New City

by Deborah Abela

  ‘You know Vijay?’ Mr Finch asked.

  ‘I first met him in the library, then he took me into the camp.’

  ‘You’ve been to the camp?’ Mrs Fern leant forward.

  ‘I had to see what it was like,’ Isabella explained.

  ‘But what if something had happened to you?’ Mr Omar asked.

  ‘It did,’ Mrs Gooding said. ‘Isabella crash-landed during the blizzard.’ She sank back in her chair and huffed.

  ‘Crash-landed?’ Mrs Fern was confused.

  ‘She flew there with an Ornithopter,’ Griffin explained. ‘I was against it but she did it anyway, which is kind of how our relationship works.’

  Mr Omar’s bushy eyebrows rose. ‘You flew?’

  Isabella told them about the electric fences, the bullying chefs, the Iron Guard and frail Samira, who needed medication.

  ‘They deserve somewhere cleaner and healthier and …’ She noticed everyone smiling. ‘What?’

  ‘We agree,’ Mrs Gooding explained, ‘which is why we’re doing just that … right under their noses.’ The way she grinned, Isabella easily imagined her as a cheeky child.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Griffin asked.

  The adults’ eyes met and there was a small nodding of quiet agreement.

  Mr Vivas playfully tweaked his moustache. ‘We don’t just smuggle food in, we also smuggle children out.’

  ‘You do?’ Isabella asked. ‘How?’

  ‘We use Vijay’s tunnel.’ Mr Omar grinned.

  ‘Where do you take them?’ Griffin asked.

  ‘Beyond the city wall,’ Mrs Gooding answered, ‘where they’re placed in the care of a friend of mine who runs a series of orphanages and arranges adoptions to good families.’

  Mrs Fern joined in. ‘People donate toys, books and clothes so the children can make a fresh start, and Mr Finch here is quite a talent when it comes to making passports and IDs.’

  ‘So that’s how Vijay got his ID?’ Isabella realised.

  Mr Finch nodded. ‘Passports are a little harder, but I create the pages and Mrs Fern binds them together.’

  ‘I studied bookbinding at college,’ said Mrs Fern, a short, mousy-haired woman who spoke in hushed tones. She was exactly not the person Isabella thought would have been standing up to the government.

  ‘And we have someone helping us inside the camp,’ Mr Vivas said.

  ‘Franco!’ Isabella cried. ‘I saw him. Vijay told me he helps them.’ She frowned. ‘So why didn’t he tell me they were smuggling out kids?’

  ‘Maybe he needed to know he could trust you.’ Mrs Gooding smiled. ‘Just like you had to work out whether you could trust him.’

  ‘Vijay’s extremely careful about keeping the smuggling secret because Samira is next,’ Mrs Fern explained. ‘Her health needs attention, but he’s going to miss her terribly.’

  ‘So not everyone in New City supports the camp?’

  ‘Dear me, no,’ Mrs Fern said. ‘There are lots of us who don’t.’

  ‘And many people don’t even know it exists,’ Mrs Gooding said. ‘That’s why Frederick tried to publish his blog.’

  ‘But there are hundreds of kids in there,’ Isabella said. ‘Smuggling each one will take too long. I think we should get them all out at once.’

  ‘How?’ Mr Vivas asked. ‘You can’t break them out. You saw the electric fence and the guards.’

  ‘We’re not going to break them out,’ Isabella said. ‘We’re going to have the doors held open for them as they walk out.’

  The room fell quiet.

  ‘Okay, I’ll say it,’ Griffin said. ‘Have you lost your mind?’

  ‘Not even slightly. You say there are lots of people who want to help … It’s time we got the whole town onside.’

  Mrs Gooding frowned. ‘There have also been so many lies that people are wary of those made homeless by the Floods.’

  ‘We’re going to change that.’ Isabella’s eyes shone. ‘Just like Gandhi changed his country.’

  ‘How will you do it?’ Mr Omar asked.

  ‘By broadcasting to the world what the camp is really like.’

  ‘But you saw what happened to Frederick,’ Mr Vivas warned.

  ‘That’s partly how I got the idea, but he was working alone, and we are going to do it together.’

