A Silence Heard

by Nicola McDonagh

  Marcellus put his great mitt on my shoulder. “Good plan, Adara. We stay close.”

  We walked to the nearest cubicle and scanned the fear-worn faces that peered out at us. Marcellus leant in close and screwed up his eyes so much so that I could not imagine he could see anything but lash. He shook his head.

  “I don’t clock my bro,” I said and released Wirt’s, and Kendra’s hands from mine.

  “We not see kin.” I felt the soothing weight of Marcellus’s fingers on my skin, slip away. About to blub, I bit my lip and gained further control over my ready to burst emotions, on hearing Kendra’s rousing words.

  “Do not be so downcast. There are many other rooms for you to search. Wirt, go to the next.”

  He blinked, licked his lips and took in a shuddering breath. With his head bent, and his body sagging as if he carried a dead weight, he walked to the next window and peered in. We stood stiff as tree trunks and held our breath.

  “What do you see?”

  He pushed his forehead against the glass. “I see kiddles all hunched up in the corner, Kendra, that is all. They have their backs to me, so I cannot tell what tribe they are from.” He tapped on the glass and called, “Hey, ye in there show yerselves. Do not fret we are not Agros. We are here to help ye.”

  Not one sound came back. He tapped harder and said the same words. Again, no movement, no answer to his calls. A hush melted over us and although the place was not cold, we shivered. Wirt knocked more gently than before and called to them in a voice full of warmth and hope. “Come now, little ‘uns, come and show yerselves to those who are here to free ye.”

  As though we were one bod, Kendra and I stepped nearer to the window and stood beside Wirt. “Do not be a-feared, ye are amongst friends.”

  Slowly the Meeks rose and turned to face us. Their skin was grey and their eyes rimmed with red as if they had been blubbing forcefully. They stared at us with peepholes rounder than a hoolet searching for food. My guts twisted so that I could not help but let out a small cry. Kendra pulled me close.

  I felt the heat of Marcellus’s breath on my ear. “So many. Too many kiddles. Sad and fearful.”

  “We must put aside our deep concerns and search out those we came to save.”

  Wirt stepped back from the window and shook his head. “Nay, my kin are not amongst these misery-filled young ‘uns. I’ll do as Kendra says, I’ll look again. Surely our loved ones must be here.”

  “Wise words, my dear. I will help you search. Marcellus, I am sure you will not be averse to keeping Adara company whilst you both sift through these rooms for your own?”

  “We glad to do such,” my heartfriend said and as Kendra slipped her hand from mine, I felt Marcellus replace it with his own.

  “Let us peruse these units until we find your kin,” Kendra said and led Wirt to the next cubicle.

  “Come, we go, look for own amongst many sad eyes.”

  I clenched onto my almost beloved’s hand and together we walked to one of the labrooms. He let go my mitt. Without breathing, we looked in, then shook our heads. “Not there? No, mine neither. No matter. Come, we check in other,” Marcellus said and made his way to the opposite window. “Come.”

  “Nah, best we split up. Take in more that way.”

  He nodded and for what seemed like many moons, looked at me with such affection that I near flew into his embrace; should he have held out his arms that is. He did not, so I blinked to break the spell and peered into the room nearest to where I stood.

  I saw twelve little ‘uns trapped inside a place that should have held no more than half that amount. Each white wall had a shelf jutting out. Placed on each one were monitors and tip-tap machines. The light inside was dazzling and raw and flickered in a most queasy manner. The kiddles huddled together in the centre, eyes lowered, hands clenched into fists. I saw no soft place for them to rest, just hard chairs. I walked to another window and another. Each room contained twelve kiddles and nowt to boast of regarding luxuries.

  In one room, I saw a long low bench that stretched right across from the window to the back wall. On it were glass jars and single flames, and all manner of colourful stuff in circular, shallow see-through containers. In the next, the young ‘uns hovered around a glass dome perched on top of a metal table. They seemed to be hiding something inside. For each time I moved my head to get a better view, they moved their bodies to obscure what lay within. I strained my eyeballs looking for my bro, but did not see him.

