by J. N. Chaney
“Funding has been a problem, but they’re given as much as they want,” said Mable.
He scoffed. “Hardly. The girl looks like she can barely lift a knife, let alone—” He stopped abruptly, swallowing as he shifted his weight to face me. “Well, never mind. Your turn, kiddo.”
He did the same to me. His touch was deft and delicate, like a doctor’s, and with similar precision. I made a point not to pull away like Clementine had, but I wasn’t comfortable either.
Finally, he stopped and stood to his full height—shorter than Mable, but not by much. “I can’t make any promises,” he said, and it took me a moment to realize that he was talking to us, not to Mable. “But I think you’ll both do fine here. The work will be hard, so you’ll need to build some muscle on you, but a few months of feeding should do the trick. Mabel here says she’ll pass along some school supplies, so you don’t turn out total fools.” He cleared his throat. “That cushy lifestyle you had as orphans will be behind you. You’ll have three meals a day, a roof over your heads, beds to sleep in, and warm clothes to wear, but you’ll work for what you get, and you’ll do right by this woman, the way she did right by you tonight.”
He paused like he was giving us a chance to speak, but neither of us did.
“You will do as I say,” he told us. “No questions. No arguments. If you don’t, I’ll toss out into the street. I’ve got no reason to keep you here, except what I owe to Mabel. But you? You’re both nothing to me, which means it’s on you to earn your place.”
Clementine raised her hand. “What we will be doing here?”
He paused, and I wondered if he was considering whether to tell us or not. His face was all but unreadable. “Honest work,” he said, after a time. “We do our business here, and you’ll have no part in that, but we need a few sweepers and moppers, and I’ll wager you two should do just fine.”
I felt my jaw clenching as I imagined my life back at the Church. It wasn’t the easiest—certainly not “cushy” as this man had called it—but it also wasn’t the worst place to live. We had Sister Mable. We had decent food. Most of all, we had each other. There was a certain element of comfort to it, especially after living there for these past seven years. It was my home, and I didn’t want to leave it behind.
I thought about the two options in front of me. Go and take my chances in the world or stay and trust this stranger to look after me. If Mable could keep us out of the government orphanage, maybe I still had a chance to make something decent of myself. If I couldn’t go to a university, then maybe I could be a nun like her. Dress up in a habit and veil like all the others, take my vows, and never marry. Devote myself totally to the gods.
Mabel was so happy and kind. She helped so many people, and the world was better for her. Would a life of service truly be so bad?
No, I didn’t suppose it would. I wanted to go to school, read and find my own way, but I’d be happy helping others. I wanted to be like her.
Clementine jutted her chin out, facing Mulberry down. “I’ll do it,” she said with fierce determination in her eyes. “And that’ll be the best decision you’ve ever made, mister. I promise.”
Mulberry chuckled, then looked back at Mable, who beamed an easy smile at Clem. The stout man gave my friend a nod and then turned to me, waiting for my answer.
I clenched my jaw, curling my hands into fists. I could almost hear my heart beating in my chest as I stared up at the stranger in front of me. I’d never decided like this—not in my whole life. No one had ever given me the chance to decide my own fate.
I didn’t know what to do.
Clem nudged me in the ribs. “I—I’ll do it,” I blurted out, surprised at my own words. But as I said them, I realized they were right. I’d chosen best because Clem would be with me. I couldn’t leave her now, not after everything.
Sister Mable frowned as I said the words, but I didn’t know why. Hadn’t she brought us here for this very reason? Why did she look so displeased?
“Okay, then,” said Mulberry. He craned his neck, looking at the nearby door. “Pearl! Get your ass in here!”
The sudden change in his pitch jarred me, so I flinched. No more than five seconds passed before a woman appeared in the corridor. She was taller than Mulberry, with the same lean build and short black hair tied up in a bun. I couldn’t tell her age, but she seemed close to Mable’s.
