Evan Burl and the Falling

by Justin Blaney

"I know that."

  "You get far better treatment than you deserve. If you don't want that changing, make sure you stay out of my way." He waved his hand at me dismissively. "Now go and get Pike."

  "As you wish." I bowed, as if he was some kind of great lictor and his eyes narrowed, but before he could kick me I was gone.

  #

  I took the leather book from my boot and flipped through it again. Most the pages were blank, but I still bet it was worth a fortune. I was going to write a story for Henrietta, I had the whole thing already planned out.

  There would be trees that grew so high you couldn't see their tops and ships that could sail to the stars. And real magic. Who knows how much that book would be worth once I was done writing. I heard once that someone traded an entire farm for a single book. And it would all be Henri's.

  I just had to make sure my uncle never found out about it; he was sure to miss something that valuable. I wondered what he would do to me if he knew I took it and shuddered.

  I shoved it inside the pocket on my pants that had a button to keep it from falling out. I trotted down four flights of stairs, through seven long hallways and a dozen rooms or more before I found the nearest door to the courtyard.

  Bursting through a side door, I stopped for a moment and soaked in the sun and smell of summer. The sound of birds and insects filled the air, a gentle breeze blew on my face which kept me from breaking into a sweat almost immediately from the heavy heat that set in every afternoon this time of year.

  There was a small patch of purple orchids along the towering stone wall; I stopped to pick a few. I tried to arrange them just so as I made my way across the courtyard to the lake. The grass grew taller and taller, the further I got from the castle until it was several feet taller than me. I thought I was lost for a few minutes, but finally found one of the cobblestone paths which crisscrossed the courtyard like a maze.

  I spotted the balizia tree which grew on the shore of the lake and headed towards it. Little Sae and Pearl spotted me first and came running.

  "Evan!" They threw their arms around me, almost knocking me over.

  "Ahh, just what I was looking for. Two pretty assistants for my magic act." They squealed and giggled. "Where's Henri?" But I saw her as the words left my lips. I hid the flowers behind me and walked to her. She was sitting against the trunk of the great tree, making a wreath of dandelions.

  "Good afternoon, m'lady," I said, just like the traveling magicians spoke when they were performing. "Would you like to see a magic trick."

  "Is it any good?" She said with a straight face.

  "Why m'lady, I just happen to be the great magician Evan Burl. Haven't you heard of me." She stifled a smile.

  "I might have."

  "Well step right up," I said as I gave her my free hand and lifted her to her feet. "If you would please give a dandelion to my beautiful assistant, Little Sae. Yes, there you go. Thank you."

  Little Sae took the dandelion and giggled, then she handed it to me.

  I stepped behind Henri, tucked the bouquet of orchids in my belt and covered her eyes with one hand as I held the dandelion in the other. Then I pulled the orchids from my belt and held them in front of her as I uncovered her eyes.

  "Oh! My favorite," she said and turned to hug me. It wasn't much of a trick, but no one cared.

  "Are those for me?" My cousin, Pike, said as he dropped from the tree next to us. I hadn't noticed him climbing above us.

  "Do you think purple is pretty?" Henri said and we all laughed.

  "Uncle wants you," I said. "He was admiring your art."

  "Oh great," Pike said.

  "Come on," I said. "I'll walk back with you. Maybe we can sneak something from the larder on our way."

  I turned to Henri as I left and said, "I've got something to show you, you won't believe it." I wanted to keep it a secret, but I couldn't

  "You're going to make me wait?"

  "It's more fun that way."

  "No it's not."

  "I won't be long." I wondered how long it would take to write a book; it couldn't take that much time. I waved as we turned a corner and Henri disappeared from view behind the bend of the tall grass. For as long as I could remember, I had always known that Henri and I would be together forever.

  "Don't do anything stupid," I heard Henri call. She was always so worried about me. It was actually kind of annoying sometimes, but it felt good to have people care about me. My uncle was no father and he never would be. Pike, Henri and the rest of my sisters were all I had.

