Kingdom of Cages

by Sarah Zettel

  The hand had her throat, but not her mouth. Chena jerked her chin forward and bit down hard. The man, the thief, screamed and dropped her. Chena landed wrong and fell onto her knees. Someone swore and aimed a kick at her. It caught her on the hip and sent her rolling over. Now Chena screamed, letting loose at the top of her lungs as she scrabbled away.

  A shock caught her on the hand. She’d reached the fence. There was nowhere to go this way. She ducked sideways, even as a hand caught her ankle.

  “No, you don’t,” said Shond.

  Lights were coming on. Voices were raised. But the hand did not let her go. It dragged her backward.

  “Help!” screamed Chena. Something hit her head hard and the world spun into stars.

  “No,” said yet another familiar voice. But dizzy as she was, Chena could not identify this one.

  “No,” said the voice again. “She’s mine.”

  The hand let go, dropping her foot onto the ground. The sounds of running surrounded Chena. People running away from her. People running toward her. She blinked her eyes a few times. Dizziness receded, but only slowly.

  “Well, now. Let’s see what you did to yourself.”

  Leaves crunched as Nan Elle lowered herself into Chena’s line of sight. Chena opened her mouth and closed it again, but no words came out.

  Shond just tried to rob me. What am I going to tell Sadia?

  By now, others had reached them. The whole world was floodlit by portable torches and lamps in houses turned up high. Chena lifted her head in time to see a flock of would-be rescuers skidding to a halt as they saw Nan Elle.

  “Just stay where you are,” Nan Elle said to her, or maybe to them. Her fingers pressed against Chena’s skull. They were hard, but they were quick, running across her scalp. When she finished, she cupped one hand around Chena’s chin.

  “Look at me,” she ordered. Chena obeyed. The dizziness was fading, but her vision was still a little blurry. “Good, very good.”

  Nan Elle turned to the crowd. “Fell down the stairs,” she announced. “Got startled, poor thing.” As carefully as she had knelt down, Nan Elle stood up. “I need someone to walk her to her mother.”

  “Well, I hope you’ll let me.” Constable Regan slid through the crowd. “Since you seem to have taken charge.”

  Nan Elle chuckled. “Oh, no Constable. I would never dream of it.” She stepped away, but her black eyes focused on Chena, and Chena understood what she was not to say.

  “Is there a concussion?” Regan asked Nan Elle.

  “There does not seem to be, but her mother should probably wake her every few hours tonight to make sure.”

  “Her mother is right here, thank you very much.” The crowd shifted, and the next thing Chena knew, Mom knelt on the ground beside her. “Chena, look at me. Look at me, Supernova. Are you hurt?”

  “Hit my head,” said Chena, a little thickly. She swallowed and tried it again. “I’m okay.”

  Mom ran her fingers along Chena’s scalp, just like Nan Elle had. “You’ll have an egg in the morning. Let’s get you home.” Mom stood and helped her up with both hands under Chena’s elbows. Mom, Chena noticed, did not even look at Nan Elle.

  Chena stood unsteadily. Her head throbbed, but nothing spun and her stomach stayed still. She knew enough to know these were good signs. Mom didn’t let go, though. She held on to Chena’s elbows as they climbed the stairs to the catwalk and started toward their house.

  I just can’t stop attracting crowds today, thought Chena ruefully. And stalkers.

  Constable Regan walked along behind them. Mom glanced at him but didn’t say anything. He didn’t say anything either. He just paced along, about half a step behind them, all the way to their front door.

  “Thank you for the escort, Brother Constable,” said Mom as she pushed the door open. Teal sat in the front room, hugging one of the pillows. She jumped up and ran forward when she saw Mom, but stopped as she saw Regan.

  “Not at all, Sister,” he said to Mom. “I’ve got a few questions for Chena here, if you don’t mind.” Mom didn’t get a chance to say whether she did or not. Regan just stepped through the door after her.

  “I fell,” said Chena as Mom lowered her onto one of the pillows. “I got startled, that’s all.”

