The Deep (3 page)

I frown dubiously. Why would they need
sentries for that? The inhabitants of Dartmoor wouldn’t want to
venture out anyway, if they feared the outside world so much. We
never had soldiers guarding our Wall either – no one even wanted to
cross. Until recently, that is.

“I don’t know, Dad,” Walt replies
uncertainly. Clearly, he’s thinking the same thing.

Once we pass through the gate and enter
Dartmoor County, my dark thoughts dissipate into the background.
It’s truly beautiful here. The vegetation is lush and green, and I
spot the same kind of heather that grows near our northern beach.
Farms dot the landscape, surrounded by fields filled with grazing
cows and sheep. As we drive further east, the cattle fields make
way for a different kind of farmland – fields of grain. They look
like barley and rye plants, or possibly oats. It all looks so
peaceful and tranquil that my eyes fill with tears. In here, people
have learned how to live together in peace, without being at each
others’ throats or making up ridiculous stories about their
neighbors. Mara, Andy, Colin, and Ami would love to see this world,
too.

“Isn’t the landscape just amazing?” Padma
says breathlessly. She’s gotten up from her seat in the middle and
slides into the seat next to Walt’s father. “You think I could stay
here?”

“You’d want to?” I ask in surprise.

“Who knows. Let me scout out the cute boys
here first,” she says with a wink.

Padma wasn’t dating anyone yet when we left
Tresco. Maybe she’s interested in marrying a mainlander. After all,
we don’t have a lot of choice on our small island – neither
Newexter nor Hope Harbor can compete with a city of ten thousand
inhabitants.

When the bus finally comes to a stop in front
of a gigantic, gray structure that seems to be made of the same
kind of rock as the surrounding mountains, we all fall silent. To
the left and right of us, a high, stone wall slightly curves away
from the entrance, like the city was built in an enormous, circular
shape. And at the gate, three important-looking people are waiting
for us. The blackbearded man in the middle is wearing some kind of
golden jewel around his neck, just like the Eldest’s wife. He is
flanked by two women wearing gorgeous dresses of brightly-dyed
wool.

Although the city of Dartmoor looks gray and
grim, its leader certainly doesn’t. The man with the black beard
gives us a heartwarming, friendly smile as we get off the bus. How
did he know we were coming, I wonder? It’s obvious he’s been
waiting for us.

“Tony,” he cries out when our savior steps
forward. “How lovely to see you again! So, you did it – these
people are citizens of Tresco?”

Tony shakes hands with the president. “Yes,
these people were brave enough to make the crossing,” he replies.
“And on their own ship, no less. It’s a sailing vessel and she’s
called the
Explorer
. You will love it. A fine piece of
craftsmanship.”

Meanwhile, Walt has shuffled a bit more to
the front. “Thank you for this wonderful reception,” he starts
outs. I can’t help but giggle when I hear how he’s trying to lower
his voice a bit. Just for a moment, the old Walt is back,
pontificating in front of this president and wearing his mask of
self-assurance. “I’m the Bookkeeper’s assistant – he’s the leader
of West Tresco. And this is my father, the Bookkeeper’s
brother.”

“Welcome,” the head of Dartmoor City says.
“I’m President Jacob, and these lovely ladies are my wife and my
sister, but also my advisors. The guards at the west gate notified
me of your arrival.” President Jacob turns to Tony. “Why isn’t
Henry with you?” he says, lowering his voice and scanning the
crowd.

A cloud passes over Tony’s face. “He didn’t
make it,” he mumbles.

The president nods solemnly. “What
happened?”

“He drowned at sea.”

The flat-out lie, told shamelessly, sends a
jolt through my body. Tony told us we didn’t need to worry about
being held responsible for the crimes Saul committed. So why is he
lying about the real reason for his friend’s death?

“Why is he saying that?” I hiss at Walt.

“Maybe he wants to spare us some
embarrassment,” he replies. “Revealing to the president that we
come from an island of deranged murderers isn’t really going to
look good.”

I nod gingerly. Tony will probably tell
President Jacob more about Tresco later – how regimes on neither
side of the island had been free of corruption, sadly.