  "Did you hear another chest came today?"

  "What?! Why didn't you say so sooner?"

  "I forgot, sorry. But it doesn't matter. There was no baby inside."

  "It was empty?"

  "I didn't see. Father said it was something for him. Something about making more money."

  "Are we really running out?"

  "That's what father said. He's been really worried."

  "Maybe it was filled with gold."

  "He sold another cart load of stuff from the castle."

  "Better hide our toys or he'll sell them too," I joked. We both laughed, but I secretly worried Mazol might. He was acting so strange.

  We walked for a minute; I daydreamed about the story I was going to write for Henri. Then Pike said, "So what are you planning to show your girlfriend."

  "She's not my girlfriend."

  "Evan and Henri," he sang, "Evan and Henri." I aimed a punch at him, but he dodged and laughed. "So what is it then? What did you find?"

  I had planned to tell him, he was my best friend. But there was something in his tone; why did he want to know so badly? I suddenly wasn't so sure about showing him the book. Would he tell my uncle?

  "It's nothing," I said, then changed the subject. "Did you see those two men your father hired?"

  "Yeah, one is shorter than me and the other's big as an elephant."

  "What did Uncle hire them for?"

  "I don't know, but they give me the creeps. Especially the short one."

  "Maybe Mazol found them with the circus—" I laughed, but it caught in my throat when we rounded a bend in the path and nearly bumped into the two men we were making fun of. They were pulling ropes off a huge machine which sat atop a heavily built wooden cart. It was partially covered by a oiled tarpaulin; but I caught a glimpse of a shining brass tank with valves and iron gears sticking out one side.

  Yesler was about as tall as me—three inches shorter than Pike, which he never let me forget—but the other towered over us. A 5 foot sledgehammer hung from the giant's hand that looked so heavy I doubted whether Pike and I could have lifted it together.

  "What was that you were saying?" the short one said. He took a step towards me, and smacked an iron steak against his palm as if he would like to smack me over the head with it. Pike and I took one look at each other, then we bolted off into the tall grass.

  After sprinting until we couldn't breathe, we came to where the grass tapered out to a short lawn at the foot of the castle's walls and slowed to a stop. Listening for a moment, it was clear there were no sounds of anyone coming after us. Then we burst out laughing.

  "Did you see the look on his face?" I said.

  "He's scary, that one. I hope he's not staying long."

  "And what about that clanker? I've never seen anything like it." I leaned against the castle wall, the stones felt cool in the shade from the huge tower that hung over us.

  "What's it for I wonder?"

  "Who knows. I'm sure it's got nothing to do with us." But even as I said it, I wasn't so sure. I had a bad feeling that machine and these two new hired hands were a bad sign. My eyes traced up the wall until I was craning my neck to see the top of the tower.

  "The air is so clear today. Do you think we could see to the other side of the ocean?"

  "You can't see across the ocean, it's too big."

  "How do you know? No one knows how far across it is. I bet we could see it today, if we climbed to the top o
f this tower."

  "I'm too tired to climb."

  I jumped up on the wall and pulled myself up so my feet were about the hight of Pike's head.

  Looking down at him I said, "I guess you'll never know if you can see all the way across the ocean then. But I will." I began to climb even higher.

  "Hey, stop it. There are stairs you know."

  "That's too easy. For me. But you can take the stairs. I'll race you to the top."

  I kept climbing. Now I was about twenty feet off the ground. The castle was very old and the grout between the stones was worn away so there were lots of holds. There were even ledges every so often to rest on. We'd climbed the castle walls tons of times, but never all the way to the top of the tower.

  "Evan, wait!" Pike said. I was getting so far above him that his voice was starting to sound far away. I could almost see over the courtyard walls into the jungle; they were 40 feet tall and ran pretty close to the tower. I looked down and saw Pike following me so I rested a bit, letting him catch up.

