Firebrand

by Antony John

  Griffin threw the strap across his shoulder.

  “Oh, that’s right. You can’t hear a thing I’m saying.”

  “He’s deaf,” snapped Alice.

  Jerren gave a salute. “That’s the word I was looking for. Thanks.” He cocked his head to the side. “Wait. I didn’t notice you at dinner yesterday. Were you there?”

  Alice picked up a bag and threw it at him, almost knocking him over. Jerren kept hold of the strap and slid it onto his back. The corner of his mouth twisted upward in a smirk. “Guess I’ll take this one, then.”

  We traipsed after him. I wanted to bring Father along too, but I’d need Ananias’s help for that. At least we were leaving him in the shade.

  We climbed a set of steps in the middle of the battery and stopped at the second floor. Jerren turned left and followed a metal walkway to the end. From here the parade grounds spread out before us. “You coming?” he shouted to us.

  He led us into a corridor with flaking white walls. There was a corrugated metal door at the end, which Jerren pulled open. “There are no windows in this room,” he warned us, “but we’ll leave a lantern for you. Actually, it’s a pretty good room, all things considered. Faces north, for one thing, so it stays cool.”

  The room was pitch-black, so we dumped our bags and headed back out. On the way to the stairs, we passed another room. I spotted the outline of windows, but they’d been bricked up. “What’s in there?” I asked.

  Jerren paused to look at the wall, which seemed odd. Surely there weren’t so many rooms in the fort that he needed to think about it. “Gunroom,” he said.

  “Kind of a large room,” said Alice. “Does the colony really need that many guns?”

  Jerren shrugged. “I’ve never been inside. Chief doesn’t like anyone except adults handling weapons.”

  Alice tried the door. “It’s locked.”

  “I just told you: Chief doesn’t like—”

  “I know what you told me. It just seems strange you’ve never been inside. The fort’s such a small place.”

  “Did you know every part of your colony?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, I’ll bet you did.”

  Jerren continued down the steps, but Alice didn’t follow. She was looking at the sailing ship moored to the southwest of the fort. It was smaller than ours and sleek. “That’s an impressive ship,” she said. “Whose is it?”

  Reluctantly, Jerren stopped. He didn’t seem as cocky anymore. “The colony’s. Everything is shared, remember?”

  Alice gave a wry smile. “Good. Then it’s ours too. I think I’ll go take it out.”

  She hurried down the steps. Impulsively, Jerren reached out and held her sleeve. She shot him an accusing stare, but I wasn’t fooled. She’d baited him into doing it.

  For a moment, he seemed unsure of himself. I half expected him to mumble an apology. Instead, the smirk returned. “The ship is used for rescue and reconnaissance,” he explained, still holding her arm.

  “Reconnaissance of what? You ought to know this area perfectly by now.”

  There was silence as each eyed the other. There seemed to be a lot in that look: mutual distrust but also mutual respect, a kind of grudging acceptance. “Reconnaissance of anything we’d like to know better,” Jerren said finally.

  He let go of her sleeve then, and walked away. But not before I saw something I’d rarely seen before: Alice turning red. Blushing.

  »«

  I’d only just returned to my father when a man joined us and explained that Chief wanted to see me. He led me through the main gate and around the outside of the fort to the piece of land that Chief had called the peninsula. It was about thirty yards across and forty yards long, covered in tufts of grass and surrounded by rocks. Below the rocks, marshland abutted the harbor water.

  The peninsula was split into two parts. On one side, cages were built around a chicken coop. On the other was the goat enclosure.

  Chief was leaning over one of the cages, twisting a piece of wire. He heard me approaching and waved. “Did you get breakfast, Thomas?”

  I shook my head, no.

  He sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. Kell was supposed to bring you some. Instead of which, he’s off playing bows and arrows with Ananias.” Chief straightened slowly, hand pressed tight into the small of his back. “Kell’s my right hand, Thomas. I couldn’t run this place without him. But there are times I think he hasn’t grown up at all.” He raised his eyebrows. “It can get a little frustrating, especially when it costs you breakfast.”

  “I’m fine,” I lied.

  He gave me a stern look. “You’re the leader of your colony. Starving yourself won’t help.”

  “I’m not the leader.”

  “Yes, you are.” He sat on the cage. “You had the chance to give yourself the largest portion of gull meat yesterday; instead you took none. Kell would’ve kept most of it for himself and hoped no one noticed.” We both laughed at that. “You say you’re fine, but you’re not. So why don’t you tell me what’s really been going on these past few days.”

  I wasn’t sure where to begin, or what to tell him. When I didn’t immediately answer, he handed me a tool and patted the cage. One of the strips of wire running across the top had snapped.

  “After people, animals and birds are this colony’s most valuable resource,” Chief explained. “One hole and we’d lose our chickens. So what do you suggest?”

  I studied the wire, grateful for the change of subject. Surprisingly, my first instinct was to join elements with Ananias—we could melt the two ends together again—but elements were out of the question. Which left me with only one choice: “We use a small piece of wire to cross the gap.”

  Chief frowned. “You’re not afraid it’ll be too weak? What if it gives out?”