  ‘And you think we can change people’s minds?’ Mr Omar asked.

  ‘Maybe not everyone, but if we stand up it’ll make other people feel brave enough to do the same.’

  ‘But everything that is broadcast has to be approved by the Garrison.’

  ‘We won’t need their approval. We’ll broadcast it ourselves using the Major General’s own studio … right under his nose.’

  Isabella, Griffin and Mrs Gooding crept through Mrs Fern’s yard and into the back lane. They kept quiet the whole way to Garrison headquarters, huddling silently in the shadows as they crept through the streets.

  Mrs Gooding put her key in the side gate, slowly turned it and ushered Isabella and Griffin inside. She took one last look at the street. Nothing moved apart from a circle of moths that fluttered in the glow of a lamplight.

  But high above, in a dark corner of the Garrison wall, there was the smallest of sounds. A single spider slowly crawled across the stone. A tiny camera whirred inside, recording their every move.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  A Devastating Discovery

  ‘Bea is missing!’ Raffy burst through the door of their room. ‘We can’t find her.’ He struggled to speak through gulps for air. ‘We looked everywhere but –’

  Isabella held him gently by the shoulders. ‘Slow down. Start from the beginning.’

  ‘We went to the Recreation Dome with Corporal Smith to ride go-karts like we had planned. There’s a track that goes through fake jungle and over sand dunes. Bea and I took off in our go-karts, but when I got to the finish line she wasn’t there. We waited and waited, but she never came back.’

  ‘She’d never go anywhere without you,’ Fly said.

  ‘I know.’ Raffy was shaking. ‘But we looked and looked …’

  ‘What was she wearing?’

  ‘An orange jacket and purple jeans.’

  Corporal Smith arrived out of breath.

  ‘Have you found her?’ Raffy asked.

  ‘Not yet, but the Garrison is being briefed now and an extensive search is about to begin. Trust me, they will find her.’

  ‘But how could she just disappear?’ As soon as Griffin said it, he remembered what Vijay had said in the library.

  ‘We don’t know,’ Corporal Smith shook her head. ‘They found her empty go-kart on the side of a dune. Please don’t worry, the Major General is using all we have to find her – soldiers, Armavans, surveillance cameras – and he’s about to send out the eagles. There won’t be one corner of the city untouched.’

  ‘I can help monitor the vision,’ Griffin offered.

  ‘I’ll help prepare the eagles,’ Fly said.

  ‘What can I do?’ Raffy asked.

  ‘It’ll be better if you stay –’

  ‘Please,’ he begged, ‘she’s my sister.’

  ‘You can ride with me in one of the Armavans. Let’s go.’

  The city filled with the drone of Armavans and the metallic clinking of probionics as Garrison soldiers went from door to door in their search.

  ‘With this many people looking, they’ll find her,’ Isabella held Raffy’s hand.

  ‘Don’t worry, Raff,’ Xavier said. ‘She’ll be back with us again soon.’

  Raffy pressed his face up against the icy window of the van. His head ached with the pain of the cold and the rhythmic pounding against his forehead.

  They drove down street after street. As they passed through each one, the afternoon light faded, throwing long, ominous shadows over the city.

  Fly stood in the training yard while the eagles were being prepared for their flights. Collars were being attached, cameras tested and strips of meat were offered as a special
treat for what they were about to do.

  She approached Charlie on his perch and held out Bea’s purple gown. The bird lowered its head and nudged its beak against the material.

  ‘Please, Charlie. Please bring her back. Bea’s important to us.’

  A team of technicians had been called into the lab. Each was assigned a monitor that broadcast grainy images from all over the city.

  Griffin stared at the screen in front of him. His eyes scanned every inch. If the smallest evidence of Bea appeared on any one of them, he would be the one to see it.

  ‘Has he eaten anything?’ Mrs Gooding laid down a tray of freshly made pasties and sausage rolls.

  ‘Nothing.’ Isabella shook her head. ‘He’s refusing to do anything until Bea comes back.’

