Echoes from the Lost Ones

by Nicola McDonagh

  I nudged Wirt and as discretely as I could manage, pointed at said fems. He looked at them, then at me and bent close to my ear. “They are the oddliest Ladies I have ever seen. I am dumbstruck with astoundedness to see such here. I had heard that monks had no inkling for the quickie sort of bonk.”

  “I do not fancy they are fems of that genre. They wear no paint or garments that show off their goodly rations.”

  “This is a place full to bursting with quiz.”

  We continued to gawp until we reached the exit. Brother Dominic led us through it and we walked in the opposite direction to the way we came for a few steps, then turned left at a corner and into another vast corridor, also without windows. A gentle light from glass shells attached to the grey walls made it look as though the sun would rise at any moment. When we came to a black door, the monk gestured for us to gather close.

  “Are we to see the Abbot now? Is he in here?”

  “No, he is not, Adara. That is the Library and is of no use to you. I brought you here simply because it is less frequented than other passageways.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “To tell you that you are to become a great Auger.”

  “I do not believe in prophecies and the like.”

  “Perhaps not, but you cannot escape your destiny.”

  “Tacky words, Brother. I may gag if you continue in this manner.”

  “Indeed, since you do not appreciate my attempts at clarifying the fate that awaits you all, I will say only that your mission may take you on a different path than the one you began.”

  Well duh-uh! I thought. Big secret. I had managed to fathom that much myself. What with being met by a Backpacker and taken to this place in a flying craft and the like.

  “It is true, we are on a journey that has steered off course a little, but now we are back upon it,” Eadgard said.

  “I just wish someone would be direct. To be sure, I have no comprehensions as to who I should trust and who not.”

  “Adara, those that you think you can trust, may not be so honest. And those that you thought you could not, may be allies after all.”

  “What? More riddles Eadgard?”

  Wirt turned to look at Marcellus, who gave back the glare with the same venom and then some.

  “The Abbot Brother, are we to meet?”

  “All in good time, Eadgard. First, Adara must meet with another.”

  “Not before the Abbot.”

  A sound like the falling of many boxes came from the behind the closed door. We turned our attention to the noise and Brother Dominic took my arm. “Come, Adara.”

  “Nah. I want to know what made that racket.”

  “It is nothing.”

  I pulled myself free and stood in front of the portal. The others joined me and Brother Dominic sighed. “May you discover all that you require,” he said and gave us all a glance full of meaning and dread.

  I shivered without knowing why and said Brother pulled open the enormous door.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Books!

  We stepped into another vast, high-ceilinged room. The air was cold and musty and reminded me of rotting leaves. Not an unpleasant smell at all. In fact, I felt an urge to dwell there, to curl up on the polished wooden floor and have a nap. I wiped my eyes and blinked. I had never seen such a place before.

  Back home we gained our info by comp or vid and then on a small scale compared to this. It was filled from top to bottom with ancient methods of recording information and make-believe. Rows and rows of wooden ledges bulged to more than their capacity and the floor was all but concealed with books that had fallen from their perch.

  “Books! Real and tangible. I had thought it a myth and yarn that such things still abided in our time,” I said.

  “Books, indeed. All that is left from the last wasteoftime war. I thought only a few remained. This sight overwhelms me indeed. How come there are so many?” Eadgard said.

  Brother Dominic smoothed down his long beard, put his hands behind his back and spoke. “Over two hundred years ago, when the Agros first came to power and set about fulfilling their corrupt manifesto, they ordered the destruction of all reading materials. Our dear Brothers saved what they could and hid them until this wondrous place was built. Then brought them here.”

  “Wow! This has existed for that many orbits?”

  “Indeed it has.”

  “Who built it all?”

  “Our very own order of St Anthony of Padua. And before you ask, he is the patron saint of lost things. We engaged people deep with belief in God and the preservation of mankind’s past. Of course, it helped that they were specialist architects and construction workers. You look disappointed. Did you expect a more spiritual answer?”

