by Obert Skye
“Lilly!” Clover yelled while invisible and still on Geth’s head.
Lilly, Lilly, Lilly.
The echo was clear and almost soothing in the silent night.
“The slick stone makes remarkable noises,” Galbraith said. “Beyond this is the Orange River, and past that are the fields and mountains that hide the other women. Lars lives beyond the mountains.”
Anna came running up from the middle of the line. She touched Geth on the right elbow and he turned to look at her. Her expression was as messy as the hair that hung in front of her face.
“We don’t like this,” Anna said as a matter of fact.
“Like what?” Geth asked, continuing to walk through the granite passage.
“This territory,” Anna said. “We don’t know where we are, and there’s nowhere to hide in this canyon.”
“We’re all hidden,” Geth reminded her. “The dark has us disguised, and we’ll be out of this passage and into the fields before light arrives.”
“It’s not right,” Anna insisted. “It feels wrong.”
“I think it feels dark and long,” Clover said. “I’m not sure why Geth and I are—”
“Stop.”
“Fine,” Clover said hurt. “I’ll keep my feelings—”
“Stop.”
The word was strong and resonated through everyone like a deep plunk of bass.
“Stop now.”
Everyone stopped walking. They all looked around, wondering where the voice was coming from.
Anna began to tremble.
“What is it?” Geth asked.
“Your mind is not your own.”
The words echoed off the granite walls like waves of strong wind. Anna dropped her stone and put her palms up over her ears.
“Your mind is not your own.”
People started to fall to their knees and grab their ears. Galbraith just stood there as if the voice he heard was that of a forgotten relative calling him home.
“Your mind is mine,” the echo bounced.
“Payt,” Geth yelled, his own voice echoing off the walls.
Payt, Payt, Payt.
“Where is he?” Clover asked Geth in a panic.
“I don’t know,” Geth replied angrily. “He could be anywhere in this canyon.”
Words were bouncing everywhere as Zale stumbled up to his brother with his ears covered and his eyes wide.
“Get him out,” Zale cried. “Get him out of my head!”
“Everyone run!” Geth ordered.
Nobody obeyed. The few words Payt had already spoken had corrupted their minds almost instantly. Already every one of Geth’s followers was withering in confusion and beginning the first phase of becoming a boor.
“Why don’t we just run?” Clover yelled.
Geth grabbed Zale’s arm and pulled him forward. The two of them ran though the granite passage as Payt’s voice continued to bounce off the slick walls.
“Payt is your master.”
Clover hopped from Geth’s head and sprang backward off the tops of Stone Holders and women as he frantically tried to make his way back to Edgar.
The poor Tangle was pounding at his own head when Clover reached him. Clover leapt onto the beast’s head, grabbed his horns, and leaned down in front of his eyes.
“It’s me,” Clover screamed. “Run!”
Edgar’s mind was muddled by the voice of Payt, but, as before, seeing Clover seemed to strike something in his soul and cause him to be able to override Payt’s hypnotic words.
“Run!” Clover demanded.
Edgar stumbled and then worked his legs into a gallop. He dropped his arms like an ape and began to propel himself forward as fast as he could. Every word that echoed off the walls caused Edgar to shake and scream. Clover reached into his void and pulled out one of Leven’s old T-shirts that he had been saving in case Leven ever lost his again. The shirt said “Wonder Wipes” on the front and was white with a blue collar. Clover looked at the shirt as Edgar frantically ran.
“Oh,” Clover cooed. “This takes me back. Leven was such a cute—”
Edgar screamed as Payt’s words filled the air.
“Your mind is mine.”
“Right,” Clover said, bringing himself back to the task at hand.
Clover ripped the shirt in two and shoved one half of it into Edgar’s right ear. Clover then took the other half and leaned over onto Edgar’s left shoulder.
“Run!” Clover screamed one last time before shoving the shirt into the ear.
