I’m riding into a nightmare.
I feel a whisk of air by my ear and turn quickly to see a soldier behind me shot in the cheek by the arrow that just missed my head–
He screams and he falls–
And then he’s left behind–
MIND YOURSELF, TODD, the Mayor puts in my head. WOULDN’T WANT YOU LOST IN THE FIRST BATTLE, NOW WOULD WE?
“Effing STOP that!” I shout, whirling round to him.
I’D RAISE MY GUN IF I WERE YOU, he thinks at me–
And I turn–
And I see–
The Spackle are on us–
{VIOLA}
“You’re alive!” Mistress Coyle says and I see her face change, making one kind of astonishment into a different, lying kind of astonishment. “Thank God!”
“Don’t you dare!” I yell at her. “Don’t you dare!”
“Viola–” she starts but I’m already sliding off Acorn, grunting badly at the pain in my ankles, but I stay standing, just, and turn to Simone and Bradley. “Don’t believe anything she’s told you.”
“Viola?” Simone says, coming forward. “Is it really you?”
“She’s as responsible for this war as the Mayor. Don’t do anything she–”
But I’m stopped by Bradley grabbing me in a hug so tight I can barely breathe. “Oh, my God, Viola,” he says, deep feeling in his voice. “We’d heard nothing from your ship. We thought–”
“What happened, Viola?” Simone says. “Where are your parents?”
And I’m overwhelmed by seeing them, so much so I can’t speak for a minute, and I pull a little away from Bradley and the light catches his face and I see him, really see him, see his kind brown eyes, his skin the same dark shade that Corinne’s was, his short curly hair, greying at the temples, Bradley who was always my favourite on the convoy, who used to teach me arts and maths, and I look over and see the familiar freckled skin of Simone, too, the red hair tied back in a ponytail, the teeny tiny scar on the rise of her chin and I think, in all that’s happened, how much they disappeared to the back of my mind, how much the process of just surviving on this stupid, stupid world made me forget that I came from a place where I was loved, where people cared for me and for each other, where someone as beautiful and smart as Simone and as gentle and funny as Bradley would actually come after me, actually want what was best.
My eyes are flooding again. It’s been too painful to remember. Like that life happened to a whole different person.
“My parents are dead,” I finally choke out. “We crashed and they died.”
“Oh, Viola–” Bradley says, his voice soft.
“And I was found by a boy,” I say, getting stronger. “A brave and brilliant boy who saved me over and over again and now he’s down there trying to stop a war that she started!”
“I did no such thing, my girl,” Mistress Coyle says, not looking fake astonished any more.
“Don’t you dare call me that–”
“We are fighting a tyrant down there, a tyrant who killed hundreds if not thousands, who imprisoned and banded women–”
“You shut up,” I say, low and threatening. “You tried to kill me and you don’t get to say anything more about anything.”
“She what?” I hear Bradley say.
“You had Wilf, kind, sweet, peaceful Wilf marching into town blowing up buildings–”
Mistress Coyle starts. “Viola–”
“I said, shut up!”
And she shuts up.
“Do you know what’s happening down there now?” I say. “Do you know what you were sending the Answer into?”
She just breathes at me, her face a storm.
“The Mayor figured out your trick,” I say. “He would have had a full army waiting for you by the time you reached the centre of town. You would have been annihilated.”
But all she says is, “Don’t underestimate the fighting spirit of the Answer.”
“What’s the Answer?” Bradley asks.
“A terrorist organization,” I say, just to see the look on Mistress Coyle’s face.
It’s worth it.
“You are speaking dangerous words, Viola Eade,” Mistress Coyle says, stepping towards me.
“What are you going to do about it?” I say. “Blow me up again?”
“Whoa, whoa,” Simone says, moving between us. “Whatever’s going on,” she says to Mistress Coyle, “you clearly haven’t told us the whole story.”
Mistress Coyle sighs in frustration. “I haven’t lied to you about what that man did,” she says and turns to me. “Have I, Viola?”
I try to outstare her, but no, he really did do terrible things. “We’ve already beat him, though,” I say. “Todd’s down there right now with the Mayor tied up but he needs our help because–”
“We can sort out our differences later,” Mistress Coyle says over me to Bradley and Simone. “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. There’s an army down there that needs to be stopped–”
“Two armies,” I say.
Mistress Coyle turns to me, frustrated. “The Answer does not need to be stopped–”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” I say. “There’s an army of Spackle marching down the hill by the waterfall.”
“An army of what?” Simone asks.
But I’m still looking at Mistress Coyle.
Because her mouth has dropped open.
And I can see fear move right across her face.
[TODD]
Here they come–
This part of the hill is all rock and steepness so the Spackle can’t come straight down onto us but they’re surging cross the clearing towards the weakness in the line of men and here they come–
Here they come–
Here they come–
I raise my gun–
I’m surrounded by soldiers, some pushing forward, some pushing back, knocking into Angharrad who keeps calling Boy colt, boy colt! in her Noise–
“It’s okay, girl,” I lie–
Cuz here they are–
Gunfire erupts everywhere, like a flock of birds taking off–
Arrows zing thru the air–
The Spackle fire their sticks–
And before I can even have a thought, a soldier in front of me staggers back with a weird fizzing sound–
Grasping at his throat–
Which ain’t there no more–
And I can’t take my eyes off him as he stumbles to his knees–
And there’s blood just everywhere, all over him, real blood, his blood, so much I can smell the iron tang of it–
And he’s looking up at me–
Catching my eyes and holding ’em–
And his Noise–
My God his Noise–
And I’m suddenly in it, inside what he’s thinking, and there’s pictures of his family, pictures of his wife and his baby son and he’s trying to hold onto ’em but his Noise is breaking into bits and his fear is pouring thru like a bright red light and he’s reaching for his wife, he’s reaching for his little bitty son–