The Gretel Series: Books 1-3 (Gretel #1-3)

by Christopher Coleman

  Dodd could see that this wasn’t a good enough answer for Marlene. She needed the whole truth.

  “I had seen the change in Stenson over the course of several months, the secrecy and withdrawal in him. We all saw it. And then there he was, his dead body, here at this cabin, at the place where a lowly farm woman had just escaped before telling perhaps the most incredible story anyone had ever heard. A story of immortality. As I said before, I didn’t believe any of it at first. But...the things that had been done to him...”

  Dodd frowned and dropped the woman’s gaze.

  “After I found your...grave, I suppose I’d call it, I wasn’t quite sure why I didn’t have the whole System descend on this place to arrest you or kill you, why I didn’t have them dig up your entire property for any more bodies that may have gone missing from this area over the years. But I know now. I know now why none of that happened. Because I believed in the story. I believed in the accounts of Anika and Gretel Morgan. And I knew you had come back here for recovery, rejuvenation. It all made sense to me. In an instant. Stenson knew the story too, and he had seen or heard enough to believe in this magic. I knew then the myths were true. Just looking at you lying in that ditch, I knew I could never have the trampling boots of System clods ending that magic forever.”

  “They’re thieves,” Marlene spat, her teeth bared wide and sinister.

  Dodd smiled. “Yes, very often they are. But not me, Marlene.”

  Dodd realized this wasn’t quite true as he thought of the stark black book resting high on the shelf in his office. He walked to the front door and opened it casually, staring out toward the tree line.

  “So I waited very patiently—for just about a year—for some sign that you were awake, that you had emerged.”

  “Get from the door. They’ll see you.”

  In the isolation of the cabin, Dodd could have heard a car coming from ten miles away, but he didn’t want to set the witch off, so he closed the door gently and looked back at her. “And then I heard it, the manifestation, crackling over the radio, surfacing like lava from a volcano. The report of two boys who had gone missing from your property. I was patrolling here—right here—the moment the call came! It was a miracle.”

  Marlene narrowed her gaze, a sign that suspicion had snuck back into play for her.

  Dodd chuckled. “It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care about the disappearance of a pair of adolescent criminals, Marlene. I just wanted you to come back. I just wanted to learn from you. To become like you.”

  Marlene walked confidently from the window toward the front door and stood next to Officer Dodd. At this distance, he could have taken her by force, and there was little she could have done.

  “You may want my life span, Officer Dodd, but you don’t want to become like me. It’s the ‘becoming’ part that is so onerous. Even with the methods known to them, most could never withstand the process. It’s a long life of misery before you ever get to where I am.”

  “I don’t care about the work. About the pain. It’s nothing compared to death. Death has to be worse.”

  Marlene’s eyes widened while the rest of her face was stone, and then she belted out a horrible laughter that must have certainly awoken Amanda Klahr from her intoxicated sleep in the back bedroom. She composed herself and said, “I could name a hundred things worse than death, Officer Dodd.”

  “But you’re here. You pushed through it. Whatever pain you endured was worth it to you.”

  “I’m from another place and time, Officer Dodd. And that makes a difference. The life you must lead to stay alive this long is not one most would agree to. They’re unable to forego the luxuries of modernity. And I don’t mean conditioned air and powerful driving machines, Officer Dodd. I mean sleep. Palatable food. Warmth.”

  “I don’t—”

  Dodd’s argument was interrupted by a scream from the back bedroom. Mrs. Klahr.

  Dodd noticed Marlene hadn’t flinched at the scream. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “The pharma. It’s subsiding.”

  “Is she in pain?”

  “Probably not physical pain. They’re usually screams of terror. Of realizing where they are and what’s been done to ones they love.”

  “Give her more of the drugs then.”

  Marlene smirked. “Officer Dodd, is that sympathy I smell on you?”

  “I just don’t want anyone to suffer unnecessarily. Who wants that?”

  “This is what I mean, Officer Dodd. Modernity. To live this life, suffering is almost always necessary.”

