The Foundling Saga: Revelation

by Bowring, S D

  They silently passed the high field and met with another group of helpers. Cormic thanked them. There were about a dozen pairs, some of whom eyed the foundling with open interest. After a brief discussion with Cormic, the new group of helpers dispersed, nodding at the pair as they passed. They trudged off purposefully through the damp morning grass, to add to the deception necessary for Keller and Cormic.

  They traipsed beyond the occupied fields and passed alongside a hedgerow of young hazelnut trees and blackberry bushes. They could see the last of the nearest decoy helpers disperse in the lower part of the field that they had just moved into.

  In the dim light, they were now on their own and, despite the exertion, Keller shivered. Cormic, who was now beyond him, was only looking ahead, seemingly confident that their ruse would be successful.

  They passed through another gap in the hedge towards a small copse. Cormic looked back from where they came, surveying the scene behind them, looking for any signs of movement. There was nothing to see. He looked satisfied and then turned toward Keller. “Let’s go. We will keep going for about an hour before our first rest point.”

  In fact, it was almost two hours later when they finally stopped for a rest. They had paused earlier, to pick some fresh pears, and both decided to continue further before a rest. When they did stop they sat out of sight, within a small clump of trees, eating several of the fresh pears each. They were a hard fruit and Keller chewed as he watched Cormic crunch loudly through the small pear, leaving no waste. They were on a slope above an old highway. The overgrown highway was identifiable by the banking on each side, the consistent width, and for the remains of the occasional bridge on either side of the bank.

  Breaking the silence, Keller looked towards Cormic. “I spoke with mother last night and she had no answers, just more mysteries for me. Who are the troopers, who do they work for and why do they sometimes venture out beyond barriers to take away people like me? Where do they take them? Do they ever come back?”

  Cormic seemed to ponder on this whilst looking at Keller, as though sizing him up. “Generally they are not interested in us. They leave us alone and find it useful to trade with us. There are not enough of them to leave the cities that they occupy and they certainly don’t look to disturb our co-existence. They look down on us for sure, but in some sense they envy the fact that are not locked down in the city as they are. We provide an abundance of fresh food from approved areas where they know contamination is low enough. Part of the role of the troopers is to scan the produce we bring in. If any food is contaminated, they will not trade with that family for whatever period of time that they so decree.” He paused and tossed the small remains of his pear behind him.

  “Trade is necessary for us, as well as for them. They have machines to manufacture many things that we cannot. We can make many herbal remedies but we can’t make the medicines for the more serious ailments. They can, and they fit it all into a tiny pill.”

  He paused again, looking down at the old highway. “They built these roads and, no doubt, our ancestors did too - but that was a long time ago and we are too different now. We live off the land and desire only to live peaceful lives with healthy families and to keep warm.” He pointed to the sky. “The Londoners and some of the other cities dwellers around the world are able to travel to the off-world planets and many of the highly placed elders are only working in London for a few years before returning to other worlds. At one time, the occupied planets depended on Earth for both government and supplies but now they just keep a presence here for the necessary supplies. The troopers come from different locations, some are English, some are off-world and some are from the Russian and Canadian cities, and elsewhere. The troopers maintain the peace and protect the cities. They don’t generally have any problems with Outsiders so they have little interest in us.”

  “They do now,” Keller said ruefully.

  “Yes, well, they do.” Cormic said and then paused in thought, looking at Keller with grim smile.

  “It’s a difficult enough existence in the cities but on the off-world planets it’s more tenuous. Colonisation requires people and people are in short supply. The cost of transferring a person from Earth to a colony is high so they don’t just want labourers of temporary use, they want people who can help build the future and also provide offspring to continue the future. Sadly, most Outsiders can’t even do that with the contamination we have suffered and many in London are no different except the wealthier ones. You are a foundling that clearly has come from healthy parents. You have no need of medicines - and I don’t think it’s all because of my sister’s cooking.”

  He smiled, and then continued with a more serious look “We don’t know why you were left at our field, but some intrigue or other meant it was clearly safer for someone to bring you to us than let you grow up in London.”

  Keller looked glum. “I haven’t troubled myself with my origins. My mother is my mother and my family is my family.”

  Cormic looked at him hard, he then shook his and seemed to soften his gaze. With a sigh he said “I know, but you may not always think that. I don’t know how I would be. The problem we have now is that we know from other families that the Regents will sometimes allow their troopers to leave the city on errands. Some young people have disappeared without trace over the years and then there is a wall of silence. It’s a terrible situation for their loved ones. No news, no body, nothing. These disappearances have coincided with rumours of strangers passing through. Strangers asking questions, and pretending to be from families further afield. They aren’t though. They act differently, stand differently. It’s too much of a coincidence that they have been seen. But no-one can get any answers. It’s happened twice in the last five years in this county but I have not known the families. I have met Outsiders near other towns that have similar stories, so it can’t all be rumour. The Regents are disciplined in their dealings with Outsiders; they simply don’t answer certain questions.”