  Hours had passed since they’d returned from their search. Raffy sat in the bay window staring out into the courtyard, hoping any minute to see his sister. Fly nestled at his side and Xavier stood behind them.

  ‘I don’t understand where she could have gone,’ Isabella whispered.

  Mrs Gooding looked at Raffy’s pale, drawn face. ‘Poor little one. He doesn’t deserve any of this. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.’

  ‘Raffy?’ Isabella sat beside him. ‘Mrs Gooding has made you something to eat.’

  He shook his head, looking outside. ‘It’s my fault she’s gone.’

  ‘How can it be your fault?’ Fly said.

  ‘I wanted to go to the Recreation Dome. She wanted to stay in her room and read. I was being annoying, insisting we go, and because she’s Bea and so nice, she said yes when she should have just told me to be quiet.’ He turned to them, panic in his eyes. ‘What if they don’t find her and we never see her again?’ He buried his face in Isabella’s arms and she held him tight. ‘Do you ever think of going back?’

  ‘To Grimsdon?’ Xavier asked.

  Raffy nodded. ‘Things seemed simpler there, and it was easier to know who you could trust.’

  Corporal Smith knocked on the door.

  Raffy sat up. ‘Have you found anything?’

  ‘Not yet, I’m sorry.’

  He turned back to the window while the corporal motioned to Isabella. She whispered, ‘The Major General wants to see you in his office.’

  Xavier joined them. ‘I’m coming too.’

  ‘He said he wanted to see Isabella.’

  ‘Well, he’s going to get us both.’ Xavier wasn’t going to budge.

  They followed the corporal into the corridor.

  ‘Does he have any news?’ Isabella asked.

  ‘We’ll find out when we get there,’ Corporal Smith answered.

  Isabella tried to still her mind but every step echoed with the possibility of what may have happened to Bea. Each thought was more frightening than the last until Xavier took her hand and gently squeezed it, calming her heart a little.

  When they reached the office, soldiers guarding the door stood aside and let them through. The Major General stood by the window. He held a note in his hand.

  ‘Have you found her?’ Isabella asked.

  ‘No,’ he turned and sighed, ‘but we have this.’

  He handed the note to Isabella. ‘I’ve been dreading this from the moment I heard Bea was missing.’

  Isabella read it over and over, but each time the words blurred and made no sense.

  ‘What’s it say?’ Xavier asked carefully.

  ‘It says that if we want to see Bea again, we need to offer safe passage out of the city and pay a ransom of $50,000 by midday tomorrow.’ She looked up. ‘Who is it from?’

  ‘We’re not sure yet,’ the Major General said, ‘but most likely it was written by someone from the camp.’

  ‘The camp?’

  ‘There are those who will stop at nothing to get what they want. I saw it too many times during the Chaos.’

  ‘They’ve kidnapped children before?’ Xavier asked.

  ‘Sadly, yes, but we will find Bea before it’s too late.’

  Isabella felt sick. ‘Too late?’

  ‘They’re dangerous people who have no morals, and instead of appreciating what we’ve given them, they throw it in our faces – on this occasion by kidnapping a young girl in our care.’

  ‘How do you know they have her?’

  ‘They left this with the note.’

  It was only then that Isabella realised what had been on the table all along. ‘Bea’s tiara.’

  ‘We will find her,’ the Major General said. ‘You have my word.’

  The bank of monitors in the surveillance room flickered with bursts of black and white. Several technicians sat in silence while images of street corners, houses and fields filled each screen.

  ‘Anything?’ Isabella sat by Griffin’s side.

  He shook his head.

  ‘I’ve brought you some food.’ She held out a parcel of pasties wrapped in serviettes.

  He didn’t take his eyes off the screens. ‘I’m not hungry. Thanks.’

  There was a sweeping shot of rolling countryside. ‘This is from Charlie, Fly’s eagle. They’ve given the other eagles a rest, but when they called Charlie in he wouldn’t come.’

  ‘How do they work in the dark?’

  ‘The cameras have night vision.’

  ‘Have you had any sleep?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘The Major General says he’s found a ransom note.’

  Griffin turned to Isabella. ‘What does it say?’

  ‘They want money in return for Bea.’

