Darkwhispers

by Vashti Hardy

“But you won’t even know who you are!”

  “When confronted by an offer I always ask myself one question. What’s in it for me? You’ve brought me a proposal which offers me absolutely nothing.” She walked towards the small window. “Quite the worst negotiation in history. No wonder your father was usele—”

  “Don’t you dare—”

  Maudie put a hand to Arthur’s arm. “She’s not worth your words.”

  Eudora smiled as sweet as pink sugar. “Thank you for your offer, but I decline. I guess my final victory will be taking the truth to the grave with me.”

  “We need to go,” Florian urged. “The rain is getting heavier.”

  Eudora’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Come closer! What’s that around your neck, child?”

  A pink glow was coming from Maudie’s neck. She cursed herself for forgetting about the crystal.

  “Where is it from? I should very much like it, as I am fated to lose all my memories, could you at least not gift me one thing that you know I will love when I am no more than a shell of myself?”

  Maudie drew back. “You’re having nothing, and tomorrow you’ll be nothing. Let’s get out of here. She’s not worth another breath.”

  CHAPTER 30

  PURSUIT

  “I knew it was a stupid idea!” Maudie hurried back along the jetty to Tempestra. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into these things, Arty.”

  “Because it was worth a try?” Florian suggested.

  She scowled at him. “Don’t you join in on his side.”

  The rain bombarded the jetty with thunderous force.

  “At least we didn’t get caught, and no one needs to know,” she said, huffing and glancing sideways at Arthur.

  “But it was all for nothing!” Arthur said, kicking a post.

  She stopped walking and pursed her lips. “We have to accept that there’s nothing we can do and let the Erytheans take her tomorrow. Then we go home and get on with our lives. I’ll go to Lontown Universitas, and you can … do whatever you want to.”

  “I want justice,” he snapped.

  “Well, you can’t always get what you want!”

  Florian was slowly distancing himself from them. “Where are you going?” Maudie said forcefully.

  He shrugged awkwardly. “I thought I would just leave you two to argue it out.”

  She sighed. “Come on, at least show us where we can get some more of that delicious pampa fruit before we go.”

  Florian led them through the ivory corridors. “Look! The water is up to another level now; it must be falling in great volumes in the northern mountains,” he said.

  They all went to the window where the water was halfway up.

  Lightning sparked in the distance, one bolt every few seconds.

  “It’s fierce here,” Maudie said. “Fierce, but beautiful.”

  Florian looked at her and smiled.

  As Arthur watched the lightning crack across the sky, a flash of silver flew past the window. An insect. “What was that? It looked like Miptera!”

  Another flash came.

  “There, did you see?”

  “I saw something,” said Florian.

  “Maybe it was Miptera, Arty. They were hardly going to imprison an insect along with Eudora, were they? If they even know about her!”

  “I suppose not.”

  “She’s probably feeling a little lost without Eudora and is trying to shelter from the storm.” Maudie was thinking about Valiant.

  “Careful, Maud, sounds like you feel sorry for that mandible-gnashing monster.”

  The children carried on through the hallways towards one of the kitchens. They turned a corner and Arthur yelped as he almost collided with Ermitage.

  “Sorry, my dear old thing! I was just…”

  “Raiding the kitchen? That’s what we’re about to do.”

  “Yes! Rumbled!” He chuckled and carried on hurrying past.

  They found Felicity in the kitchen with one of the cooks of Tempestra. She was furiously scribbling down notes.

  “Twinnies!” she cried, then added, “And friend!” She tapped her lucky spoon excitedly on the table. “Look at these recipes! I’ll have to improvise with some of the ingredients, but there are some similar things I can pick up on our way back to Lontown. I shall collate it in a book, just for our personal use, of course, because I can’t spill the beans, so to speak. We’ll call it Delights of the East … no. Eats of the East … not quite…”

  “Feasts of the East?” suggested Maudie.

  “Perfect!”

