A Grave Tree (21 page)

Jake and the other two men—Leo and Elliot, Mark had learned by listening carefully to their conversation—smashed mallets into the cement wall on his left and right. After some discussion, it had been decided (by Sandy) that it would be best to strike a hole in the diversion manually rather than use a charge, as it would allow for more control, and they only wanted to let a bit of water through the diversion, enough to temporarily fill the two lower spillways on the old dam. (Apparently they lacked large earth-moving machines in this future, and the whole diversion had been built by hand—a herculean task that left Mark gobsmacked every time he allowed himself to think of it. Although he could not reconcile this fact with the smooth walls and solid design of the building.)

It had also been decided (by Sandy) that Mark, Jake, Leo, and Elliot should be the ones standing precariously on the edge of the diversion swinging the mallets, while Sandy watched from the safety of a platform near the
thing
that was sucking the water away.

The hike through the trees and mountains to the diversion had been long and arduous. At least the geography had been interesting, as the river almost did a hairpin turn above the Granton Dam. (Sandy had taken them the long way, along the river around the outside of the hairpin). Mark’s stomach rumbled with fresh hunger, and the water (which no doubt harbored any number of water-borne diseases) looked almost inviting to drink. But nobody dared stop working.

Mark considered. Maybe it would be best to tell Sandy that he’d lied about what the sign had said, but undoing the lie now seemed like it would have dire consequences. Very dire consequences.

*****

It seemed like they had been hiking for hours by the time Abbey spotted a glimmer of orange through the trees. A fire. They were approaching the camp then. A few seconds later, they were hailed by sentries who were overjoyed to find that Caleb, the Light, had returned to them. Considerable hugging and backslapping ensued. What would they do when they discovered that Caleb was an impostor? That he knew nothing of their ways, or of leading?

The camp consisted of a collection of ten tepees arranged around a central fire ringed by rocks and stumps. It was quiet save for more armed sentries who let up a cheer at the sight of Caleb. Abbey glanced at her twin. His freckles were stark against his pale skin, but his face, normally creased in some sort of joke, had turned sober and stern. She had to admit it made him look a lot more like older Caleb. He was almost the same size as older Caleb, but in daylight, surely the differences would be obvious. And then what would happen to them?

Her attention was drawn to some sort of makeshift wooden cage near the back of the camp. Inside the cage, with his hands and feet bound, sat Sylvain, his head bowed and his silvery locks catching glints of light.

Abbey nudged Caleb’s elbow and thrust her head faintly in the direction of the cage. Caleb glanced over, and his lips pulled tighter over his teeth.

She scanned the trees for other cages and prisoners, but there was no sign of Jake.

“Matilde and Graham are meeting with the elders in the main tepee,” Nevin said. “I presume you wish to join them. We can bring refreshments, such as they are.”

“Yes,” said Caleb. He glanced at Abbey, Ian, and Russell, as if to assess the likelihood of them being allowed in the tepee with him. “These three are my advisors from the promised land,” he said. “They’ve helped pave the way for our resettlement. I will need their counsel in the tent as well.”

Nevin and one of the other high-ranking sentries flicked their eyes over Abbey, Ian, and Russell, and then nodded. “As you wish, Light.”

They were led to the largest tepee, near the center of the small clearing. It glowed a brighter cream than the others, suggesting that its occupants were still awake.

The flap of the tepee burst open and a man with salt-and-pepper hair and a bristly beard emerged, his arms thrown wide in greeting. His movements became slightly stiff when he saw Caleb, and although he embraced Caleb, Abbey could tell he knew something was not quite right.

“We were coming to talk to you,” Caleb said simply. The man—who Abbey now assumed was Graham—nodded. His eyes took in each of them in turn, then he gestured toward the tepee, and they all entered.

Inside, four men and two women sat on logs around a low fire, their eyes gleaming in the semi-darkness. The heat almost made Abbey cry out in relief, but she tried to keep her face neutral. Two of the men rose in half greeting when Caleb entered, but they sank back to their seats in response to a gesture from Graham. Abbey, Ian, and Russell took seats on the log that they were directed to, while Caleb sat with Graham at the front. Everyone looked at everyone else with wary glances.

