track by the riverbank, keeping a steady pace until the path widened to a ford ahead of them.

  “We’ll get there faster this way,” said Finn. “The ford’s been built up with boulders and stones. It’s quite shallow but the current’s strong. We must stay close.”

  He started to lead them across the river, making his way slowly and carefully by moonlight. Behind him Norika lost her footing on the submerged boulders and Nat grabbed her arm to steady her.

  They were about halfway across when the rock began to hum softly. Nat looked up quickly as a large bat swooped close to them and away again, its silent assault causing them all to stumble. Nat and Norika managed to regain their balance but Finn was carried rapidly towards the edge of the ford and, desperately clawing at stones, was swept over it into the depths. Before they had time to react, he was overtaken by the current and carried away.

  Norika acted swiftly, all uncertainty gone. Using her arms as balance she ran lightly over the remaining boulders, completing the crossing ahead of Nat. Once she gained the bank she broke into a run, following the river downstream, beating aside bushes and shrubs in her way, trying to keep up with the flow.

  As the moon emerged from clouds she saw Finn ahead, halfway across the river, caught in the branches of a fallen, partly submerged tree, struggling to remain afloat. The tree had created a small dam around him where the flow had eased. She flung her pack down and waded in, ignoring her fear of entering an unknown water course in the dark. As the water deepened, the force of the current swept her off her feet into the underwater branches. The first branch she grabbed at snapped but the second held fast, allowing her to make her way along the trunk towards Finn, hand over hand, gripping the branches to avoid being washed away. The branch keeping him aloft blocked her progress and she was forced underwater to reach him.

  When she surfaced she saw with fright that Finn had stopped struggling and his eyes were closed, his only support the fork of the tree. She freed him as gently as she could and holding him fast under one arm she edged back along the trunk and submerged branches towards the bank. As she drew near, her feet found the rocky riverbed and she made the final distance with Finn in both arms.

  Nat had waded out to meet her and together they carried Finn to the bank, where Norika knelt and laid him on the grass. Finn’s eyes flickered open and held her gaze. She felt his gratitude in great waves through her mind.

  She was shivering with relief. Her scratched arms ached in the cool night air. “I thought you’d drowned,” she said.

  “You saved me,” Finn said, “like your grandfather did long ago, when we were young.”

  “You know my grandfather?” Norika asked, astonished.

  “Yoshiki and I are lifelong friends. It was he who asked me to help you,” Finn said, raising his head slightly. Norika noticed his voice already stronger. He’s recovering, she thought.

  “We’ll stay here until you feel better,” Nat said. “We can return to Halston Hall tomorrow.” Norika was glad to dry off and rest. “It’s not such a cold night,” she said, as they lay on the grass and looked up at the sky and talked.

  “I have never fallen from that crossing before,” said Finn. “The attack by the bat threw me off balance.”

  “Was it really a bat, or something else?” said Nat.

  “Of course it was a bat,” answered Finn mildly. “Am I really a badger?”

  “But you’re different,” Norika suggested.

  “The difference is you can understand me.”

  Nat went to sleep thinking of Finn’s words. He remembered those times when he had felt a nearby presence. The sea eagle, the fish, a pigeon, and now a badger‌—‌why hadn’t he recognised them before? The Birds of Ares‌—‌did they really exist?

  How many others were around him, unnoticed?

  19

  The bells of the village church were ringing out across the fields when they emerged from the woods. It was mid-morning Sunday, grey and windy. Storm clouds were overhead and a light rain had started to fall. As the rain increased they took refuge behind a hedgerow.

  “We might be seen anytime. It isn’t safe for you here, Finn, they have dogs,” said Norika. “We’ll find what we need to find at Halston Hall and escape back to the woods. Wait for us there.”

  “I promised your grandfather to stay with you until you continued to the next stage. Some timespaces are fraught with danger,” Finn said. “I can hide in the bushes outside the house until you come out.”

  Norika glanced at Nat. “Okay,” he said, “be careful.”

  As they moved onto the slope of lawn leading up to Halston Hall they slowed their pace. Nat reasoned that some of the guests would be attending church and the rest would be inside the house, unlikely to be out in the weather. The wind had become stronger and the clouds darker, and lightning streaked the sky.

  He wondered what had happened at the house overnight, whether Rick had tried to follow them or denounced them as thieves, but pushed these thoughts aside to focus on why they were here.

  The rain fell heavily now. Finn was padding softly ahead of them when Nat heard the rock humming. He turned swiftly. Nothing. Then a shaft of lightning lit the terrace and he saw a long-coated figure against the sky, holding a hunting rifle. The figure raised the rifle and took aim, slowly and deliberately, straight at them.

  “Quick!” Nat yelled above the storm. “Go back! Head for the woods!”

  They turned and ran. A shot rang out from the terrace but they kept running, trying to keep track of each other through the rain. Norika heard the crack of another shot behind them and turned back in fear.

  “Finn!” she screamed above the wind, “Finn!”

  Finn lay on the grass, not moving.

  “Finn!” She was running back towards him, the rain streaming down her face, obscuring her vision. She reached him and dropped to her knees, cradling him in her arms, rocking him, repeating no no over and over until it became a single sound. His blood was staining her clothes and washing away with the rain.

  A third shot came from the terrace, close enough to hear it pass by her head. She sat there, stunned. Nat had turned and run back to her. He knelt quickly and looked at Finn. “He�
��s dead,” he said, “there’s nothing we can do.” He looked back at the house. The figure had disappeared from the terrace. He decided they were safer in the company of strangers, whether guests or servants, than on their own. “The kitchen,” he urged, “we’ll head there and return for him as soon as we can.” He held her arm in gentle encouragement to release Finn.

  She resisted, shaking him off. “Leave me!”

  “He helped us,” Nat said, “don’t let him down.”

  His words reached her. She stroked Finn once, placed him softly on the grass and allowed Nat to guide her away.

  The rain had eased. They ran for the house, crouching behind shrubs to avoid being seen. One or two people had ventured out to the terrace. A man peered from a window, then disappeared. As far as they could tell, no one had noticed them.

  They came to the house from the side and headed towards the kitchen door, where they banged loudly until Mrs Macgregor flung it open, hastily wiping her hands on her apron.

  She stared at them in astonishment.

  “I thought you’d left!” she exclaimed, “Come inside and get dry before you catch cold. Where have you been all night?”

  She bustled around, getting towels and food and tea. They sat at the table, glad of the cook’s comforting presence and the warmth of the kitchen.

  Norika sipped her tea in silence. Mrs Macgregor noticed how drawn and pale the girl looked. She reached across and took Norika’s hand in her own. “There, there,” she said. “That bad, is it?” Norika looked up at the cook’s kind face and tears came to her eyes.

  “We have lost a friend,” she said.

  “Oh, my poor dear,” Mrs Macgregor said, placing her arm around Norika’s shoulder. “Stay here until you feel a little better.”

  Nat was on edge. Mrs Macgregor was clearly unaware of the reason they’d left the house, but he had no doubt Rick’s version of events would be believed by others. He was anxious to leave Halston Hall.

  He spoke quickly. “Mrs Macgregor, we need your help. Can you let Emmeline know we’re here?” He considered a moment. “And Edward as well. It’s very important we see them.”