  “Right,” said Regan. He knelt on a pillow next to her. Mom didn’t sit. She hovered over Chena like she might have to snatch her daughter away from the cop. “And that’s all Nan Elle told you to say, I’m sure. Don’t get started down that road, Chena.”

  “Look, if you don’t like her, why don’t you just arrest her? snapped Chena. Her head hurt, a low steady ache.

  “Chena!” said Mom sharply.

  “No.” Regan held up his hand. “It’s a fair question.” He let out a long sigh. “It’s also extremely complicated.”

  Yeah, that’s what you all say when you don’t know what you’re doing. Chena did not say that out loud, however. Not with Mom standing right there. She just rubbed her temple, as if she could wipe away the hurt.

  “I don’t shut her down because without her there would be no one who could help out with things like the nettle blight, or delivering babies, or potential concussions.” He gave her a smile that Chena thought was supposed to be warm and friendly but didn’t quite make it. “But I cannot and I will not let her make her own law.” All pretense of smile vanished from his face. “And I will not let anyone help her make that law. Do you understand me?”

  Chena nodded and looked down at her toes. Mom shook her shoulder gently.

  “There were two men. I think they were trying to rob me.” She lifted her eyes. “I never saw them.”

  But I heard Shond. God’s own, I hope Sadia breaks him in two.

  Mom’s hand flew to cover her mouth and she doubled over like she was going to be sick. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Chena shrugged. “I’m sorry.”

  “Probably because Nan Elle suggested she shouldn’t,” said Regan to Mom. “Try not to worry about it too much. Nan Elle gets people doing a lot of things her way. But Chena knows what’s right.” He smiled at Mom. “If I need to talk to her some more, I’ll come by tomorrow.”

  He wished them good night and walked away into the darkness.

  Mom looked down at Chena and said nothing.

  Chena’s stomach clenched up. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

  “You’ve said that.” Mom’s voice was tired. “Go to bed, Chena. It’s past your bedtime.”

  The knot on the top of Chena’s head throbbed. “Mom—” she tried as she got to her feet.

  “Not tonight,” said Mom, waving her away. “Not any more tonight.”

  Teal stared at her. Chena felt tears prickle the corners of her eyes. “No, Mom—”

  “Go to bed, Chena.”

  Chena went. What else was there to do? She shucked off her sweaty clothes and climbed into her nightshirt. She lay on her pallet in the dark and tried to muster some defiance. All she felt was sick and empty. She had tried to make things better. That was all. She had managed to mess it up from the beginning.

  The door opened and the door closed. Small light feet padded across the floorboards and stopped.

  “Chena? What’s really going on?”

  “I don’t know.” Chena squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears in. Teal was silent for a long time. “Of course not,” she said, and Chena was startled by the bitterness in her voice. “Nobody knows what’s going on. You won’t tell me piss. You won’t even give me a job, will you? No, that’s got to go to your friend Sadia.”

  Chena groaned. “Oh, piss, Teal—”

  “And you don’t give a twisted damn about anything else, do you?” Teal barreled on. “You don’t even know Mom lost her job today!”

  “What?” Chena jerked her head up. The sudden movement sent a new shock of pain through her skull.

  “Her boss told her not to come back. She didn’t tell me why.” Teal’s voice grew hard. “Actually, she didn’t tell me at all. I heard
her talking to Madra.”

  “But they can’t. She needs…” Chena swallowed the words. Of course they could. They were getting to her. They were going to take everything away. The house, everything. Maybe they even sent Shond and the other man to knock her down. They could do anything they wanted and no one would stop them.

  Chena lay back down, curling into as tight a ball as she could. “It’ll be okay,” she murmured, more to keep herself from crying than to reassure Teal. “We’ll think of something.”

  “When?” demanded Teal.

  “I don’t know,” whispered Chena, wrapping her arms around her knees. “I don’t know.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Caught

  Chena overslept the next morning. When she woke up, it was already full daylight and the sleeping room was empty. She tried to jump to her feet, but the jolt of pain in her skull made her stagger, and all the events of last night rushed back into focus.

