by C. Cervi
He thought again of the book tucked safely inside his makeshift belt. He and Keith had stopped at his room long enough for him to get it tied back around his waist, and for Keith to swallow a little more of the medicine. He had matches, and even candles, but what he needed now was a time and place to be able to read the book. Maybe that night, if no other catastrophes occurred before then, he might have a chance.
By the time they reached the dining hall, he had formulated a plan. Tom still wasn’t willing for Philip to be near Keith, and Aaron decided now would be a good time to ask Emily a few questions.
“Emily,” he began cautiously, “how did your father try to escape?”
Emily stiffened and her spoon stopped mid-air. Aaron thought for a moment that she was going to get up and leave but finally, she allowed her spoon to finish its course. Keeping her voice low she answered.
“He . . . started a fire,” she began, “in the shack where you washed the clothes. He was trying to create a distraction. I was supposed to run . . .”
Aaron could hear the pain in her voice, and regretted asking her the question. Tenderly, he laid a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me”
“No,” she interrupted, shrugging off his hand, “I’ll tell you. I was too afraid. I was afraid, that they would come after me, and I . . . I let my father die for nothing.”
The girl jumped up from the table then and ran from the room. Aaron called out to her, and started to follow, but was stopped as Grant stood to block his way.
“Leave her alone,” he said. “I think you’ve done enough.”
Aaron was becoming tired of Grant always getting in his way, always telling him what to do, and it took every bit of restraint he could muster not to throw a punch. Instead, he held Grant’s gaze for a long moment, and then returned to Keith.
He could hear his brother’s raspy breathing as he drew near, and he dreaded the thought of bringing him out in the weather and into the stuffy mine again. He was in the middle of trying to work out a plan when an unexpected voice startled him.
“He stays here today,” the Gardener said, coming up beside him and motioning to Keith.
“Not without me he doesn’t,” Aaron said, fastening his dark eyes on the old man.
“He stays or you both go,” he answered, not seeming the least intimidated. “He should be in bed, but you decide.”
The man turned then and went back to his constant position of leaning against the far wall. Aaron was more curious than angry at this man giving orders. He knew he wasn’t just a regular prisoner like the rest of them, but he didn’t think he was necessarily in control either.
“Aaron, I’ll go with you,” Keith said, breaking into his thoughts. “I don’t like the idea of being here by myself.”
Aaron considered him for a moment. Keith still had a fever, even if it was lighter, and going out was risking it going up again. As much as he hated to do it, he felt the safer option would be to leave Keith behind. Now, the only trick would be getting Keith to behave the way a rational adult would and agree to stay.
Two hours later, Aaron slowly straightened from his hunched over position. It had been ages since he had “picked rocks”, and his body was letting him know it didn’t appreciate the constant squatting and bending. The chilly grey skies and drizzling rain helped some in his argument with himself over having left Keith. He had come close to using just about every tool in his arsenal to convince his belligerent little brother to stay.
“You say you’re just looking out for me,” Keith had argued. “Well, fine, it works both ways then. I won’t be able to rest at all knowing you’re out there alone.”
In the end, it was Emily that had managed to initiate a truce between the two stubborn brothers. She had volunteered to act as messenger for them, whenever her time allowed. Both brothers had conceded that as long as they had word throughout the day that the other was still safe, they could handle being separated.
As Aaron watched Keith walk stiffly up the stairs, he steadfastly ignored the niggling in the back of his mind.
You’ll see him again.
Keith had stopped just before he was out of sight and turned. The look on his face reminded Aaron of the little boy that had stood outside a stagecoach, waving goodbye to his big brother that was leaving for college. It had broken his heart to leave him behind, knowing how much of Keith’s life he was going to miss. Aaron, never one to put his emotions on display, had given his little brother a casual salute and a wink, and that’s what he did now.
Keith grinned and then slowly headed back to his room. Aaron checked the board and was surprised to see that Keith’s number had not been listed. He turned to question the Gardener about it, but the little man was gone. A small voice inside of him was telling him that something wasn’t right, but he had gotten so used to hearing its warnings lately, that he pushed his uneasy feelings aside and followed the other prisoners into the yard. The ground was freezing on his bare feet, and for the first few minutes, he hopped from one foot to the other. Finally, his feet grew numb from the cold, and he stood wondering what he was supposed to do. He was startled when he heard a voice behind him.
“Hey, there,” a man said. “Guess you’re Aaron. You can call me Meri.”
Aaron noted the slight English accent, and was about to comment when he was cut off.
“That pretty young girl over there is my sister,” Meri said, pointing in her direction. “You can call her Annie.”
Aaron found himself sizing up the young man with deep brown eyes that twinkled as he spoke, and curly black hair that bobbed up and down in rhythm with his exuberant gestures. He had seen him and his sister only briefly when they ate their meals or in passing as they went to work, but as yet he’d never had a chance to talk with either of them.
“You’ll be working with us today,” Meri continued. “Time to get the garden going. They’ll have the section roped off where they want us to start.”