  "You're mad, you know that?"

  "Don't worry so much."

  "Well I'm not going to race you. I don't care what you say."

  "Fine, we'll go together."

  The sun was starting to dip to the horizon when we began our climb. It took longer than I expected to get to the top of the hundred foot spire. I could see the first stars appear in the sky when we scrambled over the eves of the roof.

  "Careful, the tiles look really old," Pike said as he carefully checked each one before putting his weight on it. There were quite a few tiles missing; sometimes they would fall off during the storms.

  We sat on the ridge of the tower's roof and caught our breath, taking in the world for a long time. A few pink clouds hung over the great ocean and a hazy orange blanket stretched across the sky.

  "I told you we wouldn't see the other side of the ocean," Pike said.

  "That's because you climbed so slow. It's too dark now."

  He laughed.

  Somewhere, way far away we heard our names being called.

  "They're looking for us," Pike said.

  "Let them look, where would we have gone? Uncle won't let us leave the castle."

  "It's for our safety."

  "Have you ever been outside?"

  "I don't think so. I was too young to remember if I did."

  "Do you ever wonder where you fit in?"

  "Like what I want to be when I grow up?"

  "No, like if the whole world was a huge puzzle, where would your piece fit?"

  "I don't know... Not really. I'll probably take over the orphanage when I'm an adult. We have it pretty good here. At least we're all safe."

  "I want my life to matter. I want to help people."

  "Then help people."

  "It's not that simple."

  "I don't see why not."

  "Because you have a father. You can just follow him. I can't do that. I have to find my own place in the world and I don't have anyone to help me."

  We sat a while longer in silence, I stared into the jungles and beyond to the town on the bay at the foot of the hills. The world was so huge. I wondered how far it went. I wondered what kinds of adventures people were having out there in the world right then. I wondered if I could escape the dangers and learn to live out there. Someone had to live out there besides shades and wild animals and cannibals.

  "We should go," Pike said, "My father is going to be really angry."

  "You won't be in trouble. You're his son."

  He got up, but I grabbed his pants to keep him from leaving.

  "Wait, I have something to show you." I still wasn't sure if I wanted to show him the book, but I didn't want to go down yet. I knew some kind of whipping was waiting for me and I could delay Pike a few more minutes if I showed him the book. He loved books even more than I did, even though we had only held one a dozen times between us in our entire lives.

  "The secret huh?" He said and sat back down next to me.

  "You have to promise not to tell your father."

  "Have I ever told on you before?"

  "No, but this is different. This is—" I pulled the book out of my pocket and he grabbed it from me.

  "A book! Where did you get this?" He flipped through the pages, obviously surprised that it was blank.

  "There are a few pages in the beginning with words."

  "You didn't answer me," he said with a more serious tone. "Where did you get this?"

  "Where do you think?"

  "Father is going to blow a valve when he discovers this is missing."

  "That's why you can't tell him I took it."

  "Just put it back before he notices."

  "I can't. I'm going to give it to Henri."

  "What's she going to do with a blank book?"

  "I'm going to write a story for her."

  He flipped through the pages again and found the ones with writing.

  "Can you read the words?" I said. I couldn't read, but Mazol had been teaching Pike with some old lesson papers in his study.

  "I think so, some of it." He studied the words more closely and moved his lips like he was trying to sound out the letters.

  "Well, what does it say?"

  "I'm working it out, just wait a minute." The light was getting really dim, but a full moon was rising and there was just enough to make out the dark black lines scrawled on the thick parchment.

  Suddenly, Pike slammed the book shut and looked at me. His eyes were wide.

  "What?"

  Pike stood up and took a step back from me, almost slipping on the clay tiles. The roof was steep. Jumping up, I reached out to steady him and he flinched at my touch. I could tell his arms were trembling.

  "What is it?" I asked again, this time feeling my face flush. Why was he acting so stupid? What could the book possibly say?

