by Janean Worth
The sun’s light shone through the glass and permeated the room, falling in yellow waves over the myriad of trees that grew right out of the dirt floor. Masses of flowers and other plants that Mathew could not identify grew in a riotous, overgrown tangle of vegetation beneath the trees.
The air in the room was warm and moist, scented with the lush aroma of a fecund garden that was rich in humus.
Beside him, Kara gasped in amazement, so astounded that she interrupted Otto’s recitation with a question.
“What is this place, Otto?”
“It was, long ago, an orangery kept by my Creator. An underground spring has been used, via a series of pipes and an ingenious contraption that my Creator invented, to water the plants at intervals throughout the day. The heat of the natural spring also prevents the plants from freezing in winter. Here you will find all manner of fruits and vegetables to eat. Even the varieties of flowers that my Creator grew are edible, should you care to sample them. For Gallant, there in the corner is a good selection of sweet grasses and Jax will enjoy the fruits and berries. Here, in the building that houses the orangery, you will also find the shelter that you seek. This place is as safe as any in the city.”
Mathew could not believe his eyes or his ears. What Otto had told them seemed too good to be true. The place seemed like a sanctuary, and it was there for their use. When he looked into the trees, he could see that they were heavy with fruit, and some even with nuts such as almonds and walnuts. The orangery could feed them for years – perhaps even for the rest of their lives if they were careful to cultivate the plants and keep them healthy.
“And we may eat as much as we would like?” Mathew asked, still unable to take in the extent of their good fortune.
“Yes, you may. Please help yourselves,” Otto answered, moving his metal hands much like a charming host would as he gestured toward the interior of the orangery.
“Thank you, Otto,” Kara said, smiling her gratitude, her eyes gleaming with amazement. “Thank you so much. It has been ages since I have had food aplenty.”
If the metal giant could have smiled back at Kara, Mathew was sure that he would have in that moment. Though it was impossible to garner any inkling of his emotions from his metal face, something about the giant’s manner, perhaps a softening of the usually rigid stance, indicated that Otto was charmed by Kara’s smile, much like Mathew was himself.
“You are most welcome,” Otto said. “Now go, collect some food so that you may eat while I begin my recitation again. I will remove Gallant’s saddle and bridle so that he may also eat comfortably.”
As Mathew started eagerly toward the bounty that hung in the trees and on the vines before them, his empty belly urging him to hurry, Otto added, “But, I must warn you that the horse has been implanted with a device that is relaying our location to some other source.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kara had taken several steps towards a tree that bore fruit of a type that she had never seen before, but she stopped upon hearing Otto’s announcement, fear streaking down her spine.
“How?” she asked Otto, quickly making her way back to the metal giant’s side.
“There were many such objects that were used for tracking a location in the time before. Even this…” Otto’s metal fingers were remarkably dexterous as he plucked Mathew’s Old Tech device from the saddle and showed it to them, “…can be used for such a purpose.”
Kara’s mouth was suddenly dry. “So the Enforcers can find Mathew’s Old Tech anywhere it is? Anywhere we are? Is that how they found us so easily in the forest?”
Otto handed the Old Tech to Mathew before beginning to unsaddle Gallant with a gentleness that was quite amazing for a metal giant. “No, do not worry. They can only track and locate the device if the device is functional. I have monitored no transmissions of that type from Mathew’s device because it is not functional at this time. Do not fear, Kara.”
Otto unbuckled the cinch strap and easily lifted the heavy leather saddle from Gallant’s back with one hand while he gathered the underlying saddle blanket in his other. He took three clomping steps in Kara’s direction and placed them on the floor near her feet, carefully standing the saddle upright and draping the blanket over the top so that both items could dry if they retained any of Gallant’s sweat. Kara made a mental note to ask the giant how he knew horse husbandry. Had there been horses in the city before The Fall that he had taken care of?
Otto unbuckled Gallant’s bridle next and removed it, so that the horse could munch on the grass in comfort. Then the giant carefully ran one metal hand over the arch of the horse’s neck, stopping at the base of Gallant’s mane. “Here is where the active device is implanted.”
“So the Enforcers know where we are? Right now?” Mathew asked, his eyes huge in his dirty face.
“I am afraid that they might,” Otto answered. “The device is active and transmitting.”
“But, can you stop it? Can you get it out of Gallant without hurting him?” Kara felt her stomach twist, but she wasn’t sure if was apprehension or hunger that caused the pang. Probably both.
“I cannot remove it without harming the horse, and I cannot harm an animal.”
“But, we have to do something!” Mathew sounded panicked, and Kara knew he must be thinking the same thing that she was. And she was thinking about the Enforcers capturing them and taking them to the House.
Kara forced back a shudder. Her mother had told her things about the House that others did not know. After her father’s disappearance, her mother had been forced to work in the House, and had seen first hand the madness and depravity of the Sovereign. Her mother had often said that it seemed as if the Sovereign wished to punish her for some unknown slight, and so had made her witness to all sorts of horrible things. She had not shared many of the things that she’d seen there in the House with her daughter, but the few that she had shared were enough to make Kara think that death would be better than life in the House as a Stray.