The president and his entourage turn around
and show us into the city. Once inside, the president hands me and
Walt a large ground plan of Dartmoor before distributing some
smaller maps to the other visitors. As I suspected, Dartmoor has a
round shape. It’s encircled by a wall that was probably there
before to keep prisoners in, and now forms a barrier between the
high buildings inside and the pastures and farms on the
outside.

“Here’s my palace,” the president points out
helpfully on our plan. “It would be an honor if you could come to
lunch there later on.”

“All of us?” I blurt out in surprise.

“Of course,” President Jacob confirms with a
friendly smile. “Five loaves of bread and two fish will feed a
multitude, sweet girl. We believe in miracles and generosity.”

Wow. Even the Bookkeeper of Hope Harbor isn’t
this bighearted.

“But first we would love a tour of the city,”
Walt says. “I’m dying to find out how your people live here.”

“Sonia will be glad to accompany you,” the
president says, indicating the woman he’d introduced to them as his
sister and advisor.

When I turn around, I suddenly notice Tony is
breaking away from our group.

“Won’t you join us?” I call out to him,
feeling a bit lost.

He shakes his head. “I have to go see
Michelle first. Henry’s wife. I’ll meet up with you in the palace
later.”

With a growing sense of guilt I stare at him
as he walks away. What is he going to tell
her
? The same lie
about Henry drowning at sea?

“Come on, let’s go,” Walt interrupts my
thoughts. He takes my hand and pulls me along in the direction of a
wide street to follow Sonia, but stops when he sees the crushed
expression on my face. “Leia, what’s wrong?”

“These people are all so
nice
,” I
whisper. “And we’ve done a horrible thing to one of them.”

“You want to tell them the truth?” Walt asks
seriously.

I shrug. “Maybe.”

“Well, let’s just wait and talk to Tony
first, okay?”

“Sure. You’re right.”

As we follow Sonia onto the main street, the
bells above the city gates start to toll. Maybe it’s their way of
welcoming us. Or maybe it’s a final salute to Henry, the Dartmoorer
they have lost today.

By the time we get to the palace, my head is
spinning. We’ve seen so many things and met so many people that I
can’t take it all in anymore.

Everything on the street is properly
regulated. Here, too, they have electric vehicles, but despite
their speed, no driver tries to cut another driver off. Nobody
seems impatient. The people who pass us all smile at us
beatifically, looking peaceful and content. I can’t believe they’re
able to stay this serene, because there are people everywhere. So
many. I’d go crazy here, regardless of all the friendly faces that
we see. It has only taken me one hour of city life to secretly long
for a quiet, natural place to retreat to. Who would have thought
I’d start missing Saul’s wretched survival hikes?

Walt is having a better time. He’s used to
living in a town like this one. Every now and then, he recognizes
things they have in Hope Harbor as well. “Look, a clock tower!” he
points out enthusiastically, when we pass a sort of town hall. He
admires the structure, slipping a casual arm around my shoulders.
“And look, over there – a library.” He’s right – it’s even written
on the front in large, silver-colored lettering. In a big city like
this, it’s probably necessary to put up signs on the outside of
buildings so people know where to find what. Or who knows, maybe
they do it as a courtesy to newcomers like us – after all, the
president was very quick to provide us with a map of the city,
too.

Our last stop on the tour is an impressive
building right next to the palace, which Sonia calls a ‘church’.
“This is where we congregate every Sunday, to remind each other of
the words that Jesus spoke,” she explains.

“Jesus?” I echo. “Who’s that?”

“Man and God at once,” she replies ardently.
“He healed the sick, forgave his enemies, showed his followers
miracles, and walked on water. And most importantly, he taught us
that violence is the root of all evil. Our society honors his
teachings.”

I hear Walt inhale sharply. “He walked on
water?” he repeats croakily.

His words take me back to the nights on board
the
Explorer
, when Walt told me the stories about Jesse. The
traitor who tried to convince the Hope Harborers they could leave
Tresco without having to wait for Annabelle. The man who walked on
water.

“Jesse.” Walt’s whisper barely stirs the air.
“Jesus. So – he existed for real?”