  Holding her breath, Chena tiptoed to the door and opened it a crack. She could just see Mom sitting alone at the table, her head bowed so that her forehead rested against her hand.

  She let the door swing open. “Mom…”

  Mom’s head lifted, and she turned around. “How’s your head, Chena?”

  “It’s okay.” Chena walked out into the room. Her stomach flip-flopped with each step.

  “No dizziness? No blurry vision?”

  “No.” Chena sank onto a pillow next to her, tucking her feet under her nightshirt. “It just hurts a little.”

  “Good.” She sighed. “There’s something I need to tell you—”

  Chena didn’t wait for her to finish. “You lost your job.”

  Mom’s eyes narrowed. “Who told you that?”

  “Teal,” answered Chena, twisting her hands. “She heard you talking to Madra.”

  Mom just sighed. “Well. It seems we’re right back where we started.” She rubbed her forehead again. “And this time I don’t know what to do.”

  “You could run errands with me,” said Chena tentatively. “We could make all kinds of money if we could carry more stuff.”

  Mom smiled, just a little. “Would you believe I thought about that? Last night, before… before you were attacked.” She turned herself all the way around and faced Chena. “This is it, Supernova. I’m going to ask you one more time. Tell me the truth and maybe we can work all this out. Hold anything back on me, and you will not leave this village again, under any circumstances.”

  She meant it. There was more she was not saying, though. Chena could feel it singing in the air between them. She was not saying, I’ll never trust you again. She was not saying, I’ll leave you like Dad did. But she meant it. This time she really did.

  Mom waited, eyes fixed on Chena. Chena took a deep breath despite the fact that her chest was clamping down tight around her lungs.

  She told her. She told her about Farin and Nan Elle, about the letters, and the ants, and Sadia and the hacker-tailor, and how it was Shond, who was already on the trouble list, who helped knock her down last night. Mom didn’t ask any questions. She didn’t interrupt even once, until Chena twisted her hands in her lap.

  “That’s it,” she said finally. It was. Now Mom knew everything. She might decide to leave anyway now that she knew it all.

  But Mom just leaned forward and drew Chena into a tight embrace. Chena threw her arms around Mom’s neck and hugged her back with all her strength.

  “Oh, my dear,” whispered Mom. “Oh, my girl. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I’m sorry,” murmured Chena, on the verge of tears again. “I was scared. I wanted to make things okay. I… I don’t know, Mom. I just don’t know.”

  “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Mom stroked her hair for a moment, just like she had when Chena was a little girl. Then she released her. “All right. You get dressed and you go down and tell Sadia that you won’t be running any errands today.”

  “But—” began Chena, but Mom raised a hand to stop her.

  “I’m going to talk to Madra. She said before, she can help us get out of here. We’re leaving, Chena. Now. Today. We’re not staying here a minute longer.” All her determination sounded in that statement, but there was something else too, and it made Chena’s heart beat hard as she got to her feet. Mom was afraid.

  “Go on, Chena.” Mom pushed her toward the bedroom, and Chena went.

  Dressed, and chewing on a piece of bread and butter for a quick breakfast, Chena hurried down to the railbike depot to meet Sadia.

  But Sadia wasn’t there. Chena walked all around the empty depot, finally coming back to the deck and waiting restlessly. After fifteen minutes she gave up and ran down the path toward the dorms. Sadia had probably given up on her a long time ago. Chena was over an hour late.

  But the sleeping room was as empty of Sadia as the depot had been. She wasn’t in the dining hall either, or the library. Chena checked the roster and saw that Sadia’s old shift was back on compost duty this week. But Sadia wasn’t in the composting shed, and neither was Shond.

  Where are you, Sadia? Chena bit her lip. An ugly idea came to her.

  She ran up the stairs, picking the catwalk to the constable’s house. Did he have Sadia in there? Had he heard about the hacker-tailor yesterday from the cop in Stem? Had he worked out it was Shond who tried to rob her last night? He might be asking Sadia all kinds of questions.