  Dodd said nothing.

  “But she’ll soon have her rescuers arriving. I can feel them. The boy will come first. And then, Life willing, the Morgan women will follow. So you will get your wish, Officer Dodd. We will indeed give her more of the pharma, but only to keep her disgusting mouth shut. That is another necessity of this life: you must always think of yourself. Only yourself. There is no place for sympathy or consideration. And there is certainly no place for love.”

  Dodd swallowed and gave an understanding nod. He followed Marlene, who had begun her walk to the back bedroom. Amanda Klahr sat straight up in bed. Dodd could see the clarity and recognition in the prisoner’s eyes, and he dropped his own, embarrassed by his criminality.

  “Who are you?” Amanda asked, her voice quick, staccato, and laced with fear. “Is that a System uniform? You’re from the System?”

  Dodd forgot about his uniform. System uniforms were purposely designed to be plain and unrecognizable, the idea being that officers would have more success pursuing suspects on foot, particularly in the Urbanlands, if they didn’t stand out with flashy badges and clothes. But laws still required officers be identifiable by uniform, and discerning citizens usually noticed them. It was no surprise that Amanda Klahr was one of those citizens, given the recent tribulations of her adopted son.

  “Petr was right. Of course, he was. That boy is always right. Some people see the good in everyone, and Petr does too. But he also sees the evil.”

  Dodd could feel the burn of shame on his face. He wanted this part to be finished already. He wanted the potion and the longevity, not the ignominy.

  “I should test this theory of yours when he arrives,” Marlene finally said, clearly sharing none of Officer Dodd’s chagrin. “Certainly a boy as smart as your Petr would have figured out by now where you’ve disappeared to? Would you agree with that, Mrs. Klahr? Bright little Petr Stenson. Perhaps he’ll bring his girlfriend with him.”

  Amanda let the woman’s words set in and then let out a gregarious laugh that sounded genuine to Dodd. “Gretel? Are you talking about Gretel? Is that who you think is coming?” She laughed heartier now, making a show of it, and Marlene couldn’t help but scowl. “You are quite the violent fool, aren’t you? Gretel left for the Old World ages ago. I don’t know how long it’s been now, but...ah yes...I remember. It was only a few weeks after she smashed your head in.

  Marlene instinctively reached for the spot on her head where the hammer had been lodged. Dodd suspected this was a recent habit, and one she would maintain for decades.

  “I haven’t heard from her in over a year. She’s not coming for me. She or her mother.”

  Dodd looked at Marlene sheepishly. He sensed a bubbling in the woman and felt this could be news that would send her into some wild convulsion of fury, a portion of which, he imagined, would almost certainly be directed toward him.

  His fingertips once again brushed the handle of his pistol. He had known about the Morgans’ flight days after they left for the Old World. It was part of the job to keep up with the whereabouts of witnesses, after all, and there was no doubt Marlene would come to this realization too.

  He spoke preemptively. “She’s right. Gretel and her mother left a week or so after...but from the rumors, it sounded as if they’d be gone for only a month or two. Three at the most. But they never came back. I don’t really know why. It’s strange. I’ve asked around, and no one at the barracks has any
word on them.”

  Marlene looked to the ground, considering this news. “The Old World is like that; it entices. Mysteries live there that can only be discovered by standing on that soil. But she’ll come. She’ll come soon. Orphism has this power too. It will be the draw of love that brings her back. Her love of this wretched woman and that of her meaningless child, Petr, will bring her back.”

  Dodd gave Marlene’s words space, just to let her know he had fully heard her, and then said, “That’s all very philosophical, Marlene, and I’m sure you’d very much like to believe it’s all true, but how can you know that? If Anika and Gretel haven’t even been in communication, how can she know anything has happened? How can she know to come?”

  Marlene walked slowly toward Dodd, her arms clasped behind her back like a professor sauntering his classroom while discussing some ambiguous phrase in a timeless piece of literature. “Because that’s how it works, Officer Dodd. There is more to eternal life than the long years you so yearn for. There is the learning of flow, the recognition of the unseeable. You come to understand the movements of the universe and, most importantly, how to draw toward you those things that are essential. The girl Gretel is ripe with this understanding. It will simultaneously be her divining rod and her downfall.”

