Edsel Grizzler (14 page)

He worked through the contents of his crate far more quickly than he'd expected to. It had taken him just over an hour, but Kane and Lincoln had long gone.

He glanced around. It looked like they'd been telling him the truth. His work was over, and it was playtime, so he keyed his sign-off code into the scanner and returned it to its little holster.

‘How'd you go?' Jacq asked him when he ran into her near the skate park.

‘Good, I think.'

‘No mistakes?'

‘How would I know?' he asked. ‘Where were you today?'

She turned her hands over and showed him her nails. Each one was painted a different colour. ‘Pretty much everything in cosmetics gets sent back,' she said. ‘Unless someone's parents are going to ground them for a month for wearing too much eyeshadow. I've read that that happened more often back in the seventies, though. Nowadays it's “Oh, another nail polish! I can't think of any reason they shouldn't have that back!” so back it goes. After I've tested it,' she added, waggling her fingers again. ‘So, what have you got planned now, Mr Armandine, which doesn't start with G, by the way.'

Edsel grinned sheepishly. ‘I think I might go and check out the roller-coasters. Will Ben be into that?'

‘Try stopping me,' Ben said, walking up to them with his usual confidence, the tip of his cane sweeping back and forth in front of him. ‘I might be blind, but it doesn't mean I don't like being upside down, hanging from a shoulder bar.'

For his second morning of work, Edsel was in one of the cubicles where remote controls were sorted. Apart from a couple of fights that were likely to break out between couples, and expensive televisions that were likely to be replaced if the remote couldn't be found, it was another day of easy decisions. The only tricky moment he encountered was when he opened one box to find a remote identical to the one his father liked to surf the channels with. It was odd, being reminded of his past in such an unexpected way.

That afternoon he went to the beach and discovered that he could bodysurf.

The next day, he was put in the cubicle that handled kitchen utensils. Once again, it wasn't terribly difficult, although he found that he was thinking of his mother a lot more as he allocated and returned garlic presses, knives, spoons, beaters and kitchen scales.

That afternoon he and Jacq went karting while Ben went to his room to play around on his computer.

And gradually, in the short mornings of work followed by more fun than Edsel had ever imagined possible, and as he continued to consider what he might choose as his Heart's Greatest Desire, he began to forget about everything he'd left behind, and even remote controls and potato mashers and engine parts from old cars barely made a dent in his calm blanket of forgetfulness.

But then, a few days later, something happened that caught Edsel completely unprepared.

I
t was late afternoon, and Edsel, Ben and Jacq were sitting on the beach, eating fish and chips from a newspaper parcel while Bob dug a hole in the sand. A short distance away, some of the smaller kids were catching the waves in to shore on their boogie boards, laughing and squealing, while further along the beach, a group of boys was playing volleyball. Others were making sandcastles or just strolling along the damp sand down by the water's edge.

Edsel watched the waves, and the bright aqua-blue of the sea, which was broken up by the pure white lines of the surf. It was relaxing. And in the distance, almost as far away as he might have expected an ocean horizon to be, were more mountains, tall and slightly blurred by the distance.

‘What do you think is behind those mountains?' he asked.

‘The ones out there?' Ben asked, nodding beyond the sea. ‘More mountains.'

‘Really? Are you sure?'

‘Probably. Or maybe nothing.'

‘How about more Verdada?' Jacq suggested.

‘Why would there need to be more Verdada?' Ben asked. ‘Isn't this Verdada enough for you?'

‘But there has to be more,' Jacq said. ‘There's too much stuff in the world. There's too much stuff to get lost.'

‘You know what your problem is, Jacq? You think too much,' Ben said. ‘What do you reckon, Robert?'

Edsel shrugged. ‘I only just got here, so what would I know?'

‘Don't you reckon she thinks too much?'

‘I don't know,' Edsel said. ‘Maybe she thinks just the right amount. And about the right things. Maybe what she's saying is right.'

Ben shook his head and chuckled. ‘You guys, always thinking …'

‘So, tomorrow, Robert?' Jacq said, changing the subject. ‘Tomorrow morning is the big moment, huh?'

Edsel nodded, and held out a chip for Bob, who snuffled around with his wet nose and tongue, licking all the salt from Edsel's palm. ‘Yep, tomorrow morning is the big moment.'

‘Have you decided?' Jacq asked.

‘Yeah, I have,' Edsel replied with a smile. ‘But I'm not supposed to tell you.'

‘As if you won't,' scoffed Jacq. ‘Come on, out with it.'

Edsel took a deep breath. ‘This. This is what I want.'

Ben frowned, his eyes gazing past Edsel's shoulder, along the beach towards the kiosk. ‘What part of this, exactly? Fish and chips, the beach, hanging out with friends … ?'

