The Dawn of Skye (The Someday Children Book 1)

by E. B. Heimdal

  His voice has almost disappeared and she can hardly hear him. He stops speaking for a moment before he continues.

  “If we get separated from each other one day and the enemy catches you, then you have to fight with everything you’ve learned. Resist. Fight to the death. A life with them as their slave won’t be a life worth living. They’ll do things to you that you’ll never want to experience.”

  He hugs her harder but stops speaking. His whispered words start growing in her head, and she’s happy that he’s stopped talking. She can’t imagine that they can do worse things to her than she’s done to them tonight. And she knows that no matter what happens to her, she’ll never kill anyone again. She turns her head and can feel Ecco’s breathing against her cheek. She feels safe. Slowly, tiredness overpowers her, and she falls asleep.

  Why has she been asking him so many questions? Did she doubt him and his decisions? Had there been a doubt in her eyes when he told her about his plans? He moves his head uneasily from side to side but more thoughts find their way into his head. He sees Skye standing in the rain aiming at the large boy with the long golden hair. Why hadn’t she shot him in the heart when she had the chance? She couldn’t have missed him when he was standing there lit up by the flames of the fire. She also hesitated too long before killing him with the rock sling. Why? He was just a revolting enemy. A stranger who didn’t matter. Or was he? Maybe he was not a stranger to Skye. Had she been talking to him and the others behind his back? Maybe they’d been meeting in secret? But how and when? He’d been keeping an eye on her and had followed her several times without her knowing it, including that day when she’d walked to the lake to bathe. He’d been hiding in the shadows, behind a tree, and there hadn’t been anyone but her. She was completely alone. Or was she? Could she have met with the enemy afterwards? Or maybe before?

  The questions are exploding in his head, and Ecco opens his eyes feeling frantic. He stares into the air but he can’t see anything. He feels Skye lying by his side, breathing heavily. She’s sleeping. He turns around and lies on his back, turning away from Skye. The rays of the sun have heated up the den and small buzzers are flying lazily around his face. He squints his eyes and hits his forehead with a clenched fist.

  “Think of something else, Ecco,” he whispers quietly to himself.

  “Skye wouldn’t betray you. It’s us together against the world. The two of us forever.”

  Skye wakes up with a shock. The sun stands tall in the sky, telling her that it must be midday. She’s been sleeping heavily and looks around confused. Ecco’s still asleep with his back to her. Her throat’s dry and she gets up to get some water. The ground outside the hollow tree is still wet and muddy, and her bare feet quickly become dirty. Some rainwater has collected in their small pot and she brings it back to their den. Carefully she touches Ecco’s shoulder, gently shaking him.

  “Are you thirsty?”

  He doesn’t wake up and she shakes him a bit harder. He still doesn’t react. His eyes are closed and he lies quite still. Slowly she bends over his face looking at him. She blows some air in his face but he doesn’t react. A terrifying feeling spreads quick as lightning in her body and she shakes him hard.

  “Wake up! Please wake up …”

  He falls, lifeless, on his back. His eyes are slightly open and the color in his face is gone. She jumps back, terrified, and lands hard on a wooden stump. A buzzer circles his face and lands on his eye lid. Skye jumps forward waving her hand.

  “Go away,” she shouts, but soon it lands on his eye again. His shirt sits awkwardly and she sees fresh blood near the opening. Desperately she tears the shirt open and is shocked by what she sees. Large bloody wounds cover his chest everywhere. The wounds are deep and the blood is fresh.

  All the color in her face drains away and her stomach clenches. Terrible memories and horrible visions run through her head, and she thinks of the last day she sat by her mother’s side. The scratches on Ecco’s chest look like the ones she had on her body, too. She looks at his hands and sees that there’s blood underneath his nails. In desperation she grabs his shoulder again and shakes him as much as she can, but she knows that it’s too late. He’s dead.

