Authors: L.M. McCleary
“Here,” I handed the book to him, “if you want to know, just read this.”
He accepted the offering with a soft touch, staring down at it as though it
held all the secrets of the world. It was quiet between us as he stared at it,
miles away in thought. “By the way…” He started, his voice sounding much louder
in the still desert, “…did Kay ever manage to get you your gift? I worked very
hard on it.”
Kay was the last thing I wanted to think about right now. I gathered my
composure before responding. “No. What was it?”
With a downcast gaze, Nathaniel replied, “I was proud of him. He was doing
everything by the book, you know – only requesting things on Provisioning days
and never fussing when he didn’t get exactly what he wanted. I thought he’d be
okay. But…I guess he grew impatient, as he eventually followed in your father’s
footsteps and ended up banished into the wasteland as well.”
“He said he needed it before my birthday…that the next Provisioning would be
too late.” I murmured the words.
“Is that why?” Nate scoffed.
“
‘The
road to
hell is paved with good intentions’
, so they say. I had been visiting Jack
when Kay showed up. I had what he wanted – it had to be made from scratch - and
I was just waiting for the next Provisioning to deliver it. When I saw Kay
approach us, though, I managed to give him the item and send him on his way,
thinking he hadn’t been caught yet, but it was too late and I was reassigned
for helping him.”
“Caught?
Banished?”
I sighed. “Let me guess – ‘
higher
powers’
, right?”
Nathaniel nodded.
I kicked at the sand absently. I shouldn’t have cared, but it was eating away
at me. I just had to know. “So…what was it that Kay wanted?”
Nate bit his lip and hesitated. “I think you’d best ask him that. It directly
involved you and I don’t feel it my place to say.”
“Why not?”
“It was a personal item. He fumbled just asking for it.” The Pirate chuckled. “It
was a nice gesture, though…he was a good kid.”
“You talk as though he’s gone.”
“Isn’t he?” His face turned serious as I gazed up at him and my heart sank at
the implication. A part of me, deep down, still refused to believe everything
that was staring me in the face.
I wanted
to push the thought of Kay from my mind. In fact, I wanted to push
everything
from my mind. What good would thinking do me now? I found what I was
looking for. All that was left was to go home. Nathaniel couldn’t bring my boys
back;
Krastanov
couldn’t, and I was starting to think
that I couldn’t either. It was up to them now. I was ready for things to go
back to normal.
“Well…thank
you for letting me know what happened, though it’s strange that the vials don’t.”
“Isn’t it?” Nate replied quickly, “when the Elders are involved, the vials seem
to stop working. Kind of curious how that works…” There was a certain disdain
in his voice.
“Wait,
Elders?
Tsvetan
mentioned working for them…” I
started to rub my forehead. “You know what, I don’t want to know. It doesn’t
concern me.”
“
Tsvetan
said that?” Nathaniel’s eyes seemed to bulge at the
mention. “That can’t be right…” With both hands tapping the clothing upon his
hips, the Pirate continued, “You’re exactly
right,
it’s no business of yours. Let’s just forget that I even brought it up.”
I nodded curtly as the sound of footsteps was heard behind us. Nathaniel looked
past me and I glanced over my shoulder to see one his guards approaching.
“Sir, your presence is requested…” The man called towards us.
“Ah, it looks like we must cut this meeting short. Come, I’ll walk you back to
the gate.” He clasped my shoulder as he said this and we followed his guard
back to the tent.
“Maybe I didn’t have all the answers you hoped for but I did enjoy talking with
you. I hope we can do it again someday.” His contagious smile was back again as
we grew closer to the gate. “In the meantime, I
will
be reading this!”
He shook my journal in front of him, “I’m sure it will be a very interesting
read.”
I blushed lightly as I thought of the more personal things I had included in my
journal. I didn’t think of them when Nathaniel had first asked, but what did it
matter? I would never see this man again and we both knew it.
“Keep it,” I replied, “I have no more use of it.”
“I suppose it’s only fair; a journal for a journal, eh?” He waved goodbye at me
as he ducked inside his tent.
I was escorted to the gate by his guards but my mind was racing; I had suddenly
remembered something that I had wished I had the chance to tell him. As I
looked back towards the tent through the now closing bars of the gate I
remembered Nathaniel’s journal; it still resided in the town of the banshees.
Would he have wanted it back? And what about his documents from school? I
know
he wanted those. I sighed quietly as I saw the light flickering in the slit of
his tent and shuffled feet inside. I may not have the time to tell him now, but
I’ll see him in the morning; I can inform him then.
CHAPTER
5
The sun was barely peeking over the horizon as Kay and I stood within my
father’s tent, slugging the knapsacks over our shoulders and puffing at the weight.
One thing was for sure; my father was well prepared for the journey, more so
than I had been. The knapsacks contained a few containers of water and many
small meals and fruits. “The smaller the food, the more I can bring,” he had
said. Although we would never be able to eat our fill, we would at least have
enough to stave off the pangs of hunger and that’s all I could really hope for.
Kay, of course, was not very happy with the idea of eating so scarcely but I
was impressed with Chester’s planning and it reminded me briefly of the father
I always knew; someone you could rely on. Each knapsack also had scraps of
blank paper and pencils to draw out a map and at least two compasses. At my
behest, my father had grabbed two lanterns for the journey and some oil, items
that I had sorely missed in my rush to leave home.
“Everyone ready?”
My father had asked as we adjusted
our balance with the added weight.