  "We've got to go," he said, almost to himself. He kept glancing at me sideways as he began to work his way down the roof, like I was some dangerous animal.

  "Hey, that's mine," I said, reaching down and grabbing the book from him, but my foot slipped out from underneath me and I fell into him. We both slid a few feet down the roof before I was able to find something to grip my hand on. We froze in place, hoping to not knock loose any more of the ancient clay tiles.

  "Almost forgot we were on top of this tower," I said after feeling relatively sure that we were safe. I felt bad for losing my temper. Something told me I should say I was sorry, but I resisted the urge.

  Pike's whole body was shaking now. I held out my hand, to see if it was shaking, but I was as steady as a Balizia tree. I never shook from fear, especially not the though of falling. Heights never bothered me; I always figured I'd learn to fly on the way down. That's how birds learn, why couldn't I?

  Pike breathed out and said, "That was close."

  We were both laying on our stomachs, beside each other, but I was a few feet higher up the roof pitch. I tried to shift my weight so we could start climbing down, but I miscalculated the strength of the tiles under me and put too much weight on my knee.

  My body hit the roof hard and three more tiles slipped. I was sliding down the roof again, out of control and pushing Pike in front of me.

  With one hand I tried to slow Pike down, with the other I grasped at the roof tiles hoping one would hold us. I found his hand, but just as our fingers touched, he went over the edge.

  Our hands clasped together and I spun sideways; my left side went over the edge first. For a terrible moment I grasped at the tiles with all my strength, but found only slick clay. My nails scraped across the last few tiles and then I was in the night air.

  I tried to keep my hand on Pike's but we came apart. The feeling of weightlessness only lasted a moment. I held my breath and felt my stomach twist into a knot; it happened so fast there was no time to even think.

  I always thought I would learn to fly if I was falling, but I didn't. I was just an orphan and orphans can't fly.

  CHAPTER FIVE


  Five years later

  Monday

  10:58 am

  "I'll kill myself if I have to stay here one more day," Henri said sobbing into my shoulder. "I'll hang myself from the tower's rafters like Little Sae did last night."

  We were hiding in a dark, cramped closet above the castle pantries which, since it was just before noon, smelled like flour and nearly-sour milk. My stomach churned. Even the faintest smell of food was unbearable.

  "I can't take it anymore," she said. "Make us disappear. Please. Make us disappear."

  The walls felt like they were closing in around me. If given the choice between fighting a jungle cannibal or being closed in a small space like the closet I found myself in at that moment, I'd take the cannibal without thinking twice.

  Taking a deep breath, I leaned my cane against the wall and put my arm around Henri. Pulling her closer when I was already feeling so claustrophobic required a great deal of self-control, but Henri needed me so I managed somehow. I squeezed her tight and tried to make sense of what she was asking. She couldn't really mean it.

  Things were bad for us. Really bad. So much worse since that night I climbed the tower with Pike.

  But the Outside?

  There were much worse things out there than my uncle. Wild animals that swallowed their prey alive, hoarding them inside their belly until they got hungry enough to begin digestion—sometimes weeks later. Or packs of dogs that ate orphans like us one finger at a time. In that dark and endless jungle, even the plants could turn on us.

  And if we survived the animals and the killer-jungle-plants, we might be unlucky enough to encounter a cannibal, or a giant so ruthless and huge he'd make Ballard seem as harmless as a puppy.

  No one survives the jungle. Evan Ballard doesn't go out there.

  So when Henri said, 'make us disappear' she couldn't really mean it.

  Where would we go?

  We were prisoners who didn't want to escape.

  Henri just wanted to pretend, I reasoned, to take her mind off what was coming. To delay punishment. Even if only for a few minutes which, at best, was all we had.

  I imagined the hall outside, if you could call it a hall. It was over eighty feet long, with iron rimmed, arched glass windows along one side, each one twenty feet tall and five feet wide. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling every ten feet, each could hold fifty candles, though the candles had been sold off long ago.