Shadows of Glass (10 page)

“Leave him for now,” Adam advises and I let go of his halter. There is no need to
drag him if he wants to eat, especially since it has been several days with nothing
but a handful of grain for all the ponies. The rest will bring him along when they
catch up. I look behind and see Pace and Alcide pulling the rest of our group up.
Those who are up look around with the same sense of wonder that I feel.

A jagged bolt of lightning suddenly streaks down from the sky. It hits the contraption
that juts up from the decking and an explosion sounds around us, so loud and so violent
that we are thrown to the ground. Ghost rears in terror, up and down, up and down,
screaming until I slip and scramble through the grass and grab his halter.

I immediately turn to where the rest of our group had gathered at the cliff’s edge.
I hear a loud tearing sound, as if the fans inside the dome were torn from their braces,
and see the contraption that once reached up into the sky now twisting and turning
as it tears away from the deck and falls first on the earth and then, in a desperate
dance, topples into the darkness beyond.

“Pace!” I scream his name because I cannot see him. All I can see are the ponies bucking
and jumping in terror and the goats running into the tall grass. We take off as one—me,
James, and Adam—running to our friends through the sheets of rain.

As we get there one of the ponies falls over the cliff, lost in his blindness and
terror. Eddie was holding onto his halter, and his son was on the pony’s back. They
are all gone in a blink of an eye. I hear their screams as they fall and then, just
as suddenly, all is quiet and I know they are dead. My stomach heaves with the realization
while my mind refuses to accept the finality of what just happened. I shake my head,
stunned, and then realize the rest of our friends are lying on the ground, overcome,
from the explosion and Eddie’s fall. Everyone is in danger of being trampled by the
ponies that have no way of knowing what is happening or where they are.

I go to the ponies and grab one halter, then another while I talk to them soothingly,
and they immediately stop and stand, frightened and shaking, when they hear my voice.
I manage to get them under control as they all turn to me, seeking something that
is familiar.

James and Adam help our group to their feet. Everyone is so shocked that no one speaks.
I realize that Pace, Rosalyn, and Stella are missing. Fear grips me, clenching my
spine and my heart in its fist. What if they fell over the side with Eddie and his
son? What if they are lying on the beach below, trapped in the water and the pounding
waves, broken from the fall?

“Where are Pace and Rosalyn?” I call out.

“Here!” Pace calls out. He waves his hand over the cliff where we’d just come up.

“He saved us,” Rosalyn says. Pace hands Stella up to James, then boosts Rosalyn. Adam
hauls her up, and George and Alcide grab Pace’s hands and pull him up also.

“Freddy, Nancy, take the ponies,” I say. “Lead them to the grass.” The children rush
to do my bidding, their faces white from the terror they just experienced

“He saved us,” Rosalyn says again as she takes Stella from James. “That thing was
falling right for us and he moved us out of the way.”

“We lost Eddie and his son,” Alcide says and he looks over the cliff.

“He couldn’t have survived that,” Adam adds. “No one could.”

“It could have been us,” Rosalyn says, looking at Pace.

Pace shakes his head. “I nearly killed us anyway,” he says. “The ground gave way beneath
us.” They are all covered with mud but the rain quickly washes it away.

Rosalyn puts her free arm around him. “You are very brave and I will not forget what
you’ve done.” She embraces him quickly with Stella between them.

“We should keep moving,” James says. He has a strange look on his face and I cannot
help but think he is jealous of the glory that Rosalyn heaps on Pace. “Before it hits
again.”

“What about Eddie?” Sally asks.

“There’s nothing we can do for him,” Adam says. “You can see the water. It’s up to
the wall. Even if they survived the fall they will have been washed away. They are
gone.”

It happened so fast that it is hard to process it. They were there one moment and
gone the next. This world is much more dangerous than I ever imagined. What will become
of us? How can we survive when we don’t know what to expect from one minute to the
next?

“Was it one of the weapons?” Peter asks. “You said there were people here with weapons.”

“It was lightning is all,” Pace says. “It is attracted to metal.”

