The Ryle of Zentule

by Michael Green

  “Yes. I was there for that. We think a thief broke in, saw what was happening, and called us.”

  “So the thief ran away? Because they were probably wanted for other crimes?”

  “That’s the current theory, but I don’t see what that has to do with you?”

  “I—well, I know someone who’s missing. He was at that optometrist a few days ago.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. I skipped school to visit his parents.”

  The officer regarded her doubtfully but said nothing.

  The drive to school only took a few minutes. Letty noticed how well behaved all the other cars were when they saw the police cruiser in their rear-view mirrors. The only problem was that they obeyed the speed limit a little too strictly.

  The cruiser pulled into the school’s parking lot, and they stepped out.

  “I should write you up for truancy, but since you aren’t in the computer for anything else—” she paused, as if thinking carefully about what she would say to Letty. “Decent people have to look out for one another. I respect that you were comforting a suffering family, but you need to do it after school hours. Don’t let me catch you again, or I won’t be so friendly.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Letty said, relieved that she wouldn’t walk onto campus wearing handcuffs.

  Letty sped up as she approached the doors. She gave an unfamiliar man standing on the school steps a wide berth as she went.

  “Lysette Van Arndt?” The man asked.

  “Yes,” Letty said, as she felt her eyes straining. The man’s glasses reflected the sun, and the glare made her look away.

  “My name’s detective Fairbanks. I came by your home last night to talk to you, but you weren’t there. I’d like to talk with you now.”

  Letty kept herself from recoiling. “What do you want to know?” she asked in the calmest voice she could manage.

  “First, why are you here so late? And second, why did you arrive in a squad car?”

  “She’s fine detective, she was just visiting friends.”

  Letty turned and saw the officer standing by her car.

  The detective glanced at the officer. Letty thought that his skin looked bruised.

  “That’s fine, I just have a few questions for her,” he said to the officer, before focusing back on Letty. “I can place you at a scene where multiple kidnappings occurred. What do you have to say about that? Do you admit to being at Dr. Ropt’s establishment the night that dozens of people were found?”

  A tentacle moved across his tie. Letty stepped back, and nearly stumbled on the steps.

  He’s a ryle!

  The detective stepped forward and held up a piece of paper. Letty felt her eyes tense.

  The Infiniteye.

  “I know what you are,” the detective whispered.

  “Is there a problem, detective?” The officer stepped towards them.

  “No, no problem. I’m on the optometrist case, just following some leads.”

  The officer approached, not satisfied.

  He straightened his tie and folded his piece of paper. “Leads are hard to come by when everyone has amnesia. And that’s the strangest part—nobody remembers anything,” he said, looking at Letty.

  “Of course,” the officer said, and then, patting Letty on the shoulder, “go on now, get to class.”

  Letty struggled to keep from running to the door. She stepped inside and had to lean against a wall to calm herself. A student with a hall-pass walked by and gave her a weird look, but Letty hardly noticed.

  They know who I am. They know where I live.

  She felt shattered.

  What can I do?

  “Miss, may I see your hall-pass?” a woman with a clipboard asked. Letty recognized her as an administrator.

  Letty focused. “I don’t have one. I’m going to class now—I just got here.”

  “Okay then. You’d better hurry,” she said.

  Letty nodded and rushed off. She had to check her phone for the time, learning second period was in session, but right as she approached the classroom door, the bell rang.

  Students burst from every doorway and swarmed in all directions. The complete silence of the halls instantly collapsed under the weight of a thousand voices.

  Letty stood as they passed, moving up or down the hall in a shambling mass. She felt herself wanting to laugh, but there was also something unbelievably sad.

  I can never go back to this.

  “Letty! Oh my God, where have you been? I was so scared,” Emma nearly bull-rushed her into a row of lockers.

  Letty returned the hug. “I was a little late.”

  “A little—it’s third period now!”

  “Oh yeah, I wasn’t sure,” Letty said, looking at the numbers on the doors, and trying to remember which way she needed to go.

  “I’ll see you at lunch,” Emma said, concern on her face. “You have science now; it’s that way.” Emma pointed down the hall.

  Letty laughed. “Thanks,” she said through the laughter.

  I’m losing my mind. Of course science is this way.

  She got to class and wasn’t sure which seat was hers. She waited for the others to fill up the desks before an empty seat became clear. She couldn’t hear the teacher and barely kept her book opened to the right page. It felt pointless.

  After what felt like a second, the bell rang. Looking down at her notebook, Letty realized she had written nothing. The student who sat in her desk during the next class was standing there, giving her a mean look.

  Pay attention, Letty!

  She rushed to pack her things and get out of the way. Once in the hall, she followed someone that shared her fourth period class.

  “—Lysette?”

  Letty stared at her instructor. “Excuse me?”

  “Non, non, en français s'il vous plaît!” Her instructor said, plainly annoyed.

  A few people giggled.

  “Uhm—Excusez-moi?”

  “Faites attention,” he said, looking away and asking the next question to another student.

  Letty felt her face redden.

  She tried to pay attention to the rest of French, but the memory of the detective stayed with her.