  “Catchy,” Arthur said.

  Lightning flashes were now happening every ten seconds or so. There was a shudder as shutters rose from beneath the windows to cover them.

  “What’s happening?” asked Maudie.

  “Looks as though we are in for a full deluge tonight,” answered Florian. “When the water reaches a certain level, the second layer of protection goes up, because the weight of the additional water puts more pressure on our buildings. It takes longer to flood here than the far west, but when the deluge is particularly fierce over the mountains it can get deep. We’ll likely not be able to go out until it has receded enough to be safe.”

  After gathering a feast of spiced yam tarts, chocolate coconut sweets, pineapple and pecan cake, and mango juice, Arthur, Maudie and Florian went back to Arthur’s room, which was one floor up and still free of the shutters.

  They went to the window and watched the lightning crack the night sky with splinters of white heat in the north-west.

  “I imagine the darkwhispers would love that,” said Arthur.

  “Maybe the storm will pass over them and they’ll get so much energy tonight that they won’t want the memories of the Vane crew.” Maudie sighed. “Did you see Eudora’s face when you mentioned losing her memories of Mum?”

  Arthur nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look scared before, but that thought really got to her.”

  “I wish we had memories of her.”

  “I’m sorry that you never got to know her,” said Florian.

  Maudie sat on the window ledge. “I know what Eudora did was unforgivable, but it isn’t right to take someone’s memories away as a punishment.”

  “Imagine if we lost all our memories of Dad, of each other,” said Arthur.

  Maudie coughed loudly.

  “Oh, sorry, Florian, I forgot that … er… Maudie told me what had happened to your sister.”

  Florian gave a nod as though to say it was fine.

  They watched the lightning spark three times in succession, and fell silent for a while until Arthur said, “Perhaps…”

  Maudie looked at him. “What?”

  “What if we helped Eudora anyway, even if she won’t confess. Because it’s the right thing to do?”

  “But what about all the things she was planning to take from here? What happens if she gets past the darkwhispers and lets the secret out? She’s still a threat.”

  “Can we live with the memory of knowing we should have done something to stop this? She’s a horrible person – the worst – but even she has a right to her memories.”

  Arthur and Maudie’s eyes locked.

  “Arty, we have to help them, don’t we?”

  He nodded. “Yes, because everything about this feels wrong, and Dad always said—”

  “Trust your instincts.”

  They both looked at Florian.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but will you help us?” asked Maudie. “If you’re worried about the secret, surely it can’t last for ever anyway – for instance, the Acquafreeda family of explorers are developing underwater vessels. How would the darkwhispers stop them if they decided to head this way in the future?”

  He stared blankly at her for a moment of painful silence, then said, “If Erythea’s great secret is ruined … well, perhaps it’s time for a new approach. We could go in the morning, when the water has receded enough, before Tauria Verada sends for the Vane c
rew.”

  “We could make it look as though Eudora has broken free,” said Arthur.

  “There’s a river at the bottom of the power-falls that leads out to an estuary. I could get her and her crew a boat. After that, she’s on her own.”

  “But at least we’ve done what we can,” said Maudie.

  The water was almost up to the window. The seond-layer shutters began rising.

  Arthur watched as the flashes of lightning slowly disappeared. “Looks like all we can do until morning is work out a plan and try to get some sleep.”

  Arthur, Maudie, and Florian stayed together in Arthur’s room talking through different ideas, then drifting in and out of sleep until the shutters opened to reveal the hazy peaches, muted greys and shadowed greens of a rainforest dawn. They rushed to the window to assess the situation. The plateau lake was still swollen, but it looked to be only a metre or so above its usual level.

  “Won’t the jetties be underwater?” asked Arthur.

  “They rise and fall within a range, so it’ll be fine,” said Florian.

  They hurried outside and unhitched a water-wing. Florian took control of the steering and guided them away from the jetty.

  As they sailed towards the great structure on the edge of the waterfall, Parthena soared from the uppermost dome and flew alongside them.