“I know you’re not the Light… at least you’re not the man who was my best friend and our leader,” Graham said without preamble. “But I’ll admit you are a dead ringer for him. The Light told me that if someone who looked precisely like him ever came to us, that we were to help him above all else, and he might be able to help us in return. I should tell you right now that magic is against our religion and will not be tolerated. It was necessary for the exodus, but it is otherwise against our ways.” Graham paused. “But we respect our leader and his wisdom. So we’re listening, and we hope you bring news of the Light. Have you really come from the promised land?”

Caleb shot Abbey a look. So far, by focusing on asking Nevin questions, he’d managed to avoid having to lie outright. She glanced at Ian, but he was studying the tepee poles with what appeared to be significant interest.

Abbey raised her forefinger to her chest to suggest that Caleb let
her
answer the question. She’d done this in the past, often when they were being confronted by their parents. He usually ignored her, because even though Abbey always had the facts, Caleb thought style counted for more.

“Yes,” said Caleb. “But Abbey can answer that question better than I.”

Surprised, Abbey almost faltered. “We’ve just come from the place that Ca—the Light took your people to. And I have seen the Light. He is alive and well, and he will be coming back to you soon.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow at Abbey. She hadn’t promised older Caleb that she wouldn’t tell younger Caleb about seeing him. Still, Caleb would have to be an idiot not to figure out that his older self was the Light. She saw now how easily small things could change the future.

“And the rest of our people?” Graham said.

“I don’t know, I’m afraid,” she said.

Graham studied her with probing eyes. “I recognize you. You came to our camp a few nights before the move, and you match the description of one of the people sighted in the woods a few months ago.” He examined Ian in the same way, but he somehow seemed to escape recognition.

Abbey wondered if she was about to be escorted out to the cage to join Sylvain. “Yes,” she said hastily. She grasped for what Caleb had called her that night—his niece. “I am the Light’s niece. You are old enough to have been alive when the world was split,” she said. “You probably lost family members, as did the Light. My mother, the Light’s sister, lives in the promised land.” She struggled to call Simon’s future this. It had seemed anything but.

He scrutinized her again. “I see. Tell me how it is that you were able to travel from there, yet the Light has not been able to. We’ve had sentries by the docks every day for months, waiting.”

Abbey shrugged faintly at Caleb and dug her elbow into Ian’s side. Russell sat stock-still beside Ian, hopefully not incubating rabies.

“The energy that makes the docks work is complicated,” Caleb started. He was interrupted when Nevin and the other sentry arrived with plates of steaming food. Abbey’s stomach gave a particularly loud growl in response.

They were each passed a plate and a fork, and Abbey took a large bite of the lumpy meat, anticipating the flavorful stew she’d eaten the last time she was with Caleb’s people. But instead, her stomach clenched with a wave of revulsion. Although she’d never eaten dog food, she was certain this was how it would taste.

“We apologize for the food,” Graham said. “It’s what we’ve been forced to eat for the last few months since the food stores ran out and the strangers came to our land.”

Caleb took a few bites, chewed carefully, and then laid down his fork. “Listen, we don’t know exactly how the docks work—we do not do magic ourselves—but the energy that ties them together seems to be weakening. We’ll do whatever we can to help you get them working again, because we have to get home too. But we’d really like to know about these strangers. Who are they? What are they doing here?”

Graham sighed and regarded them all individually for a second before apparently deciding to answer the question. “We don’t know, other than that they carry guns and report to a woman named Quinta.”

Abbey pressed her teeth together in surprise and tried to catch Caleb’s eye, but he was intent on Graham. She gave Ian another nudge.

Graham continued. “They claimed to be here to help us, and they offered us food in return for our work, but now they’ve diverted the Moon River and are forcing the water through a device—some sort of advanced turbine, except I’m not sure where the energy they’re generating is going. But we needed the food, and we’ve been struggling under some serious attacks from a band of dissidents who believed the Light was using black magic, so we helped these strangers build the diversion in exchange for food and protection.” Graham paused and stroked his beard.

