by A. S. Hames
I open the window and crawl through. The guards pass by outside talking about fruit custard. Inside, all is quiet. I head for the stairs and whoa! I’m backing away again. There’s someone up there. I can’t decide if they’re coming down or going up.
I wait.
They’re going up.
I creep up to a half landing and pause. All quiet. I go up the second half, slowly, slowly, and I’m flat to the treads so that my eyes are level with the carpet on the middle floor. There’s a door open along the landing. Someone is moving around in there.
And now someone’s coming down from the top floor. I’m flat against the stairs without any kind of plan. I can’t run so I ease back down a few steps. I see boots through the spindles. If they come down another level, I’m in trouble. What’s the punishment for breaking in? Would Ax make an example of me? The boots stop on the middle landing just above me. I don’t dare look up.
The guard sneezes and goes into a room. I hear voices. I creep up to the middle floor and keep going.
There are six rooms along the top landing. The three doors to the right are open but the rooms aren’t in use. To my left, the doors are all closed.
I try the first. It’s unlocked and empty.
I try the next. It’s locked. Is this the room? I try the last door. It’s also locked. How am I going to do this? There has to be a key. But where?
I bang loudly on both locked doors.
“What is it?” Henry Crawford says from the furthest room.
I hurry into an empty room and close the door to a crack. There are boots on the stairs. A guard appears. She puts a key in the locked door but hesitates.
“Are you okay in there?”
“It wasn’t me, it was you!”
“It’s best if you keep quiet.”
She goes back downstairs, key in hand.
I creep down after her.
In the room nearest the stairs she’s putting a gun and the keys on the table. Now she’s taking a seat. Where’s the second guard? I get nearer. There she is, feet up, eyes damn-well closed. Asleep!
Now what?
I move into the room like a snake, all the way to the table. I can smell the dirt on the guard’s boots. If she gets up, she’ll fall over me. What I need is a distraction. But what can I use? I pat my pocket.
I take out T-Y 66’s ID card and flick it at the wall. It’s not much of a noise, but she’s jumpy enough to go and check it. And I’m up and I take the keys and I’m backing out of the room. And I can see them both. One with her eyes shut, the other peering into the corner. Keep looking, soldier. Keep looking! Because I… am… she has the ID card. She’s studying it. She’s turning… I’m out.
I’m on the stairs, going up. My heart is racing but I’m okay. I get my breathing right and I am so, so quiet.
On the top floor, I unlock the door and behold the man who would be Leader of Endeavor. And his clerk.
“I’ve come to rescue you,” I tell them.
They exchange a look then Henry Crawford stays put while his clerk moves past me to the stairs.
“They check every twenty minutes with a knock on the door,” Crawford says. “If I don’t respond…” He gives a resigned shrug and closes the door on me.
I don’t know what to make of it so I follow the clerk. He’s already at the middle floor. As I join him, I carefully lay the keys on the step and hope to God the guard will assume she dropped them.
Just as I’m expecting us to continue down, the clerk directs me to follow him along the middle landing. I’m alarmed but then I see there’s a right turn at the far end. This short corridor exits onto a fire escape stairway that takes us down to a narrow alley. At the bottom, we climb a gate. We’d be free if there weren’t troopers ambling up the street.
“Why are you doing this?” the clerk asks.
“We were told no rules, no limits. I don’t believe that’s right.”
He shakes his head. “That comes direct from the Lake Towns.”
I’m intrigued. “That’s the second time I’ve heard that today. The Representative…” I stop. I’ve said too much.
“He’s been up this way these past weeks. Is he going back?”
“I don’t know.”
“You heard it today? The Representative and the Lake Towns? He wouldn’t make plans too far ahead. He knows the dangers.”
I stay quiet and look to see if the street is clear. Almost.
“Is it tonight?” he asks. “Or tomorrow?”
“I really don’t know.”
We wait a moment longer.
“Are you a man of peace?” I ask him.
“I am, but even men of peace have to do terrible things for the greater good. I didn’t catch your name…?”
I don’t want him to know who I am.
“I support the Nation but I’m against honest people being executed.”
He shakes my hand and leaves. And that’s it. He’s gone.
I get myself away and make for the creek, which I follow back to the rear of the hotel. I untie Von. I need to get onto Main Street. I need to be seen there. There is no way a girl with a wolf could free a prisoner, not with guards on duty. No doubt the clerk escaped all by himself, what with him being a devious Enemy of the Nation.
“Sub!”
The call pierces me. It’s the damned child-sergeant just inside the entrance. What does he want?
“Colonel Five-Five needs to see you,” he says.
I swallow.
Keeping Von with me, I follow the child-sergeant into the hotel’s makeshift mess hall. There must be twenty people waiting. Dub, Taff, Essie, and Ben included. What’s happening? Was I spotted?
Two long minutes pass before Colonel Five-Five and Sergeant Seven-Nine enter.
“Now,” the colonel says. “The Leader of the Nation is impressed that the heroic wolf Von has led our troops to success after success. I have therefore decided to take Von to meet the Leader. The wolf will be an inspiration to our troops in the south where things have become bogged down. Therefore Von and his handlers will accompany me to the Lake Towns.”