  “It’s at the top of the cage. Unless you have really agile chickens, we’ll be all right.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “And what if I tell you we’re out of wire?”

  I puffed out my cheeks and looked at the cage again. The wires crossing the top seemed particularly close together. “We could just spread out the other wires so they’re equally spaced.”

  “And do what with the broken wire?”

  “Save it for future repairs.”

  Chief clapped me on the back. “Then get on with it.”

  As I began the process of detaching the wires from the ground and sliding them along, Chief took a water canister from his pack and sipped from it. “Why do you think I’m chief of this colony, Thomas?”

  I moved the first wire into place and twisted it tight with the tool Chief had given me. “Because you’re experienced.”

  He laughed. “Experience is code for old. Which I am, I suppose. But no—I’m chief because I care. Not about me, but about everyone.” He stared up at the fort. “I have no direct family here. The way I see it, every person on this island is my family. And I’ve discovered that the key to being a leader is the ability to listen. Listen hard enough, you might even hear things that people haven’t said.”

  I stopped what I was doing. “What do you mean?”

  “Let’s take your group, for example. Your father is the oldest male—natural choice for a leader, but no one refers to him that way, which means he wasn’t chief even before he got injured. Ananias would be the next logical choice, but he’s in shock. My guess is that he was connected to the girl you dropped overboard yesterday. And that’s an interesting situation too. Father and daughter die on the same day, but only one of them got a funeral.”

  “He fell overboard.”

  “That’s what Alice told me, yes. But she also has bruises on her neck like she’s been strangled. Still quite fresh. Two days old at most. She looks like the kind of girl who can handle herself, which means the person who attacked her was a ma
n. And I know for sure it wasn’t someone from your family, which means it was her father. Who mysteriously died.”

  I moved the next wire into place, but my hands were shaking. Chief noticed, and placed his hand on top of mine. “I’ve made you nervous. I’m sorry.” He eased the tool from me and continued what I’d begun. “You look as old as me right now, Thomas . . . carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. My father used to say ‘a burden shared is a burden halved.’ I’m not trying to alarm you. On the contrary, I’m trying to show you that you don’t need to carry the burden alone. Tell me how I can help you all. Please.”

  It was the last word that got to me—the way he said it as if he craved my trust. So I told him about the pirate attack, and how we’d stolen Dare’s ship during the hurricane. How the pirates had claimed our island as their own, and Kyte had died because we were too slow to escape. How I’d heard Chief’s message and knew that it was the answer to everything, even though not everyone had been sure. I told him that Eleanor fell, and her father threw himself overboard.

  I didn’t tell a single lie, but I left out a lot. And all the time I hoped that no one would ever contradict me.

  When I was done, Chief was quiet for a while. “You’re a brave boy,” he said.

  “No, I’m not. Not everyone wanted to come here, but I promised them it would be all right. Now mine is the only family that hasn’t lost a member. I can’t stop thinking it’s my fault.”

  He didn’t tell me I was wrong, and I was grateful for that. He just kept sliding the wires along and twisting them and saving the chickens for one more day. “I’d like you and your friends to form a food-gathering group. Sumter’s resources aren’t enough to provide for everyone.”

  “We’ll do whatever you need,” I assured him.

  “I know you will.” He moved the tool from his right hand to his left and flexed his fingers. The joints were red and swollen. “I’ve seen so many people die since the Plague started, Thomas. And with every death, I remind myself that here was a person who trusted me. It never gets easier, and I can never reason my way out of it. I’d like to tell you that you’ll get over what you’re feeling now, but you won’t. Not really. You’ll be reminded of it every time you look at Alice and her mother. Just as I’m reminded of death every time I look at Jerren and Nyla.”

  “How so?”

  He stared at the outline of Charleston, a few miles to the west. “They came here four years ago. Beautiful children. Hard workers too. And their parents were the best of any of us. But they contracted the Plague during a trip to one of the harbor islands.”

  I surveyed the harbor and wondered which of the thin strips of land it had been. “If there were rats, what were they doing there?”

  He handed the tool back to me. “Gathering food,” he said matter-of-factly. “Just as you will be tomorrow.” He paused to let the words sink in. “There’s a reason we call them suicide squads.”

  CHAPTER 14

  I stayed on the peninsula for most of the afternoon. It was hot, hard work, but Chief brought me food and a canister of water to drink. I’d have kept going even if he hadn’t. All my life, I’d been told to leave the most important jobs to others. Now a relative stranger was leaving the fate of the colony’s chickens in my hands.

  With each passing strike, the tide fell. It uncovered more of the peninsula, mud flats that stretched a hundred yards to the south. Gulls pursued the receding waterline, eyes and beaks fixed on the turbulent water, and the fish caught in it.

  “Can rats cross from over there?” I asked, pointing to the land beyond the mud flats.

  “In theory, yes,” said Chief, taking a break. “But that land you’re seeing is tidal. Spider Island, it’s called. Mostly it’s marshland. Only way rats are crossing from there is if they plan the whole thing out.”

  I chuckled. “So we’ll be fine, is what you’re saying.”

  “No.” Chief wasn’t laughing. “Actually, I think it’s inevitable they’ll cross one day.”

