Ashes of Twilight (33 page)

But he does, because we both know that we have to face the day and whatever it brings. He leans his forehead against mine as we both struggle to steady our breathing once more. “Should I bring Pip?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say, because for some strange reason I know that we will not be coming back. At least not today.

Cat follows us, questioning as we walk with his raspy meows. We come to the stable and I take my time with the ponies, greeting each one and then introducing Pace to them. They sniff his clothes and shake their heads up and down as I scoop into their bins the little bit of feed that is left. They will starve soon if something isn’t done. I have a feeling we all will and things have gone past the place where it is just a matter of Pace and me turning ourselves in. James took care of that when he blew up the fans.

“They need our coal and we need their food,” I say. “This world was made so all parts worked together as a whole. Why did it all go so wrong?”

“Because it wasn’t meant to last this long. Because we’re people and we need to reach for greater things.”

“Funny. That’s the same thing I always said.” I have to laugh. “Of course it was mostly to myself.”

“You’re not the first one to think it, Wren. You’re just the first person to act on it.”

“Why me?” I look at him, hoping for an answer or a sign that what I’ve done is right.

“Why not you?” he says. I forget when I look at him that he is young, like me, and doesn’t have the answers. I forget because he has become my answers and my reasons. Should it be that way? I don’t know. I just know what I feel inside.

I unlatch all the stall doors before we leave. Just in case. Because like Pace with Pip, I can’t stand the thought of the ponies being trapped in their stalls to die. Because without the doors and the locks they have a chance to help themselves.

Pip sticks his head up from Pace’s pocket and watches the chickens who peck furiously at Pace’s boots in search of something to eat.

“Do you think they’ll feed us first?” he asks with a lopsided smile.

“Is food the only thing you ever think about?” I tease.

“No. I think about you occasionally too,” he teases back. He takes my hand and we walk onward to the village with Cat still trailing along behind.

30

“Amazing,” Pace says
as we walk down the ledge into the village. “I never dreamed there was something like this down here. It reminds me of the dome, only smaller.”

“I always thought so.” I felt as if I’d been gone from this place for weeks instead of only a few days. We passed several shiners on our way here, all of them patrolling the tunnels. Most all greeted me in our reserved way and looked curiously at Pace, who bore it all with good grace and his own curiosity.

“That was my house.” I point at the little place up on the cavern wall as Cat runs down before us with his tail straight up behind him. He greets some other cats with a nose sniff before sauntering off into the village. “Peggy and Adam live there now.”

“You gave up your home for them?”

“It is the way of our world,” I say. I could say more. That my home is now with him, but I don’t as I do not know what the next moments will bring. I look across the water to the council chamber. There is no guard before it so nothing has happened yet. They must be waiting for us to arrive.

I see Jasper coming our way and we both stop at the bottom of the ramp. Pace keeps a tight hold on my hand. “Thank you for coming,” Jasper says to my surprise. He holds out his hand to Pace. “I’m Jasper.”

“Jasper is the head of the council,” I add so Pace knows the importance of who he is talking to and the greeting Jasper gives him.

Pace slowly takes his hand, as shocked as I am at the gesture. “Pace Bratton,” he says.

“The wife has some food for the two of you,” Jasper says. “Go eat and come when you’re done.”

“Thank you,” we both say. Jasper goes on across the bridge to the council chamber and I see the others coming out to follow, Mary, Hans, Frank, and Rosalyn. I see no sign of James or Adam.

We go into the village proper. It is fairly quiet as the children are at the school in another cavern that is close by. They go there as it does not have the distractions in the village. Jasper’s wife, Etta, feeds us. We sit at a table outside by the water and Pace puts Pip on his shoulder and feeds him crumbs.

“Well, I never,” Etta exclaims as she watches the bird. Her youngest son, who is around two, sits on her lap and claps his hands with glee as Pace shows off Pip’s tricks. Etta asks Pace questions about how he trained the bright little bird and he explains his methods to her. I listen with fascination as most of Pip’s training happened while I was gone.

