Shadows of Glass (20 page)

There is no terror as we run. No filchers or rovers nipping at our heels. No dead
bodies or crimes to escape from. No bounties on our heads. I know there is a sense
of urgency, but I also feel a sense of freedom. A sense of excitement. A streak of
wildness and joy that makes me relish the run. There is no need for us to hold hands
but we do, and our strides fall into rhythm. Levi could easily outrun me but he doesn’t.
For the first time in my life my lungs do not ache, instead they feel cleansed and
free of the constraints of the coal and the heavy air of the dome.

There is joy to be had in such a simple pleasure. Joy in a moment that I’ve never
felt before. Levi looks at me and grins and I cannot help myself; I laugh, which makes
him laugh, and we have to stop because we are both laughing so hard.

“I don’t even know why we’re laughing,” he says finally when he stop and can breathe
again.

“I don’t either,” I say. “It just felt good and right.”

He stares at me again with his warm brown eyes. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“Wren!” I turn and see Pace running our way and I suddenly realize that Levi and I
are still holding hands. I quickly release my hold and turn to Pace who grabs me into
an embrace as soon as he gets close enough to touch me. “Thank God you are all right.”

“Of course I am,” I say. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Doesn’t he realize how capable Levi
is? I see the concern, plainly written on his handsome face, concern that just a few
moments ago I knew he would feel, yet it annoys me.

“No one knew where you were, just like last night. You can’t just disappear like that.
I was nearly out of my mind with worry.”

“I best go tell Uncle Lyon what we saw,” Levi says, and, after raising his hand in
a quick good-bye, he takes off again at a run.

“What did you see?” Pace asks. “What happened?”

“We saw rovers.”

“Where? How many? What happened?”

I open my mouth to speak but first I look at him. His face is tinged with red, and
I realize he has been in the sun most of the day. His hair is wild and he smells of
the salt and the sea. And he is wearing a gun in a belt on his hip, like Levi.

“What is that?” I ask.

“Lyon taught us how to shoot. We were down on the beach so the rovers wouldn’t hear
us.” He puts his hand on the handle of the gun. “I was good enough that he gave me
this pistol, which didn’t set well with James. According to Lyon, he doesn’t have
the patience for it.”

“I guess I was gone longer than I thought,” I say. “When I left they were still asleep.”

“I thought you were with Zan and the rest of the women,” Pace admits. “It wasn’t until
we came up and they said they hadn’t seen you and thought you were with us that I
really got worried.”

“I am so sorry,” I say and I really mean it. I did not mean to worry him, nor did
I mean to avoid him.

Pace puts his hands on my shoulders and kisses my forehead. “It’s all right,” he says.
He puts a finger under my chin and tilts it up so he can kiss me. “Just let someone
know next time.”

I was fine until he corrected me again. I start to protest. Someone did know where
I was. Levi knew. This feeling of resentment I have bothers me. There is no reason
for it yet there it is. Pace does not deserve it. He is always there for me. Since
the day we met he has supported me and I fell in love with him for it. Except now
that support feels constraining. It’s not him, it’s me. I know it’s me and I don’t
know what to do about it.

“Tell me about the rovers,” he says. He takes my hand and I find myself comparing
his grip with Levi’s. Levi’s hands are callused and rough like mine. Pace’s are smooth,
but why shouldn’t they be? He was a student before he joined the enforcers. His life
was nothing like mine. We walk toward the airship and I tell him what we saw and heard.

“We need to make sure the children are safe,” Pace says. We’ll have to find a better
place than what we’ve got now.”

“Levi seems to think that when they see the guards and the weapons that they will
be discouraged,” I point out. “And one of the guards informed me that they are moving
us closer to the airship for protection.”

“Levi and the rest of them won’t be here forever, Wren,” Pace says. “We’ve got to
figure out a way to survive on our own.”

“I never realized that things would be so much harder once we got out,” I confess.

Pace squeezes my hand. “If it was easy we wouldn’t appreciate it as much,” he says.
“But we can make it. As long as we all work together.”