Mulberry eyed her for a second. “Pearl, please show these young ladies to their bunks. They’ve had a long night and need sleep.”
The woman glanced at the two of us. “Them?” she asked, balking. “I thought we were done recruiting preteens. They’re barely old enough to feed themselves, and you want to—”
“They won’t be working,” he corrected. “Not like that. They’re your new cleaning crew. Mops and buckets. Dishes and drains. You follow?”
“Ah,” she said, stretching out the sound. “In that case, both of you come with me. I’ve got the perfect room for you, near the north wing.”
“All the way out there?” asked Mulberry.
“Better that way, don’t you think? Less congested,” she explained.
“Ah,” he said and then nodded.
Clementine followed, but I paused for a moment to look back at Mable. “Thank you, Sister Mable.”
She hesitated but quickly gave a warm smile. For a moment, she looked like she had in the refectory earlier that day, and it made me want to do the same.
“You’re going to be safe here, Abigail,” she said, leaning towards me. “I promise you. Mulberry is going to see to that.”
The gruff man chuckled, a stark contrast to a few seconds ago when he had looked so serious.
“Thank you, too, Mr. Mulberry,” I said.
He paused at that, as though my politeness had thrown him, but then cleared his throat and nodded. “You just worry about doing a good job, you hear?” As I reached the door, following after Pearl and Clementine, the old man added, “And it’s Mr. Pryar, kiddo. Mulberry Pryar.”
Three
Sunlight flooded my eyes, making it impossible to keep them closed and dragging me from a deep sleep. I groaned, trying to fight it. I still needed a few hours.
My eyes blinked open as I squinted at the daylight breaking through the window beside my bed. Its glare was harsh, but the warm light felt good against my skin. I pushed myself off the bed and settled my feet on the floor. Clementine was staring out the window, just waking up and still lying in her bed.
Pearl stood watching us next to the door. She wore a heavy brown coat over a dark green vest. My eyes immediately focused on the weapon strapped to her waist. I’d never seen a gun before. It was hard to look at anything else once I caught sight of that.
“Rise and shine, girls,” she said, and her voice sounded different than it had last night. Had I been too tired to focus? My brain had been foggy for half the night, after all.
We dressed quickly in our day clothes. When we finished, we lined up in front of her, ready for instruction. She indicated with her head for us to follow, and we did, imitating her silence. Memories of the night before felt vague like it had been a dream.
The truth was right in front of us, though. New place, new day, new life. I’d never seen a house like this before. Damp halls, dusty cabinets, and no sign of any children our age.
We reached what looked like a dining hall. Unlike the one in the orphanage, this one was old and dirty, and the smell turned knots in my stomach.
After receiving our plates, we took our seats. There were other people there, but none of them spoke to us. We sat alone with Pearl at our own table, eating in silence. I toyed with the mush in front of me that looked like porridge but smelled like meat.
“It’s a meal mix,” Clementine said after a moment of poking and prodding her steaming food.
“All the carbs, proteins, and nutrients a body needs for sustenance during the day,” said Pearl.
Clementine leaned in, brave enough to taste it. She didn’t look convin
ced. “It needs salt.”
“Eat,” commanded Pearl, flatly. “We have work to do.”
I leaned in again and sniffed the food. It was still hot, and while the smell wasn’t particularly appetizing, my stomach told me not to care, so I ate.
The taste was different. It felt like it should have been sweet, but it wasn’t, and it took a few more tries to get used to that. Still, after six or seven spoonful’s, I hardly noticed. Definitely not the best meal I had ever tasted, but I sure did feel better.
Pearl left us to eat, only returning once we’d finished our bowls. She carried two brooms in her hands. “Just because Mr. Pryar accepted you into the complex out of the kindness of his heart doesn’t mean you won’t have to earn your keep while you’re here.” She gestured around at the rest of the mess hall.