Edgar tilted his giant head downward and pushed himself even harder to run at a clip that almost caused Clover to fly off. Edgar’s arms pounded the ground and hammered him forward in giant leaps and bounds. In seconds they were right behind Geth and Zale. Without breaking stride, Edgar wrapped his arms around the two lithens and picked them both up. He then ran like there was no tomorrow as Anna and Galbraith and all who had followed withered and became boors in the granite canyon, caught in the storm of Payt’s words.
The night was not going as planned.
Chapter Twelve
Questions and Answers
Losing is my second least favorite thing. I don’t enjoy losing at all. Occasionally people will say, ‘Losing is not that bad; it’s never trying that really hurts.” Occasionally people will also say that Foo is not real. I believe my example clearly shows that people cannot be trusted. Losing can bring on all kinds of harsh feelings—sadness, disappointment, inadequacy, upset stomach. (I guess I’m still not over losing that parsnip-eating contest.) Losing hurts. Of course, if everyone won, then winning would become losing and they’d have to make up a new word for those who did whatever it is that’s better than winning. All right, I can feel myself losing you. The important thing to remember is that if you do want to win at all costs, then be prepared to lose at every turn.
Geth and Clover didn’t even have the option of turning, seeing how they were moving down a straight path and Edgar was in control. Edgar ran until the sound of Payt’s voice could no longer be heard. The granite walls disappeared and the landscape became as flat as paper. Edgar slowed down and Clover shifted on top of him. He held the glow stone behind to see if there was any sign of anyone else that had made it out of the canyon.
“This is bad,” Clover said.
Geth and Zale were still being held tightly in Edgar’s arms. Zale had been mumbling and trying to keep his mind under control. Geth, on the other hand, was growing angry. If Payt had been within his reach, he would have easily put an end to him with all the anger he felt at the moment.
“You rescued them,” Zale said accusingly.
“What?” Clover asked, confused.
“You rescued them just to let them be captured,” Zale clarified. “You’ve just helped create hundreds of new enemies.”
“Payt will pay,” Geth said seriously.
“Really?” Zale asked. “You’re still sticking to that tired line? Payt is unstoppable. His voice controls almost every soul in the realm. The fact that you and I still have some power of thought is an anomaly.”
Edgar moaned and slowed from a jog to a walk.
“You’ve just lost every supporter you had,” Zale continued. “Now you’ll know firsthand why there’s no hope here. The very few you sought to fight with will now be the hundreds who will bring you to your demise. That cowboy, that woman, they will kill you.”
Edgar stopped and set Geth and Zale down on the ground. The Tangle stretched his arms and hollered into the dark.
“Can’t you see the madness?” Zale asked dejectedly. “Any troops you recruit are subject to the voice of Payt. Their loyalty will be questionable to begin with and will be stolen completely when Payt opens his mouth. Those he just converted would be on you now if it weren’t for the darkness that stifles them. You see now why
the safety of my cell was a luxury I wished not to leave?”
Geth clenched his fists and closed his eyes. He opened them back up, stared at Zale, and then turned and started running east.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Zale yelled at him.
“He never does,” Clover said. “He’s like my uncle and hates to ask for directions. Come on, Edgar.”
Clover hopped up onto Edgar. The Tangle wrapped the tip of his tail around Zale’s right wrist and began to chase after Geth, pulling Zale behind him. Zale was forced to keep running or fall and be dragged.
“Let me go!” Zale screamed.
Edgar roared in such a way that Zale understood the need to stop complaining.
By the time the first light of day began to appear they had crossed the Orange River and reached the far corner of Zendor. The fields here were filled with ten-foot-high stalks of gray corn and purple witt that hid them easily in the light. They moved down the rows looking for a spot to rest. Geth kept his eyes peeled for any sign of boors from behind as well as any women in the field they were now in.
“I know there are women around us,” Geth said.
“Seriously,” Clover chastised. “You’re not in this for the girls, remember.”