And his handlers?
“Our young sergeant here has also suggested taking the best of our young troopers. Those who have performed exceptionally well.”
What? Has the stupid smug child-sergeant dragged the likes of Taff, Ben, and Essie into this?
“We leave straight away,” the colonel adds.
“Straight away?” I blurt out.
“We have a train to catch.”
“A train?”
“Please don’t repeat everything I say, Two-Five.”
“No sir. I just… sorry, sir.”
“This is a glorious moment,” Ax says. “Take it in and remember it.”
I can’t believe it. I’m going to the Lake Towns with the colonel, Ax, Sergeant Seven-Nine, six regulars… Dub the Nation-hater… Taff, Ben, Essie… Tallboy, the child-sergeant, some Pinedale boys and girls, all looking more like surprised kids than soldiers… and the film team who recorded the fake outpost attack, the fake shelling of Endeavor, and the fake shooting of redcoats. And we’re all going with one of the two Vons to impress the Leader of the Nation.
So yes, Ax, I am taking it in and I will remember it.
I wonder how many know this is really about protecting the Representative from another assassination attempt while he gets back to the Lake Towns with information gathered in the North. I also wonder about Henry Crawford’s clerk. He knew something of the Representative’s movements. I just hope I didn’t reveal anything that might cause us a problem.
I wonder further – would Mr Crawford’s clerk share his guesswork with other rebels? Would he say he heard from a Nation junior officer about the Lake Towns and the Representative? And would they act on that? And will I be sitting alongside him on a train if they do?
Before I can give it more thought, the child-sergeant hands out packs of cookies for the journey. That done, he ushers us outside where two open back
troop trucks and a car are waiting.
I get the colonel aside.
“How many Vons are there, sir?”
He pulls me farther away.
“What do you know about that?”
“Only what I’ve seen. The wolf with the Prospect-Inspiration Group was limping.”
“Yes, it was destroyed earlier.”
“Destroyed? Was it called Von, sir?”
“Yes. They’re all called Von.”
“All?” I’m a little shocked. “It was only limping, sir.”
“No sign of weakness can be tolerated, even an infected foot. I have similar instructions for Von Eleven.”
“Eleven?”
“There were fourteen in all. Von Eleven is the last of them. That’s why he’s so important. We have neither the time nor the resources to go into the north and capture more wolf cubs to train.”
“Von Eleven,” is all I can say.
“Yes, the last trained wolf in the Nation. In fact, it was you who gave us the idea of taking him to meet the Leader.”
“I don’t understand.” In fact I do understand, but I don’t want to say so.
“Don’t worry. You’ll enjoy the journey.”
The colonel goes off and I’m left with two regulars.
“How far are the Lake Towns?” I ask.
“Five hundred miles, maybe more,” one says. “But it’s fast by train. It’ll be eight hours of boredom, most likely.”
“Let’s hope so,” the second regular says.
I can see his doubts.
“Is it dangerous?” I ask.
The first regular considers. “It shouldn’t be. It runs through Nation-held territory.”
I wish I could find some relief in his words, but as I climb aboard one of the trucks, I can’t help but feel dread. Who the hell did I set free? And why do I get the feeling he’s a more important figure than Henry Crawford?
18. Last Train
BEN
I’m aboard a troop truck following another truck and an officers’ car thirty miles south-east of River 17. Above us, dark clouds coming in from the west threaten heavy rain.
“I miss home,” Taff says as we pass a log dwelling that I guess has triggered some memory in him.
“Try not to cry on your uniform,” Dub says.
I haven’t known Dub long, but it’s easy to like and dislike him at the same time. He’s good to have in a tight spot, but you wouldn’t want to become lifelong friends. There seems to be a maximum of an hour before he can’t help saying or doing something dumb or irritating.
Up ahead, there’s a roadside sign, which Jay reads out for the benefit of the majority.
WELCOME TO PENTIE
Population 2,742
I’m surprised there’s no town number. That’s like wearing shoes with no socks. For a moment, I wish I could read. No, I wish I could spend time with Jay… somewhere quiet… while she taught me about reading and writing… and…
We slow to a halt outside a railroad station.
“Don’t leave anything behind,” the child-sergeant says.
I wish we could leave him behind.
“Let’s move. Off, off, off,” he says.
I smile at him and join the others climbing down. I’ll be glad to get aboard the train as I’m keen to avoid the bad weather that’s coming in. I’d hate to be in the open on a day like this.
Maybe I’ll get to sit with Jay.
That cheers me up.
JAY
It looks set to rain right through the last hours of daylight, so the sooner we’re on the train, the better.
“Excited?” Ax asks me.
“Sure.”
I could mention that part of that excitement comes from not being on the firing squad he set up, but it’s true I’m keen to make my first journey on rails. I just hope it’s a journey where nothing happens. Having a big mouth and no luck is a bad combination and I can only take comfort from the fact that Henry Crawford’s clerk looked like a moderate rebel.