‘The last thing,' Edsel replied. ‘Everything about Verdada is what I want, but mostly the friends, and the stuff I'm allowed to do here. Before I came to Verdada, my Heart's Greatest Desire was to be able to
do
stuff. And not just dangerous stuff, but
any
stuff. With friends, you know? So this is it. Simple.'

‘So your Desire is to stay?' asked Jacq.

‘Exactly! Perfect, isn't it?'

Jacq squeezed juice from a wedge of lemon onto a piece of fish. ‘Yeah, perfect.'

‘You don't think it is?'

‘Sure. I mean it's so convenient for you. You're lucky.'

‘That's for sure,' Ben agreed.

‘I'm confused,' Edsel said, watching Bob, who'd gone back to digging. He was deep in the hole he'd made, with only his tail and back legs visible as the sand flew. ‘You guys don't seem all that happy for me.'

‘No, we are, honestly,' Jacq protested. ‘But you are lucky. I mean, you don't really have to give up anything at all, do you? For you, Here is better than There. And you're not the only one. There are lot of other kids who would rather stay here than go back, just because what they get here is better than what they would have to go back to.'

‘Like who?'

Ben sniffed. It was almost a laugh. ‘Work it out. Hello, what's the dog found?' he said, as a hollow scratching sound came from the direction of Bob's new hole in the sand. ‘It sounds like a box or something. Definitely not sand.'

‘Maybe it's a treasure chest,' Jacq suggested.

‘Or a secret door to another dimension,' said Ben.

‘Yeah, the Infinitieth Dimension – apparently we're almost there as it is.' Edsel stood up and went to investigate. ‘Look out, Bob,' he said, kneeling in the sand and lifting his dog out, before reaching down into the hole, all the way to the bottom. ‘You're right, it feels like plastic or something like that,' he said. Then he tapped on the surface with his knuckles. ‘Yeah, it's hard, but sort of hollow. Here, help me dig a bit more.'

So he and Jacq began to dig, while Ben sat nearby with his head turned to one side, listening and making the occasional helpful suggestion. Fairly soon they'd dug away an area of sand about the size of a bathroom sink, and were looking down at a flat surface the colour of dry grass.

Edsel sat back. ‘Do you think it's the lid of something?'

‘I don't know.' Jacq knocked on it again. ‘It's weird. Let's try over here,' she suggested, moving a few metres away and beginning to dig once more. Before too long they'd reached the same hard, flat, hollow-sounding material. The third and fourth holes were the same.

‘It's probably not a real beach,' Ben said.

‘Well, it
feels
real,' Edsel replied.

‘Sure, the sand feels real, but it's obviously a man-made beach. What are the waves like?'

‘The same as always. About a metre high, all the same size, just right for surfing on.'

Ben smiled. ‘Just like a real beach, right?'

‘Um …' said Edsel.

‘Trust me, waves on real beaches aren't always the same size, and the entire shore isn't covered with half-a-metre of sand. This is like a wave pool – a giant wave pool, just like they have at water parks.'

‘You could have mentioned all this before we went and turned the beach into a Swiss cheese,' Jacq said.

Ben smiled and stood up. ‘And spoil all the fun? Bye, guys.'

‘Wait,' Edsel said. ‘Did you know that this beach was a fake?'

‘It's not a fake,' Ben said. ‘It's real, or at least it's real until you dig too far below the surface. So don't. I'll talk to you later.'

‘Does he know more about this place than he lets on?' Edsel asked, once Ben had left.

Jacq smiled. ‘He's a mystery, that boy. He does the training thing, but he's one of us. It's kind of weird. He spends a lot of time on his computer.'

‘Doing what?'

Jacq shrugged. ‘Who knows?'

‘Surfing the web? Emails?'

‘Email?' She snorted. ‘What would be the point? You'd email someone back home, and say what? “Hi Mum, Dad, I'm in a parallel place in the fifty-trillionth dimension, and my job is to sort the stuff you and your friends lose. Oh, and by the way, if you're getting stressed about that umbrella you lost, don't worry, you'll get it back by Friday.” No, I don't think it would work.'

‘Yeah, fair enough,' Edsel agreed.

‘Mind you,' she went on, leaning closer, even though the nearest person to them was almost fifty metres away, ‘if anyone could ever work out a way to email someone from Verdada, Ben would be the one. He's pretty good with all that stuff, even without working eyes.' Jacq stood up. ‘Well, I've got some things to do, so I'll see you later, okay?'

‘Sure,' Edsel said, frowning at the distant mountains.

Richard pressed the tips of his fingers together, saying nothing. Opposite him, across the chest in the centre of the turret, Edsel returned his stare, also saying nothing. Behind Richard stood Man, his silver suit shimmering dully, like the skin of a shark, and beside Edsel sat Jacq, her hands folded in her lap.