  Turning in sorrow from the fretful faces inside, I saw Wirt’s hands pressed against one of the cubicle windows. His face paled and he began to shake. He opened his mouth and made a sucked in wheezing sound before taking a deep breath. “Stillman!”

  He slapped both hands against the window and called the name again. From amongst the glob of kiddles within the centre of the room, a thin, small teen emerged. He walked to the window and placed his palms onto the glass.

  “Stillman, we thought ye dead.”

  The boy lowered his head and dropped his arms. Wirt banged on the pane. “Stillman! What ails ye? Stillman!” He banged again and all the young ‘uns backed away. Wirt pounded and pounded.

  “Wirt. My dear, please stop. You are scaring the little ones,” Kendra said.

  “Stillman! Answer me. Stilman!”

  He struck the glass so fierce-like that I felt sure he would break it. I saw the kiddles cower and cover their heads with their hands. Kendra tugged at Wirt’s wrists until he ceased hammering. His shoulders shook and she held him to her chest. “Hush my dear. Do not fret so. You have found a lost one.”

  Wirt raised his head and wiped his eyes. He pulled away from Kendra and stood facing the window where his kin squatted on the rough-stone floor.

  I rushed to his side and touched his shoulder; he turned, took my hand and squeezed it softly. “I am filled with feelings I cannot express. We were close, he being a cuz of the first. He was a special ‘un. His mam said he was a gift from the Greenman. He was took some three orbits ago, and we all thought him lost forever. To find him after so much hurt is overwhelming in the extreme.”

  “’Twould seem so for him too,” I said and glanced at the frightened Meeks. “Deogol, my bro, was also special. Ma and Pa told me he was a surprise. Santy said he was more than that, he was a phenomenon.”

  Wirt gave me a look of curious and stared back at his kin. “Why will he not answer me?”

  “I do not know. I would have thought that he would come to you and acknowledge your lineage.”

  “Ye are right. He should. Something is amiss here and I’ll find out what,” he said, went back to the window and knocked. The kiddles backed away. Wirt attempted a soothing grin and waved a friendly wave. The little ‘uns looked at each other, but remained where they were. Wirt took in another one of his shoulder shaking shudder breaths, and relaxed his features so that they almost appeared calm.

  “Cuz. It is Wirt. Ye know me. Come, we are here to free ye. No need to fear.”

  Stillman looked up.

  “That’s right cuz. Ye know me. Rise and let us help ye.”

  Stillman shook his head, lifted his brown fringe and showed us all a round red mark on his forehead. He stood, came close to the pane and spoke, but the glass was too thick. We could make nowt out but a muffled noise and could not comprehend what he was trying to tell us.

  Wirt shook his head, gestured with a wide-armed shrug and pointed at his ears. Stillman nodded, went to a wall shelf and picked up a comp. He held it up and flipped over the screen so that we could see. He pressed down on the keys and words appeared. Kendra leant forward and read out what he had written. “We cannot leave. They put a chip inside our heads that will explode if we try to escape. Cuz ye must go and save yerselves.”

  “Nay, I’ll not leave ye, not now ye are found.” Wirt turned to face the kneeling Alfred. “Ye, ye are to blame.”

  The Agro shook off Eadgard’s hand, lifted his head, jutted out his jaw and snickered.

  I thou
ght Wirt would explode. His face took on the colour of a bub about to plop and the veins in his temples stood out so that I felt sure they would burst. He stood over Alfred and leant close to his face. “Weakling. To do such things to young ‘uns.”

  Alfred snorted and shrugged.

  Wirt straightened. He went to Eadgard, snatched the gun from his fingers and held it to Alfred’s head. “Ye are vile.” His hands shook. “Vile! A monster!” He pressed the muzzle against the Agro’s temple, but could not press the trigger. Eadgard reached out and pulled the gun away from him. Wirt made a fist and stepped back. Kendra touched his cheek and he slumped against her shoulder.

  “You are too tender to bear this wrong, and they are too young to be so cruelly used.” She lifted Wirt’s head and he rubbed his nose on his sleeve. Kendra shook her head, closed her eyes, then opened them all quick. “This is nonsense. It does not make sense. There must be a way to free them.”

