Читать книгу Elevation 3: The Fiery Spiral - Helen Brain - Страница 7

LUCAS

I’m sitting on the softest grass and a flock of purple and green birds squawk from the branches of a spreading tree with spotted leaves. No earthly bird, even in the days before mankind began to destroy the planet, ever looked like these long-legged creatures gobbling berries and shrieking raucously.

Ebba is gaping too, but not with delight. Why does she look so disappointed? Is this not good enough for her?

I can’t think what to say, and she looks as though she requires a hug or some other consolation. I break off a sprig of a plant and the fragrance of lemon fills the air. I rub it between my fingers and wait, wondering what I should do next. The sun catches her hair and the curls shine like copper. Her face is very lovely, even though it is dirty, and the hem of her robe is torn.

She looks up and catches me watching her. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you grinning like that?”

Isi scuttles behind a rock with her tail down.

“Er … I’m smiling because this world is so extraordinary.”

“You’re joking, right?” She points – to the sky, the tree, the shrubs that smell so wonderful and are covered in small multi-coloured flowers. “Seriously? How can this be Celestia? There’s nothing here.”

I scratch my head. Is she trying to annoy me?

Then I realise what is happening. She genuinely can’t see anything. “You were intended to go back to Earth with the Goddess, so you shouldn’t be here. You aren’t dead yet, so you can’t see the real Celestia.”

She stares, then gets on her hands and knees, crawling frantically across the grass, patting the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for the portal. My friends … they’ll be looking for me. Where is it? Help me find it.”

She’s in such a panic that without thinking, I crouch next to her and pat her shoulder. “It’s alright. It will be alright. Just stay calm.”

She throws herself against my chest and begins to sob. “What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Micah told the guards about the plan. He wanted me dead.”

I pat her back tentatively. Her hair smells warm and earthy. I have never touched her before and her soft shape is beguiling, unlike her torrent of emotion, which I find utterly repellent.

“It was so terrible,” she sobs. “And then they shot you, and you were only trying to help me. Not like Micah. Why did he do it? Why did he do it? He said he loved me.” Her voice cracks, and I take a step back, letting her go.

“Sit down. Come, sit down.” I point to a flat rock and she sinks onto it, dropping her head into her hands. I knew he was a fraud from the day I saw him, but I can’t disclose that. I don’t have anything to say that could possibly help, so I sit opposite her on the ground, and listen while she pours it all out – her pain, her rage, her disappointment.

“All men are the same.” She stops crying at last, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. She’s left another streak of dirt across her cheek. Hal would have called it adorable.

“All men are the same. They always let you down. They screw you over and then they leave.”

I don’t have anything to say to that. My father was a reprobate and a bully, and Hal wasn’t much better – he just had a charming persona. There are very few men on Table Island for whom I have any respect – had, I correct myself. I’m free of them now. Free of the citizens, the army, the misery and despair that humans cause one another, and free at last to explore this new world. I stretch my legs, eager to get up and begin.

She sniffs, watching me. “Where are you going?”

“Er …” I stop, feeling guilty. I should be listening to her problems, even though she’s on her third explanation now of how Micah and Samantha-Lee plotted the whole thing. I should be kind, and show her that not all men are the same. However, I’ve spent my whole life listening to my mother talking about her hard life. I’ve sat there patiently while the citizens complained about the petty things that annoyed them, about who said what about whom, and who has been trying to steal whose husband, and I’ve had enough. This is my time. A new world, a reward for getting through the last one, and Ebba hasn’t even thanked me for saving her or giving her the amulet. I’m not going to sit here listening to her problems anymore.

“I have to get going.” I get up and dust the back of my robe.

She gets up too. “Where are we going? Is there another way back? Another portal? Do you know where to find it? You do, don’t you?” She grips my arm, but this time it feels like a chain pulling me down, and I loosen her fingers and step back. “I’m sorry, Ebba, but in Celestia we have to walk alone.”

She stares, her mouth open. “You’re leaving me? You’re leaving me?”

Should I stay? What if something happens to her? But then she starts to cry again, and the emotions pouring out of her threaten to drown me, and I have to get away. “I’m sorry,” I mutter. “Good luck.”

I dare not look back. There’s a rustling in the grass, and Isi appears, lolloping beside me. Ebba calls her, but Isi doesn’t turn, and nor do I.

