-8-
THE ONLY thing I can hear in the dark forest is the hooting of owls and my own ragged breath. The leaves rustle eerily when the wind picks up from the sea. Although I can hardly make out anything in the darkness, I run like crazy. I have to get as far away from the manor as quickly as possible. The Book must be hidden. I still can’t wrap my head around what I’ve done.
Suddenly, my foot catches behind a thick branch on the forest path. I lose my balance and plunge headfirst onto the trail. It was once paved with flat stones – put there by the ancestors? – but they’ve been mostly removed now, due to cracks in the surface. My knees scrape painfully over the stones, bringing tears to my eyes. I hit the ground with a thud. I moan softly, rubbing my sore legs.
In the nocturnal silence, I suddenly hear a sound in the bushes. Something is walking around there. Something large. A wild animal? This close to the house? They usually don’t risk that.
And then, a blinding light shines in my eyes out of nowhere. Incredibly bright – as if I’m staring straight into the sun. Before I can even draw a breath to scream, a hand clamps down over my mouth, stopping the shriek in my throat.
“Be quiet,” a male voice tells me.
Saul?
The voice doesn’t sound very old, so it could be someone from the manor. But where’s that terribly bright light coming from?
“If you promise not to scream, I’ll let go of you. Okay?” the voice continues. That’s odd – this guy speaks differently than I’m used to. The words are more melodious, and he pronounces the R more rounded than rolling. A stranger.
I nod silently.
He takes away his hand. I breathe deeply in and out and then bat at the light with both hands. “Keep that out of my face!” I hiss. “You’re blinding me, for Luke’s sake!”
Thankfully, he takes the light away. For a moment I see spots dancing before my eyes. Then the boy – he doesn’t look much older than I am – shines it at his own face. The light travels from his chin upward to the rest of his face, distorting his features with sharp shadows. I was right – I don’t know him.
“What is that thing?” I whisper in shock. “And who the blazes are you?”
“My name is Walt,” he replies. “I got this lamp from one of the shipwrecked men.”
“Ship… what?” I mumble.
“The man who washed up on our beach.” Walt gestures toward the west part of the island. “Across the Wall.”
I stare at Walt incredulously.
He is a Fool. So they really do exist.
“What about you?” he continues, moving the light away from his face a little. It now illuminates the tree next to us. He was probably blinding himself too.
“I’m Leia,” I answer softly. “I live in the manor house.”
“You live on this side of the Wall?”
“Yes.”
“An Unbeliever,” he whispers. “So you guys are real.”
I raise an eyebrow. What did he just call me? I believe in the Force with all my heart and soul. He obviously has no clue what he’s talking about.
“Yes, that’s what I was just thinking about you,” I say snippishly. “You’re one of the Fools.”
He chuckles. “None taken. Is that what you call us?”
I fall silent. Only now do I realize how incredibly absurd and exciting this all is. I’m sitting in a dark forest, talking to a Fool who crossed the Wall. On top of that, I’ve stolen our holy Book. Whatever next?
“Listen up,” Walt says, his voice suddenly intent. “I’m actually here looking for someone. A man in his forties with reddish hair. Is he with your people at the manor house?”
The man in the beer cellar – he had red hair. That’s why I knew for sure I didn’t know him, because the only two people in Newexter with red hair are both women.
“Why?” I ask cautiously. I don’t trust Saul one bit, but I don’t trust this Fool either. My eyes scan his face, which looks less threatening in the half-darkness than when he used that strange lamp to illuminate his pale features. His light-blonde hair is clearly visible in the light hitting the tree. Oh no… the light. Someone might spot it!
“You have to put it out,” I bark at him in a panic. “The lamp. They’re looking for me. They shouldn’t find me.”
Walt acts immediately, turning off the lamp with a sort of switch. “Done,” he says drily. “And now I’d love to know why you’re running away from your own people. I take it you’ve seen Henry? The man with red hair?”