  “She may come.” Amanda Klahr now sat forward, propped on her knees, her back straight, eyes as wide as bicycle tires. “But she’ll come on her own terms. She’s smarter than you. Smarter than both of you. And with Petr’s courage and determination, they’ll find the way to kill you for good. They’ve been through too much to let you win.”

  Marlene smiled at Amanda Klahr; it was the ironic, cocky grin of the person who owns the high ground. But it wasn’t sustained, and Dodd sensed an apprehension in the look, a sudden unease at being in the presence of the Klahr woman. “We shall see,” is all she said before leaving the room.

  Dodd began to follow when Amanda spoke again, nearly causing the officer to trip mid stride. “You thought you would be the one, is that it? The one to capture the secret of immortality?” Mrs. Klahr didn’t wait for a reply. “Look at her. When you walk out of this room, really look at her again. Is that what you want to become?”

  Dodd turned toward the prisoner now, his eyes and mouth flat and expressionless.

  “She’s alone, miserable, and she lives here,” Mrs. Klahr glanced around the room, “in this tumbledown slaughterhouse in the middle of an out-of-the-way forest in the Northlands.”

  “That won’t be how I choose to live,” Dodd replied too quickly.

  “Choose? Do you think she chose this? Do you think she ever thought she would end up this way? Ask her. Ask her what her plans were a thousand years ago or whenever it was.”

  “Everyone’s life is different. People who live normal life spans don’t all live the same way. Some are happy or poor or lonely. Why should it be any different for the immortal?”

  “Because this life, the life of this ancient woman, is one of addiction. Can’t you see it? If you go through with this, you may indeed make different choices. Your background is very different than hers, so your paths will be different. That’s true. But you will always be an addict. Addicted to death. And you will end up like some variation of that monster out there.”

  Dodd closed his eyes now, trying not to absorb the words, to wish away the guilt he felt.

  “And if you have a maker, Officer Dodd, what will He have to say of this when your time finally comes? Maybe you don’t believe in a god, but what if?”

  “I don’t know!” Dodd’s eyes were open now, and his guilt descended into rage. From her knees, Amanda Klahr slowly backed toward the headboard. “I just know it’s what I’ve decided to do, and I’ve come too far now.”

  “You haven’t though. I’ll never say anything about any—”

  “I’ve come too far.” Dodd was calm now, his voice fresh with resignation. “I don’t want to hurt you, ma’am. I have no interest in hurting anyone. But if that is what I must do to stave off my death, then I will. You. Gretel. Petr. It doesn’t matter who.”

  This time Amanda was quiet. Fear returned to her eyes.

  “And I’ve thought of what God will think. And you’re right. I suppose I am damned. If such a maker lives in heaven, then I’ll be damned for all hereafter.”

  Behind Dodd, the click of heels quickly erupted in the room, and suddenly Marlene moved past him toward the bed. A shallow stone cup was visible in Marlene’s grasp.

  “Drink this willingly, or I’ll cut open the veins of your arms and pour it into your blood. Either way, you’re going to sleep.”

  Amanda took the cup without protest and drank the demitasse dry. She stared at Officer Dodd the entire time.

  Chapter 27

  The sounds of click-clacking on wood entered Anika’s dream randomly, and the serenity of the family reunion in which she was adrift was interrupted by her recurring nightmare—the crescendo of a woman’s feet strutting down a long, dark hallway.

  Anika jolted awake and saw that the source of the sound was a stray chicken that had entered her quarters and was searching the room for stray feed. She got to her feet and scanned the room, instantly recognizing it as the hut in the sophisticated mountain village that she had slept in the previous night.

  The taste of vomit was strong on Anika’s palate, and she was desperate for water. She opened the door and walked out into what she assumed was dawn, but with the cloud cover thick on the low sky, it could have been dusk.