“More of his facts,” James snorts. “From books.”

“Can you imagine if it was a weapon?” Alcide ignores James. “Whoever could harness
that could rule the world.”

“Whatever you do, don’t mention that to my father,” I say. “Or else he will try it.”

There is such a sense of relief among all of us that we survived that those of us
who know who my father is laugh, while the rest look on in confusion.

“We should go,” Adam says. “If there are people about, with weapons, this might attract
them.” Everyone goes quiet at this, as we are reminded once more of how precarious
our situation is.

As the others move onward, I take a moment to put my arms around Pace. “I was scared
I’d lost you,” I say as we embrace.

“A storm cannot keep us apart,” he says. I feel him tremble a bit and realize that
for all his bravado, this time he really was frightened. A squeak from inside his
jacket startles us.

“Pip?” he says as if he’d forgotten him. Considering the circumstances I am not surprised.
Pace unbuttons the top button and pulls the little bird from within. He must have
been as stunned as the rest of us who were close to the lightning. He gives his body
a shake within Pace’s hands and looks up at both of us with his beady eyes.

“Is he hurt?” Pace asks. “It’s hard for me to tell,” he continues and once more I
realize we are back on familiar ground. I can see in the dark, he can’t. And while
this darkness is not as complete as what we experienced, it is still darkness and
harder for Pace to see. I lower my head to Pace’s hands and touch my finger to Pip’s
head. The bright yellow canary stretches his wings out and gives them another thorough
shaking before folding them back in and dipping his beak into one as if he had an
itch.

“I think he is fine,” I say. “And eternally grateful he wasn’t squashed.”

Pip adds his agreement with a curious peep, and Pace places him carefully back inside
his jacket. He leaves the button unbuttoned, and Pip sticks his head up from within,
sheltered by Pace’s chin. Pace nods and smiles and then takes my hand. We follow after
the rest while my heart breaks, just a little, for Eddie, his son, and the poor pony
who fell from the cliff.

*   *   *

The grass thins as we keep on walking. We realize that is because there are foundations
for buildings scattered throughout. There is no way of knowing what they used to be,
homes or shops, because there are no remnants of anything else, as if time and the
wind had scoured the memories away. The grass gives way and we walk into a forest
of trees. The trees are thick, not leafy like the ones from the orchard on my rooftop;
instead their branches are covered with leaves that look like spikes, which are as
long as my fingers. The smell is amazing. It reminds me of the earth but in a much
sweeter way. The foliage is so dense that the rain tapers off to nothing more than
a fine mist that becomes more violent when the wind gusts.

Jonah appears once more and rushes to me. I pick him up and his rumbly purr lets me
know he’s not scared any more. We catch up with our group and I see that James and
Adam both have their hands on a tree trunk.

“This is where wood comes from?” Adam asks.

“You’ve never visited the orchards?” I ask. “Never touched a tree?”

“Never,” he confesses.

James pushes against one, testing its strength. “I never imagined anything like this,”
he confesses.

“Amazing,” Pace says and everyone looks around with wonder.

“We still need to find shelter for these children,” Rosalyn reminds us.

We venture on, leaving the ponies and the goats behind because they are busy eating
every bit of grass they can find. I don’t worry about them. Ghost will follow my scent,
and they can shelter beneath the trees when they are full. At least the problem of
food for them is taken care of. I can only hope that we will be as lucky.

We move closer to the dome. I have no reference as to what part of it, but I can’t
help but think that when we reach its outer edges we will be outside of Park Front,
which is where all the royals live. We, as shiners, were never allowed to enter that
part of the dome; however, Pace has been there, as his mother works as a governess
for the royals’ children. That is why he knows so many things about the outside world.
Pace was able to study with them as he grew up, while our education only consisted
of the basics, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic and the stories we were read
from the Bible.

“I think this was a park,” Pace says. “The ground is so level, and without someone
to maintain the lawns the trees just take over.”

“Even after a fire like the one the comet caused?” Alcide asks.

“The fire had to eventually burn itself out when there was nothing left to fuel it,”
Pace says. “And then nature just took its course.”