Clementine looked reluctant, so I decided to take the lead. I stood, dropping off my bowl at the washer, and grabbing the broom. It wasn’t like I had never done chores before, even if I had shared those chores with the other girls in the orphanage.
Clementine followed my example and picked up the other broom, and we both began to sweep.
Pearl stood by and watched. She didn’t seem happy about looking after a pair of girls, but that was only a guess. Maybe the scowl on her face was normal. I had no way of knowing.
With the floor swept, we moved on to wiping down the tables. Scrubbing the grease and dried-up bits of mush took forever, and when we finished that chore, Pearl was right there to hand us another. My fascination with the gun she carried faded as my muscles ached from all the cleaning.
Clementine complained about the work, grumbling under her breath. At one point, as Pearl walked nearby us, Clem raised her voice loud enough for Pearl to hear. Pearl’s only reaction was an amused grin as she gave us a pair of mops and showed us into a new area to tidy up.
The high-ceiling room spanned a large area. The sheer size of it made me groan at the prospect of mopping the bare concrete floor.
Pearl glanced at my wide eyes. “Don’t worry, little one. You won’t be scrubbing the whole place. Not today anyway. Just clean up that mess over there.”
She pointed at a corner of the room where a bunch of knives and swords were mounted on the wall. A bright blue square was on the floor with rust-colored stains appearing over it.
“What is this place, miss?” I asked.
“An exercise room,” Pearl said, annoyed. “No more questions. Just clean.”
I pressed my lips together firmly and did as she said.
As I worked, I thought about how every room we entered seemed empty. We couldn’t be the only ones in the complex since everything was such a mess. Maybe Pearl was keeping us away from everyone, or maybe they were all out for the day. I had so many questions but decided it was better to stay quiet and observe instead.
Our midday meal of stir-fried vegetables with egg noodles and chicken, came and went in a flash. After working up a sweat, the food wasn’t half bad.
The break was short, though, and we were back at it too soon, room after room, cleaning and scrubbing, wiping and washing.
Blisters formed on my hands, and my muscles burned, begging for rest. We had agreed to follow their instructions to the best of our abilities, and I intended to keep that promise, so I didn’t complain.
By the time dinner came around, I was finding it hard to keep my eyes open, even though I was starving. Even more breakfast mush sounded good at that point.
To my relief, they didn’t serve us mush, but chopped beef with steamed vegetables. I scarfed down my portion and eyed Clem’s as she finished. I could have eaten two, maybe even three plates.
Pearl told us to rinse our dishes and sent us back to our room. We climbed gratefully into our beds, ready to let the day go.
But the second the lights flicked off, I found myself awake again, unable to rest. I tossed for ten minutes before Clem said my name.
“Hey, Abby?” she asked in the dark.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“Do you think we made the right choice, coming here? Staying here, I mean?”
I turned around, barely able to make out my friend’s shape in the dim light. “I don’t know. I think so.”
Clementine turned to face the ceiling, rustling her sheets. “Yeah, me too,” she said, softly, and then fidgeted under her blanket. “I’m just glad you’re here with me. It’s nice to have someone to work with, even if it’s just stupid sweeping and cleaning.”
“Me, too,” I told her.
She turned to face me, propping her head up on her hand. “Hey, I just realized something.”
“What?” I asked.
“We’re sharing a room, and it’s just the two of us now. It’s kinda like we’re sisters. Real sisters, you know?”
I smiled at the sound of that. “You think so?”
“Definitely,” she said emphatically. “I’m technically older, so I’d be the big sister, but that doesn’t matter. You both look after each other. That’s what sisters do.”
“I’ve never had a sister before,” I said.
“Well, now you do!” she said like that was the end of it.
A flush ran down my chest. I felt so excited. “Okay!”
We both giggled at the idea.
Clementine straightened up. “Now, there are rules about sisters, just so you know,” she said, very seriously. “For starters, it means we gotta stick together, no matter what.”
