Clock City

by Rebekah Dodson

  “Killed, by assassins, just moments ago. They fled in that horrible steam powered carriage thing.” His voice was cool and collected, unconcerned, even, and I swiveled to see he had appeared right behind me. How had he crossed the room so quickly?

  Before the knight could respond, two more Knights burst through the doors, a struggling captive held between them. The brown hair, brown jacket, and the odd boots with buttons up the side. Even the cracked goggles were no mistake.

  Two more guards stood behind them, grasping spears the same as the ones at the gate.

  “It wasn’t me!” He exclaimed, thrashing against his guards. “I didn’t. I would never!” he lifted his head, his eyes going wide and his tongue silent as our eyes met.

  The Keeper yawned and shook his head. He pulled out a pocket watch and examined it in his hand for a moment. Even I could see the face was cracked beyond repair and the hands frozen. Slowly, he tucked it away. “Yes, I do believe it is time to find the fish.” He murmured to himself. He reached to his top hat with both hands and made a feeble attempt to pull it over his slick black hair. “In fact, you’re just in time for his execution,” he told me, his stare boring into my soul. “Guards! Take this impostor and her friends to the dungeons.”

  “No!” The knight screamed, and tried to draw his sword, to no avail.

  “What is going on?” Dinga yelled at the same time, his dagger flying into his hand.

  “Stop!” My shriek echoed off the bronzed walls of the hall. “I am Queen Lydia!” I shouted, giving my mother’s name, praying it would save me. “I demand to know what’s going on!”

  “Take them away,” the Keeper turned away from us, and flicked his hand to the guards. “Here fish, where is my fish?” He sang in a whimsical voice.

  Metal gauntlets closed around my shoulders, and I struggled, until a pinch shot down my arm so hard I felt dazed.

  My knight, who had carried me and protected me, put down his sword and bowed his head.

  And Dinga, with all his menacing teeth and pointy little dagger, was swiftly thrown over a guard’s shoulder.

  I kicked and screamed as they dragged me from the room. I wouldn’t trade a cage at home for one in this foreign land. I had never longed for home as much I did with the finality of the click on the lock in the dank dungeon.

  Alone again.

  Chapter Five: The Prison

  THE FLOOR OF THE DUNGEON was dirty, wet with a murky sludge. Here I was, in beat up sneakers and a short sleeve crop top. I’d kill for a hoodie or like a baseball cap, but both were far, far away in my room. Would I even see my room again?

  I had worse things on hand right now, however. The Keeper’s voice in my head still stunned me to terrified silence.

  Why do you look like her?

  Lydia? Not my Lydia.

  That evil voice, spinning in my mind, like a haunting nightmare I couldn’t forget. And why had Dinga used my mother’s name? What was going on here? The way the Timekeeper had frozen me, had that happened to everyone in the room? It seemed like he had just stopped time.

  No one had that power, right? How could they?

  The sun was starting to dip low on the horizon, and soon we would be plunged into darkness. No windows, no bars, only small slits in the far corner of the cell let in the crimson light of the magenta sun.

  The walls stank of mildew and wetness, and on the far wall streams of what smelled like sewer water was flowing onto the muddy ground. Oh my god, this was the worst. I could be in school, back in the woods, or even curled up in bed pretending my father hadn’t had another drink. Instead I was stuck here with these weird people who’d walked out of a history book somewhere with a bundle of magic.

  I wanted to go home, but I didn’t.

  So much for that luxurious bedroom I thought I’d have here.

  I crouched in the driest corner I could find and rubbed my arms. How long would I stay here? Surely there was a trial, a jury, some way I could proclaim my innocence? I was seriously regretting ever picking up that dagger in the woods. They’d taken it from me, of course, along with my journal. My precious poems, drawings, my innermost thoughts. What if someone found them?

  I had nothing left.

  The tears dripped down my cheeks.

  “Magnificent, isn’t it?”

  I turned toward the sound and saw a little grate in the floor to my right no bigger than my hand, where the voice was undeniably coming from.