The waterwheel turns merrily along and the sound of the water flowing by is peaceful. People go about their chores as usual, but I can sense the worry that lies over the village. Those who are usually working at this time patrol the tunnels, while the night shift sleeps until it is their time to take over. The food that Jasper’s family has so generously shared with us will run out soon, and no one knows when or if there will be more. Yet everyone carries on because there is no need to sit and be anxious about tomorrow. Being anxious will not change what will or will not happen.

I cannot help but think that we, as shiners, have made the best of our lot in life. We live our lives with honor and justice and take pride in our work. We have nothing to be ashamed of. My father left me with the impression that I missed out on much because I grew up below. I would have to say he is wrong. He missed out on much by rejecting my mother. How different a man would he be today if he had chosen her instead of success? I’d like to think he’d be a better person for it.

My musings are not enough to change the past. All I can do is learn from the mistakes that were made and hopefully make a better future for all of us.

Pace now has Pip sitting on the outstretched finger of Etta’s son, whose eyes round with wonder as he tries to hold perfectly still so he does not frighten the bright little bird. I see Alex’s mother by the water doing laundry and I excuse myself to go talk to her.

“I never got to say it,” she says as soon as I walk up to her. “But I’m glad you were with him at the end. That he had someone he knew to talk to.”

“You know what happened?”

“I’ve pieced it together,” she says. “No one wants to say exactly.” She wipes her hands on her apron and settles herself on a rock. “I would appreciate it if you would tell me. The truth can’t be any worse than my imaginings.”

I tell her everything I know, from the moment Alex decided to run until the moment he died. I tell her what Pace saw and I tell her what Alex said to me. “He made it outside,” I tell her. “He found the way. It exists and he saw it.”

“And they killed him for it?” she asks in a tearful voice.

“They did. But because of Alex we found it too.”

“You saw it?”

“I did.”

She grabs my hands. “Don’t you let them forget it neither. Don’t you let none of them forget that it was my boy that done it.”

“I won’t,” I assure her. “We will never forget him.”

She wipes her eyes with her hand. “Go on then. The bunch of you stirred up a mess of trouble and I’m glad for it. But you best go tell them the rest of it.”

“I will.” I look over my shoulder. Pace is waiting. Behind him on the bridge I see Peggy, Adam, James, and Alcide going up the steps to the council cave, and Abner is stationed at the entrance.

They are waiting for us.

*   *   *

I told Pace what to expect as we walked to the village. Both of us are surprised to see Adam and James sitting before the council instead of with it. Two low benches have been carried in; James, Adam, and Peggy sit on one and we join Alcide on the other. Peggy and Adam are both pale and grip each other’s hands tightly. Alcide slightly nods to us as we sit down. James just looks rebellious, which is not a good thing in my mind.

“Who is responsible for the fire last night?” Jasper asks without preamble.

He is met with shocked silence for a moment.

“I am,” James says.

Then Adam speaks up. “We are,” he says. “James, Alcide, and I.” Alcide nods his head in confirmation.

“You fools,” Hans says. His anger is tense and tangible and I cannot help but admire him for restraining it. “Do you know what you have done?”

“They did it to save me,” I say. Pace grabs my hand and squeezes it. Without thinking I’d done what I promised I wouldn’t do. I acted without talking to him first.

“No, we didn’t.” James’s answer is belligerent. “They might have, but I didn’t.” I suddenly realize his reasons. He didn’t do it to save me any more than he put Pace in the tunnels to save him. He did it because he was jealous of me. Jealous that the others looked to me for leadership. Jealous that I made the sacrifice to save David and Pace by drawing attention to myself. James wants the glory and the power.

I just want out.

“What was your reasoning, James, if not to save Wren?” Jasper asks.

“I did it to show them we are a force to be reckoned with.” James’s answer confirms what I suspected about his motives.

“We are a force?” Mary growls. “Do you mean you, yourself, or us as a group? Did you consult any of us when you were making this decision?” Mary stands. Her anger is no greater than Jaspers’s or Hans’s, but her restraint is not as strong. She jabs her finger toward James. “You fool,” she says in disgust. “You have killed us all.”