  “Anika.”

  Anika turned to see Oskar, groggy and concerned, a thin blanket pulled up to his chin. “What are you doing, Oskar? I...I can’t remember much. How did I end up back here?”

  “I watch for you to wake. Noah just leave from the night watch.”

  Anika could sense the disquiet in Oskar’s vigil, and she suspected there was an equal anxiety on Noah’s shift. There was no need to follow up on her second question; they had gotten her here safely, and Anika felt touched by their efforts. “How long have I...how long have we been back?”

  “We been two days back. Noah carry you here.”

  Anika thought back to the route they’d taken to get to the isolated village. It wasn’t the arduous mountain climb they’d made to this place, but it was no stroll to the village market either. She struggled to conceive of how Noah had hauled her from there. “Carried me?”

  “Well, you no walk in your sleep!” Oskar broke out in a wild laughter that was reminiscent of the vulgar, drunken personality that was so prevalent during the early days of their journey.

  “I guess not.” Anika’s voice turned solemn. “Was I close to...did I almost die?”

  Oskar looked serious. “I think so. You so sick.” He smiled now. “But now you are better.”

  “Better for a while, Oskar. The pill bought me some time. But now we have to go. I must get back. I must find the book and... I don’t even know where to look.” Anika sighed, and suddenly, at once, the thought of her daughter and the magnitude of all the efforts that lay ahead collapsed upon her. “I can never bring it back here.” She gave Oskar a bemused smile. “How can I do this, Oskar?”

  “We can do. We get going now. Down the mountain much faster. You be back home in no time. You get the book first, then you worry who can read it.”

  “But I don’t even know the sailing schedule. What if nothing is available to the New Country for weeks?” Anika’s voice cracked, the first signs of panic, and the thought of traveling even to the edge of the village was overwhelming, let alone to the other side of the world.

  “Boats leave every day for the New Country.” Noah’s voice explained from behind the open door. “I navigated the seas for many years before I finally settled on becoming a ground guide. I know men at the docks who can get us to the far shores in just over a week.”

  “Don’t you need to sleep, Noah?” Anika asked with true concern. “And thank you. Thank you both, but this isn’t part of your fee. You’ve done far too much already.
”

  Anika started down the wooden steps to get on equal ground with her companions, but by the second step, her knees buckled beneath her and she fell forward into the arms of both men, Oskar rising just before she lurched, as if recognizing the danger before it happened.

  “You’re not ready, Ms. Anika. Getting you here from the village of the tribesmen was one thing; I can’t carry you down a mountain.”

  “Of course not, Noah, but I have to go.” Anika’s challenge was hazy and sounded as if it came during a sleepwalk, the mild rebuttal of an eager lover in a dream perhaps.

  “How, Ms. Anika?” It was Oskar this time, desperate for an answer didn’t seem to exist.

  “We can help you.”

  Anika heard the voice as if it had rained down from a cloud far off in the distance, and she doubted the reality of it. It was calm, pleasant, sounding much like the dark woman with the pleasant face who had welcomed them upon their arrival.

  “We know of your plight, Anika, and the toil you face. And of the honor you two have shown.”

  Anika smiled weakly, hovering just above sleep. She imagined the bashful look spreading quickly across Oskar’s face.

  “And you are correct: you cannot wait. The Medicine People are truthful men and women, and they know of the Book and its secrets in a way that few else on this planet do. But they are imprecise. They have helped many but have been quite wrong in their estimates before. You may not have as much time as they promised. But it may last longer.”

  “What help?” Anika gasped out. Her eyes were only half slits, but they were alive, and her attention full.

  “Our horses are fast and durable, bred over two thousand years to gallop easily through these mountains. Our dragoons can get you to the shores in a little over two moons. You can leave on the next ship the following morning.”

  “I don’t...” Anika began to cough, the feeling of nausea coming on strong.

  “Don’t speak, Anika. I will arrange this. You have come to us for help in a brave manner, and we shall reciprocate that bravery with the help we are able to supply.”