“Of course,” Sonia says, a bit curtly. “Don’t
your people on Tresco know him?”

“We do.” Walt looks at her dazedly. “Just –
differently.”

I completely understand his bewilderment. The
double agent of his religion turns out to be worshipped here as
some kind of miracle man for bringing peace to the people. It’s the
world upside down.

Fortunately, a servant decides to show up and
interrupt our conversation by ushering us inside, leading us to a
stunning dinner hall with glazed windows in all colors of the
rainbow. The stained glass, as Sonia calls it, features all kinds
of symbols and images. Lots of cross shapes, like the tombstones in
the Penzance graveyard. To my amazement, I see an image of a man in
the upper left corner window resembling Luke Skywalker, including
the white robe, but it can’t be him. He’s holding a basket
containing fish and loaves of bread, and he seems to be standing on
the surface of a lake. That must be Jesus.

At the head of a long table laden with food
sits the president. Sonia walks past us and sits to his left. On
the right-hand side is his wife – I don’t remember her name, or
maybe nobody told me yet. They all look so happy, their faces
beaming and their smiles so radiant that I can’t help but smile
myself when I sit down at the table on the chair next to Walt.

William picks the seat to my right. “Dartmoor
is a fantastic city,” he gushes. “So friendly. So generous. So
social.”

“Yeah, isn’t it?” I remember how we welcomed
Henry – by confining and executing him. But no, I should stop
thinking like this. Those dark days are over. I’m happy the people
on the Other Side are welcoming us with open arms.

President Jacob gets up and addresses
everyone at the table, looking at us one by one. “So good to have
you all gathered here.” He gives a nod to Tony, who’s sitting
across from me, I notice at present. “Thanks to this man from
Bodmin, you have found our world. I hope we can find our way to a
beautiful future together. Now let me say grace first, before we
start our lunch.” He bows his head and closes his eyes while
folding his hands in some kind of reverent gesture. “There will be
no more war, no crying, nor pain, for the old order of things has
passed away,” he intones solemnly.

The words move me. These people learned from
the past and vowed not to make the same mistakes again. This is how
our faith in the Force was always meant to be. This is how our Luke
had once written it down in The Book – collaboration makes us
strongest, and the Force will bind us together.

I finally start to relax somewhat. At first
glance, Dartmoor seemed too good to be true, but maybe I should
switch off my skeptical alarm. The fence must be there to protect
these citizens. The border guards are just there to report to the
president who’s visiting, so he can wait for them at the gates with
a delegation of smiley faces.

“Who do you think that girl next to Miriam
is?” Walt mumbles at that moment.

“Miriam?” I repeat.

“Yes. The president’s wife, remember?”

I follow his gaze and see who he’s talking
about. A skinny, pale girl with dark-blonde tresses is listlessly
poking the potato on her plate with a fork. She looks sick. What
could be the matter with her?

“That’s Amanda,” Tony answers, his voice
grave. “Their daughter. She suffers from the war disease.”

“What’s that?” I ask quietly.

“You’re born with it,” Tony replies. “And it
will never leave you. Our ancestors often suffered and succumbed to
the disease just after the war had ended. It’s because of radiation
poisoning of the land, combined with the virus they set loose on
the earth. It won’t kill you instantly, but it will slowly eat you
from the inside.”

“That’s horrible,” Walt whispers. “How old is
Amanda?”

“Fourteen. According to the doctors, she has
about three years left.”

My heart breaks. This girl will never grow up
to be an adult. Not in this world, anyway – in here, you’re not
ready for a life of your own until you’re eighteen. The president
and his wife seem so happy, but those smiling faces certainly hide
a terrible sadness.

After a copious lunch, we
are met in the main hall by a man who introduces himself as Harry,
the hotel owner. Apparently, he can get temporary housing for all
of us.

“Tomorrow, Tony will take
us to Moretonhampstead in his bus,” Walt tells me excitedly.
“That’s where the largest library of Dartmoor is, so we can find
out everything we want to know about the world as it used to be.”
He smiles at me and pulls me into his arms. “He also told me we
could find the original stories about Luke and Leia
there.”