“I don’t know if I’m angry that we were deceived for so long, or sad that we’ve missed
out on so much,” Adam says.

“You should be angry,” James says. “I know I am.”

“At least we had the courage to do something about it.” Alcide looks my way.

“Shelter please,” Rosalyn says. “You can congratulate each other after we find some.”

The rain, while not as fierce because of the trees, still falls. The thunder and lightning
are not as close as before, but I don’t know if it is because of the cover above us
or because it is moving on. I can see the cats that travel with us scampering through
the trees, yet keeping us in sight. I put Jonah down and push my goggles up on my
soaking wet hair as we move onward. As we walk, the trees thin out and we once more
see the foundations of buildings. A tree has fallen, sometime ago, because the wood
is as dry as what we have down below and several of the cats are sheltered beneath
it.

“Surely something had to survive,” Rosalyn says. I hope so. We are a bedraggled bunch,
all of us soaking wet. The children look ready to fall. Even Freddy, who has been
incredibly brave and helpful, despite losing his father, is done in, if the huge purple
shadows beneath his eyes are any indication.

What will we do if we can’t find shelter or food? We came up here with the belief
that it had to be better than what we left behind, but what if we keep making things
worse instead of better. What if we’ve forever lost the best we would ever have because
of the decisions I’ve made?

“I think I see a light,” Adam says. We all stop and look in the direction he points
to. I see it, a flicker, then another, the type a fire would give out. It is there
one moment, then gone, and then it reappears for another quick moment before it disappears.
We all stand, holding our breath, as we wait for it to come back, but it doesn’t.

“This way,” James says and moves in the direction of the fire.

“Wait,” Pace says. “We shouldn’t all go. Only a few of us should go, to make sure
it is safe.”

“While the rest of us stay here and drown?” George asks.

“You can go if you want George,” Alcide says. “He’s just thinking of the children.”

“Make up your mind,” James says. “Who goes, who stays?”

“James, Pace, and Wren,” Adam says. “Do you agree Rosalyn?” he asks.

“Aye,” she says, and with those comments they reassert themselves as our leaders through
council. A third will have to be elected, but that is something that can wait until
we are safe.

“Someone go back and gather the animals,” I say.

“We’ll take care of them,” Alcide assures me and the three of us move on in the direction
of the light.

Pace and James both have their knives in their hands. James also carries a stout piece
of wood. After what I’ve seen, I know that neither is effective against the weapons
carried by those on the outside. Pace saw it, and James saw the aftereffects, but
telling James to use caution now is like telling the rain and wind to stop and expecting
it to really happen.

There are more ruins now than trees. We dart from tree to stones, trying to stay low
and unseen, which is hard since several cats, including Jonah, travel with us. The
rain is still with us, blocking our vision, but then I realize that it is not the
rain before us, but the dome. It is still several paces away, but it is before us,
rising up from the ground like the cliff we climbed to get to this place. From here
we can see nothing behind it because the glass is cloudy and gray. I wonder if we
go close and put our hands against our eyes, will we be able to peer through as if
we were looking through a window at one of the shops on the promenade?

“Whoever has the light has got to be close,” Pace says. The ruins are larger now that
we are closer to the dome. The trees are no more, as if they are afraid to stand in
its shadow, but the ruins are more identifiable as buildings. If only there was a
roof, or even a floor under which we could shelter. Every place I look isn’t big enough
to shelter the lot of us.

One of the cats lets out a low, warbling yowl and then suddenly another noise erupts,
one that is reminiscent of some of the dogs I’ve seen in my life, but much louder,
and sounding much more dangerous. A huge beast suddenly appears from one of the ruins.
He is a golden color and waist high, with enormous fangs bared and his mouth viciously
snapping at a cat. The fur on the back of his neck stands straight up as he lunges
at the cat. Jonah and the others run straight by us and then beyond, with their ears
flattened in terror. The dog captures the cat in its mouth and shakes it violently
before tossing it aside. The cat is stunned, and before it can get up again, the dog
grabs it once more and we hear the crunch of broken bones.