  Florian deftly sped over the plateau while Maudie went over the plan with Arthur. “Spare keys to the store-rooms are kept in the control room. Florian will get the keys while we distract whoever is on duty. We release the prisoners and head down the main elevator to the bottom of the falls, where there will be more water-wings, then we’ll get them to the south side where the fishing boats are moored.”

  They reached the jetty at the power-falls and quickly disembarked, but before they could go any further, an Erythean man stormed out of the building, shouting.

  Arthur’s heart sank. They’d been caught before they’d even started!

  The man spoke angrily in Erythean, making sweeping gestures with his arms.

  A frown deepened on Florian’s forehead as the man spoke. He spoke several sentences in reply, then looked at the twins. “They’ve escaped.”

  It felt as though someone had punched Arthur in the ribcage.

  “He was bringing them some food this morning, not long ago, and when he opened the door, they were gone. He says there are many water-wings missing.”

  “Perhaps they escaped in the early hours or late last night, before the deluge took hold on the plateau,” said Florian. “The storm was heaviest in the north, so they may have taken refuge in the south in the orb houses, or they may have made it across the sky-way to treetop town.”

  “But how?”

  Arthur paced back and forth for a moment. Then he remembered the flash of Miptera flying past when they’d arrived back the previous evening. “They had help.”

  “Who?” said Maudie.

  Arthur shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know, but I’d bet that when we saw Miptera last night she was carrying a message.”

  The Erythean guard sailed back to the city with them and rushed to inform the professors.

  “We’re going to be in trouble when they find out we went to the pump,” said Maudie.

  Florian shook his head. “I told the guard that you were curious about the mechanics and I’d promised to show you.”

  “I suppose we should be glad they’ve escaped. It was what we were trying to do after all,” said Arthur.

  Maudie paced. “But we were going to do it our way. She’s had a head start now, and who knows what she’s planning.”

  “She must be heading for the Aurora!” Their whole plan to release her seemed wrong now: Arthur was caught in a tangled web of complicated emotions.

  Shortly, they were joined on the jetty by Tauria, Cassea, Harriet, Welby and Felicity.

  “Where’s Ermitage?” Arthur whispered to Maudie, but as he spoke the words, the realization hit them – he was the one who had helped Eudora!

  Tauria and Harriet began talking frantically, then nodding. Arthur heard Ermitage’s name mentioned.

  Harriet hurried over to them. “They think she may be heading for the Aurora; perhaps she realized what they were planning. Tauria is sending a search party straight there.”

  Arthur looked to the jetty, guilt like a heavy weight around his neck. It was wrong to take Eudora’s memories, but it was wrong to let her escape with the Aurora. If they hadn’t told Eudora about the Erytheans’ plan for her, would she still be locked up?

  The Erythean water-wings were already setting off.

  “They don’t know her strategy for making it past the darkwhispers, but they want to catch her first,” said Harriet.

  “I know what she’ll do; she’ll use the weather canopy to get through. It’s how she made it here,” said Arthur. “Perhaps we can try to cut them off if they’ve not got too far. Parthena could fly ahead to find them and tell us which way they’re heading.”

  “Good thinking, Arthur.”

  He called to Parthena, who was waiting on the jetty. “Can you scan the area and see if you can find Eudora?”

  She squawked, then took flight and zoomed away.

  Arthur went in a water-wing with Welby and Cassea, Maudie with Florian, and Harriet with Tauria and Felicity. The vessels travelled like the wind across the sky-way. Florian’s was the fastest with his adapted sail, and he had to slow down several times so that the others could catch up. Shortly, Parthena reappeared in the sky and landed in Arthur’s water-wing. The group came to a stop and Welby spread out the map. Parthena pecked at an area in the mountains.

  “Looks like they’ve gone via the caves, if your bird is right?” said Tauria.

  “She’s always right,” said Arthur.

