Authors: Simon Kewin
‘Tunnel?’ The woman looked even more confused. Worried, even. She set down the pincers she’d been using and looked at them again. ‘What do you mean
tunnel
?’
‘Back there,’ said Finn. There seemed little point in trying to invent a story. ‘It runs underground from the foot of the steps.’
The woman shook her head as if trying to dislodge Finn’s words. ‘You’re making no sense. There’s just an empty room there. And how did you get past me before without me noticing?’
Finn glanced at Diane, who looked as unsure as he was what to say.
‘We didn’t come past you,’ said Diane. ‘We came through the tunnel, like we said.’
‘Why would you invent something like that?’ the woman asked. She looked alarmed now. ‘Is this some sort of test?’
‘No, no,’ said Finn. ‘We’re telling the truth. There is a tunnel, leading outside Engn.’
‘Outside?’
They glanced at each other again. Diane shrugged her shoulders. ‘Yes.’
‘Ah, I think I understand,’ said the woman, visibly relaxing. ‘You’ve recently been in the Sanatorium, yes? They’ve been looking after you there until you’re … better.’
‘The Sanatorium?’ said Finn. ‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘Well,’ replied the woman, ignoring his words, ‘I think it’s perhaps best if we send you back there, don’t you? They’ll look after you there, help you to see the world more … clearly.’ The woman looked visibly relieved at this explanation.
‘You’ve never seen the tunnel?’ asked Finn. It seemed utterly incredible. She worked just a short walk from an unguarded passageway out of Engn she could crawl along any time she wanted. ‘You’ve never been tempted to see where it goes? Get outside?’
‘Now, I think that’s enough of that talk, don’t you? No wonder they took you to the Sanatorium. They’re very good there, I’m sure they’ll soon cure you.’
Diane shook her head, her brow furrowed in puzzlement. ‘OK, we’ll just head on back to the Sanatorium. Like you said. Could you tell us which way it is?’
The woman looked satisfied at Diane’s words, as if everything now made sense again. She turned to the wall behind her and pushed a button that, somewhere distantly, made a bell ring. ‘I’ll summon someone to take you there,’ she said. ‘Don’t want you wandering around the Directory all alone, do we? No knowing what trouble you’ll get up to.’
Finn was about to object, argue, when a cowled figure entered the room. He or she wore red robes, a sort Finn hadn’t seen before. The figure turned its shadowed face to look at the woman.
‘Take these two unfortunates to the Sanatorium. And tell them not to be so careless with their patients in future.’
The cowled figure nodded, beckoned to Finn and Diane, then turned to leave. Finn glanced at the woman, engrossed in her machinery once more, then began to follow.
The hooded figure led them out into the glaring light of a courtyard. High walls encircled them, peeking over which Finn could see the familiar workings of Engn. The roar and thump of the machinery filled the air but it was muffled by distance. The air smelt cleaner than he remembered.
Many other red-robed figures walked to-and-fro across the courtyard and Finn and Diane had to hurry to stay close to their own. They could, Finn thought, easily slip away to hide; the figure they followed didn’t seem at all concerned about losing them.
‘This place is weird,’ said Diane. ‘They don’t seem at all surprised to find us here.’
‘I know.’
‘Perhaps we should just run.’
‘Where would we go though?’ said Finn. ‘We might as well see where this one is taking us.’
‘OK. But I don’t like it. It makes no sense. I understood it when the Ironclads were after us.’
They entered a tall, oblong building with small, round windows and a single, massive door at its base. Inside it was dark and hushed, the thick walls muffling all the sound of the machinery. They passed through rooms of empty beds, well spaced-out, each surrounded by comfortable chairs and shelves. None were occupied. Beyond the bedrooms was a large, bright, spacious room with tall windows leading out onto a wide balcony. The robed figure leading them talked into an iron grille in one of the walls, through which Finn could make out a face. The conversation continued for some time, then the robed figure walked past them and left, still without speaking to them.
‘Well, well,’ said a man emerging from a doorway near the grille. He also wore red robes but his cowl was hanging down his back, revealing his features. He had a handsome, friendly face. His head was shaved completely bald and his cheeks dimpled as he smiled at them. He wore a metal stud through one of his ear-lobes, as if someone had fired a rivet into him. ‘So, who have we here?’