“Right,” I said with a firm nod, although I knew she couldn’t see me.
“And being sisters—that lasts forever. It’s not something you can just change your mind about.”
“I never would!” I insisted, partially sitting up in my bed.
“Okay,” she said, and I could almost hear her smile. “Then, as of now, we’re real sisters. If anyone asks, that’s how it is. You and me, Abby.”
“You and me, Clem!” I exclaimed, so excited that I could barely contain it.
Clementine rolled back into her bed, and I rolled back into mine. We laughed together, there in the dark of our room, smelling like soap and talking about all the things we would do when we grew up.
And whatever they were, we decided we would most certainly do them together.
* * *
It felt like I had only just closed my eyes when the shock of bright light struck me again. I sputtered, jerking up to sit. I growled, shifting my covers to the side and pulling myself out of bed. Clementine needed a bit more convincing, but she joined me after some complaining.
“Rise and shine, princesses,” Pearl said, a small smile on her face. “We’ve got another long day ahead of us.”
Once dressed, we marched back to the mess hall, but this time, there were other people there.
Some were dressed in the same green vests and heavy coats as Pearl. They gave us odd looks, and their conversations stopped as Clementine and I made our way to our seats, but the novelty soon wore off, and they turned their attention back to whatever they had been talking about before.
After enduring another serving of the meal mix, we followed Pearl through a handful of hallways. I rubbed my sore palms in response to memories from the day before, but the room that Pearl led us to wasn’t one that I had seen before.
There were two desks with work pads on them, and there was a screen at the front, with a chair in the corner. Pearl simply moved to the chair, indicating for us to sit at the desks.
Once we did, the screen lit up and showed the poorly rendered face of a man.
“Hello, Abigail. Hello, Clementine. My name is Angus, your instruction V.I. It is my privilege to take up your education and continue it to completion. You will note that your pads are already tuned to my instructional programming for easy access.”
I looked down, seeing the pad light up. Thankfully, Angus’s face was absent from my personal screen. The V.I.’s dead eyes were creepy enough just staring at me from the front of the room.
“I have a record of your academic achievements t
hus far, as well as a brief of your current educational status, and as such, I am fully equipped to handle your education as per Mulberry Pryar’s recommendations.”
I looked at it and then the pad in front of me. The sisters had handled all of our education in person. I’d heard about some schools that could afford a personalized V.I. for the students. Was this one of those places? It didn’t seem like a school to me. At least, it hadn’t resembled any school that I’d ever heard of.
“If you would kindly look to the pads in front of you, we can begin with a light review of what your studies should have covered thus far. We’ll be starting with mathematics.” Angus’s voice sounded vaguely human, but there was a robotic undertone.
Clementine raised her hand. Angus took a few seconds to respond. “How may I help you, Miss Clementine?”
“Can we keep the pads?” she asked.
My eyes widened. I had never had a pad of my own before.
“They are educational tools and, as such, should be kept on your person at all times. So, to answer your question…yes.” The V.I. smiled and immediately resumed the teaching program. I saw Pearl rolling her eyes as she pulled her own device out.
“If you’ll kindly look at the pads in front of you, we can start with a light review…”
We spent the next two and a half hours on things that we already knew: basic mathematics, quickly followed by a review of Osiris’s three official languages, as well as a history lesson, complete with a visual aid that replaced the creepy V.I.’s face for a little while.
Finally, the lesson ended. “Thank you for your attention, Miss Abigail, Miss Clementine, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Goodbye.”
The screen went dead.
Pearl stood up, taking a moment to stretch before turning back to us. “Thank gods that’s over.”
She motioned for us to follow her, and I rubbed my hands, expecting more cleaning to come. I was right.
Clementine and I had the task of scrubbing down the dining hall after lunch, and then we moved over to cleaning the dishes. The kitchen had its own regular staff, but they weren’t around right now. I guessed they only did the cooking. The cleanup apparently fell to us.