  “Then I suggest we split up. Harriet and I will head for the Aurora and head them off with the rest of the search party. Arthur, Felicity and Cassea, you travel up the centre just in case the Vane crew tries to double back. Florian and Maudie will take the northerly river, as a second boundary point. The sky-way splits into the river systems just ahead. Good luck.”

  The water-wings sped off in different directions.

  Maudie and Florian could go full speed now they didn’t have to wait for the others. It was strange to Maudie not to have been paired automatically with Arthur, but she supposed they had arrived separately and Tauria knew that Florian had travelled with her to the city.

  As they rushed along, Maudie couldn’t stop thinking about why Eudora would head towards the caves. She called out to Florian. “The pink crystal – she saw it. She must’ve found out their location.”

  Florian glanced back at her.

  “I didn’t tell her. You were there. I wouldn’t, but I know how her mind works, and that’s why she’s gone there.”

  Florian nodded. “We must hurry!”

  They sped onwards. Florian was navigating them the fastest way he knew: along the river north of the treetop town, cutting through rivulets to avoid rapids, onwards through the tunnel of enormous trees and into the dense forest. They stopped briefly to check their direction as they pushed on through the jungle, the midday heat bearing down on them.

  When they were close, and the rivulets could get them no further, they left the water-wing.

  “Through here!” said Florian urgently.

  Maudie thought she recognized the wide trunks of the water-bear trees and she glanced up, suddenly filled with hope that she might see Valiant. But everything was eerily still, not a breath of breeze. Even the usual croaks, thrums and chirrups, the song of the jungle, had fallen mute.

  “I don’t like this,” she breathed.

  As they moved silently on, the ground became rocky. A ball of lead formed in Maudie’s stomach as they approached the cave she remembered from the flood. But it wasn’t just the memory.

  Something wasn’t right. She could sense it.

  Florian stopped to pick up a pink gemstone discarded on the floor.

&nb
sp; And then she saw.

  A suffocating wave of emotion came over her. Florian grabbed her hand. It was clear that he was feeling the same. Pink gemstones were scattered on the forest floor as though someone had left in a hurry, and among them were several dead water-bears.

  Florian let out a wail and Maudie sank to her knees. These poor creatures. It was too awful, as though being trapped in a nightmare. And then she had the terrible thought that one of them could be Valiant.

  A soft whimper sounded from behind one of the trees that made her heart fill with both sorrow and joy.

  “It’s all right,” Maudie said softly. “You can come out. No one here will harm you.”

  But the water-bear ran off and scampered up a tree.

  “It’s terrified of us!” Maudie said.

  She glanced at Florian. “We were going to help Eudora, and now look what she’s done. If we hadn’t tried to help, she wouldn’t have known about the punishment, she wouldn’t…” The weight of responsibility pressed on her chest like she’d been gripped in an enormous vice.

  Florian pulled her to look at him. “You did not do this.”

  “I know, but…” Her voice quivered.

  “You can spend a lifetime asking what if things had been different, and it won’t change a thing. What if the professors hadn’t decided on such a harsh punishment? What if we had caught them escaping? What if my people didn’t shut themselves away from the rest of the Wide, what if…?” He sighed. “You can’t live like that. You are good and wanted to do the right thing. I know that.”

  Rustling sounded close by, then another water-bear emerged. Maudie recognized the markings on his face – it was Valiant. He whimpered again and let out a pining moan that made every inch of Maudie wish she could make it all go away, to turn back time.

  She scooped Valiant in her arms, and he climbed to her shoulder and wrapped his tail around her arm and buried his head into her neck. “Did a woman come here? Wearing pink, probably?”

  He took her hand and brushed it with yes.

  Valiant clung tightly to her.

  “We need to go,” said Florian. “I will come back later and bury them.”

  Maudie nodded and looked to Valiant. “I’m sorry, I have to go now.” But Valiant wouldn’t let go. She prised his little webbed paws from her arm.