  “That sounds awful. No news. Imagine your mother waiting for your return every night,” Keller said and he shuddered visibly, “Just awful.”

  Cormic nodded. “Disappearances are of course rare and it’s possible that the missing ones have met with an accident, or some other crime has occurred. I once met some people in an old town called Peterbro. It wasn’t a successful visit, there wasn’t much there for bringing home, but we shared a resting place for the night with a family passing through. They spoke of this disappearing phenomenon; referring to a cousin they lost. The day before she disappeared, she was seen talking to a man and woman who were clearly not Outsiders. However, if you have no proof, and there is certainly doubt, then it’s very difficult to understand what may have happened. If asked, the Regents steadfastly have nothing to report. It’s quite possible that they are kept away from the truth themselves. However, the missing must be somewhere.”

  They both sat in silence for some time. Eventually, Cormic stood up and patted himself down to remove the thistle down that had attached itself to his tunic.

  “Try to remember this place. Look at the old highway and remember the shape of the old bridge ruins. Look to the hills and how they align, three in a row with the smallest in the middle…the river over there with the ox bow… the clump of trees behind us. In two nights time we will return here and hide away over by the bridge ruins until Ida comes by with some company. The plan is we wait hidden until we are sure who it is. They will be able to tell us if it’s safe back at Suffolk Road. Do you understand that Keller?”

  “Yes, okay. So, we wait until we are sure its Aunty Ida. Is this because you think someone else may come?” asked Keller.

  “We just need to be very cautious henceforth. You will need your wits about you. We won’t be charging about making a lot of noise on our travels, or on our return. The idea is to be quiet and careful. We won’t be running over hills or around corners - we will check ahead of us as well as behind. Take my lead. I don’t expect you to know how to move
silently around the country. I doubt you have done this except perhaps when you’ve played hide and seek. Or possibly when you have taken fruit from trees that don’t belong to us?” He smiled again.

  In spite of the seriousness Keller smiled at the reference to fruit trees. He had, indeed, been scolded for this when he was younger. Hungry children will always see an unattended fruit tree as fair game.

  “We will be following the old highway, but will cross it at certain points and go by and through the river occasionally. If anyone is following us it will be hard for them to find our trail. Follow behind me. Watch how I move and pause. You’ll see how to move carefully and wisely so that you don’t announce your arrival to everyone within stone-throwing distance.” He was looking directly at Keller to emphasise his point.

  They put their packs back on and moved off.

  In truth, Cormic was aware that once they were in the vicinity, the troopers probably had tools that would allow them to detect body heat and sound from a distance. However, the further away they moved, the more difficult it would be for the troopers to even know where to use these tools. He chose not discuss this with Keller at this time, as he still seemed to be having difficulty taking in the recent events already. He glanced back to see Keller walking with his head down in thought. “Keller, first lesson – walk with your head up, lad.” He smiled kindly at him.

  The duo walked for three days and generally at a good pace. Whenever they rested they looked for somewhere they could rest unseen. They checked the surrounding area for escape routes in case they needed to leave in a hurry, but also for any sign of life other than animals. Only then would they settle to eat. They followed the same routine when they sought out an area to sleep in. Cormic taught Keller how they could camouflage and protect themselves under lightweight pods. These pods sealed fairly tight but somehow provided enough air for each of them to sleep comfortably.

  On the afternoon of the fourth day they reached the outskirts of an old town.

  The Town

  Cormic sat on his haunches and surveyed the town from the edge of the woods. Keller crouched behind him, clearly in awe, as the ruins seemed to go on for miles.

  Some of the ruins were rectangular green lumps. Cormic said these were buildings or homes that had been taken over by ivy and other plants. These plants grabbed a foothold wherever they could to extend as high as possible towards the sun. There were acres of mounds where large areas of buildings had apparently crumbled in a disorderly fashion and vegetation had passed over the contours. However, there were buildings that were so tall that they steadfastly remained despite the overgrowth, which only reached part of the way up the building. This left the higher parts of the buildings relatively clear of vegetation. They looked like partially dressed, neglected tramps.

  “These towns were never victims of the radiation but they had, nevertheless, been evacuated. The populations never returned after the sickness that followed elsewhere,” Cormic said.

  In addition to medicine and certain useful basic tools, such as metal knives, the Regents did allow the issue of a small number of Geiger counters and haz-suits to trusted Outsiders. Otherwise any ‘techno’ item was denied them. These advanced items were too expensive to manufacture and the components of even a broken one were valuable.

  Obtaining a Geiger counter or Haz-suit was the only time an Outsider became known to the Regents under normal circumstances. A DNA print and a name was all that was required for an adult to be issued with a suit and a Geiger counter without any charge. A pictorial instruction sheet was provided, but further training was passed on by Outsiders familiar with the equipment. Outsiders treated radiation zones with the utmost respect and normally avoided them. They carried the lightweight haz-suits on travels just in case but, in practice, once they registered an abnormal reading on a Geiger counter they retreated swiftly.