“Can we turn if off without hurting Gallant? My Old Tech sometimes does not function, can we make the thing in Gallant stop working somehow?” Mathew asked, coming closer and patting the horse’s flank.
Kara was relieved that he hadn’t suggested that they take the horse back to the forest and leave him. It would have been certain death for poor Gallant, considering the huge gathering of Fidgets that they’d seen previously. A domesticated animal would not survive the night in the forest with so many of the Fidgets out looking for their next meal of raw flesh.
“There is another device that was used in the time Before to make things of this nature stop working, but I do not have one here. There is such a device as this that I know of, but it is very, very far away,” Otto answered.
“Well, then we cannot take shelter here for long. We should gather food and be on our way to find the Narrow Gate. I don’t want the Enforcers to find this place,” Kara said as she removed Jax from her bag and set the little fox gently on the floor so that he could go scout for something to eat.
Mathew nodded in agreement, looking discouraged but resigned. She supposed that he had hoped for a short rest before they began to look in earnest for the Narrow Gate.
“It is my duty as your guide and protector to see to your safety. I will do my best,” Otto said.
Although the giant was made of metal, he showed as much honor and integrity as any man that she had met. Kara patted Otto’s cold metal arm before she moved away to gather food. “I know you will, Otto, and I thank you for that.”
Otto’s metal face showed no emotion, but he gently placed his other cold hand on top of her own and gave a slight squeeze before releasing her hand. “It is my pleasure to serve.”
Kara’s heart gave an answering squeeze at his kind words, but she hid her own emotions with a perky wink in his direction, then knelt and detached the saddle bags from the saddle to use to gather food. Otto, inhuman and made of metal, reminded her of her father. Her father had been a good man.
She quickly pushed aside the painful thoughts of her father and moved off to gather food.
The fruit on the trees was so plentiful that she did not have to climb to reach the ripe bounty. The overgrown mass of trees, vines and bushes were a tangle of plenty. Kara found apples, peaches, oranges, lemons and a strange greenish brown fruit with a rough, leathery skin. Farther into the tangle of greenery, there were filbert bushes, walnut, almond and pecan trees, and a cluster of mulberry bushes. She gathered the fruit and nuts quickly, trying to ignore the pain in her hip and leg as best she could. Normally, she would have been astounded and overjoyed to have found such a rich provision of food, but her mind was occupied with thoughts of the Enforcers who were probably drawing closer and closer with each passing moment.
Kara did not want them to find this place. The orangery, as Otto had called it, could be a safe haven for them if they were unable to find the way to the Narrow Gate soon. She did not want the safety and the rich food source destroyed by the Enforcers.
Why had she never heard of this city? She wished now that she had ventured through the Old Forest long ago, so that she could have found the place sooner. She thought of the months and months that she had stayed relatively near to GateWide, always just barely thwarting starvation, injured and alone. That time felt like such a waste now.
But, since she had been injured, would she have even made it halfway to the city without Mathew and Gallant? If she considered it logically, she really didn’t have confidence that she would have made it even a quarter of the way, especially without the horse.
The bushes to her left rustled as Mathew pushed his way through them. He’d been using the shirt he wore rather like a basket to gather food, and he still held the bottom of the garment, its middle bulging with fruit and nuts. In his other hand, he held a half-eaten apple. Juice glistened on his lips and chin, and since both of his hands were full, he swiped at the sticky mess with his sleeve before giving her a wide grin.
“I know I should be worried about leaving, but this place is something else! Have you ever seen so much food in one place before? I mean, in the wild. Not like at a market or something?”
Kara felt her lips tip up in a small grin. He was right. She should work harder to be thankful for the bounty before them, instead of worrying about what would come next.
“No, I guess I haven’t,” she answered.
“Have you tried the apples yet? They’re delicious.”
Kara shook her head, “I was going to gather the food so we could leave quickly, and eat later while we travel.”
Mathew’s grin faded a little and he gave her an odd look of concern, almost as if he cared for her. “You need to eat. You should be doing both. Eat as much as you can now while you gather food, and then anything we can carry will provide for us later.”
He finished his apple with a few quick bites, tossed the core into the dense tangle of greenery around them, and plucked another apple from the pouch he had made of his shirt. “Here, eat this one. It looks juicy.”
Kara took the apple from him, even though she had quite a few stashed away inside the saddle bags. “Thanks. You’re right. I’ll eat as much as I can while I gather some for later. Please hurry though. I don’t want the Enforcers to find this place.”
Mathew nodded, “I know. We may need this place again later.”
Kara bit into the apple and found that it was, indeed, very juicy. She savored the taste, flipped the saddle bags over her shoulders, and began to gather fruit and nuts and stuff them into the bags one-handed while she ate.
Mathew gave her an approving grin, then grabbed what looked like an apricot out of his bulging shirt and took a large bite. With juice running down his chin once again, he gave her a jaunty wave while still holding the apricot and pushed his way back into the tangle of vegetation.