  She went to the window where Stillman and the other Meeks stood staring out, and ran her hands along the glass and wall underneath. “There does not seem to be any kind of door,” she said, and then mouthed all exaggerated like to Stillman. “How do they let you in and out?”

  He tapped in a reply and Kendra read it out. “They do not. We stay in here all the time. Working and working. We do not sleep. They give us drugs to stay awake,” Kendra spoke the last few words almost in whisper. She put her forefinger and thumb against the bridge of her nose and walked away from the cubicle.

  Marcellus growled and gave Alfred a look so fierce that said Agro became quite pale of face. Thinking my sweet one would cause the Agro more harm than was necessary, I went to where he stood and touched his elbow. He turned to me and I said, “Think nowt of this filth. Do not allow him to fill you with a passion best kept for other matters. Let us find our own, and a way to free them from this horrible place.”

  “Sound words. It is what we must do.” He nodded, walked to the cubicle opposite Stillman’s, looked in, shook his head and walked on to the next one. I followed his lead and stared from one sad face to another. No Deogol. I went to window after window, but my bro was nowhere to be seen. Just when I was about to commiserate with Marcellus, I heard him give forth a mighty shout.

  “Elita, Nuncio, Lucus. All here. All found.”

  A joy for him thrilled me and I began to walk towards him to give my congrats, but something caught my eye. At the end of the room, I saw a blue light flicker from a cubicle. My innards flipped and I held my breath. An image of my bro leapt into my head and I stepped all wobble-like towards the strange light.

  I leant close into the glass. The space was less illuminated than the others and I found it hard to see clearly. Cupping my hands, I put them to the side of my head and pressed my face harder against the pane. My eyes became accustomed to the dimness and the interior became visible.

  There was one long shelf that ran right around the grey walls. In the middle of the room was a short round metal table. Twelve opaque tumblers rested on it and nowt else. The kiddles inside were not standing and staring out like the rest. They sat, backs to the window, hunched over their comps. The blue light came from a screen at the rear of the room. I squinted into the gloom and stared at the neck of the young ‘un opposite me. He had a small crescent shaped scar just below his hairline.

  I made that healed cut.

  I gouged it out with my fingernail when we scrapped over the last chocoreal bar.

  I hit the glass with my fist.

  “Deogol! Deogol!”

  The Meeks lifted their shoulders and bent closer to their comps.

  I hit the window several more times and would have continued to do so, but Wirt, pulled my hand away. I turned and said, “They can hear my hammerings. I saw them flinch. My bro is there.”

  “For sure?”

  “And certain.”

  “Then let us try as one to attract his attention.”

  We both pounded on the glass until the Meeks put their hands over their ears and stood. We stopped and saw them slowly turn around and stare at us with ghost-eyed blankness.

  “Deogol,” I said and put my face close to the window.

  I said his name again. He looked at me without recognition. I shouted his name once more and he blinked.

  “Deogol. Deogol. It is, Adara.”

  My bro wiped his eyes, turned away, sat back on his chair and clattered who knows what upon the button board beneath his fingers.

  “He does not know me,” I said and slumped to the floor.

  Chapter Nine

  Betrayal

  Wirt touched the top of my head and I put my hands to my face. I heard my friend take in a stuttered breath and pressed my fists harder into my closed lids. A belt of despair tightened around my chest and I fell back against the lab room wall. Fingers touched my chin. I lowered my mitts, opened my eyes and saw Marcellus kneeling in front of me. He wiped away a stray tear from my cheek. “We discover kin. Good thing tainted with bad. Chips inside heads present problem of great magnitude. We overcome. Stand, Adara.”

  I stared into his eyes and found a tenderness I had not seen before. He took my fingers in his and together we stood. Wirt, all red of eye, tried to smile but grimaced instead. This setback was not going to make me Aamlet again, that was for sure and certain. So, without hesitation, I straightened my back. “That Agro filth must know something,” I said and nodded in the direction of Alfred.