  “Well, maybe something more obscure.”

  “Adara, do not pout and spoil that pretty face of yours.”

  Wirt giggled at the monk’s words and I confess to giving over to the pink when Marcellus copped a gander at my somewhat stocky frame. I gave the floor a scrutiny until said heat was past and when I lifted my head, saw Eadgard smiling fondly at me.

  Brother Dominic held out his hand. “Come.”

  But before I could tell him to go “huff himself,” out from behind a stack of books as tall as Marcellus and more, appeared a lady monk like the ones we saw in the place of sitting down. She put her finger to her lips.

  “Sshhh. This is a place of serious quiet and contemplation.”

  Brother Dominic glowered for a sec, resumed his placid look and said, “Ah, sister? Come and greet our most special visitors.”

  The not quite Lady brushed off her black robe and walked towards us. She cocked her head to one side and screwed up her eyes when she came near to Marcellus. He took a step back, not at all comfy with such intense scrutiny from a fem that was not a fem.

  “This is Sister Gabriel. She is in charge of records. Sorting the books by age and genre. Fact and fiction, that kind of thing.”

  “All by yerself, ye do this?”

  “Yes. I work better alone and faster. I have a method you see,” she said to Wirt and stood in front of him. She peered into his eyes like a raptor searching for prey. He looked more than uneasy at her birdle-like stare and tried to cast his glance away. But she moved her body with his eye shifting, so that wherever he looked she was in focus.

  “I had an assistant once, Brother Lance. He works in the sanitation section now. Best place for him. Useless at filing. Put fiction and fact based books on the same shelf. Yes, I work faster and more accurately alone.”

  “And a sterling job she does too. Already Sister Gabriel has sorted half the books we own, which were in quite a mess before she came,” Brother Dominic said and gently guided her away from the nervous Wirt.

  Sister Gabriel wriggled free from his grasp and put her hand on her hips. She stuck out her neck and peered at us most rudely.

  “Brother, these people are new. Did I hear rightly the name Adara?”

  “Indeed, you did.”

  “The one mentioned by the Abbot himself?”

  “Yes.”

  Sister Gabriel rubbed her chin and narrowed her eyes. She moved closer to where we stood and gave Marcellus an intense stare. “And that one,” she said, pointing at said Clonie, “that one is I believe a genetically engineered hominid. I have seen the pictures in scientific journals from the latter part of the twenty-first century.” She circled Marcellus as she spoke, and as her voice became louder and higher in pitchinesss, he backed away and ended up all squat and scared upon the floor. “I thought they had all been destroyed. Was it not forbidden to clone a human?” Brother Dominic stood in between her and Marcellus and raised his hands to prevent her from looming over him.

  “Sister, save your questions for a more appropriate occasion. This person deserves as much respect and privacy as anyone here.”

  “But Brother, if he is a Clonie.”

  “Sister! Go about your business and leave us to ours.”
r />   The nun opened her mouth but nowt came out. She took a lasting glance at us all, pursed her lips and disappeared behind another stack of books. Marcellus stood shakily. His big round face was pale and I swear I saw a trickle of moisture slip from the corner of his eye.

  “My apologies for Sister Gabriel. She spends all her waking hours in this room. Sometimes I think she reads too much and has lost the ability to relate comfortably with others.”

  “She is as full-on as a teen on a first date,” I said and gave a reassuring grin to Marcellus. This time, he went all red and scuffed the floor with his foot.

  “Without her considerable help, this archive would have perished. Now Adara, if you will…”

  “Come with you to see the Abbot?”

  “Well, no. Not just yet.”

  “Then save your voice. I will linger here until that time.”

  A gong boomed from somewhere and Brother Dominic turned his head towards the door. He twined his fingers around the ends of his beard and I guessed he was in conflict with what he must do and what I clearly would not.

  “That is the bell for prayer. I need to attend the mass. Stay if you must,” he said, bowed slightly and left.