“Don’t forget to hurry!” Kara called after him.
Chapter Eighteen
Mathew fought his way out of the snarl of bushes and back out into the small courtyard that marked the entrance to the orangery. Both his belly and his bulging shirt were full and could hold no more.
Satisfied that he’d gathered as much as he could without staying unnecessarily long, he made his way back over to where Otto still stood beside Gallant, rubbing the horse down with a rag.
Kara was already there, tying the lacings on the saddlebags closed.
“Did you eat as much as you could?” Mathew asked her, not sure that she would have listened to him. She was always putting others before herself, so if she’d thought that she could gather food and get them out faster if she didn’t eat, then he wasn’t so sure that wasn’t what she’d done. She was so thin that he worried she would fade away to nothing if she didn’t start getting more to eat soon.
She glanced at him almost shyly from under her lashes. “Yes, I ate as much as I could. I can’t remember the last time I was this full of good food.”
Mathew felt that odd catch in his chest again. She certainly had had it hard.
“How long were you… you know… a Stray before you found me?”
“Years,” she whispered, as if the memory of those years was hard for her to deal with. “At least two years.”
Mathew tried to hide his horror. She had been a Stray for two years? How had she survived with no one but herself to depend on? He felt an almost irresistible urge to comfort her. He knew that she would not welcome any physical showing of solace, but he moved a bit closer and patted her thin shoulder anyway.
“That must have been hard. I’m sorry,” he told her, knowing that his words were inadequate. Suddenly, he felt guilt-ridden by the knowledge of all of the trouble he’d caused her. He’d stolen from her. He’d eaten food that she had really needed, when he could have gone without and not suffered much effect. He’d cost her the safety and comfort of her meager home. He had endangered her life on more than one occasion. And still, she had helped him, even though she was half-starved and injured.
The guilt of his own actions almost brought him to his knees beside her, so keenly did he feel the weight of it.
“I’m so sorry, Kara,” he repeated, hoping that she’d know that he meant it as an apology for his actions, rather than an utterance of condolence that she had been a Stray for so long.
Kara looked into his face, and her expression changed to one of almost benevolent understanding. And he knew that she had understood.
She patted his hand where it lay on her shoulder and said softly, “It’s okay, Mathew. It’s okay.”
“I will try harder to do the right thing, I promise. We will reach the Narrow Gate together, Kara,” Mathew felt the weight and responsibility of his promise bear down on him. Always before, his promises had held little weight and been virtually meaningless, but this one, he meant. He would see it through, and get Kara to the Narrow Gate, no matter what.
“Thank you, Mathew. We will do it together,” Kara stood and gave him a beatific smile, her lips trembling a bit with emotion, and Mathew thought that she looked like an angel in that moment - an angel in tattered garments, with a smudge of dirt on her nose and berry-stained lips.
She still had her hand on top of his, and after a second or two of just staring at her smile, he realized that the pose had grown awkward.
Slipping his hand from her shoulder, he gave her a grin in return, hoping that his awkwardness did not come across in his expression.
“Well, let’s saddle Gallant, and get Jax, and you two can ride a while as we explore the city,” Mathew said, brushing off the awkwardness in favor of action. He hefted the bottom of his bulging shirt up a notch and sauntered over to the saddle to remove the blanket rolled at the rear of it.
With one hand, he flipped open the blanket, then quickly knelt in the middle and bent over to place the results of his short harvest in the center of the blanket. He stood, brushed the extra leaves and small branches from his shirt, then gathered up the four corners of the blanket and tied them into a nice, neat sack of fo
od.
Behind him, he heard Kara whistle for Jax. He hefted the bag over his shoulder and went quickly to Otto’s side as the metal giant started to resaddle Gallant.
Kara whistled a second time, and Jax came bounding out of the orangery foliage, his white muzzle stained purple with berry juice. Kara laughed at his clownish face as she picked him up and stowed him safely in her bag.
In moments, they had everything ready to go and Otto led them back out of the building the way they’d come in, Gallant’s hooves clacking noisily on the marble as they left the orangery behind. After exiting through the enormous double doors, Otto shut them and then pressed a tiny recessed button on the front of his metal chest. To Mathew’s surprise, a small compartment opened, revealing a small, oddly-shaped brass key. Otto used the key to lock the doors.
“Even should they be able to track you here, the Enforcers will not be able to gain access without a key. This door and lock were designed by my Creator, and are virtually impenetrable. As you can see, my Creator made this building well, for it withstood both the destruction of The Fall and the many years that have passed since.”
Mathew wondered for a moment if, since the door was virtually impenetrable, perhaps they should stay inside. He discarded the notion right away. If the tracken followed their trail to the orangery, and found no trail leading away, the Enforcers would know they were inside. Even if the door were impenetrable, they would not be able to leave once the Enforcers arrived. It was better to leave now.
His thoughts seemed to conjure up a tracken out of thin air, because no sooner had the thought of being tracked to the building crossed his mind than one appeared around the corner of the road several buildings down.