  What should I do? I need to find Andy, but what about after? What if they take my family again? Should I stay away? Would that keep my parents safe?

  The bell rang.

  Letty sped to the door and elbowed a few people on the way. She ignored the affronted grumbles and headed towards the cafeteria.

  Once there, she saw her friends, and spotted Dean, off by himself.

  “Letty!” Emma called out to her. “Over here!”

  Letty ignored her and walked to the door that led to the P.E. area. Once outside, she kept an eye out for instructors.

  There’s a good spot behind the row of pines.

  Letty hunched low and avoided a pair of gossiping instructors on their way to lunch.

  She ducked behind the pines and climbed the fence. She grimaced as dozens of prickly branches slapped her face and rearranged her hair.

  She kicked a leg out over the other side and nearly snagged her blouse, but she carefully unhooked it, and climbed down the other side, eager to be free and find the Caspians.

  She rarely left school this way and needed a moment to get her bearings.

  I better watch out for another squad car, or I’ll be truant again. Letty sighed at the thought.

  She walked as quickly as she dared down the sidewalk, afraid of the attention running would bring, but equally afraid that she was being chased. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw no one.

  She arrived at the burger place, but Staza and Quill weren’t there. Feeling hungry, Letty decided to have lunch. She ordered and took a table outside. She looked around at all the corporate people, who, like her friends at school, were let loose for an hour and expected back in their seats promptly. She grinned at the sudden long line that now stretched onto the sidewalk.

  I can’t
laugh though. It’s a tragedy; we go from wanting to avoid responsibility to plunging in, till they don’t even have to use the bell.

  Letty leaned forward and looked closer at a girl across the street.

  Is that Emma?

  She stood and stared at a crowd of people crossing the street, but lost track of the familiar face.

  Probably just another skinny blonde.

  Letty sat back down.

  I’ve got a guilty conscience. I’ve been lying to everybody, and this can’t end well.

  “Hey! You’re early,” Staza’s voice came to her from nearby.

  Letty saw Staza and Quill, both shouldering heavy packs.

  “We bought provisions,” Quill said proudly.

  “Wait—you did what? Don’t tell me you wasted all that money,” Letty got up and took the heavy backpack from Quill before opening it.

  Hmm. Survival rations, sleeping bag, canteen, flint striker.

  “Did you guys go to a camping store?”

  Staza nodded. “We’re not going back to Caspia; we’ll need supplies.”

  “And that paper money wasn’t going to do us any good down there,” Quill added.

  Letty found herself agreeing.

  “Did you learn anything?” Staza asked, sitting down.

  “Yes. I spoke to Andy’s parents. Now we know where Andy went on the day he disappeared,” she said.

  “Where?” Quill asked, surprised and impressed.

  “There’s a park not far from the optometrist’s office. Someone saw him there. We’ll go after you eat, and then we’ll start our search. It might take days, but we’ll ask around. Maybe other people saw him,” Letty said, feeling guilty again.

  “All right,” Staza said, hopefully. “This could be going a lot worse; I think we should be grateful for how lucky we’ve been.”

  “You’re right. We are still free, and no one has died, so far,” Letty said.

  “It’s a shame we aren’t here under better circumstances. I’ve never had so much to wonder at,” Quill said, taking in the traffic.

  He and Staza were about to go inside to place their orders, but Letty gave them a quick explanation of how to do so.

  “We aren’t children, Letty. We saw you order yesterday,” Staza complained as she turned to go, holding her money in a tight fist.

  Letty grinned as they went, but then remembered the ryle from earlier.

  Even if I told them about the ryle detective this morning what good would it do? We have a plan. Andy is more important right now. They know I’m a Seer—we’ll worry about it later.

  She thought about their plan and felt doubt. She imagined approaching a thousand strangers and realized that she should go back to Andy’s house, for a picture to show people.

  She dropped her face into her hands and tried to keep calm.

  He came after me, and we will find him because it’s the right thing to do.

  “Hey, how are you feeling?” Staza asked, sitting down with a tray.

  Letty popped back up. “Just a little tired.”

  “Me too. It’s hard sleeping on the couch with your father leaning in to check on me every hour. That floor creaks,” Quill complained, and the girls laughed.

  Letty felt herself calming as Staza and Quill ate lunch and sniped at each other in their playful manner.

  These are the only people I can be honest with anymore, but I barely met them a few days ago.

  “Don’t you feel anonymous here?” Staza asked, finishing her burger.

  “What?”

  “I would feel crushed beneath all these people. In Caspia, each one of us has a talent, unlike any other. We are all valued, to a greater or lesser extent, based on what we provide for our society,” Staza said.

  Quill looked like he wanted to disagree, but didn’t speak.

  “I do feel that way sometimes. But it can be nice to be anonymous; it takes the pressure off,” Letty answered.

  Staza didn’t like the sound of that. “Pressure is one parent of excellence. Discipline is the other, and the two together improve one’s character. Without pressure of some kind, I don’t see how anyone can live up to their potential.”

  Letty was startled by Staza’s reasoned stance. “I probably have to agree, but there are problems with mandated pressure and excellence,” Letty said, careful to leave out Pythia.