  She slowly closes his shirt again, one button at a time till it’s completely closed. She straightens it so it doesn’t sit awkwardly anymore. Carefully, she rolls him onto one side so that his face is turned toward the opening and the sunlight, and she covers him with the blanket. It looks like he’s sleeping peacefully. She caresses his cheek and kisses his forehead. Then she crawls underneath the blanket and lies close to his body.

  Her eyes are shut and she whispers quietly to herself: “You were my echo. You are me. You are my reflection in the water. You are me. Without you I can’t smile, breathe, live. Without you I don’t want to live.”

  She takes his arm and lays it over her. The warmth of his body is disappearing, and she presses her body even closer to his.

  “It’s time for me to leave this world too and move over to another. To a place where my dreams are always good, where my memories are always happy, and my beloved brother is always by my side …”

  Her voice is low and almost soundless. Hopelessness takes over her body, but she doesn’t fight it. Slowly she gives in to a world of dreams.

  A small animal appears in the opening of the den. Its fur is red and its tail is long and bushy. Carefully, it lifts its pointy ears and listens while it looks around. It slowly moves further into the den with small, light steps. It gently sniffs Skye’s face and hair. Then it curls its body up, lying next to her.

  CHAPTER 21

  She feels a gentle touch on her cheek. It feels nice, and she smiles. Carefully she tries to open her eyes to see who’s touching her face, but the bright lights are blinding her and she can’t see anything.

  A voice speaks to her in the distance, but the words disappear into the air like buzzing sounds. Is it Ecco who’s speaking to her, who’s stroking her cheek? Have they finally arrived at the new bright and happy world? Maybe he’s trying to wake her? She must’ve slept for a long time because her body is completely limp and in her stomach there’s a resonating void. She lifts her arm to block out the bright light, but she doesn’t have any strength and it falls again like a withered branch.

  Suddenly she’s lifted away from Ecco, who she can see still lying on the ground. The shirt has opened and the bloody chest is exposed. She tries to resist and fights to get free, but in vain. The strong arms holding her carry her out of the den into the sunlight. They’re holding her in a firm grip and she feels the explosive warmth from the body carrying her. It feels safe and secure. She doesn’t resist any longer but slips into the world of dreams again.

  Her face falls to the side and she opens her eyes a little. She feels the ground bouncing back and forth in steady movements, and nice and quietly she floats ahead. From the corner of her eyes she sees a small red fury animal that follows her with quick steps, and she smiles. Instinctively she knows it’s her friend, and it brings warmth and love with it.

  She has lost all sense of time and doesn’t know how long she’s been here. It feels like she’s caught between two worlds, but she can’t decide which one to step into. One of them feels bright and painless but also lonely and cold. The other feels darker and safer, but her head and her body hurt.

  In the dark world she feels someone looking after her, holding her hand, washing her face. It feels safe, but at the same time it pains her everywhere. Mostly in her thoughts. It feels nice then to slip into the painless and bright nothingness. She can sit there and wait for Ecco for all eternity without dark thoughts disturbing her.

  But where is Ecco? Why doesn’t he come? She looks around for him and suddenly the light disappears just as quickly as it came, and then darkness takes over again.

  The water in her mouth feels good but it’s too little. She reaches for the water skin and pulls it greedi
ly to her, but she can’t control the stream of water and starts coughing. She gets up on her elbows as she coughs out the water again. It’s dark around her and she can’t see anything. But she’s not between the two worlds. This is real. She’s awake. Slowly her eyes get used to the darkness, and she can make out the shape of a person sitting next to her. She stretches her hand and feels it hitting someone.

  “Ecco, is that you? Where are we?”

  Her voice is low, almost soundless. A large hand gently presses her down again. The bed she’s lying in is soft and warm. It smells of fur and sweat, but not in an unpleasant way. She doesn’t resist and lets herself fall back into the warm bed again.

  “Hush, don’t speak. Try to get a little more sleep …”

  The voice is deep and calm and Skye tries to see who is talking, but she can’t keep her eyes open. She goes back to sleep again.