  I wiped my face with my sleeve. “Sebastian?”

  A sad, sarcastic chuckle, then. “Surely you haven’t forgotten me so soon, lady?”

  I sighed, hugging my arms a little tighter. “My real name is Alayna.”

  “Not the queen.”

  “Not the queen,” I agreed.

  “I wondered so, when I saw you on the city street.”

  “You drove that ca – er, that invention of yours.”

  “I did indeed.” He voice was clearer now, as if he was pressed against the grate.

  “Wait. You killed the queen.” I angrily wiped at the tears on my face. I was so foolish to think maybe he’d be a friend in this strange world. “Is it true?” I whispered, hoping against hope it wasn’t. How could I be so thick headed. His soft brown eyes had sucked me in, even though he was a murderer.

  “I didn’t do it.” His voice was quiet, his insistence was fierce. “Besides, you saw me on the street, how could I have done it? The Keeper’s up to something. Of course he is.”

  I faintly heard him grind his teeth as his voice lowered again. I scoffed. I didn’t know who I could trust anymore.

  “We’re all worried, you know,” he added. He was rustling, as if he was shifting.

  “About what?” Even I could hear my voice was cold.

  “The queen,” he sounded concerned, on edge. “She’s been missing for quite some time. The town is falling apart under the rule of the Keeper. Surely you saw that in the city, as you made your grand entrance. And wait until you hear about the children—”

  I ignored the last statement. “Such a cruel and unstable man,” I interrupted, ignoring the last part of his sentence. I didn’t trust anything he said. I bit my lip. I wondered if Sebastian knew he Keeper could stop time. I wasn’t sure how much I could share with Sebastian. Not yet.

  “I’m inclined to agree,” Sebastian offered.

  “Why do you even care?” Even as I said it, I sounded like a petulant child. I didn’t care. Who was this stranger, anyway?

  “He’s evil,” he followed it with a sad sigh and more shifting around. “I’ve watched him my whole life. He’s turned the guards against the people and made most of the city starve. Don’t be fooled by all those reach people. The Keeper’s glamor is powerful.”

  “I saw the slums,” I murmured, dismissing the view of the poor lady who had spit at us. “What do you mean glamor?”

  “Wait, you saw the slums?”

  “I did.”

  “That’s odd, Alayna.”

  “Why is that odd, Sebastian?” I thought throw around names, too.

  “Because no one in the town knows about the slums. It’s like, they are invisible. Except to me.”

  “Why can you see them.”

  “My goggles.”

  I rolled my eyes, glad he couldn’t see them. “Okay, whatever you say.”

  “Surely you saw how the knights swear fealty to him.”

  “Why would they think I was the queen. How can they not see how crazy he is?”

  “You do look a lot like her,” he agreed, “and aye, some still hold loyalty in their hearts, but they are under his power nonetheless.”

  “How?”

  “No one really knows. I’ve heard rumors he uses magic, but magic hasn’t been seen around here for a thousand years, not since the building of the great Piston. Although there are some rumors of magic users."

  “The Piston?” I interrupted.

  “Yeah, that thing in the middle of the city? Surely you heard it. It’s a racket!”

/>   “What does it do?”

  “Clock City is built on a very old mine. Gold, copper, bronze, they are rife in the fields under the city. The children and bots bring it up for the towns people, with the use of the piston.”

  I frowned.

  Sebastian sighed. “Did you perchance discern there were no children playing in the streets? Ruminate on that if you will, lady.”

  I’d been so enamored with all the people, the shops, and Sebastian’s contraption I hadn’t put a lot of thought into it. I gasped. Sebastian was absolutely right. The children were prisoners then. And the people were blind to it, with magic. This is horrible!

  “You’re right!”

  “Write?”

  “Like, you know what you’re talking about?”

  “You talk strange, girl.”

  I could see him shaking his curly head.

  “Tell me about these bots,” I shifted closer to the grate. “Are they robots?” I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t shake the bit of doubt pulling at my brain. Children imprisoned by robots? This was crazy!