  ‘She’s been kidnapped?’

  ‘The Major General is confident he’s going to find her.’

  Griffin looked back at the screen.

  ‘We’ll find her, Isabella. I’m not moving until we do.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  An Unusual Outburst

  The morning brought with it a storm. Great curtains of water lashed against windows and overflowed from rooftops and gutters.

  Raffy hadn’t moved all night. The others stayed by his side, no one saying a word or wanting to think about Bea out in the cold of the storm. They sat and wished and hoped, each silently promising anything if only they could have their Bea safely back.

  Griffin remained in the surveillance room. His eyes hurt and his back ached. The other technicians had gone to bed, replaced by another shift. They offered to watch Griffin’s screen, but he refused.

  Then he saw something, in a small corner of a screen. Charlie saw it too. The eagle swooped down. Splashes of rain struck the lens and blurred the image. Griffin moved closer.

  In a grey, waterlogged field lay a small orange speck.

  The eagle honed in and soon it became clear what they were seeing.

  ‘Bea! There she is!’ Griffin cried. The other technicians crowded around him. ‘That’s her.’

  One of them reached for the phone and began barking location coordinates and ordering Armavans to her rescue.

  Charlie flew in a wide circle overhead.

  Far below, Bea was curled up in a ball on the ground, splattered with mud, her long curly hair splayed around her like a soggy halo.

  Griffin jumped up from his chair. He pushed open the door and ran along the corridors, running as fast as he could to the others.

  He barely had any breath left when he burst into their rooms. ‘We’ve found her.’

  Raffy leapt up from the window. ‘Where is she? Is she okay?’

  ‘They’ve gone to rescue her. It won’t be long, and Bea will be back with us.’

  Waiting outside the Garrison’s infirmary, it felt as if time had slowed down. The clock above them ticked but the hands barely seemed to move.

  Raffy’s own hands twisted in his lap. ‘What’s taking them so long?’

  ‘They have to make sure everything’s okay,’ Fly said.

  ‘But they’ve been in there for ages.’

  The infirmary door opened and a woman in a long white coat appeared. ‘I’m Doctor Logan and you must be the welcom
e party.’

  Raffy stood anxiously. ‘I’m her brother. How is she?’

  They all stood behind him. Isabella placed her hands on his shoulders.

  ‘She’s been out in the cold and rain all night. She had the beginnings of hypothermia – shallow breathing, slurred speech and slow heart rate.’ Doctor Logan locked eyes with Raffy. ‘But your sister is obviously a fighter, and once we got her out of her wet clothes and gave her some warm fluids, all her vital signs began to return to normal.’

  ‘So she’s going to be okay?’

  ‘All the test results tell us she’s going to be fine, except for one thing.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘She’s desperate to see you all.’

  Raffy’s whole body relaxed. ‘Can we?’

  ‘Follow me.’

  They crept into the room to find Bea perched in bed. Her face brightened when she saw her brother. ‘Raffy!’

  He ran to his sister and held her tight. ‘We were so worried, Bea. Are you hurt?’

  ‘Just a few scratches.’ Her voice was croaky.

  ‘It’s good to have you back, Princess Bea,’ Xavier said. ‘For a little person you leave a very big hole when you’re not here.’

  ‘How is our little patient?’ The Major General poked his head through the doorway. He was carrying her tiara, which he handed to Bea.

  ‘I’m fine now that I’m back, thank you, sir.’

  ‘Excellent. When you’re feeling better we’ll need to talk about what happened. Trust me, whoever did this will be punished.’

  ‘What will you do?’ Isabella asked.

  ‘I’ll let them know that this behaviour will not be tolerated. No one should harm innocent children for their own gain.’

  ‘If they were kidnapping her,’ Xavier said, ‘why would they leave her in a field?’

  ‘They got scared and they turned and ran like the cowards they are.’

  Before Corporal Smith could stop him, Raffy rushed at the Major General and threw his arms around him. ‘Thank you for finding my sister.’

  The Major General teetered back a little and seemed confused about what he should do next. ‘I believe it was Griffin and Charlie who did it, but I promised she would be found, and I am always true to my word.’