Finn tried to invent some names on the spur of the moment, but his mind went blank. ‘I’m Finn. This is Diane,’ he said. The man held a rectangle of metal on which was clipped a piece of paper. He wrote something with a steel pen. Finn felt sure the man would realise who they were, but after a few moments he looked back up at them, still smiling.
‘Very good. I’m Nathaniel. Let’s go and sit outside and have a little chat shall we? It’s a lovely warm day.’
He hauled on one of the tall windows, which slid on some sort of ball bearing mechanism to open like a door. Outside, chairs had been set out. Morning sunlight glowed in the air, the smoke and steam of Engn giving everything a misty glow. Over the high walls, Finn could see the tops of the wheels and towers of Engn. He wasn’t sure where in the workings they were but one distant peak looked distinctly like the Drop Tower. Spindly lines led off from it through the air, presumably the walkways.
‘Good, good,’ said the man. ‘Now, tell me how you came to be here.’ He sounded genuinely interested to know their answer, delighted at the prospect of hearing a favourite story.
‘We came through a tunnel,’ said Diane. ‘Crawled all the way underground.’
‘A tunnel? How fascinating.’ He wrote more words. ‘So, where was the other end of this
tunnel
?’
Nathaniel’s friendly manner was disarming. Finn found himself telling the man the truth. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. ‘It was outside. We found it on the great plain, hidden in a little hollow in the ground overgrown with bushes.’
‘I see,’ said Nathaniel.
‘There was a great stone covering the entrance,’ said Finn. ‘We had to haul it aside to get in.’
‘And then you simply crawled all the way in, popped up and here you are?’ asked Nathaniel.
‘Well, yes,’ said Finn.
‘I see, I see. So that’s why you’re both so mucky?’
‘Yes,’ said Diane.
Nathaniel looked thoughtful for a time, peering at the both of them as if they were a puzzle. He wrote down more on his sheet of paper then looked up at them again. ‘I’d love to hear more about this
outside
you mention. Can you describe it to me?’
‘All of it?’ asked Finn. ‘But it’s vast. I mean, it’s outside, it’s everything. How can we describe all that to you?’
‘Yes of course, of course,’ said Nathaniel. ‘I can see it would be difficult. Why don’t you just tell me a little for now. Then, when you, ah, remember more of it, you can tell me that. We’ve plenty of time.’
Finn looked at Diane, who wore the same puzzled expression as before. He shrugged. ‘Well, there’s the great plain outside Engn. The grass stretches for many miles, in all directions. Engn is in the middle of it, obviously.’
‘I see. And what is beyond this grass plain?’
‘Well, everything, the whole of the world. Mountains and forests. The sea, some people say.’
‘The sea?’ The man sounded as if the word was unfamiliar.
‘Yes, you know, like a lake only much, much bigger. Although, I’ve never actually seen that.’
‘Much bigger. Yes.’ The man scribbled furiously now, appearing to write down everything they said. He turned his sheet of paper over, clipped it back into place and carried on writing. ‘And this grass plain. People live there?’
‘Yes. Lots of people. They wait outside the walls of Engn and send smoke-signals to each other with their fires.’
‘Do they, do they? And why are they there? What do they do?’
‘Well, generally they’re waiting for someone inside. Or they want to try and get inside themselves.’
‘Of course they do, of course they do.’ The man reached the end of his sheet of paper. He reread what he’d written then peered at Finn and Diane. ‘Well, this is certainly fascinating. I’d like to spend lots of time with you and hear everything about this wonderful world outside Engn. Would that be OK?’
‘Sure,’ said Finn.
‘But we don’t want to wear you out,’ continued Nathaniel. ‘You look exhausted. Shall we resume tomorrow?’
‘OK,’ said Diane, shrugging. ‘So, where should we go until then?’
‘Oh, stay here of course. We have plenty of room. Comfortable beds and I’m sure you must be starving after your long journey underground, yes? I don’t suppose there’s much food to be found out there is there? Outside Engn?’
‘Well, no,’ said Diane.
‘No. Good. Well, follow me and I’ll show you around. Then tomorrow we can talk some more. I’ll be sure to bring lots more paper with me.’
The man ushered them back inside and up some stairs. Finn felt sure he was playing some terrible joke on them, that they’d find themselves surrounded by cowled figures at any moment. But, instead, they were shown to a room dotted with numerous, round tables. Food and drink was brought to them on wooden plates, all of it steaming hot and delicious-smelling. They both ate hungrily, Nathaniel watching them all the time, a look of delight on his face. When they sat back he grinned. ‘Well, and now you’d like to rest, I’m sure. I’ll show you where you can sleep.’