“The working conditions have been less than optimal and we’ve been shorted on our pay. We’ve decided we cannot wait for the Light any longer. We must go in search of fertile land no matter how far we have to travel. One of our people believes he has found a place to the south where the trees are fewer and the soil is capable of supporting agriculture. The growing season will start in a month, and we need to have a place to plant by then. We’d planned to leave in a few days, heading south. We’ve been setting aside some of the food for our journey since the beginning. But three of our men came home tonight to report that one of our people has been taken prisoner at the Granton Dam. So we’re planning to stage a rescue, and try to collect the rations that were promised.”

Caleb’s face looked solemn. “I won’t pretend to fully understand the situation you’re in. But I know that if your leader said he was coming back, he’ll do his darnedest to come back.” Abbey watched her twin in the light of the popping flames. Caleb’s manner of speaking had become more formal, more like a leader, and less like… well, like Caleb. There was none of Caleb’s usual jokey tone and casual insouciance. “Nevin told us that it’s Mark who’s being held prisoner,” Caleb said.

Graham nodded. “You know of Mark?”

“Yes,” Caleb said, glancing at Abbey.

“We’d like to help you rescue him,” Ian said suddenly.

“It could be an armed conflict. There are not many of them, but they have guns. I don’t think it’s the place for…” Graham hesitated, and Abbey wondered if he was going to say “children,” but Graham concluded with: “… people who aren’t trained in battle.”

“We have other ways of fighting,” Ian said. “We won’t be a hindrance. Once you’ve rescued Mark, you can leave us behind.” Abbey blinked at Ian. What “other ways of fighting” was he talking about?

“Let us help you,” Caleb said.

Graham looked around to the other elders in the tent. Their dark faces were unreadable in the half-light, and their bushy hair was matted and wayward. They looked tired and weathered. “Very well,” he said. “We go at first light, which is in about three hours. But we will not protect you, and I warn you, we do not approve of magic, so I would not be seen trying to fight in that manner.”

“Understood,” Caleb said. “I see you have a prisoner. Can I ask what he did?”

Graham’s black eyebrows lifted. “He arranged for the exodus and then was spotted excavating our former encampment after we left. He still claims he was just trying to help us when he took the Light away, but we now suspect he had other motivations. He returned yesterday and began digging again, just outside this camp. Then he tried to do some sort of magic to escape. We consider him a dangerous criminal.”

Abbey felt a movement to her right. Russell had pulled back until he was hidden behind Ian. Why had Sylvain dug up the encampment? What had he been looking for? She recalled seeing him and Russell with shovels a few weeks ago, and then she’d found the Geiger counter and pickaxe in Sylvain’s office. Were they involved in some sort of mining venture? Had Sylvain moved Caleb’s people just to get access to their land? And yet it was Sandy who apparently owned the mining company in the future. Her mind cycled through the possibilities.

“You may sleep by the main watch fire until dawn,” Graham said, and nodded his head.

It was clear they had been dismissed. They rose and filed out of the tent. Russell, Abbey noted, was careful to keep his head bowed.

Nevin escorted them back to the fire in the center of the camp. He made a few noises about finding better accommodation for the Light, but Caleb told him that it was okay, that he would prefer to sit by the fire and have Nevin fill him in on all that had happened since he left.

They were given some warm fur blankets, which helped with the frigid night air that had settled all around them, and Abbey tried to make herself comfortable on the cold hard ground. Nevin and Caleb were deep in conversation on the other side of the fire. Apparently Caleb planned to pull an all-nighter. Russell had gone ominously quiet and had curled up in his fur and gone straight to sleep.

Sylvain had noticed them when they departed the tepee, and she could see him watching them through the bars of his cage. He’d seemed expectant and hopeful at first, but they didn’t dare approach. They were still surrounded by sentries and their assumed loyalty was already too tenuous.

Abbey had managed to catch Caleb alone outside the tepee for a few seconds, while Nevin went in search of the furs, and asked him if he was sure this was a good idea. But Caleb had only shrugged in his Caleb way and said they had to try to rescue Mark and find Quinta. In the moonlight, his face looked somehow more chiseled and stoic than it had looked just twenty-four hours earlier in Sylvain’s cabin. More like older Caleb’s. Then he’d told her it would be okay, and walked away.