  Chapter Twenty

  Disclosures

  All was quiet after the Brother’s departure. I glanced at Eadgard, he opened his mouth to speak, but his words were silenced by Sister Gabriel’s voice.

  “Has he quite gone?”

  “Indeed, quite,” I said.

  Sister Gabriel poked her head around the corner of a pile of books and tapped the side of her small thin nose. “I know things you wish to learn,” she said and scooted all quick-quick over to where we stood. “Ask and I will answer.”

  Eadgard scratched his cheek. “Brother Dominic mentioned that this place was in chaos before your arrival. Why so?”

  The strange fem coughed most loudly and sent her gaze upwards. We followed suit and clocked the red blip light from several cams, no doubt recording our every word and movement. She “accidentally” knocked over some books, and we all, except for Marcellus, knelt to pick them up. Between the dull thuds of re-stacking, she told us a tale in a hushed voice.

  “Before I came here there was a Brother Augustus. He kept things in order. An order that kept some books hidden.”

  “Why? Ye seem to be all open about their existence.”

  “Now we are. Now that I’m here. You see, Brother Augustus was not really a man of God,” she said and lowered her voice so much so that we all had to bend nearer to her mush to hear what spurted out next. “He was an Agro come to infiltrate our order and discover secrets. Secrets that I cannot divulge to you.”

  “Huffin’ right. Don’t seem to want to divulge much of anything,” I said and folded my arms. This story, although meaningful I’m certain, was long and meandering and I was bored with it.

  “I cannot tell because I do not know. I tell enough. Eyes and ears abound throughout this place. And I would not have them hear what I know. Not everything is as it appears to be,” she said and scrunched in next to Eadgard, Wirt, and myself. “However, stay this close and I shall draw your attention to this fine illustrated book. Be sure to observe it through eyes that would seem to find its contents of the utmost fascination. You there, large mutant thing, you may come over and listen also.” She beckoned to Marcellus. He slow-walked over to us and squatted next to Eadgard. “So, to cut a long story short.”

  “Finally,” I said and as one, we huddled around the tome with pics and worldles in that I could not read.

  “To cut a long story short, especially for Adara, he wanted access to the science books we keep for those who have the understanding and knowledge to decipher them. He spent long hours searching; rifling through our archive and rearranging the order they were in. I, who was new here, noticed the books were all messed up and one day caught the Brother breaking into the secret vault. When I accosted him he turned most savage, but I was able to stave off his violent attack. I sat upon his chest and screamed until help arrived. He was taken away and I was given the task of undoing the damage he had done.”

  Eadgard looked at the sister and gave her a nod as if to suggest he was impressed. “There is more to you than meets the eye, Sister, truly I do think so.”

  “The same could be said of you.”

  “What?”

  Sister Gabriel tilted her head to one side, and then flicked Eadgard on the forehead. “Do not be coy, S.A.N.T. You too have much to tell Adara, and the others I think?”

  Eadgard huffed and puffed and scratched the back of his neck. Sister Gabriel folded her arms, “Speak then. You know of what.”

  “I do?”

  “Think. Shake off the muddlehead caused by too much munchings. Come let us go to a more secluded spot downwind of these cams and their mics. I know they cannot pick up words said in softness,” Sister Gabriel said and waved her arms at the ceiling, where we saw many lenses hanging down from it.

  We stood and I began to wobble as if I were about to keel over. Eadgard put his arms around me and supported my shaky back. Sister Gabriel pointed to a table and chairs that were partly hidden behind a wall of books. We all plodded to the place and sat down heavily.

  Sister Gabriel leant low across the table. “Say what you must.”

  Eadgard took in a goodly breath, exhaled loudly and belched. “I shall begin. Adara, please do not become alarmed by what I have to say.”

  I looked to Wirt. His head was drooped forward and he blinked-blinked often, suggesting a struggle with consciousness. Marcellus nudged him and he raised his noggin.