“Yeah, I’m ready to go.” I had responded and Kay mumbled something similar in response.
“Are you sure you don’t want to put your satchel in your bag? It looks so
fragile on your hip…” My father had glanced down at the small bag that was tied
around my waist, the one I had brought from home that contained my medical
supplies. It was a little more haggard now, after my journey had finally ended,
but it was still sturdy and dependable. My father had thrown a few medical
supplies in each of our bags but also stocked my satchel up with more goodies
for the ride and I couldn’t blame him for being a little worried.
“She’s tougher than she looks,” I had replied with a smile, holding the satchel
in my palm, “after everything I went through, she’s still standing; my backpack
is not.” He nodded in response but still stared down at the satchel with a
creased brow. “We’ll be fine,” I said with renewed enthusiasm, “let’s go.” The
thought of wandering the desert with my family caused butterflies to dance in
my stomach; maybe I could show them the sights that took my own breath away on
my travels and with the Pirate’s help we would have little need to worry about
getting lost; they’ll know which way to go and what might lurk along the way.
“Yes…Nathaniel may already be waiting.” My father agreed and we headed out towards
the gate.
The gatekeepers opened the door as soon as they saw us and ushered us inside
the tent. Surprisingly enough, though, the gatekeepers allowed us inside
Nathaniel’s tent even though he had not yet arrived for the morning. We made
ourselves as comfortable as we could on the stray crates that littered the
place and set our heavy backpacks down into the soft sand that blew gently into
our shoes. It was an extremely quiet morning for such a populated area; even my
own town was more rowdy than this by daybreak. I sat on the edge of a crate
that was covered in silks and heavy boxes, stretching my legs out and watching
the miniature tornados of sand that kicked up at my legs and swirled about my
feet. Chester sat next to me, pushing the large boxes out of his way as he
plopped himself down. I heard the crate creak loudly as he did so and we
glanced at one another with a silent laugh, expecting the container to break
apart beneath him. Kay, however, sat opposite us on a large stack of bags. I don’t
know how he was comfortable; they appeared lumpy and probably contained the
fruits and vegetables that the storehouse seemed to have an abundance of. He
huffed as he sat, staring at the seat that Nathaniel had used yesterday and
narrowing his eyes in thought.
My
father watched him in silence for a few minutes before finally speaking, his
words sounding quite loud in the still air. “We may feel it best for you to
come but you’re your own person, Kay. You still have a chance to say no.”
Kay bitterly shook his head. “I’d never live down the guilt. Thanks to these
stupid vials…” at this Kay kicked the bag at his feet and the sound of clinking
canisters were heard, “…I’d spend the rest of my life wondering. I might as
well do it now.” I felt another pang of hurt at Kay’s words but I refused to
show it, instead focusing my attention on the swirling sand that my shoes
played with.
We heard footprints in the sand around us. We could see the gatekeepers loosely
from the slit in the tent and noticed them nod their heads towards the left
side of the tent. More footprints were heard and then the deep, booming voice
of Nathaniel.
“I shouldn’t be gone long, but you know what to do; keep an eye on the place,
yadda
yadda
yadda
.” I could
scarcely make out the Pirate’s hands as he clasped a guard on his shoulder and
made his way inside the tent.
His face appeared much softer today than it had when we first met and he smiled
at each of us when he entered. His short brown hair was a tousled mess and he
no longer wore the same tunic that the other Pirates did. Instead, he appeared
dressed for a journey. He wore a black undershirt and a protective vest with
multiple pockets. Upon his arms were two large braces and he wore dark, loose-fit
pants that swayed in the small breeze that greeted us this morning. His long,
multi-faceted boots clomped roughly on the sands as he walked past us to his
chair, a few cylinder vials on his belt clinking incessantly with his long
gait.
He
looked us all over before finally speaking. “Good morning.” He beamed and we
murmured back a response. “I see you’re all ready for an adventure. Good.” He
briefly touched the glowing blue tonics at his side. “A little unnecessary, but
a good show nonetheless.”
The three
of us looked towards one another with a crumpled brow. I cocked my head to the
side to look past my father at Nathaniel’s grinning face. “What do you mean?”
“Well
it’s been decided that we’re not just going to point you in the right direction
and hope for the best,” the Pirate started, “we’ve all decided that it would be
best to escort you and I’ll be leading the charge.”
My mouth
hung open at the words and I noticed my father choke on his surprise.
“You’re…you’re coming with us?”
“Sort of.”
Nathaniel responded and he palmed the vials once more. “Instead of
having you all wander the wasteland – since we know how well that turned out
for you before…” he glanced at my father and smirked, “…we’ll take you home
ourselves.”
I stared
at the Pirate with wide eyes as Kay shifted in his spot. “You mean…in the
sandstorm?” He asked in a skeptical tone.
Nathaniel
chuckled. “I suppose it’s a little difficult to keep that part of us a secret
out here, isn’t it? Yes, I will take you all home through the sandstorm.”
“Nathaniel…”
I started, “…you really don’t have to do that. That’s asking far too much of
you.” I thought back on his words last night. “What will the others think,
inviting us into your circle?”
My
father looked at me in confusion but I continued to stare past him as Nathaniel
removed the vials from his belt. “Well, that’s where these come in.” He dangled
them between his fingers. “Once you are all in a sleep-state, I will take you
where you need to go.”
“Sleep-state?”
Kay was shocked at the news.
“Yes. We don’t want outsiders to know about our way of life; it’s for our own
protection.”