by Joan Lennon
Cam’s eyes got bigger.
‘I don’t… understand,’ it said.
Mrs Mac patted it kindly on the head and turned to leave. At the door she paused and, without looking back, murmured, ‘Brilliant tactic, if you think about it – a totally unbiased way of distributing a limited resource. It takes real political genius to come up with a plan like that…’
She left. Cam didn’t notice. It was staring at the floor, thinking. When Kate came by to say goodnight, it nodded to her but didn’t speak.
Mrs Macmahonney had disappeared, probably back down to her kitchen, but Kate paused and then settled herself on the top of the stairs to keep watch for a while over her family.
There were rustling noises and then a sigh or two as the Questors made themselves comfortable in their beds.
For a while, there was silence. Then, ‘Madlen?’ called Bryn softly from his room.
‘Hmm?’
‘What do you think she was saying?’
Madlen turned over on to an elbow.
‘Who?’ she asked sleepily.
‘You know – Lady Beatitude – at the end there. She started to say something. Bull said, “Why did you do it?” and she said, “Because I c–”’ Bryn sounded worried. ‘What do you think she was going to say?’
Madlen thought for a moment.
‘“Because I can’t stand it any more”?’ she suggested. ‘Or “Because I couldn’t care less”?’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. She’s gone now, Bryn, so leave it. It doesn’t matter. Go to sleep.’
Nobody spoke for a bit and Madlen’s brain began to drift pleasantly towards oblivion.
Then Cam’s voice jerked her back.
‘I think she was saying, “I did it… because I could.”’
Out in the hall, Kate could feel the change, feel the tension grow. The voices of the children began to rocket back and forth between the rooms, eating away at the peace.
‘If she could, that means somebody else could too.’
‘It could happen – all over again!’
‘Yeah, but they’d know what to look out for another time. The Prelates, I mean. They’d know how to keep us safe.’
‘Not if it happened differently the next time. I mean, it was one of them last time, for crying out loud, and they didn’t notice a thing. How safe was that?!’
‘So it could all go wrong. It could not be over at all.’
‘But it has to be…’
‘No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t have to be anything. There aren’t any guarantees.’
‘I think we’ll not be having this conversation just now.’
It was Mrs Mac. Unnoticed, the older woman had joined her on the stairs. Kate looked round quickly, but not quickly enough to see what Mrs Macmahonney did. There was a shimmer, a subtle shift and suddenly the silence was one of sleep. Even Kate began to yawn.
‘Oh… my, I can’t keep my… eyes open…’
Mrs Macmahonney gave Kate a shove.
‘Off you go, then,’ she said. ‘Plenty more beds along the hall. Best thing for you all.’
Kate did as she was told.
‘I’ve never… known… how you do that,’ she yawned as she went.
Mrs Mac smiled smugly and said nothing.
62
Some Months Later
Dear Bryn,
Thanks for the invitation – it’ll be great to see you! You say you’ve grown another couple of centimetres!?! Unbelievable! Actually, I’m taller too.
And I’ve got a surprise for you.
Counting the days –
Cam
Dear Madlen,
Everything’s ready for you two at this end. I’ve almost got full use of my hand back now, but I’m not being stupid! Drawing strictly rationed, and lots of exercises. In fact, it’s driving me crazy
Cam says it’s got a surprise for us – I hope it has something to do with planes! Imagine what you could draw from that kind of height…
So much to talk about! See you soon.
Bryn
Dear Cam,
Not long now! I’ll meet you at the Kir port and we can go on to the Castle from there. Do you remember last time? Aagghh!
Can’t wait!
Your sister,
Madlen
PS If the surprise has anything to do with planes, leave me out!
63
Now That Is a Surprise!
A flurry of snow hurled itself in their faces and the icy wind made them gasp.
‘I keep forgetting how cold the cold is!’ exclaimed Cam, stepping through the gateway.
Madlen followed –
– and there was Bryn, loping towards them with his arms full of furs. His face was one big indiscriminate welcome, until his eyes focused on Cam…
Bryn’s mouth dropped open. His feet tangled up with each other and connected with a patch of ice, so that he landed on the ground in a scattered pile of fur and slid gracelessly to their feet.
‘Cam!’ he spluttered. ‘You’re not a… you’re a…’
Madlen and Cam looked down at their brother, and laughed.