  Eadgard grabbed his collar and pulled him to his feet. Kendra stood in front of Alfred’s fear-filled face. He cast his eyes to the ground. “He cannot look me in the eye. He knows. More than he would like us to at that,” she said and leant closer.

  Alfred looked at her for a sec, and I wondered how he dared be so bold, so hostile was her eying of him. Something about his lack of dread mad me uneasy. What did he actually know? He pursed his lips, then spat into her face. Eadgard threw him to the floor and placed his boot upon his back. “Do not move or I will let the Clonie play with you. Marcellus grunted and Alfred lay still.

  Kendra wiped the spittle from her chin, knelt beside him and lifted his jaw. “Adara, perhaps you would like to talk to this slime,” she said and let his chin drop. It made a loud crack sound as it hit the hard surface. Alfred moaned and spat out blood and saliva.

  I walked purposefully towards him. “I will indeed chat with this less than male.”

  But I did not get far.

  A siren shrieked.

  I halted and turned towards the lab room that contained Deogol. All the kiddles within were hunched over their comp screens as if nowt had happened.

  All but one.

  A thin, white-haired girly stepped to the window. I raced over and pressed my temple against the glass. She had the pale face and dark eyeunderbags of a Citydweller from the container area, which we that lived in Central Local called, ‘Trashlanders’. She stared at me then looked behind her, pointed at my bro’s back, parted her lips and mouthed, “Deogol. He has set the alarm.” She turned to me and tugged at a lock of her hair so hard that most of it came out. Then held out the strands clutched between her fingers, and silent-spoke again. “Now we will be punished.”

  The siren stopped.

  I heard a derisive cackle and swivelled round.

  It came from Alfred. Despite his injuries, he laughed again, then coughed. Kendra touched Eadgard’s arm and he stepped away from the prone Agro. “Let him get to his feet, my dear. He looks ripe to spill something to our advantage.”

  Said filth rose slowly. As soon as he was upright, Eadgard dug the snout of the gun into his back. “Speak you spawn of a Wolfie.”

  Alfred licked his split bottom lip and said, “What a good worker your brother is. So loyal and true. Many guards will be here soon. So, my Backpacker friend, you may as well release me.” Eadgard placed the gun against his temple. “Really my buff fellow that will do no good. We have weapons beyond your ken. Before you can do me harm, your brains will be splattered throughout the room.”

&nbs
p; Eadgard pressed the gun deeper into his flesh. “Close your yap hole.” Alfred snorted.

  “Adara, come quick.”

  I turned at the sound of Wirt’s voice and looked behind him at my bro-bro staring out of the window. He finger-beckoned for me to come to him. So I did all strong with leg so as not to give away my anxious feel. He held a small com screen in his left hand and tip-tapped upon the keyboard as I approached. When I reached the glass, he lifted his head and flipped the screen over so that I could see what he had written. I read the words for all to hear.

  “Adara. They will be as pleased with me as a virtualkittle is with a ball of synthowool. I try to do what they say. Best. If not, they make the nano thing move.”

  I looked up from the com. Deogol rubbed the round mark on his forehead and frowned. The white-haired girly stood beside him, touched her mark then sank to her knees and wept. I looked around at the other trapped kiddles and saw a look of terror upon all their faces.

  There came a low rumble from behind the end wall.

  “Guards. Now you’re in for it,” Alfred said.

  The noise must have soothed the other guard. For up he shot from his kneeling position and ran towards the place the sound came from. Marcellus, intercepted him before he reached the spot, and with one punch to his belly as he sped, brought him retching to the ground.

  Wirt and Kendra hastened over to me. I took their proffered hands and said, “What now? What do we do?”

  “Break glass, free them,” Marcellus said and hurled himself against the window that contained his kin. It did not break and he lurched backwards landing unsteadily upon his feet. He tried twice more before Kendra took his elbow and brought him to stand with me. She placed his hand in mine and I squeezed until I felt his muscles relax.

  The rumble noise became louder.

  Wirt went to the window where Stillman stood. “There must be a way.” He put his palm to the glass and his cuz did the same. Then said relative mouthed something that I could not make out. Wirt hung his head and Stillman gently pressed his lips against the pane.