They were taken up two more flights of steps to a long, narrow corridor off which led a series of doors. Nathaniel opened the nearest two. Each revealed a large, L-shaped room, a bed along one wall and two chairs around a table beside it. In the alcove of the L was a bath and sink, each fed by hot and cold water, along with a flushing toilet. In the wall over the bath, one of the round windows let in a shaft of bright sunlight.
‘I’ll give you adjacent rooms,’ the man said. ‘That way you can talk but you’ll have solitude and quiet if you need it. There’s a little grille in the wall you can slide open if you want to communicate.’
‘Thanks,’ said Finn sitting down on the bed. It felt very soft and springy. He seemed to sink into it.
‘I will have to lock your doors of course. For your own safety.’
‘Our own safety?’ asked Diane.
‘Yes. Just until you’re better. Once we’ve got you sorted out then you can go back to your old lives in the Directory. But until then, it’s best we keep you safe and secure. Don’t want you wandering somewhere you shouldn’t.’
‘We won’t go anywhere,’ said Diane. ‘You can leave the doors unlocked, can’t you?’ Finn narrowed his eyes at her but she refused to return his look.
‘Oh, I wish I could,’ said Nathaniel. ‘But really, it’s for the best. Then, tomorrow, we can go outside again and talk. Would that be alright?’
She was thinking about running, Finn could see, weighing up the odds of being able to escape the building, the Directory, Engn itself. He couldn’t blame her. None of this made any sense at all.
‘Now, now,’ said Nathaniel, also reading Diane’s expression. ‘I can summon help if I need, as I’m sure you know. But we prefer not to here at the Sanatorium. We like to do everything very gently, very peacefully. I’m sure you’d prefer that, wouldn’t you?’
On the wall outside his room, there was a button like the one the woman had used. Nathaniel could summon help any time he liked. Diane, it seemed, came to the same conclusion. There was little harm in staying for a time. Nathaniel had no idea who they really were.
Diane lowered her head in assent and followed the man into the next room. Finn heard their muffled voices as he showed her around, then the click of the two doors being shut and locked. He lay on his bed, letting its softness engulf him. Somehow he didn’t mind the door being locked like that. It was an illusion, no doubt, but it made him feel safer. His own room, his own bed. He loved the thought of all this
space
being his, his alone. The thought of having a hot bath made his skin tingle with anticipation. He was so tired, though. Perhaps a snooze first would be a good idea.
‘Finn!’
It was Diane, whispering to him through the grille. He slid open the cover on his side and, through it, half-obscured by thin metal bars, he could see Diane’s face. ‘Finn, what the hell is going on here? What’s wrong with them all?’
Finn shook his head. He whispered back. In case they were being listened to. ‘Beats me. They seem to think
we’re
mad.’
‘They think we’re just making it all up. Everything outside Engn. They don’t believe it’s real.’
‘The walls around this place are very high. I don’t think you can see the plain or the mountains. Perhaps they just don’t know about them.’
‘But that’s crazy. They can see the sky, the sun, the stars. What do they think
they
are?’
‘Don’t know,’ said Finn. ‘It makes no sense. The good thing is they’re convinced we belong here. There isn’t an outside so we can’t have broken in. They think we’re supposed to be here but just have these delusions.’
‘You’re suggesting we play along?’
‘For a while at least. Food, hot water, comfortable beds. I have to be honest, I think I like it here.’
‘And I don’t trust them. Not for a moment.’
‘No. But I think we’re safe for now. It doesn’t seem to occur to them the Ironclads might be looking for us. Perhaps we can find Shireen and work out what’s really going on.’
‘Shireen? That’s what really worries me.’
‘Why?’
‘Don’t you see? If she’s one of them she won’t believe there’s anything outside Engn, either. She won’t believe you’re her brother. She won’t believe in Mrs. Megrim. Not any of it.’
Finn lay back on his bed and thought about that. Within minutes he fell asleep and began to dream troubled dreams. The Ironclads pursued him around and around a circular corridor with no exits. He ran as fast as he could to get away from them. But he succeeded only in catching them up from behind, and then it became he who chased them.