  Regan’s door was closed when she got there. She backed away, trying to keep out of sight of the windows and yet trying to see inside. The long strips of glass only allowed her glimpses into the interior. But she saw Regan’s shoulder and the back of his head. He moved, and then Chena saw Sadia’s profile. She sat by the desk, her hands waving to add emphasis to her explanation. Then Mom stepped into view.

  Chena’s heart thudded once. Mom’s profile was eclipsed by the stranger—a small man in black and white clothes.

  Blasted and screwed, is that Teal’s spy? What’s he doing here?

  What was going on? What was Mom doing in there? She was supposed to be talking to Madra.

  Shond might know. Shond was a tinky and a mouth-off and she owed him big for the bump on her head, but he would know what was happening with his sister. Thing was, she didn’t know where he was either.

  But one of the other kids on his shift might. Hyder. He’d know.

  Chena turned and walked quickly but calmly down the catwalk. She didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself. She certainly didn’t want anyone to think she was running away from the constable or something.

  She was just about to start down the stairs to the compost shed when she saw Shond. He was walking, head down, between a woman and a man who both wore black slacks and white tunics. Chena bit down hard on her lip. Only the hothousers wore black and white. They herded him toward the boat docks.

  Why there? It’s not a boat day, was her first, ridiculous thought. After that came, Does Sadia know?

  Chena ran down the stairs. What was going on? Had they caught him on the robbery try? Maybe the two people with Shond would let him talk to her. Maybe she could get a message from him to Sadia. Maybe…

  Chena looped wide around Shond and his hothouser escort so she could come into his field of view without getting too close, in case she needed to get away. Shond looked up and spotted her, and his face twisted into a mask of rage.

  “This is your fault!” he shouted, lunging forward. But the man beside him grabbed him by the shoulders and held him, pulling him past Chena. “You put her up to this!” Shond twisted in the man’s hands. “She put Sadia up to this! Sadia would never have done this!”

  Chena stood rooted to the ground. “No!” she shouted. “This is your fault! It was you last night!”

  “That will be sorted out later,” said the black and white woman. “Right now the judgment is that you are coming with us.” The man propelled Shond forward.

  “No!” Shond threw his weight backward, trying to slow them down. “Sadia was put up. She didn
’t do anything! It was you!” he cried over his shoulder at Chena.

  “What do they say she did, Shond?” yelled Chena desperately. “I swear, I didn’t ask her to do anything! I don’t know what’s going on!”

  “I’ll blast you to bits when I get hold of you!” he yelled back, twisting around in his captors’ arms. “She never did nothing before!”

  But the woman had hold of him on one side now, and the man on the other. They walked him forward quickly and soon he couldn’t twist around far enough to yell at her anymore. Chena watched them until they disappeared down the bank, her heart hammering.

  What did you do, Sadia?

  Her legs felt like they were going to give way under her. She was afraid, but she didn’t know why. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Okay, she’d taken messages for Nan Elle, but that was it. They couldn’t arrest anybody for that, could they? There was the thing with the people who’d parachuted down, but Sadia hadn’t seen that. Sadia hadn’t even taken a single package for Nan Elle.

  Why do they have her and Mom in there? Chena bit her lip and glanced up toward the cop’s house. Why not me?

  It might be something that had nothing to do with her at all. No, that wasn’t right either, because Mom was in there, and Teal’s spy.

  Suddenly Chena couldn’t stand it anymore. She had to know what had happened. There was one person who knew what really went on in Stem, and if Nan Elle knew about this, Nan Elle would have to tell her.

  Chena ran all the way up the stairs, pounding on the boards until her chest hurt and the pain in her head throbbed all the way down her spine. People waited out in front of the little cluster of houses, as always. Chena ignored them all and threw the door open.

  This time there was an old man with a baby in his arms. Chena stood in the threshold, her chest heaving and her head splitting open.

  Nan Elle blinked mildly at her. “Again? You are turning out to be an extraordinarily rude one, aren’t you, station girl?” she remarked before turning back to the old man. “It’s colic, nothing worse. A little warm water before bed will—”