“I mean Those Who Hide,” Geth clarified. “Anna said there were a number of her type in this area.”
“You think they’re hiding in this stuff?” Clover asked.
“I’m sure of it,” Geth replied.
“They’ll never show their faces as long as you have this oaf trampling through the fields with you,” Zale said, pointing toward Edgar.
“For your information,” Clover argued, “Edgar is not an oaf.”
“Well, his actions are oafish,” Zale clarified. “I am so tired, Geth. You dragged me out of my home to exhaust me to death.”
“I’ve never heard of a prison cell described as home,” Geth said, disgusted. “But it might be wise for us to sleep for a moment.”
“Remember what happened to us last time we fell asleep in a field?” Clover reminded them.
“So we were tied up,” Zale moaned. “At least we got some rest.”
“You’re quite the warrior,” Clover mocked.
“That’s enough,” Geth insisted, still trying to figure out how to control the overpowering feelings that were messing up the inside of him. “You two sleep and I’ll keep watch.”
“Perfect,” Clover and Zale said simultaneously.
Clover instructed Edgar to smash down some of the crops and clear a hidden spot for them to rest. Edgar gladly trampled down some growth and collapsed on the ground. The massive beast began snoring almost immediately.
“You sure you can stay awake?” Clover asked Geth with a yawn.
“What if I said no?” Geth asked.
“That’s nice,” Clover replied, not listening any longer and already beginning to doze on top of Edgar.
Clover and Zale both began to breathe in deep sleep as Geth stood looking upward at the clear purple day. He walked around the small trampled area and peered down the rows, looking for any sign of life. Geth cleared his throat and looked toward the fields.
“I know you’re out there,” he finally said as kindly as he could.
There was nothing but the sound of the witt stalks bending slightly in the wind.
“My name is Geth,” Geth informed the crops. “I’m a friend of Eve and Anna.”
Clover mumbled something about Phoebe and then turned over and continued to sleep.
“You don’t have to come out,” Geth told them. “Just let me know I’m not talking to crops.”
There was no reply.
“I suppose I have nothing better to do,” Geth said, continuing to speak. “I’m from Foo. I’m a lithen. This man on the ground is my brother Zale. The beast is Edgar, and the little guy’s a sycophant from Foo.”
One of the stalks sounded as if it were holding in a sneeze. The noise gave Geth some incentive to keep talking.
“We need your help,” Geth pleaded. “We were traveling with Anna, but she was captured. We are looking for Lars, to enlist his help.”
There was the definite sound of whispering now. Geth knew whoever was whispering was trying to make it sound like wind, but he clearly heard the word Anna.
“Can you at least let us know where Lars is?” Geth asked. “I was told he is the one I should talk to.”
“We’re not in the habit of trusting others,” a voice said from behind Geth.
Geth spun around, and there was a woman wearing a sparkly dress with a crown on her head. Geth had seen a lot of beauty pageants while living in Reality. As a tree standing outside of Terry and Addy’s window, he had been forced to witness a lot of bad TV—of course, had he not seen what he had, he would have been unfamiliar with the look and probably would have thought that the girl standing in front of him was a queen. But Geth knew that somewhere in Reality some young girl had dreamed long and hard about being a beauty pageant queen, and her dream had ended up here.
“Hello,” Geth said, looking straight at the woman’s blue eyes. “I’m Geth.”
“We heard you,” she said.
“I’m from—”
“Listen,” the woman interrupted, “this is a relatively small realm. News of you has traveled far. We received word a day ago that you were captured by Payt. Now here you are standing in our fields.”
“I was captured,” Geth said. “But we escaped.”
“That’s not possible,” she said with poise. “Payt kills or controls all he captures.”
“I’m right here,” Geth pointed out. “Am I allowed to know your name?”
“Nicole,” she said, revealing not only her name but the name of the child who had dreamt her up. “I enjoy spending time with family, summer sports, and helping children learn how to read.”