15

“
We need to find
their camp,” Lyon said. “The smartest way to beat the enemy is by knowing the enemy.”

We sit around a fire in the clearing across from the catwalk. In just a day the Hatfields
have established a welcoming place away from the airship. The grass in the field I’d
hid in the night before has been cut and stacked next to the new pen for the ponies
and goats. They are within sight of the airship and well protected. Most of the cats
have scattered, content to make it on their own, except for a few who make themselves
at home on the catwalk, beneath the canopy and beyond in the darkness, where they
sit, staring at us with their glowing eyes. The sky above is as clear as it was the
first night, and its velvety blackness is covered once more with stars. The air has
a bit more chill than the night before so the fire is most welcome.

A large tent is set up along with the awning and the table, chairs, and Pip’s cage,
of course. It is nice and homey, but it is only a temporary fix. We’ve got to find
a more permanent place to live. As Pace said, the Hatfields will not be here forever.

Jane spent the day taking care of the children, bathing them, feeding them, mending
their clothes and helping Sally to get them back onto a normal schedule of lessons.
Only now their lessons included learning about the actual world, instead of our former
closed-off one. The rest of us had lessons also, about geography and the history of
the past two hundred years, which brings us all up to date. My head hurt from all
the things Jane and Dr. Stewart told us about the new world. It’s as if my brain can
only absorb so much at a time. So much has happened in such a short time that it is
hard to process it all.

Our meager supplies, scavenged from the floodwaters, have been organized so that if
we need something to wear or a cup to drink from we have a place to find such. The
children, along with Sally and George, are asleep in the tent and the rest of us sit
around the fire, well sated after our meal of venison stew. There are guards stationed
as usual. I found out during dinner that the Hatfields’ airship has a crew of eight
soldiers along with a pilot, a copilot, a cook, and a steward who is in charge of
the mundane day-to-day things, like setting up tents and tables. They all have quarters
within the actual airship, which I find amazing. Apparently Alcide does too, because
he told me he’d seen the inside. I cannot help but wonder if everyone in America is
as rich as the Hatfields and as generous. I certainly hope so. The world outside would
be a wonderful place if it were true.

“The first thing we need to do is to set you up with weapons. We have a few extra
pieces, but not enough to outfit all of you,” Lyon continues.

“How about bows and arrows,” Levi suggests. “There’s certainly enough wood around
to make some.”

“Good idea,” Lyon says. “You can show the boys how to make them tomorrow. We should
have enough scrap iron to make arrowheads.”

“Like Robin Hood?” Pace asks.

“Yes,” Zan says excitedly. “You know about him?”

“I read about him,” Pace says.

“Another book?” James asks.

“Another legend,” Levi says from across the fire. He is sitting on the ground with
Bella pressed up against him with her head in his lap. “One that is told in America
too.” He stretches his legs out and crosses them. “The Indian tribes hunt with bows
also. They are just as deadly.” I was witness to that today.

“Indians?” Alcide asks and Levi obliges him by telling him about the Sioux.

Pace sits in a chair and I sit on the ground in front of him with my legs crossed
and my back against his leg. Pip sits on Pace’s shoulder after showing off his tricks,
and Jonah sits under the chair staring at the fire. The rest of us are scattered about.
Jon sits on the ground and Beau is next to him. Jon seems sad, and I know its because
he’d grown very attached to the dog in the few days they spent together. Adam sits
in a chair, as do Rosalyn, Lyon, Jane, and Dr. Stewart. Zan sits on a stool next to
her mother, and I can’t help but notice that she and James are again stealing glances
at each other when they think no one is watching. Alcide and Peter sit on the ground
also. Peter is still coughing, but not as bad. I hope Jane had something in her medicine
bag to help him.

“Tell us about the rest of America,” I say when Levi is done talking about the Sioux.
“How did the people there survive the comet?”