I swallow. “I have, but that’s not the reason I’m on the run.”
Walt frowns. “So… why are you?”
After a moment’s hesitation, I decide to tell him. I have to get this off my chest. “I stole something that belongs to our leader.” In fact, it doesn’t even belong to Saul - it should belong to all of us.
Walt takes my hand in the dark. “Don’t be scared,” he reassures me. “You’ve got nothing to fear from me. I’d be the last person to rat you out. So what did you nick?”
I don’t know the word ‘nick’, but I get what he means. “A book. It contains the words of our ancestors. My friend Andy claims that our leader, Saul, is deliberately keeping things in The Book from us. I didn’t mean to steal it. I just wanted to secretly read it, but if I hadn’t run away, they would have walked in on me.”
“What are you planning to do with it now?” Walt says. “You can’t very well read it in the dark.”
“You know, for a Fool you’re pretty smart,” I reply sourly.
Walt huffs out an irritated breath. “Will you do me a favor and stop calling me stupid? You have no idea what it’s like on the other side of the Wall. You’ve never been there and you don’t know us.”
“Well, you don’t know the first thing about me and my people either,” I throw back. “Or you wouldn’t have called me an Unbeliever.”
We stare each other down, as far as that’s possible in a dark forest.
“I wouldn’t mind finding out more about the other side,” I finally admit quietly. “But I don’t have time to talk. I have to hide The Book somewhere safe.”
“Why don’t you give it to me?” Walt suggests.
My heart skips a beat. “To you? Why would I?”
He sighs condescendingly, as though I’m a Foolish child asking stupid questions. “I just told you, your people have never been on the other side of the Wall. It’s probably the last place your leader is ever going to look for his precious book, I should think.”
He might be a Fool, but his idea is pretty solid. Still, he doesn’t have to sound all smug about it. “But I haven’t found the writings I was looking for,” I object.
“So we’ll meet again. Different time, same place, tomorrow. I’ll bring the book along if you’ll bring a smile.”
Is he actually teasing me? I glare at him but realize instantly he won’t be able to see that in the dark. “What is it you want to know about Henry?” I change the subject.
Walt takes The Book from me and puts it away. “Henry and his friend Tony sailed here from across the waters, but that freak storm this afternoon wrecked their ship. It wasn’t a particularly well-built vessel, and those towering waves were the death blow to it. That’s how Tony landed on our shore.”
I gape at Walt breathlessly. The man he’s looking for comes from across the waters – far beyond the horizon that has always been the end of our world. Is this really happening?
“Henry must have drifted ashore on your side,” Walt continues, taking my hand in his again. It feels different than when Colin or Andy holds my hand – Walt’s hands are rougher, more calloused. Suddenly, I feel flustered, and I don’t know why.
“Henry is being kept prisoner in the manor house. I think he’s tried to tell Saul about his… shipwreck,” I reply slowly, remembering the words I heard through the door. Who did Henry think he was? That’s what Saul had said.
Our leader probably doesn’t believe a word Henry has said. Saul and Ben think Henry is a Fool. Or who knows - they might actually be afraid the familiar and safe world around them would change for good if other people heard Henry’s story. If they discovered Fools aren’t that crazy after all.
“Shall we meet here around noon tomorrow?” I propose. “When the sun’s at its highest point?”
Walt nods. “Fine with me. I’ll report back to the people in Hope Harbor. That’s the name of the place where I live. With a little luck, some strong men will volunteer to come with me and Tony to rescue Henry.”
“All right. See you then,” I say. “May the Force be in you.”
“Faith, hope and love,” Walt replies in what is most likely a goodbye on his side of the Wall. The word ‘love’ somehow makes me blush. Thankfully, Walt can’t see that, because his strange lamp is still switched off. He turns and walks back in the direction of the Wall, the dark branches of the trees obscuring his receding figure.
I let out a sigh and start making my way back.