But if I were any kind of rebel surely I’d want to capture the Representative at any cost, because having him admitting to the Nation’s crimes on film would end the war. I mean who would fight for the Nation then?
Of course, defeating my own side wasn’t the contribution I had in mind when I volunteered. I was hoping to have a more positive impact. I know bad things happen in war, but a sixteen-year-old girl bringing down her own country is too crazy. Especially as it’s Friday and I only joined the army on Monday.
Once we’re on the platform, I’m looking westward up the line. Although there’s no railroad within a hundred miles of home, I do know a little about trains. I’ve seen them in films and we were always drawing pictures of them at school. There were even children’s stories about friendly little engines that go on funny little adventures. Nothing like this though. Nothing like the real thing.
While we’re waiting, the film team gets busy. They film Taff and Von waiting for what they’re calling the Victory Train, and they film the colonel looking determined and others looking excited.
I stand back. I’ve featured in enough film footage already. I just accept that this is all necessary but temporary. Long term, the Nation needs its dignity restored.
A distant whistle!
It’s a long way off but the low rumble of a coal-fired engine is definitely heading down the track toward us. The sound drops away at one point and almost vanishes. Is that normal? But it rounds a rocky limb and comes roaring at us pumping steamy fumes into the air from its top vent.
It’s a big green engine. Seeing it front on, it’s hard to say how many carriages it’s pulling – maybe six. Judging by the length of the platform, any more wouldn’t fit.
“Stand back!” the child-sergeant yells.
As if he needed to tell us with this frightening monster approaching.
The cameras capture the train coming in and those waving to it. Then the brakes squeal and the huge locomotive slows… and slows… and here comes the coal truck, and a cargo wagon, which is where it stops.
Joined to these are three passenger carriages, the first of which has an unoccupied interior grander than any house I’ve ever seen. The closest I can think of is the Town Guardian’s office in Forbearance.
“Carriage Three,” the colonel says, pointing to the end of the train.
As we make our way, I see that Carriage One isn’t empty after all. Sitting at its far end are two soldiers and the Representative, who looks smart in a lightweight tan suit similar to the blue one he wore the other day. Maybe he has a whole rainbow of suit colors. The colonel and my brother climb aboard to join him, but the child-sergeant gives me a nudge, which I dislike.
“Keep moving,” he says.
“What’s your name?” I demand – because when I get around to yelling at him, I can’t call him kid or sonny.
“Sergeant Six-Three,” he says.
Of course it is. He’s probably forgotten his first names.
Moving along, I make my way past a smart but less plush second carriage with some wealthy-looking people aboard who make a point of ignoring us. Beyond it is an empty rear carriage.
It’s a little disappointing inside. Essentially, it contains wooden boxes either side of a central gangway. These boxes are crowned with the thinnest seat covering I’ve ever seen.
Taff hands me Von’s leash.
“Your turn,” he says.
Dub nudges me, which I wish people would stop doing. When did pushing become a way to communicate?
“Did you see who’s in the first carriage?”
“I don’t think we should discuss it, Dub.”
I take off my pack and rifle and take my seat. It’s bone hard. Undoubtedly, those in the other carriages will have a more comfortable eight hours.
“Down Von,” I say.
He responds by groaning and curling up by my feet. I find this comforting until I realize I now have restricted foot space which will no doubt end in poor blood circ
ulation.
The child-sergeant stops by me. I hope to God he doesn’t sit here.
“Three trains used to run on this line,” he says. “Now it’s only one.”
“That’s important information you’ve been given, sergeant.”
“The colonel told me,” he says with pride.
Thankfully, he moves on and I can relax a little. There’s just a short delay to our departure for a reason I can’t see, but when the colonel and Ax join us, there’s a jolt and slowly, slowly, we pull away from the platform.
I make a wish. Please let it be eight of the dullest hours ever.
Of course, the feeling of movement over rails is amazing. I just wish this could be another time, a peaceful time. As it is, I soon settle down to watch the scenery slip by and my tiredness grows. The movement over the rails is so soothing. Voices blend with the sounds of the train in motion.
“Is it a straight line to the Lake Towns?” a distant voice says. “Only we seem to be heading east.”
“There’s no straight line through the White Tip Mountains,” another says. “It’s the long way for us.”
The White Tip Mountains. I’ve never heard of such a place. It sounds… beauti…
Falling.
Falling to earth.
Through earth.
Pinned down by tons of dirt. Is it the White Tip Mountains on top of me? Is that why I can’t move my legs? How am I meant to…
Bullet moving slowly… young girl… five years old, maybe six… scared… bullet… no… pushing, pushing, damn well falling… falling! For God’s sake!
“Whoa!”
I open my eyes. I’m on a train. My right foot is asleep. There’s rain lashing against the windows. I check my watch. I’ve been asleep almost thirty minutes.
“I need to stretch my legs,” I say to no one in particular.
I get free of sleeping Von and stand in the aisle between the two lines of seats. I don’t want to walk up to the end where the colonel, Ax, the sergeant, and the child-sergeant are sitting, so I go the other way, past the film team to the connecting door to carriage two.