  “I do not know this word. However, they are like humans, but made of metals.”

  I puzzled for a moment because these sounded exactly like robots to me.

  “But not like humans, they only have one function, to carry the metals, and put on the piston shelves.”

  “So, bots carry up metals from under the city?”

  “Yes,” his voice was so tired. He sighed again. “Every hour, the piston brings it to the surface. But he has let the bots fall into such disrepair that many of them are disabled. They have been replaced by workers, mostly children, who both load and unload the piston.”

  “It sounds like you know a lot about it.”

  “I should. I was one of those children.”

  That didn’t surprise me, given his already melancholy statements. “That sucks.”

  “Huh?” He puzzled for a moment, but didn’t miss a beat, “Well, now you know. That’s why I have been toiling away on my contraption, to escape the city.”

  “Wait, if you’re from the mines, how did you get those clothes? The money for the inventions?”

  Before he could answer, another voice pierced the darkness.

  “Mistress?” The voice was so quiet and sad, I almost mistook it for a figment of my imagination.

  I found another grate to the left of me in the opposite corner from Sebastian’s voice. “Dinga?”

  “Mistress, this is not very nice at all.” His voice was so despondent it broke my heart. It lacked all the mirth and excitement from earlier, and I regretted even asking him to show me the city. “I wish to go home now.”

  “Dinga, I’m so sorry,” I told him honestly, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” I really didn’t mean to be here, I thought.

  “Nor did I,” Sebastian said. “I just want to run away.”

  “I know how that feels,” I muttered. I felt a little warmth blossom toward this boy I hardly knew. He understood what it felt like to be trapped, unable to escape.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Never mind.”

  He was willing to share, but I didn’t think he’d understand me.

  “Mistress, what will become of us?” Dinga asked.

  “Dinga, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are bars on the door.”

  I heard a rustle and saw his small three fingered fist shoot through the slender grate. A black pebble lay in his open palm, no bigger than a marble. I took it from him and held it. It felt heavy, odd shaped with many points, with a rough surface. Beyond that, it was a mystery in the twilight of the dungeon.

  “What is it?” Sebastian asked.

  “It’s a rock of some kind.”

  “It is marlita,” Dinga said.

  “Marlita!” Sebastian exclaimed, new vigor in his voice. I heard the scuffle as he must have jumped to his feet. He dropped his voice, then. “What are you waiting for? Throw it!”

  “Throw it? Why?” I had no idea if I could trust Sebastian. How did I know he wasn’t a plant from the Keeper himself, to trick me into blowing us all up?

  “Throw it at the back wall. The prison lets out into the back of the palace, the Lake of Swans. We can swim for it!”

  I stood, grasping the pebble, the marlita, firmly in my hand. I squatted next to the grate that held Dinga’s voice. “Dinga? What should I do?”

  “He’s right, Mistress. Marlita has great fire. It’s the tool of our people, it’s meant to create fire and to move anything bigger than us.”

  Dinga had sworn allegiance to me. What did I have to lose? Worst case, it would be a dud, and I’d look like a fool. Or, it would truly blow us up. The prospect of avoiding execution one way or another was truly exhilarating.

  I threw the stone with all my might.

  It stuck to the wall and started to hum. It spun quickly, and then several pointed metal rods shot out of the center and plugged into the cold cement wall. Tiny cogs, no bigger than my fingernail, swirled at the end of each rod. The humming increased to a shrill whine.

  “Brace for it!” Sebastian called.

  I flattened myself against the door, my eyes shut tightly.

  After a minute or two, the hum quieted, and I dared a peek. The cogs weren’t spinning anymore. It sat there, lifeless.

  “Dinga, it’s not—”

  A silent concussion blasted me off my feet, cutting off what I was going to say. The back wall of my cell, as well as Dinga’s, Sebastian’s, and maybe a few others, blew out away from us, splashing into the water before stone dust flitted around the ruined hole where my cage had once been. I edged my way down the left wall and peered below. The shattered concrete dropped about twenty feet, splashing into a blackened moat. The black water pulled it under like little tendrils for limbs, and it sank out of sight.

