by Paul Beatty
‘I said that arguments would have to be put in the context of what is in the Rule and only what is in the Rule.’
‘You also gave me a definition of what that meant.’
‘I said it meant all those parts of the Red Book that govern Heron Fleet.’
‘Could I sum up your attitude as being that the Rule is perfect and could not possibly need changing?’
‘I would not say perfect but I am certain that it is all that we need here in Heron Fleet.’
‘On what do you base that belief?’
‘On the fact we are here and have survived. That we have prospered for many generations in the face of uncertain weather.’
‘But the Rule cannot control the weather?’
‘No, but it has given us a successful way of dealing with the dangers we face. It has enabled us to prosper because it has cemented the relationships of the community and enabled us to work as one. What you suggested yesterday would give every member of the community the right to choose their own way irrespective of the effect those choices would have on what the community needs to do to survive.’
‘Can you give us an example?’
‘Well take the jobs within the community that are given to Apprentices when they become Gatherers. Sometimes the desire of the individual coincides with the need of the community, as in Francesca’s case, but that cannot be true for everyone. Someone has to do the jobs few people would choose. The discipline of the Rule allows that balance to be maintained. It also allows those who are not chosen for the role they want, to take comfort in the fact that others are in the same situation. That makes people feel better.’
‘A fellowship of misery?’
‘A fellowship in which none starve and in which all are valued for their work.’
‘Yesterday, Francesca told us all that she felt that loving Anya came from within herself and not something that she had been taught by the community. Don’t feelings like that make people individuals, whereas your view of the ideal Gatherer denies people meaning except as members of the community?’
Peter looked sadly at Tobias. ‘Years ago I loved someone the way Francesca loves Anya but I found out that feelings betray, whereas being a member of the community is always reliable.’
‘So all the people are to be denied their individuality, because a few get hurt in the process of sorting out the conflicts of freedom?’
Peter was clearly angered. ‘No! It’s not just that. Think what it would be like in a community where everyone chose what they wanted to do so one year we had too many Fishers and not enough Gardeners. The Head Fisher would take the best for the jobs that needed to be done, the rest would have to become Gardeners anyway. So people might not find roles at all and would have to leave the community. It’s doubtful if the community could afford to feed someone who didn’t contribute to the communal effort. Either way they would know they had failed and feel rejected. There is a fellowship of misery if you want one, and one that would not be redeemed by any sense of doing your duty to a community, which is your family.’
‘And the rule on single-sex partnerships, where does that fit in?’
‘It’s a part of the Rule. You can’t agree to some bits of the Rule and ditch others.’
‘But it’s not part of the Rule at all, is it?’
Peter looked cautiously at Tobias. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, it’s not part of the Rule. It’s actually a separate document in the Red Book, as you and I know. It’s even celebrated as such in the ceremonial songs of the community. It’s the Pact that made single-sex partnerships the norm in Heron Fleet, not the Rule. That’s the truth, isn’t it?’
Peter hesitated. ‘Yes, it is, but we have always treated it as part of the Rule.’
‘Always? How can you know that? I remember that when you and I borrowed the Red Book when we were Apprentices and read it from cover to cover, the Rule follows the Pact. Isn’t that right?’
Peter said nothing in reply, so Tobias continued. ‘If you open the cover of that book which sits there now in front of your central place on the Council Table, isn’t it true that the first thing in it is not the Rule but the Pact?’
‘Yes, it is. Which must mean, that when the Founders wrote the Rule, they included the Pact.’
‘Does the Rule say that?’
‘Explain.’
‘Does it say something like. “We the Founders recognise the Pact as the part of the Rule”?’
‘No.’
‘Something like, “The Pact is the foundation of all that will keep us safe in Heron Fleet”?’
‘No.’
As Tobias had been questioning Peter he had been moving slowly backwards and forwards between the Head of Council and his table. He was now close to Peter. It crossed Francesca’s mind that their debate was now more like a personal conversation which she and the rest of the community were overhearing.
‘Is it your view that the Rule, which includes the Pact, is the perfect, complete and only source of authority by which to govern Heron Fleet?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then how did the Crèche Nurses get the power to spy on every woman in the community? What in the Rule gives them the right to keep a secret record of what they find?’
‘They don’t,’ said Peter.
‘Head of Council, you know they do. Francesca has seen that book. I suspect a number of women Gatherers here now have also seen it. So don’t lie to us. It’s beneath you, as well as being against the Rule. Tell us what in the Rule gives those women…’ he pointed directly at them so everyone could see the growing anger on the Head Crèche Nurse’s face. ‘…power. How can any Crèche Nurse say to even the most junior Gatherer of the community that her power exceeds that of you as Head of the Council because she is charged with protecting the community from generation to generation whereas it is only given to you to get the Harvest in from year to year?’ Tobias picked up the Red Book from the Council Table and gave it to Peter. ‘Show us where they,’ he stabbed his finger at the Crèche Nurses again, ‘were given such powers.’
‘It was necessary. It wasn’t possible to control the birth rate without someone who controlled the gift of pregnancy.’
‘So they were introduced outside the Rule.’