“Not all of them did,” Lyon says. A map, similar, yet smaller than the one inside,
hangs on the side of the tent, left over from our lessons today. Lyon rises from his
seat and goes to it as we all watch with rapt attention. “The nation as a whole was
woefully unprepared for the disaster. Everything west of the Rocky Mountains,” he
points to a line two thirds of the way across America, “was lost because of the massive
earthquakes caused when the comet hit the earth. Everything east of the Appalachians,”
he points to a line less than a third of the way across the landmass, “was eventually
lost to the rising waters caused by the melting of the polar ice caps. Half of the
population lived in those areas, the majority of them here, in New York City.” Lyon
puts his finger on a dot that is now in the underwater part of the map. He continues.
“The capital was moved from here,” he points to another spot beneath New York City,
“to here in St. Louis because of its accessibility to the Mississippi River, which
leads into the Gulf of Mexico.” He takes his hand and slashes it across the bottom
part of America. “Once again, this part of the country was underwater, along with
most of these island chains. Some survivors did make it to us by boat, but their numbers
were very few. Most of those who fled to the Midwest had nothing. There was no way
to sustain them because of the climate change that wreaked havoc with the seasons.
Many people starved and died from the elements. Those that did survive did so by pure
will power.” Lyon then moves his hand to the continent below America. “This continent
was devastated. Still no sign of anyone surviving. It’s a shame really; the entire
Amazon Basin was rumored to be quite extraordinary. The loss of it had quite a devastating
effect on our atmospheric conditions.”

“That makes me appreciate what our forefathers did more,” Rosalyn remarks.

“They were years ahead of their time,” Dr. Stewart says. “But there was no valid reason
to stay inside so long. Your society would have had the advantage over any survivors
around this area.”

“Unfortunately we have no way of knowing what guided their decisions at the time the
earth was recovering,” Jane observes. “I am certain they think their reasons are very
valid.”

“The problem is they presume to make the decisions for everyone,” Lyon points out.
“No one, beyond the royal bloodline, was ever asked if they wanted to leave. They
had no options beyond work for all our survival. It’s just another form of slavery.”

I know my father would not see it that way. For him it is all about our service for
the greater good.

“I think they should give some the choice now,” Rosalyn says. “Since we are out. There
has to be some in there who want out also. There has to be some of our people who
survived who cannot get out.” I know she is talking about her husband, Colm, but she
will not mention his name. She will not give voice to her fear that he is dead like
so many others.

“There are,” James said. “I will not believe otherwise.”

“David and Lucy,” I say.

“Harry,” Jon says. “Jilly.”

“My mother,” Pace says.

“Colm and the others who were trapped on the other side of the water,” Peter says.

“It’s as if they are being held prisoner,” Adam offers.

“My mother
is
a prisoner,” Pace says.

“What can we do about it?” Zan asks. “Shouldn’t we do something about it?” she asks
Lyon.

“Actually we formed an idea,” Levi says. “Wren, Pace, and I. We can go into the dome
through the hole on top.”

“What would you do once you were in there?” Lyon asks. “Is there a way down into the
city?”

“There is a catwalk that stretches from end to end,” Pace says. “I’ve been on it,
I know my way around it. And Wren and I both know the streets.”

“If we can make it to our friends’ house,” I say, “we can find out about most of the
people we know. From there we can get back into the tunnels and help them find a way
out.”

“Why not just go back the way you came?” Lyon asks. I can tell that he’s challenging
us to plan things out instead of acting impetuously.

“Because of the flood in the caverns, we cannot get to our hatches that lead into
the dome,” I say. “But from the other side we might be able to find a way across.”

“It does sound feasible,” Dr. Stewart says. His eyes are bright with excitement, and
I know if we decide to go through with this plan that he will want to be included.
But will I? The thought of going back inside makes me feel sick to my stomach. Yet
I know I will have to go because no one except Pace knows the streets as well as I
do.

“That still doesn’t solve the problem of the rovers,” Lyon says. “We must investigate
them first to see what kind of threat they hold, especially after what Levi and Wren
heard today. I will take out a scouting party first thing in the morning. Dr. Stewart,
if you would like to accompany us that would be fine. Meanwhile, Levi can get the
lot of you set up with bows. Do any of your group know how to form metals so arrowheads
can be made?”