“What has happened?” I ask.

“The fans and the furnaces are destroyed,” Jasper says. “Until they are repaired there is to be no trade, which means no food. Not only that, but the entire workforce above is put on half rations.”

“Which means they hate us. Everyone above. No one will help us,” Mary finishes.

I look at Pace. I don’t have to speak; it has been the unasked question between us since this all began. He nods, knowing this is my world and he does not have a voice here. I look at the council. “What if we turn ourselves in?”

“It is too late for that,” Jasper says. “They were looking for an excuse, any excuse, to destroy us. There are too many people for the dome to support. By making us the enemy they’ve assumed the right to come after us. To kill us all.”

“We will fight them!” James jumps to his feet.

Adam leans over and puts his face in his hands. “I should have stopped you. I should have known better.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “The outside exists. We just have to find a way to get there.”

“No more of your flights of fancy, Wren,” Mary says. “That’s what started this entire thing in the first place.”

“It’s true,” Alcide interrupts. “Let her tell you.”

The five council members look at me. I feel their impatience but I also know their ways. They will want to hear all of it. For the first time I tell them the entire story, from the moment Alex died until the events of last night. Pace tells his part also, and they listen with shock and wonder plainly showing on their faces as I tell them about my trip through the tunnel.

“What did you see?” Jasper asks.

“I saw nothing but darkness because it was night. But it seemed to go on forever. I felt the wind on my face and I tasted salt in the air. It was so pure that it hurt me to breathe.”

“Why didn’t you go?” Hans asks.

I pull Pace’s hand into my lap for all to see and look into his beautiful blue eyes. “I came back because everything I love was still inside.”

“We now know where it is and how Alex got out,” Adam says. “I looked at the maps in their library. Our tunnels are not beneath it, but we can make one that goes there and come up from below. We can make our own path out.”

I can tell by their faces they need time to think and time to plan. Nothing is to be decided now.

“You will do nothing until we talk this through,” Jasper says. “James, because of your impetuous behavior, you are dismissed from council…”

James jumps to his feet to protest but Jasper cuts him off.

“Adam, because of the regret you have shown you may stay. We will elect another council member to replace James and discuss our options. The rest of you may go.”

James is livid, but before he can say anything Abner comes in with another shiner. It is Peter, who was with us the night Alex flew. He’s out of breath and bends over with his hands on his knees to catch it before he speaks.

“The lift has been taken,” he finally says. “The bluecoats are coming and we can’t stop them.”

“See what you’ve done,” Mary hisses at James.

“They have a flamethrower,” Peter says.

I feel the chill all the way into my bones. A flamethrower in the mines is a death sentence for all of us. If there is a buildup of the methane gas anywhere there is a flame, the entire mine could be lost to an explosion. We will never survive it. The looks on the faces of the council and those facing them are much the same as mine.

“Sound the alarm,” Jasper says. “We must stop these fools before they kill all of us.” Peter runs out to do as he is told. “Those of you who are not on council leave us now. And James. Stay put until we tell you where to go. We don’t need you making decisions for us.”

We turn to go, urgency at the situation holding us in its grip.

“You!” Hans calls out. “Pace! We have need of words with you.”

Abner herds James, Peggy, and Alcide out. James is livid, but I am confident he won’t do anything to lose face in front of the village. I know he wants to fight and is just waiting to be turned loose so he can grab his weapons and join in.

Pace and I turn to face the council.

“Where do you stand in this battle?” Hans asks Pace.

“I stand with Wren,” Pace says without hesitation. “The only possible way for either of us to survive is to find the way out. But Sir Meredith holds my mother. If there is anything I can do to save her, even if that means trading myself to them, I will do it.”

“We appreciate your honesty,” Jasper says. “You may stay and we hope you will fight with us. If you decide to go above, we ask that you inform us first.”

“Thank you,” Pace says. “I will.”