‘No, they were an outcome of the Rule.’
‘But they were something that the Founders didn’t anticipate?’
‘No!’ Peter was getting desperate.
‘How do you know that the Crèche Nurses became necessary to the functioning of Heron Fleet? There can only be one source of how things happened as Heron Fleet developed. You have it in your hands. You and I have read that book and though there’s lots of interesting information in it, it doesn’t mention the Crèche Nurses at all.’ Peter was squirming like a fish on a hook. ‘If they are not sanctioned by the only book Heron Fleet officially owns, how do you know they were necessary?’
‘It’s a tradition passed down from Head of Council to Head of Council!’
‘But you found your own faith on the rightness of the Rule on the fact that it has always maintained Heron Fleet and kept it alive. That requires precision of knowledge. No set of traditions would be enough for you.’
‘But that is the truth of it,’ said Peter. ‘I rely only on the Red Book.’
‘Do you remember, at the beginning of this Testing you said, according to the history of Heron Fleet, there has not been an accusation of this nature in the community in over a generation. Where did you find the history of Heron Fleet to confirm that?’
‘It’s just the oral traditions!’
‘But it’s so precise, coming from someone who is normally so precise. Head of Council, may I remind you that all Gatherers must speak the truth at a Testing according to the provisions of the Rule. I will ask you clearly. Is there a hidden written history of Heron Fleet beyond the Red Book?’
‘No,’ said Peter.
‘Remember, the Rule you serve requires truth from all Gatherers. I ask again, is there a written h
idden history of Heron Fleet beyond the Red Book?
‘No,’ insisted Peter, but everyone could see the struggle on his face.
Tobias put his hand gently on the shoulder of his former lover. ‘Peter in the name of all we once were to each other, do not betray your true self. Where is the history?’
Peter was cornered. He looked across the Hall to the Crèche Nurses but led by their Head, they all stood up and left. Finally, he spoke. ‘It is called the Founder’s Diary. It is in safe-keeping in my longhouse in the same place I keep the Red Book.’
‘And does this Founder’s Diary record why the Pact was made?’
‘Yes, it does.’
‘So we can see what the Founders intended the Pact to mean and judge for ourselves whether they thought it should be part of the Rule or is still relevant to Heron Fleet as it is today?’
Peter swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’
‘Then is it not time that the people of Heron Fleet heard what the Founders intended?’
‘Yes,’ Peter whispered.
The Founder’s Diary VIII
I have lost track of date, day, in fact of time itself…
The cold and the snow have returned. We are down on the plain but I do not know how we got here. I have no memory of detail, not even of how she was buried. The temperature is falling again and the sky is full of snow.
…
We are in the middle of another blizzard. Charlie and Miriam are taking care of me. I think they are fearful I will give up hope and die. But I will not die while Charlie lives, though I wish to die; I wish to not have to bear any of the world’s sadness anymore.
…
There is only one lorry now. The blizzard wrecked the other one. What cannot go on the one that is left we have to haul behind us on improvised sledges. It is minus fourteen degrees. James has spoken with me. I have promised him I will go on.
…
Today I saw one of the children fall. I went over to her but it was not Alison. I left her in the snow. She was dead. When I look out from the secret places behind my eyes I see we are all in hell. We all left her in the snow. We no longer have the energy to bury our dead.
…
I wake up in the tent with Miriam. The wind flaps the sides and there is a hissing of ice crystals across the material. Charlie sees I am awake, he hugs me and starts to cry. He wakes Miriam. I have been asleep for two days. They feed me and tell me that there are only two children left now: Charlie and one other whose name I once knew but now means nothing to me.
…
I saw Naomi die today. Her speech seems to me to have been slow recently, though I do not remember how I know. She collapsed in front of me. I went to her and pulled her up on her feet. She thanked me and took a few more steps. She had no gloves and her hands were frostbitten. I hold her hands. They are ice cold and feel waxy. She takes another step and falls on her back. She has a wild look in her eyes. I wake up in the tent again. Miriam tells me Naomi is dead when I ask.
…
Where is the lorry? All I can see are the others. I try to count them. I only get to twenty-three. Charlie helps me over the soft top snow. There are ridges in the snow. Grooves as if some great sledge like the one I pull has been drawn across this landscape. The ruts are dusted with drifting ice crystals. It reminds me of sand on a beach and I start to laugh. But it is the wind and the snow that have carved these lines. It goes dark again.
…
Miriam shakes me awake. I must come and see. She drags me away from the dead tree I am propped up against. I stumble over the snow and ice. My feet are sore and swollen. I do not think I will live long. We stop at the edge of a small bank. ‘There,’ she says. ‘We are here.’ I look out. There is a flat part of stony something. There are rocks with blue ice on their tops and further out waves breaking on more ice. But the wind is warmer. It does not bite at my face. I pull down my scarf and laugh. Charlie is next to me. ‘It’s the sea,’ I say to him. ‘We are at the sea.’
‘Yes mum,’ he says. He hugs and kisses me.