“That’s great,” Geth said. “Do you know Anna?”
“Of course,” Nicole said, smiling while answering the question. “Anna’s goals are dancing with a real New York dance troupe and being the first ballerina in space. Here in Zendor she hides like the rest of us women. Anna and Eve kept the order in their area.”
“Eve was captured,” Geth said, realizing that Nicole responded like a pageant contestant to questions. “Payt has control of her.”
“Eve was a believer in things she had no real understanding of,” Nicole said. “She would never have won Miss Congeniality. I heard that she traveled to Foo and survived the return. How is that possible?”
“I’m not completely familiar with the laws of Zendor,” Geth admitted. “I know you can’t survive long in Foo. Eve wasn’t there long before the boors brought us back.”
“We are no more committed to helping you than Anna was,” Nicole said.
“That’s encouraging,” Geth replied. “Anna had agreed to help us shortly before she was taken. She said she could take us to Stone Holders who would know how to get to Lars. Can you help?”
“It is my goal to help as many less fortunate people as I can,” Nicole said, smiling. “I feel that all people should help other people to be the best they can be. As for helping you now? No.”
Geth rubbed his forehead and ran his hand quickly though his hair. He tried to compose himself, but he was beginning to feel sick from all the uncertainty inside of him.
“Listen,” Geth said, letting some of his disgust bleed out, “I’m not sure who here is worth saving. Don’t any of you want to be free? Don’t you want lives?”
“Yes,” Nicole said. “I dream of a world where everyone has lives like we do. Because if we didn’t have a life, how else could we be here?”
“Sure,” Geth said. “You exist. Bookends exist, but they don’t live. Will you at least point me to where I might find this Lars?”
“No,” Nicole said, still smiling. “B
ut if you let me go change into my bathing suit, I’ll be ready for that portion of the competition.”
“That’s not necessary,” Geth said, exasperated. He turned to yell at the fields, “Is there anyone here that will help?”
Nicole smiled. “I firmly believe that’s a no.”
“That’s not true,” a voice hollered back from twenty feet into the field.
“Quiet, Jill,” Nicole insisted. “This is my time.”
Jill stepped out from between the stalks of witt. She was a tall girl with round glasses; a colorful sweater was tied around her neck. She had short brown hair and was wearing a pleated skirt with white knee socks. Geth wasn’t completely sure what sort of dream she was.
“I will not be quiet,” Jill insisted. “I have things to say.”
“Jill’s new here,” Nicole complained.
“If you think ten years is new,” Jill complained. “I always want to do something exciting, but all we do is hide and talk about cute Stone Holders.”
“So can you lead me to Lars?” Geth asked.
“No, but I can show you where there are some Stone Holders,” she bragged. “They’ll take you to Lars.”
“That would be great,” Geth said thankfully.
“You shouldn’t get involved,” Nicole argued with poise.
“Who cares?” Jill whined. “I can’t take it anymore. I’m so bored.”
“Perfect,” Geth called out. “Are there any others that are bored?”
Slowly a few other women emerged from the fields. One of the women looked like an old-fashioned airplane pilot with a leather helmet and a scarf. Another woman was wearing a leotard and feathery gloves.
“We too are bored,” the airplane pilot said defiantly. “Do you have a plane?”
“No,” Geth said, sincerely sorry. “But we have Edgar.”
Everyone looked at Edgar as he lay there with Clover sleeping on top of him.
“I can’t fly that,” the woman complained.
“That won’t be necessary,” Geth said, the sudden optimism of volunteers causing any anger he felt to wane.
Geth filled them in on what had happened and what was going to happen. Nicole kept trying to tell them all how foolish they were, but the boredom and depression of hiding for years made them all eager to at least try to be brave. Altogether there were twelve female volunteers willing to march with Geth. There had been sixteen, but when Geth had explained in detail about what had happened to Anna and the others, four had simply backed out and disappeared into the fields.