EBBA

What am I supposed to do now? I’d follow him, but I can’t even see him. I was watching them walk away, thinking he’d change his mind and suddenly he was gone. And Isi too.

There’s a pile of rocks nearby, and I clamber up them. Maybe I can see them from the top. But there’s no sign of anything living. Celestia is flat as a dinner plate, with just the occasional small hill. Far across the other side is a range of mountains. I turn and it’s the same view. No matter which way I turn, north, south, east or west, I see the same. I’m standing in the centre of a circle.

This world is dead. There are no rivers, no trees, no houses. It’s how we imagined the surface of Earth to be when we were buried in the colony. No animals or insects, nothing living, except Lucas and Isi, and even they have disappeared.

The realisation that I am alone hits me like a punch to the stomach … My mind whirls with the dangers ahead – starvation, dying of thirst, being injured and in pain with no one to help.

I just need to get home. I’ll battle it out with Micah. Even if the Goddess can’t return with me, I can go back alone. I can toughen up, stand up to him and Samantha-Lee. My sabenzis and Alexia will help me. I just need to find the portal.

Then suddenly, a movement catches my eye.

A man is walking towards me. He’s coming from the east, striding across the sand straight-backed, head upright. “Ebba,” he calls. “Ebba, where are you?”

Who is he? I’m crouching behind a rock so he can’t see me watching him. I want to run to him, a fellow human in this dead place. But after Micah I’ve learnt to be cautious. He comes closer and he reminds me of … that strong jaw … that particular muscular stride seems familiar. But who?

Dust rises up around him like the anxiety swirling in my stomach. Will he harm me? There’s nowhere to run, nowhere else to hide, so I sit dead still, watching.

As he draws nearer I recognise Leonid’s thick eyebrows. In the expression around his mouth I see Alexia’s determination. I hardly dare believe it, hardly dare hope.

It can’t be. It can’t be.

“Ebba, Ebba, where are you my darling?”

My heart bursts with joy and I jump up from my hiding place. “I’m here. I’m here.”

The smile that breaks across his face is my smile. This man is my father. He’s come to save me. He’s come. He’s here.

He’s holding me, my dad. He’s here now. Everything will be alright. I bury myself in his chest, his strong arms enfold me, and I’m safe. Safe at last.

“My little girl, my little girl, I’ve found you after so long.”

When I look into his face his eyes are wet with tears, and I sob. For seventeen years I’ve missed him. I’ve longed for a father to keep me safe, to tuck me into bed at night, to play games with me. I needed him when the High Priest tried to kill me, when Micah betrayed me. I’ve missed him every single day. And now we’re together, and everything will be alright.

“I’ve been sent to fetch you,” he says when at last he lets me go. He puts his hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes. “I’m so proud to be able to fetch you, and to take you back to Earth. Because of your exceptional act of courage, the gods have allowed me to help you with your sacred task.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing; it’s such wonderful news. “You’re coming with me?”

“That’s right.”

Thank the Goddess! He’s going to be there with me, being the father I dreamed of. He’ll make everything right again, protect me from Major Zungu, from Samantha-Lee.

“The portal is just over there.” He points back to the direction he came from. “It’s a bit of a walk, but you can tell me all about yourself. My beautiful daughter, all grown up. You look like my mother, do you know that? She was a wonderful woman – strong like you. Always thinking of other people. Her name was Lily. She would have loved you. Loved you!”

He takes my hands in his and I’m enjoying the feel of his strong fingers when my birthmark starts to tingle, a little vibration that grows in intensity, and I have to let go of his hands to rub it.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“My hand. It feels like thousands of pins pricking it.”

“Our connection is so strong.” He rubs his right temple. “My mark is tingling too. It’s a family mark and my ouma had it too. She was a seer. She could foretell the future. She lived in Hout Bay, before it became Boat Bay and they built the wall. She always knew which boats were going to sink, and which sailors would drown.”

There’s a shadow over the right half of his forehead. It’s not like my birthmark, it’s not shaped like a tree, but it’s a birthmark, and another thing joining us as family. Another sign that I belong with him.

“Come now. We need to get back. It’s time for you and Micah to start rebuilding the house.”

Micah. The name is like a knife stab. “I’m never going to forgive him.”

“Micah?” He chuckles, squeezing my shoulder. “Micah would never betray you. It was one of the girls from the bunker who reported you to the guards. The nasty one, long dark hair, thinks a lot of herself …”

“Bonita Mentoor?”