Finally, Richard spoke. ‘So, you've decided?'

‘I have.'

‘You've read the Charter?'

‘I have.'

‘And you understand that this decision is binding?'

‘I do.'

‘You understand that once you've received your Desire, you may never return to your old life.'

Edsel swallowed, hard. ‘Yes, I do.'

‘And you understand that Man is here as a witness, on behalf of the Mira, and you have brought your own witness.' He nodded towards Jacq, acknowledging her for the first time since they'd entered the room.

‘Yes, I understand all that,' Edsel said.

‘Very well. Then tell us, clearly, what is your Heart's Greatest Desire?'

Edsel took a deep breath. When he spoke again, his voice was softer than he'd intended it to be. ‘It's pretty simple, really. I want this. All of this. Verdada. Friends and … and adventure and fun and … and all of that.'

Richard nodded, before turning to glance at Man, who nodded in reply. ‘Very well. You're not the first to choose that, Robert, nor will you be the last.' He stood up, and indicated for Edsel to do the same. At the same time, the top of the chest opened to reveal a brass object, made up of complex angles and pieces, like a sextant he'd once seen in the Grabbits' shop.

‘Robert Armandine, please extend your right arm,' Man said.

Edsel looked at Richard and at Jacq, who both nodded encouragingly.

‘All right,' he said, holding out his arm.

Richard picked up the object and pressed one end of it to Edsel's forearm. ‘Robert Armandine, welcome,' he said.

‘Ah!' Edsel said as a sudden searing pain shot through his arm. ‘That hurt!' He rubbed the spot, and when he removed his hand, a very faint Verdada logo had appeared on his skin.

‘It will only sting for a day or so,' said Richard, and he smiled at Edsel and Jacq as Man went to the door and opened it, to reveal the foyer of the Hub.

‘That's it?' Edsel asked, after an awkward, silent moment.

‘What else did you expect?'

‘Can I still come back and see you, if I have more questions?'

‘Of course!' Richard replied. ‘What did you think – that once you were in we'd just leave you to your own devices?'

‘I … I didn't know what to think.'

‘You can come back any time you like,' Richard said warmly. ‘And thank you once again for your service to Verdada, Robert. We wish you all the very best.'

‘How did you think that went?' Edsel asked Jacq as they crossed the park towards the oddly shaped Domus.

‘Fine, I guess.' Jacq flashed him a quick smile, which he felt sure was supposed to be reassuring. But for some reason, it didn't make him feel reassured at all.

‘Was it the same for you?'

‘Of course,' she replied, absently rubbing her forearm. ‘Well, almost. What I asked for wasn't quite as simple. And no, before you ask, I'm still not telling you.'

Ben was waiting for them in the Common Room. ‘All done?' he said as he heard them come in.

‘All done,' Edsel replied, still a little surprised at how uncomplicated it had been.

‘So, what have you got planned for the rest of today?' Ben asked.

‘Dunno,' Edsel said with a shrug. ‘I thought I might check out the movies. There is a cinema, right?'

‘There is a cinema,' Jacq replied.

Ben looked disappointed. ‘Oh. Okay,' he said.

‘Oh! I'm sorry, Ben, I didn't … Sorry. We'll do something else.'

‘No, it's fine. I was just going to say that you might find the movies a bit …'

‘Boring,' Jacq interjected. ‘And what Ben means to say is that you
will
find the movies boring.'

‘Really? Why? What's on?'

‘Come on, I'll show you.'

‘I'll come too,' Ben sighed. ‘It's lucky I like choc-tops and popcorn.'

‘Is this it?' Edsel asked. ‘This is what they show at the movies?' He looked around the near-empty cinema. ‘It's no wonder there's no one here, if all they show is documentaries about lions!'

‘Oh, they show other stuff too,' Ben said through a mouthful of popcorn. He rearranged his feet on the back of the seat in front. ‘Last week they had a film about Verdada.'

‘Really? Verdada?'

‘It's true,' said Jacq.

‘Even though we're—'

‘Yes, even though we're here.'

‘And the week before they had festival of old movies, and the week before it was cartoons,' Ben told him.

‘Were they good cartoons?' Edsel asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

Jacq snorted. ‘Hardly! No, we're talking about the
Meep meep! Oops! Splat!
kind of cartoons. You know …' And to highlight her point, she yawned.

‘Oh. So what if my Desire had been to watch good movies all day?'

Ben grimaced. ‘Probably wouldn't happen.'

‘But if that was my—'

‘Then you'd be disappointed,' Jacq replied. ‘Did you read the fine print?'

‘There was no fine print.'

‘There's
always
fine print.'