  I was just about to ask if everyone was okay, when Dinga was the first to jump. He landed on his feet, and instead of sinking, skipped across the water to the shoreline, without even getting wet.

  Before I had time to react, Sebastian, on my other side, yelled something and jumped, his curly head quickly sinking, then bobbing to the surface. He turned and looked at me. “Jump!” he called.

  “I can’t swim!” I screamed. It was true. What teenager didn’t know how to swim, though? One that grew up without a mother, that’s who.

  “Jump!” Sebastian yelled again. “I’ll catch you!”

  Behind me, I heard a flurry of guards shouting. Armor clanged down the hallway and echoed off the ceiling. I knew any second my door would splinter into a million pieces and my opportunity for escape would be gone.

  I held my breath and jumped.

  The water captured me like harsh broken glass as I hit. I fought my way to the surface, my feet kicking wildly at first in my panic. It was cold and murky, and I watched the crimson sky disappear out of view as I sunk. My lungs felt like they were going to burst when a hand grasped my wrist and yanked, hard. I broke the surface gasping and felt the grassy shoreline under my free hand. I yanked myself from the water finally with the help of my savior.

  “Up!”

  I stared into Sebastian’s face, his brows furrowed and his eyes anxious.

  This was not the boy I had seen in the market, so full of mirth and awe. This was the boy who wanted to survive. He reached down and scooped Dinga into his arms, who threw short arms around his neck. “Come on, we have to run!”

  Above us, five guards were peering out the large hole and shouting. Three ornate bronze hand crossbows pointed at us. An arrow flung sideways and pinged in a pile of pastel pink cattails, and a second one landed mere inches from my foot.

  I didn’t need to be told twice.

  We ran.

  Chapter Six: Running

  “SEBASTIAN!” I STOPPED my hand on my thighs, inhaling heavily. I dared a glance behind me to see Clock City getting smaller across the horizon. “Please. Can we stop?”

  He was ten feet away. It was like he didn’t e
ven hear me!

  The disappearing sun basked us an eerie burgundy twilight. The fields in front of us stretched into the sky, rolling hills of gold and green. Up ahead there was a scrawny tree, burnt by the harsh sun, with wiry bare branches that offered little shade. I stopped, leaning against the trunk, and sliding into a sitting position. Well, if he wasn’t going to stop, then he could just leave me here.

  But what if the knights found me?

  Finally, Sebastian slowed his trot and circled back to the tree. Dinga clung to his shoulders for dear life, shaking.

  “What are you doing? We can’t stop.” Sebastian had his hands on his knees, panting, as well. “They won’t let us get far, Alayna.”

  “Well, where are we supposed to go?” I demanded.

  “My village.” Dinga whispered, “it’s up ahead, mistress.” He lifted a shaky finger to the west.

  I squinted in the failing light and could barely make out a crop of blackened trees. The line of a forest.

  “There?” I pointed.

  “Forgotten Elms,” Sebastian whispered with a shiver.

  Dinga nodded happily. “Yes! We will be safe.”

  I nodded and heaved another deep breath. I looked at Sebastian.

  “We’ll make it if it kills us,” he told me.

  “After you,” I motioned to him.

  With a nod, he took off for the forest. After we had put the dying tree behind us, he slowed so I could catch up.

  “Alayna.” He motioned me closer as we raced towards the tree line. It was then I noticed his white shirt under the leather vest was torn at the neck, one button hanging forlornly to the side. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but it appears we’re being followed,” he hissed in my ear, nodding behind us.

  I peeked over my shoulder as much as I dared. The last sliver of the sun was setting, but it outlined a black figure far behind us.

  “Just one person?” I managed to say.

  Sebastian nodded.

  Dinga’s glassy eyes filled with worry. “Hurry,” he murmured.

  We reached the tree line in time to lose the last lingering bits of light. Swathed in darkness, I could barely make out Dinga, perched behind Sebastian like a real-life monster-backpack. I nearly giggled at that and fought to keep a straight face.