  “But you said—”

  “I know what I said.” He fixed me with his eyes. “Times are changing, Thomas. Eighteen years ago, rats were as misunderstood as any native rodent. They were shy. They lived in human cities, but hid in sewers so they wouldn’t be disturbed. But they needed humans in those cities. Needed food waste in order to survive. They’re desperate now. And like any animal driven to desperation, they’re overcoming their instinct to hide. It’s not difficult to see where this is all heading.”

  The tide was turning. I could tell by the way the gulls began to backtrack, one step at a time.

  “What will you do to stop the rats?” I asked.

  Chief was watching the gulls too, perhaps making mental calculations about the width of the channel that kept us apart from Spider Island. “I’ll stand on this exact spot at every low tide, just as we’re doing now. And the day they cross, I’ll do whatever I need to.”

  Chief turned to face me again. He looked as though he was prepared to say more, but then his eyes drifted past me. He wore a confused expression.

  I looked too. Griffin was hurrying toward me. The ground wasn’t entirely even, and his limp was pronounced. Come, he signed, before he even reached me.

  Why? I replied.

  Rose. Element.

  My stomach knotted. Why would she risk revealing her element to the Sumter colonists?

  Chief cleared his throat, startling me. “Everything all right, Thomas?”

  I gave a halfhearted nod. “Rose isn’t feeling right, is all. I should . . . you know . . .”

  Chief waved his hand, giving me permission to leave.

  Griffin led the way. We passed the main gate and continued following the exterior wall. When we turned the corner to the fort’s next flank, I saw her.

  Rose was sitting on one of the large boulders at the base of the walls. Water swirled around her legs and up to her waist. The current was fast as the tide fell. Her tunic billowed around her. She held steady against the swell and kept her hands flat against the surface of the water.

  I kept my voice low. “What are you doing, Rose?”

  She didn’t answer. Probably didn’t even hear me. It was a stupid question anyway. We both knew what she was doing.

  I glanced at the battlements to make sure that no one was watching. “We mustn’t use our elements here. People won’t understand—”

  I broke off as a fish surfaced a few yards away from her. I’d seen her lure fish back on Hatteras, but I hadn’t expected her to be able to do it here. Not with her element so weak.

  Rose shut her eyes tight and grimaced as she channeled what little of her element remained. If anyone saw her, they would know that something strange was going on.

  With the fish floundering a couple yards in front of her, Rose eased forward to claim her prize. But as she moved, her concentration must have waned, because the fish pulled away.

  “Rose!” Marin’s shrill voice filled the air. When she and Dennis pulled alongside me, she pursed her lips. “Did you and Griffin put her up to this?”

  I tried to keep calm. “No. I’ve been telling her to stop.”

  Rose was ignoring us both. Slowly, meticulously, she drew the fish toward her again.

  This time, Marin stepped gingerly over the boulders and brushed by her daughter. The water came up to her waist and then her chest, but she kept moving forward until the fish was within reach. She slid her hand under it and grabbed tightly. The fish struggled, but Marin had done this many times before. She didn’t let go.

  As Rose’s shoulders relaxed at last, Marin carried the fish back to the rocks. She paused beside her daughter. “No more, Rose. This is the last.”

  The fish struggled, silver scales reflecting in the sun, but couldn’t escape her grasp. Tunic slick against her, Marin raised the fish above her and brought it down sharply. She repeated the m
otion until the fish was dead.

  Something high above us caught my eye then. I glanced at the top of the wall in time to see a flash of bright clothing slide from view.

  Someone had been watching.

  I hurried to Rose’s side. “We mustn’t use our elements anymore. We talked about it, remember?”

  She wouldn’t look at me. Even worse, she was already channeling her element again. She clearly wasn’t content with just one fish, and wanted to feed the entire colony. But what would they make of that?

  I pulled her around. “Stop it, Rose.”

  She seemed to awake from a trance. “Let me be.”

  “No.”

  She slapped the water, showering both of us. “We need to do something, Thomas. You haven’t seen the way these people look at us, like we’re a burden on them.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Of course you don’t. You’ve been with Chief all day. I’m pleased you two get along so well, but unless the rest of us can prove we’re useful, they’ll never welcome us. And then how long will we last?”

  “They want us here, Rose.”

  She gave a wry smile. “Are you sure about that? Seems to me that only Chief really wants us.” She glanced at the dead fish in her mother’s hands. “If I can provide fish, we’ll be useful to them. We’ll be equals.”

  “Our elements don’t work as well here.”

  “So let’s combine—”

  “No!” The word came out loud and scared. “If someone sees us—even if they suspect something—they’re going to panic.” I reached for her hand, but stopped myself. I was tense and it wouldn’t feel good to either of us. “Everything is going to be different here. We’re more than our elements.”

  “No, Thomas. You are more than an element.” She lifted her hands and watched the water drain between her fingers. “But I’m not.”

  Suddenly I saw the scene through her eyes. We’d left a small, familiar colony on an expansive island for a large, strange colony in a tiny fort. Her father was dead. And now I was forcing her to give up the very thing that had always made her indispensible.