As Aaron followed, he turned his attention to Annie, who seemed to have very little of her brother’s enthusiasm, and other than the fact that her auburn hair was curly, the brother and sister shared very little physical resemblance. He didn’t know why that surprised him, as he and Keith looked almost nothing alike. Annie kept her eyes riveted to the ground as they walked, and seemed to self-consciously keep pulling at her clothes, and pushing her hair back away from her face. Aaron felt for the young woman who, under different circumstances, would have been very beautiful.
“Just what I figured,” Meri said, interrupting Aaron’s thoughts as they stopped at the first roped off section they came to. There were four other large areas sectioned off as well.
“They picked the nastiest part of the whole yard to work with,” Meri said, shaking his head sadly. “Well, best get to it.”
Annie walked past the two and hopped over the rope then, without a word, she began picking up rocks and putting them in a pile.
“I take it we’re supposed to clear this field,” Aaron asked, his tired body already starting a silent rebellion against his more rational mind.
“That’s right,” Meri answered, and giving Aaron a friendly pat on the back, joined his sister.
After working for several hours, Aaron discovered that Meri enjoyed talking, which would have been fine had he been providing any useful information, but Aaron quickly found out that the young man shied away from answering most of his questions.
“How long have you been here?” Aaron asked, after one particularly long explanation of what types of vegetables they would be planting.
“Two years,” Meri answered with a shrug.
Two years! Aaron’s mind started reeling. Could it be possible that these people had actually been there that long? The thought was staggering, and it took him a few minutes to get himself under control again.
He was about to ask if they had ever tried to escape when he heard Emily shouting for him. He wheeled around and caught
the young girl as she tumbled into his arms.
“Aaron,” she panted, “its Keith!”
Without waiting for any more explanation, Aaron ran for the house, heedless of the rocks cutting into his already bruised soles, and ignoring Emily’s calls for him to wait. He rushed into the house, and took the stairs three at a time. As he rounded the top corner he crashed into someone, and if he hadn’t managed to catch the top railing, he would have gone flying back down the steps.
“Keith?” he questioned, pulling himself up. “What . . . I thought . . . What are you doing out here?”
Keith cringed at his brother’s raised voice and looked up at him from the floor.
“Didn’t Emily tell you?” he questioned, rubbing his head that he had managed to knock against the wall. “I sent her to tell you my fever is gone, and that I’m coming out to help.”
Aaron was far from over his unnecessary fright and answered his brother harshly.
“Keith, it’s cold and wet out there. You’ll get sick all over again if you come out now.”
Aaron immediately regretted his harsh tone as he watched Keith’s eyes turn to steel. But there was something more than just determination there, and that something else caused Aaron’s anger to dissipate.
“Are you afraid?” he asked his younger brother more gently, reaching out to help him up.
Keith jumped up and puffing out his chest snorted. “Of course I’m not afraid. It’s just that . . . well . . . I just . . .”
“What is it?” Aaron asked, taking a step closer.
Keith’s eyes darted around and he licked his lips nervously as he bent close to Aaron, lowering his voice before answering.
“I keep hearing them,” he said. “The voices from the tunnel, but they’re not actually talking to me—more like all around me, and there was this . . . this scraping sound. I don’t know what it was but, I’ve got a bad feeling. I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here alone.”
As if the voices Keith was describing had been listening, a loud piercing scrape started at the end of the hall, slowly growing closer to the two. Aaron froze for a moment—there was absolutely no one in the long hallway, but he managed to get moving again when a new sound joined the scraping—a sound as if someone were dragging a chain.
“Come on,” Aaron said, grabbing Keith’s arm.
The brother’s ran for the stairs, and Aaron glanced back over his shoulder as he heard a deep chuckling coming from just behind them. They had just made it down the first flight of steps when, from out of nowhere, a knife whizzed past his head and embedded itself in the wall behind him. Aaron ducked quickly, then turned to look back at the top landing. No one was there. Keith grabbed a fistful of his sleeve and tugged him down the remaining steps. This time, they didn’t stop running until they reached the edge of the field where Aaron had been working.
Aaron leaned over, resting his palms against his legs. For several moments, he and Keith didn’t speak. Aaron’s mind was whirling, grasping at fractured bits and pieces to try and come up with a logical conclusion. His thoughts were interrupted as Keith spoke between gasping breaths.
“I haven’t run that fast since you and me got shot at that time we were picking apples in Mr. Jordan’s orchard,” he said.
Aaron’s head snapped up to look at Keith. Was he really making jokes? Keith had a false grin plastered on his chalk-white face, and his eyes were still wide and flickering.
“Try to relax, Keith,” he said, stepping closer to his brother. “We’re okay. We made it.”
“For now.”
Aaron and Keith startled as Annie spoke up. It was the first time all day that Aaron had heard her voice, and it sounded harsh and grating.
“You shouldn’t have left him alone,” she continued, her tone condescending.
Before Aaron could speak, Emily, approaching with her buckets, spoke up.
“Leave him alone, Annie,” she said, her eyes dark and flashing. “He did what he thought was right.”