  Cormic took the precaution to check his Geiger counter which fitted in the palm of his hand. No abnormal reading was detected. “I am checking this in case the wind has deposited anything from the northern cities, but this is fine. I have never had an abnormal reading this far south but it’s worth checking. You should learn to do this every mile or so as you move north. Once you detect a warning, just go back to where you came from until the warning stops - sometimes you can work around a contaminated area if you are careful.”

  Keller checked his own Geiger counter. This one belonged to Nola, as did his haz-suit. Nola remarked that they were a marvel of technology but what a shame they couldn’t detect potato fungus or other crop pests.

  They had been seated for an hour or so. They had already moved a few hundred yards in each direction, east and west, to see if they could detect movement in the part of the town that was visible. They agreed that they could see no movement and so they started to move towards the town.

  “It’s not a problem if there are other Outsiders down there. You just need to be prepared and not surprised when you come across them,” said Cormic as he negotiated the path down the hill.

  “Keep your eyes ahead now and let me know quietly if you see movement,” he continued.

  In truth, Keller was still in awe at the sprawl of buildings they were approaching. Trees seemed to poke through everywhere. To his left he could see other shrubs and plants contriving to try and pull down a thick wall. In the distance, he could make out some of the roads that criss-crossed the town. These were now just narrow overgrown fields with trees and shrubs throughout. Cormic indicated that they would be heading for these.

  “Come, we will ignore these buildings until we get deep into the town. The outskirts will long ago have been cleared of treasures,” Cormic said. He carefully avoided some brambles that were crossing the old path. “We need to look for a base deep in the town. We will settle there tonight.”

  The pair made their way along old roads. It was heavy going. They stopped occasionally to check surroundings. They listened for sounds of life and then looked for movement whenever they reached a point that gave good visibility of the town. They continued until they reached the third of a set of four 12-storey buildings.

  “Come Keller, let’s look in here,” Cormic said as he pushed through some head height shrubs. They found a wide entrance and could see an access way that led up to the levels above. They wandered carefully around the first level and found what used to be dwellings. Looking into to each doorway as they passed, they could see that the homes were damp, derelict and uninhabitable. These were evenly spread out on a narrow walkway or passage. The sunlight was shining in through the open entrances of each of the dwellings. The entire floor was a mess, with rubble and debris along the entire length. Some of this was covered in vegetation. There were signs that rain water had found its way in, leaving black stains and fungus growing in some areas, with water pooling here and there.

  They moved to the second level and found the same.

  “Shall we go higher Cormic?” Keller asked.

  “Yes, the upper levels may be clearer. Let’s move up.” They made their way up the stairwell, past five more floors before they decided to turn into another walkway. They paused at the entrance. The plant life had not been able to get a hold too well here, the walls and floors were generally drier, with only a few patches of damp showing. The rooms were in better condition, although they still looked derelict and unkempt but at least there was less vegetation.

  They made their way to the end of the walkway. Cormic looked into both dwellings at the end of the passage. Keller was looking through the window to the side of the building and marvelling at its height. He looked over towards the seemingly endless variety of buildings in the distance.

  Eventually, Cormic came to a decision and indicated a doorway to the left of them. “This one will do. We can’t light a fire in here but the smaller internal rooms have no windows, so we can keep a little warmer in one of those during the night. We can see out to the south, and the east and we can always check the view opposite should we need to look north. We ca
n take the two sets of rooms at the other end of this level for toilet purposes. There is nowhere to bury our soil here, so you take the left one and I will go opposite.”

  Indeed the smaller room, without windows, was fairly clear of clutter. It had a bath in with two holes. One hole would have accommodated a tap which was long since removed according to Cormic. The other hole in the base was for drainage. A tap was the only metal part likely to be salvageable in a bathroom as all pipe work was plas-based. Indeed the only metal parts in most dwellings would have been a small number of items in kitchens and these had long since been taken.

  They sat down to eat in the main room behind the remains of a partition wall. Thus, they avoided the breeze coming in through the large gaps that Cormic said had previously held glass windows. The floor was damp and green, and fungus grew near the windows. Keller felt that it wasn’t much different to sitting in the woods, but they would at least be dry if the clouds broke overnight.

  “We should only rest for a short while. We can then take a look around the dwellings on this level. Let’s see if we can see any sign of life in the area before the light fades. We’ll have plenty of time to rest this evening.” With that Cormic stood up to start re-packing his backpack. He glanced over at Keller who had paused mid-mouthful “We need to keep this packed, in case we have to move quickly.” Keller nodded. He got up from the floor still chewing, but pushing some of the spare food wraps back into place in his backpack.

  Initially, they stood back from the window gaps in each room and they surveyed the areas visible looking for signs of life. Then they would edge to the window gaps and look down at the more immediate areas closer to their building. Neither of them were familiar with such tall buildings, but Keller had less of a problem than Cormic, whose caution seem to betray a fear of heights.