“That’s the one. Micah went to the council chamber to try and protect you. He can’t wait for you to get home. You’re a hero. The whole resistance is toasting your courage. You’re a superstar. They are going to promote you over Samantha-Lee. It will be you and Micah leading the resistance now.”

“You can see what’s happening on Earth?”

He smiles. “Of course I can. I’ve been watching you all your life. Ever since I hid you in the colony the day that Ali was killed.”

“I loved her with all my heart,” he says with a slow shake of his head. “She was my reason for living. And when we knew you were on the way I was overjoyed that we were going to be a family. I wanted a little girl, and then you were born, in the front bedroom at Greenhaven, with Aunty Figgy and my mother helping you into the world. I held you, so tiny, your face bright red, bellowing your lungs out, and your head fitted into the palm of my hand. I looked into your eyes and I knew, I just knew, you were destined for something special.

“I was so proud when you came out of the colony and took over Greenhaven. Such a slip of a girl with no training, no life skills. Most people would have buckled under the strain of what the High Priest and his family did to you. But you rose to the task like you were born to it …”

I can barely believe it. My father is proud of me.

“I watched you sacrifice yourself for the good of the resistance and I’ve never been more impressed with anyone. You’re so young, barely seventeen, and you were ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. You’re a national hero, do you know that? Even Samantha-Lee has admitted it. She said to Micah, ‘I was really surprised when Ebba went through with your plan. I didn’t think she had it in her. I underestimated her.’”

“What did Micah say?” It’s like the sun has risen in my heart. I can’t wait to get home now, and to be in his arms again.

“He said, ‘I knew she’d do it. Now you see why I love her so much.’”

We’ve just set off when Isi’s barks echo across the landscape. “Come on, girl,” I call, searching for her. “We’re going home. We’re going back to Greenhaven.”

Her barks turn to howls but I can’t work out where she is. At last I see her, standing on top of a rocky outcrop far away from the path we’re taking.

“She’s stuck! She can’t get down.”

“Your mom was just so, always fussing over the dog. She’ll be fine. She’ll find her way down. They always do. Come on.”

Reluctantly I walk on with him, but Isi’s howls grow more desperate. “I have to go and help her down. I can’t leave her there.”

His eyebrows draw together like Leonid’s. I bite my lip, keep walking. I don’t want him to be cross with me … but … this is Isi.

I take his hand and squeeze it. “Please. It won’t take a moment. I’ll be back in a minute.”

His jaw clenches and I think he will say no, but instead he says, “Fine, but fetch her and come straight back. The portal won’t stay open for long. Once it’s shut, there’s no way home.”

I run across the veld, and as I approach, Isi’s howls turn to whines. She’s way up at the top of the rocks. They’re five white, rounded boulders, like huge eggs upended in the sand. How did she even get up there? “Come on, girl. Come down,” I call, reaching the first rock. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

She gives her warning bark, her eyes fixed on my father, who is following behind me. Then she whimpers, gazing at me desperately as I clamber up the smooth side of the rock, grasping for any foothold.

When I reach the top, she licks my hand, still whimpering. What’s wrong with her? I need to make a leash to get her down. I bite the hem of my robe and rip off a strip of fabric long enough to knot around her collar.

My father has stopped about twenty metres from the rocks. He’s watching us, hands on his hips, and Isi goes almost hysterical, backing away from him, barking and growling, towards the far edge of the rock.

“Come on, Ebba,” he calls. “We have to get going.”

I loop the leash around her collar, but when I try and pull her forward, she breaks free, runs away and disappears down the back of the rock. I run after her. The five rocks form a circle and she’s fallen into the gap at the centre. There’s no way she can get out. I can’t even see her down there.

“Just leave the dog!” my father calls. “Come on, we don’t have time.”

I gnaw on my lip. I can’t leave her here. Or will she be alright? This is Celestia. Surely the same rules don’t apply as they do on Earth? Maybe Lucas is somewhere around, and I can leave her to him? But there’s no sign of him. Just rock and red sand and my father glowering at me. Isi is whimpering from below. Is she in pain?

I lean over the edge. She’s lying under the overhang, just her back legs and tail visible from up here. Why is her leg at that strange angle? Has she broken it? I lean over further, and my foot slips on the smooth surface. I slide, reaching wildly, but there’s nothing to grab. Shrieking, I shoot right down the rock, over the edge, and plunge into the gap.