  She expected that Staza and Quill had followed her implication, but neither responded.

  After a moment of awkward silence, Letty realized everyone had finished eating. “Let’s get going,” she said, standing and busing the table.

  The park was over a mile away, but Letty chose to walk the distance.

  Quill pointed across the street, and they saw the yellow police tape. A few squad cars still surrounded Ropt’s office.

  They crossed the street, traveled the last few blocks, and made it into the park.

  “This is the place,” Letty said.

  “A little pocket of life nestled between the sheer mountains,” Quill said arching his neck to look up at the buildings.

  They walked up and down the paths, asking the cart vendors if they had seen anyone matching Andy’s description, but no one remembered. Letty dreaded mentioning his bloody shirt.

  After an hour’s worth of bothering strangers, they took a break on a bench near a fountain.

  Letty watched a leaf fall into the water. A gust of wind picked up and shook many more from their branches. Falling, they sparkled in the sunlight, twisting and diving in their descent.

  Both Quill and Staza had unshouldered their packs and were looking worn from the failure. None of them wanted to air their thoughts, so they sat in silence.

  Letty noticed a man sitting on a nearby bench. He was looking her way. The man was heavy set, bald, and wearing a suit.

  He’s staring.

  Letty felt nervous.

  I hope he’s not a ryle. I can’t always tell right away.

  He gave her a nod, folded his newspaper and walked off.

  Letty was about to suggest that they leave, but Staza sat up and spoke, “Hey, look over there.” She pointed through the trees at what looked like a rail-bridge made of brick.

  Letty sat up and saw a bright patch through the branches. “There’s something on the wall. It’s shining like Seer script,” she said, almost not believing.

  They headed towards it. Letty looked over her shoulder as they went, but saw no sign of the man, though she did see a couple at another bench in the distance that reminded her of Emma and Dean.

  Letty laughed. That’ll be the day.

  “What’s funny?” Quill asked.

  Letty was about to speak when she caught sight of the Infiniteye, scrawled plainly on the bridge. It looked, for a moment, like any other piece of graffiti in the park.

  Letty laughed again.

  “It’s just there, in plain daylight. If Andy came through here, he would have seen it for sure,” she said, feeling her spine crawl with fearful anticipation.

  “Certainly,” Quill said, grinning at their luck.

  In the tunnel under the bridge they spotted another symbol drawn beside an old rusted metal door. They pulled at the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “I’ll cut a way through,” Letty said, palming the Argument.

  They looked both ways down the path and waited until there was no one in sight. Letty summoned the blade and plunged it through the locking mechanism. She loosened her grip and the blade vanished. The door creaked open. A brick hall lined with beer bottles and other garbage awaited them on the other side.

  They passed through and closed the door. Letty made the Argument glow, but Staza had a flashlight out and lit the way.

  “We’re definitely coming back to the surface to pick up more supplies. We can make a dozen spears and tridents and sell them again,” Staza said, sounding entrepreneurial.

  “Our Mistress won’t like the sound of that, but the rate of exchange is well in our favor,” Quill said, shifting the heavy
pack. “Look at all we bought for so little.”

  They probably could be millionaires with their attitudes.

  They tried to advance down the hall, but the hundreds of bottles and cans were too much. They lined up, one behind the other, with Staza and her flashlight up front. She made her way, careful of the debris.

  “That door was locked. Where did all these bottles come from?” Letty asked.

  “They’re probably a cheap early-warning system,” Staza said, as they continued down the hall. They moved slowly as Staza cleared the way with her feet, but every few steps, someone grazed a can, despite their efforts.

  “I hope no one’s on guard wherever we’re going,” Quill whispered, watching his feet.

  They turned a corner and saw a quicksilver wall at the end of the hall.

  “A portal,” Staza said.

  They approached and stared at its surface.

  “Andy came through here. I’m sure,” Letty said, about to step through.

  Staza grasped her. “Wait,” she whispered.

  Staza took off her large pack and retrieved her short sword and scabbard. She put the baldric on over her clothes and drew the sword. Quill had his dagger ready.

  Staza almost stepped through. “One more thing,” she said rooting through her bag.

  She pulled out the revolver they had captured from the ryle.

  “Oh my God!” Letty said, carefully taking the gun from Staza.

  “What?” Staza asked, her eyes wide as if she had made a deadly mistake.

  “This is a gun,” Letty said, a little shocked. “It’s very dangerous.”

  Staza looked at her strangely and raised her sword. “So is this,” she said, not following.

  “No—you don’t get it; this can kill you from far away. And it could go off accidentally, like if it bounced around in your bag, you could have died.”

  “I didn’t realize,” Staza murmured.

  She had learned from her father how to handle and be safe around guns, but the thought of the Caspians carrying a loaded pistol, without a care, nearly sent her into spasms of outrage.

  “You took this from my room without saying anything.” Letty wanted to chastise them, but knew it was her fault.

  I should have told them what it was. I just didn’t think – everything was so crazy; this was almost nothing. I was just going to leave it hidden in my room.