Aaron’s eyes widened, and he slowly folded his arms across his chest, once again Emily had surprised him with a sudden burst of confidence. Annie too seemed to be taken aback and, after shooting an annoyed glance at Emily, turned abruptly and marched back to her rock pile.
“I take it you two don’t get along too well?” Aaron asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Emily sighed, then hung her head, instantly recovering her usual, meek demeanor.
“I don’t trust her,” she said carefully. “She . . . well, she . . . she does things.”
“What kind of things?” Aaron persisted gently.
Emily shifted uncomfortably, and Aaron noticed her cheeks begin to glow red.
“Bad things,” she said finally.
Her words were so quiet that Aaron wondered if he had heard her correctly.
“Your lunch is in the bucket,” Emily said, changing the subject. “It’s not much. The food always gets low before a delivery. The next one still isn’t for two days.”
Aaron and Keith exchanged an excited glance. Here was a piece of news that might finally prove useful.
“Delivery?” Aaron asked. “Who makes a delivery?”
“A man from the town,” Emily said, glancing over her shoulder.
She and Aaron caught sight of Grant, coming toward them at the same time, and Aaron hurried to finish.
“From that little town a few miles from the canyon?” he asked.
“Yes, a man comes alone every two weeks.”
Before she could say anything more, Grant was upon them and his purposeful strides and the solid set to his shoulders told Aaron he meant business.
“What’s going on here?” he demanded.
He shifted his angry gaze between Aaron and Keith before settling on Emily. Aaron felt his hackles go up as the young girl wilted under Grant’s scrutiny.
“There are people waiting for you, Emily,” the man said harshly. “People that have been working hard.”
He looked to the two brothers with that last statement, and Aaron clenched his fists at the unspoken accusation.
“I’m sorry,” Emily said, then quickly ran across the yard.
“Now look here,” Aaron started.
“What’s he doing out here?” Grant said, gesturing to Keith and ignoring Aaron’s words.
Aaron exhaled slowly, forcing himself to remain calm. He wondered how much he should tell this man about what had really happened. He decided to follow the pattern set by the other prisoners, and give only basic information.
“My brother is feeling better,” he said. “He’s come out to help.”
“He’s not scheduled,” Grant replied.
“So I noticed,” Aaron answered. “Why is that exactly?”
For the first time since he had met Grant, the man seemed unsure, hesitant. Finally, he answered quietly.
“Look, just stay out of trouble, and stay together, if you can,” he said.
He turned abruptly then and headed for the mine, leaving Aaron shaking his head in wonder behind him. He just couldn’t figure this man out. He turned to Keith, who was staring after Grant quietly.
“Remember how to pick rocks?” Aaron finally asked to break the silence.
“Of course I remember,” Keith answered. “It was one of Pa’s favorite ways of keeping me busy.”
“To keep you out of mischief, you mean,” Aaron said, giving him a playful push. “Come on. Let’s get going. There are enough rocks out here to keep us both out of mischief for a lifetime.”
Aaron grimaced over his choice of words. Judging from the number of graves lining the tunnels of the mine, he guessed a lifetime in this place would prove to be very short. He paused for a moment to glance across the field at Meri, who had discreetly distanced himself from their earlier encounters. He seemed nervous, and Aaron hoped he hadn’t scared off a possible source of information. For the rest of the day, both Meri and his sister kept their distance. Aaron kept a close eye on Keith,
but his younger brother truly did seem to be feeling better.
The day progressed slowly, and by the end of it even Keith was complaining of his muscles aching. The light rain had continued throughout the day, and it was a red-nosed, bleary-eyed group of prisoners who made their way back to the house. Aaron was dismayed to find no more than a small plate of beans for supper. Lunch, true to Emily’s word, had been meager, and the gnawing pain in his stomach made him irritable. Emily and Keith, seeming to sense his mood, had remained quiet during the short meal.
After clearing the dishes, they made their way to the rooms upstairs. Aaron had slipped Keith the last of the medicine as they climbed, and he hoped that whatever illness had affected him was gone for good.
“Make sure you take it in the morning,” Aaron told him.
Keith had nodded his head, and attempted a tired smile that ended up looking more like a grimace. Aaron wanted to say more, but couldn’t think of anything that would make him feel better. He quietly shut his door and wasted no time laying his weary body down. He fought sleep however, and for hours lay awake in the dark, listening, watching the occasional streak of moonlight make odd shadows through the cracks in the walls. He wanted to take a look at the book he had found and, after a while he stood then taking his pillow, stuffed it under the blanket, rumpling up the covers to make it look as if he were sleeping. The feeling of being watched was constantly with him, and he glanced around uneasily as he untied his belt and slid carefully under the bed. He used one of the matches to light a candle stub and slowly pulled out the book he’d found hidden in the cavern. The cover of the book was made of leather with no writing on it, and it smelled old and musty. He guessed the book to be a journal, and with a pounding heart opened it to the first page.
Journal Entry – 9 May
I did it! I managed to start a fight between the guards today. Beckman didn’t think it would work, but I had a feeling things would go my way. The warden has never liked me, and I figured he would take a certain gleeful satisfaction in moving me over to the south wing. Of course, he had no idea that was my plan all along.