  Eadgard cleared his throat and went on, “The meeting with the Nearlymen. It was your Santy who told the guards to send you near to their camp. She needed you to meet with Wirt and for him to take you to the Ladies so that they could deliver you to me.”

  “Wait a sec, I have never met ye or yer kind. How ye know me and my link with the Ladies?”

  “There are those amongst your kin that play a vital role in the plan we are all involved in.”

  “What? We are part of grand design?”

  “Well, no Marcellus, you were not a part of the grand scheme of things.”

  “However, I have a feeling he is now bound up in your destiny,” said Sister Gabriel.

  Both Marcellus and I exchanged a red-tinged look.

  “What? That near savage creation? What are ye talking of? Nonsense and bunkum. Do not listen to ‘em, Adara. They are spinning ye a yarn as long as a grand old river.”

  “No Wirt, no yarn. All that I tell is the truth. There is a plot brewing, a scheme to infiltrate the Agros,” Eadgard said.

  “Audrey hinted as much.”

  Sister Gabriel chewed on her lip and gave me one of her intense stares. “You are as yet unpolished. Therefore, ill-equipped to continue your journey to a successful end.”

  “I concur with Sister Gabriel. Part of my mission is to make sure you are at your full potential before carrying on.”

  “What? What potential? This is new,” I said. Sister Gabriel put a finger to her lips and I lowered my voice. “Time is all a-pressing is it not? My bro-bro cannot wait for me to come into my prime, whatever that is.”

  “Rest, rest, Adara. You will meet again with your brother.”

  “When? Where?”

  Sister Gabriel tapped her nose. “Ah, now, that would be telling.”

  I slapped my thighs. “Here we go again. I must say that I am more than weary of all this deviousness and intrigue.” I rose from the table and walked away, plonking myself all sulky upon a small pile of books. Sister Gabriel stood abruptly and raised her voice so all could hear.

  “Ahhhh! Get your greatly arse off those treasured tomes,” she said, and waved her hands about as though chasing away a buzzy thing. Eadgard, Wirt and Marcellus jumped up from their chairs as Sister Gabriel lurched towards me with a look of mean upon her face. I was overcome with confusion as to her actions, when over her shoulder I saw Brother Dominic enter carrying
a small tray of delicious food. I wondered then if she contrived her freakish manner for his benefit.

  “Off! Off I say, you lump!”

  “Fine and dandy, Sister. This I’ll do without your need to carry on so,” I said and walked past her to the table. I wide-eyed my friends and they shrugged, then we all sat down. Brother Dominic placed the tray of food before us. The fresh slivers of fruit and sweet cakes seemed to speak to my stomach and without a second thought I, Eadgard, Wirt and Marcellus grabbed said morsels and gobbled them up.

  Brother Dominic turned to Sister Gabriel and said, “Will you partake of a snack?”

  “No, no, later. No time for munching.”

  “As you will, Sister. But please do eat something. Your lack of appetite has not gone unnoticed.”

  “We fear no such thing occur for self or friends,” Marcellus said and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

  I gulped down what I was eating and sat back. Wirt yawned, folded his arms and let his head nod forward. Eadgard ceased his guzzling and blinked. He stared into space for a few secs, looked down and tapped his fingers on the table. “We were discussing things. I was about to tell of your purpose.”

  Sister Gabriel coughed most loudly and behind Brother Dominic’s back, pointed to the ceiling cams. The monk turned swiftly and the sister used her locating finger to rub her eye. Eadgard, oblivious to all this subterfuge, continued on. “Adara, you must use your voice to call to...”

  Eadgard’s words shook my innards and sent a wave of alarm throughout my bod. Not the catcher of birds stuff again. Something snapped and I let rip. “Nah! No, naddar I won’t. I am not a puppet for you to yank on every time you want some meat. I thought up here that such greedy mindedness would be impossible, but I was wrong. You are all the same. All you care about is meat, filthy, huffin’ meat!” I fairly shrieked and stood.