  She can hear voices. Slowly she opens her eyes and sees some people standing nearby. It’s light around her and she sees that she’s in a hut. A small fire burns at one end of the room, and there are more sleeping spaces on the ground. A couple of black-spotted puppies play with a branch near the fire while a larger dog lies sleeping in the ray of sun that streams from the door of the hut. Skye smells food. She feels her stomach instinctively start rumbling, and she feels like running over and stealing the pot hanging over the fireplace, but she doesn’t dare to move out of fear that the people in the room might hear her.

  Her arm is sleeping and it suddenly begins cramping. It feels like lots of sharp little thorns penetrating her skin and she utters a small sound of pain. The voices stop talking immediately and a couple of legs quickly move over to her. She shuts her eyes again, trying to lie completely still. Her heart pounds and she’s struggling to control her breathing. She feels a person sitting next to her on the bed and a hand is placed on her forehead.

  “I think she’s about to wake up.”

  Two strong hands carefully lift her head and place a large bundle of clothes underneath to support it. Skye still keeps her eyes closed even though she’s more awake than ever before and needs to concentrate to pretend to still be asleep. But soon her curiosity takes over. She slowly opens one eye, then the other.

  An unknown boy sits in front of her. He’s large and muscular. His hair’s blonde and curly and hangs loose over his shoulders. Skye looks at his face for a long time: the brown eyes, the straight nose, the small dent in his chin. Her stare returns to his eyes, that meet hers with an intense reprisal. Neither of them speak for a while, but then suddenly the boy starts smiling.

  “My name’s Dagwood. Welcome back to life.”

  Skye’s thoughts run confused through her head. Who is he, where is she, and where is Ecco? She’s finding it hard to distinguish between dream and reality, and a nagging feeling of something terrible happening is hiding at the back of her memory. She just can’t remember what it is. Her eyes wander from Dagwood and move to the room.

  Another boy stands in the doorway. His arms are crossed and he looks serious. He too is looking at her but he doesn’t smile. His face is tanned and framed by long, black hair. His eyes are unnaturally blue and light up like two ice crystals on the dark sky of the night. Her eyes are drawn to the one side of his face. A large scar runs past his eye and marks his face as if lightening had struck him, leaving a permanent reminder. For a long time she stares, paralyzed, at him and then suddenly becomes aware of herself. She’s embarrassed and quickly looks away. Once again her eyes find Dagwood and she immediately feels more calm.

  Suddenly she hears some of Ecco’s words in her head, and she slowly begins to remember. His words are frightening her and fear spreads in her. She tries to move away from Dagwood and presses herself further down in the bed.

  “Are you the enemy?” she asks quietly. Dagwood lifts one of his eyebrows and looks at her, startled. He takes her hands and holds them in his.

  “I don’t know what you’ve been through out there in the wilderness. I don’t know your story, or who you’ve said goodbye to on your way, but you’re safe with us. We’re not your enemy if you’re not ours.”

  His voice is mild and calm and he seems to be the kindest human being she’s ever met. He’s not at all like Ecco said he would be. She looks down at her hands in his and thinks she better pull them back. But she leaves them there.

  “But if you aren’t the enemy, then who are you? Who are you all?”

  She looks carefully towards the boy with the scar, but she doesn’t dare look at his face. He still stands in the doorway without moving, with his arms crossed like armor. A puppy comes to the bed and tries to jump up to Skye but it falls clumsily to the floor again. It starts squeaking, and Dagwood laughs.

  “You don’t need to be afraid of him, in any case.”

  He lifts the small puppy up to Skye, and she can’t help smiling.

  “Try to eat some soup first. Then you can come and greet the other members of the clan. They’re all excited about meeting you.”

  Dagwood knows that’s not quite true. Most of the others have been skeptical about the new girl. Mostly because of their food situation, which has been more critical than usual for this time of the year. Several of them have said that she’s not welcome until she’s proven she’s worth the food they give her, either by capturing animals or by doing work and practical jobs. Fella and Flo are especially determined that she should prove her worth before they’ll include her in the clan. And Dagwood agreed with them. The last thing they need right now is another mouth to feed. Still, he knows deep down he’d never be able to turn his back on a helpless person, whatever their food situation, and he’s assured them all that no one will starve because of their new guest.