Day 180
I know the date again. The nightmare has gone, leaving only the sadness. It is twenty-eight days since Alison died, and we are at the sea. As James thought, it is warmer, at least in the part we have found. We have made camp in a cave above a river. The wind here is less and the ice is kept out of the river mouth where it meets the sea by a broad shingle bar. Behind us is old woodland. But this is not dead like much of the forest we went through when we left the city. Here the trees are damaged but still alive. Even better there are a few sheep and goats taking shelter in the wood and the soil is not frozen. We are surviving on roots we can find and we have killed one or two of the weaker goats for food. A heron flew over us today. James believes that this means there are fish in the river. He is taking Charlie with him tomorrow to see if he can catch any.
Day 181
There are fish in the river. James and Charlie are making a fish trap to place in the channel where the water comes into the river at high tide. They will put it in the river at low tide. They’ve seen the heron fishing there.
Day 182
James and Charlie brought back twenty fish from the river yesterday afternoon. We toasted them over the fire in the cave. They say they are going back tomorrow. Dare I hope we can survive here? That Charlie will have a future?
Day 189
The last calamity: James and Charlie are dead. They went out as they have done for the last week to catch fish but they did not come back. We searched for them. We found James’s body upstream, trapped in some dead reeds. Charlie’s body was a bit further on. They must have fallen in while fishing. The water is so cold they would not have survived long.
Day 190
There will be no more grief, no more attachment of mothers and fathers to children. We have lost so many. We have lost them all; all the bright ones who would have carried on our ideals. There must be others to carry on the community we will build here but they will not know their parents and we shall not acknowledge them. We will breed as we will breed our sheep, making the best of all the variety we have by insemination. We will not risk having attachments through natural affection so we will only live and love those of the same sex. This is our bargain. This is our pact and we will write it down. This we swear and sign to, for as long as it is necessary, for the good of all.
Chapter 15
Francesca sat on the end of the jetty. She looked into the clear water of the river as it flowed beneath her feet on the incoming tide. Occasionally, she would see a medium-sized fish swim past as it came into the river. They were the sort of fish that liked the boundary between the salt and fresh water; they would return to the sea on the ebb.
The Pact was born out of grief, not principle or argument; born out of the sorrow of the few who survived. It was never meant to be permanent in the way Heron Fleet had made it. The Founders agreed to it because they could not bear any more sorrow. Its validity was as the final words of the diary said: ‘as long as it is necessary for the good of all’.
‘Penny for them?’ It was Tobias. He sat down next to her.
‘Pardon?’
‘It’s an old saying – a penny for your thoughts. I think it has something to do with money in the cities but I’ve never really worked how money worked. I can only get as far as thinking of it as some sort of bartering. Though whatever a penny was it must have been very valuable because what can be worth more than a person’s thoughts?’
‘I was just thinking about why the Founders wrote the Pact.’
‘They had a terrible journey.’
‘What do you think they would tell us to do if they were here now? If they could see what division it was creating in the community?’
There was a noise from behind them. Someone had yelled something and there were raised voices. Tobias turned round and gasped. As Francesca turned she saw Anya, Jonathan and Thomas running towards them down the slope. There was a group of about twelve shouting and screaming people, chas
ing them. She and Tobias got to their feet. They saw Thomas slow and then stop. He waved Anya and Jonathan to go on while he turned to face the crowd. Seeing Thomas, his hands outstretched in a calming gesture, they stopped. It gave enough time for Anya and Jonathan to reach the jetty. For a moment it seemed that whatever Thomas was saying to them was having an effect but then a burly Gatherer with a staff stepped forward. Francesca recognised him as the one who had heckled Tobias during the Testing. In horror she watched as he raised his staff and struck Thomas across the face, knocking him down to the ground. The crowd ran on towards them.
‘Thomas!’ screamed Anya and started to run back to help him.
‘Stop her Jonathan.’ It was Tobias. ‘Better to make a stand here where we can retreat to the boat or swim, than fight on their ground.’
Jonathan grabbed Anya, who turned on him and boxed his ears. But he persisted, swallowed her in a bear hug and held her tight no matter how hard she struggled.
Tobias pushed Francesca forward. ‘Move down the jetty, you two,’ he shouted at Jonathan and Anya as he ran past them. ‘Get on board. It’s the safest place. Francesca, guard the gang-plank while I get some things from below.’
The crowd were nearly on the jetty. Francesca ran past Jonathan struggling with Anya to get her on to the boat and stopped in front of the crowd, who had not yet set foot on the jetty. The crowd edged forward. Again the burly Gatherer, a herder Francesca thought, stepped forward.
‘We don’t want to do you any harm missy.’ His words seemed sincere but the way his big hands held his staff suggested something very different.
‘If you don’t mean me any harm then you best turn round and go away.’
‘All we want is to get rid once and for all of that Outlander scum and the shame those two whores have brought to Heron Fleet.’
‘I don’t believe the Council have said what they will do yet. Are you saying you know better than the Council?’
‘If need be.’ He shifted his weight and moved the grip on the staff to a position from which he could strike at her.
‘You great big bully!’ It was Anya from behind her. ‘You great flabby oaf.’ A staff came flying though the air and landed at Francesca’s feet. ‘Go while you can, before my Francesca breaks your head.’