  The small puppy starts licking his hand and stops his thoughts. He turns to the doorway and continues: “And this is Salomon, who …”

  Dagwood stops speaking. Salomon has disappeared from the hut without saying a word. Dagwood rises from the bed and walks to the fireplace. She’s surprised to see how tall he is. He reminds her of the grown-up men from the village. They always seemed so intimidating and large and they never spoke to her, so she mostly stayed clear of them. She can’t tell whether Dagwood is a boy or a grown man.

  He returns to her, this time with a bowl of food that he passes to her. She rips the bowl from his hands and swallows the food like a hungry dog.

  He laughs at her and says: “It’s good you’ve gotten your appetite back. At some stage, we thought you’d given up and had decided not to wake up again.”

  Dagwood is about to get up again, but Skye grabs his shirt and stops him.

  “Where’s my brother? I travel with my brother, Ecco. Is he here too?”

  She sees that he looks down and away, and the nagging feeling that something terrible has happened returns. Like a painful stab, the truth hits her suddenly. She sees Ecco in front of her, lying on the ground, curled up and lifeless with a bloody and torn chest, and she knows that he’s dead. She quietly puts the bowl on the floor, lies down on her side, and closes her eyes.

  Puk runs to Dagwood as he leaves the hut. He tries to look through the door to get a glimpse of the newly arrived, mysterious guest, but the dark room reveals nothing. Dagwood looks at him and answers his unspoken question.

  “She’s finally awake and is feeling better, but she needs a little more time before she’s ready … She’s only just beginning to understand that her only family is gone forever. When she’s said her goodbyes she will be ready to let us into her heart and her life.”

  Like everyone else in the clan, Puk knows what it’s like to say goodbye to a beloved family member or a friend. He understands, and nods at Dagwood.

  “I’ll make some dinner now. Maybe that’ll lure her out of the hut. Can I use some more meat today? And maybe add some honey for after. It’s been a long time since we’ve had good food …”

  Puk looks at Dagwood wi
th a begging face as he speaks. He has an ability to look sad and needy if it will benefit his cause.

  Dagwood smiles back at him, answering: “Yeah, it’s okay. I think we all need a little extra encouragement. Let’s call tonight a celebration of life.”

  Puk starts running towards the shaded side of the hut and the large wooden box in which they keep their food, as he cheers loudly.

  Dagwood laughs at Puk’s loud cheering, but at the same time he’s worried about their food situation. It’s gotten a lot worse lately, even though he was

  hoping they’d find a solution to the problem. But it’s also been hard for him to come up with a new plan while Salomon’s been gone. He’s needed someone to talk to and plan with. Someone who can think realistically in terms of surviving. Someone who actually knows how to manage alone in the world. And Salomon knows. They need to have an evening council when the newly-arrived guest feels better. Dagwood breathes heavily, and starts walking toward the campfire where the rest of the clan is gathered.

  CHAPTER 22

  “Hackett and Fella, you check all the traps you’ve set up in the past couple of days. Something must get caught in one of them soon. Carrick, fetch firewood and prepare the campfire. Flo and Evi, try to collect some of the eggs that our own birds have laid during the day. And Knox and Finch, you go to the riverbank and find some roots and other edible greens. Take your spears and see if you can catch some swimmers, too. You might get lucky today.”

  Dagwood looks around for Salomon but can’t spot him. He turns his face to the others and continues: “Puk will make extra good food tonight, because I’ve decided that we will celebrate life and welcome our new clan member!”

  A lot of happy cheers sound, and they all start doing their tasks with renewed energy.

  Puk opens the food box and looks disappointedly at the half empty supplies. The selection is poor, and most of the roots are small and filled with dirt and dark spots. He starts collecting the largest and best ones and turns each one to assess their condition. He picks up the jar of honey, and his stomach almost hurts at the thought of how much he’s looking forward to eating it later. Eagerly he removes the cloth covering the opening to keep bugs and larva off. He has to smell the sweet mass before tonight. Just once.