River: A Novel (25 page)

 Feeling Asher’s
eyes on me, I turned to meet his stare, tired of his stubborn belief that I was
on the wrong side. Even if River Elodie was the true enemy, she didn’t exist in
me. I knew who I was, at least at the moment. 

 The silent
tension coming from Asher was uncomfortable, so I stated the obvious. “She was
amazing. Gwen is such a talent.” 

 He didn’t
speak until after turning from me slightly, back toward her. “She was born to
sing. If the Speaker Doctor would have taken her voice—”

 “But he
didn’t,” I stupidly interrupted.

 His eyes
narrowed. I had the impression that he was accusing me of being an accomplice
to what my possible father did for a living.

 “Elodie!” Gwen
dropped into the seat in front of me, gripped a glass of water, and diverted my
attention from Asher’s misguided hate. “What did you think?”

 “Incredible.” 
 

 “Thanks.”
Her cheeks flushed. She acted as though she wanted to say something else, and
her words stumbled a bit. “So, um, what do you think of our little city under a
city? We keep pretenses up top, of course. An apartment building is attached to
one of the entrances, but the rest are spread out around town. All of them
connected to the Underground.”

 “Very
interesting. I would almost rather stay down here, especially tomorrow.”

 “Ah.” Gwen
nodded. She seemed to know what I was talking about. It wasn’t only the threat
of impending war that made me want to run far, far away. “The performance is
tomorrow night as well.”

 “Yeah, I
haven’t a clue what I’m doing. It seems… small, though. Comparatively.” What
were a few moments of humiliation weighed against a rebellion?

 “No, no,”
she implored, “you are integral to the plan working.” Gwen was suddenly
animated, taking my hand in her excitement. “Without you, we will not have an
event that brings all the Speakers to one place. Keeping them occupied is the
key.”

 “
You
will be helping
us
,” remarked Asher acerbically, and I was nervous all
over again. “You know that right?” His hands folded in front of his mouth,
elbows on the table. I hadn’t forgotten he was sitting beside me for a second. No
matter the amount of her kindness; Gwen was just a buffer to his hostility,
which reached me in waves.

 I couldn’t
look at him as I answered. Instead, I focused on the light refracted off Gwen’s
water glass, shimmering onto the table. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell
you.”

 “Ash,
seriously.” Gwen’s tone was annoyed, and I once again wondered at their
relationship. He didn’t scare her at all. “Elodie’s legit. I’ve never tranced
anyone like her before.” If I became close to Gwen, and we survived the next
couple of days, I would have to find out what I’d said and signed.

 “Gwendolyn,”
he said, low and exasperated.

 “Asher,” Gwen
retorted in the same tone, but with even more irritation.

 He laughed
once and shifted his hard glare away, conceding.

 She smiled
triumphantly and then grabbed my hand in hers. “Now I want to introduce you to
some of your fans!” 

 “Fans?” I
tensed. This couldn’t be good.

 “You are
quite famous,” she continued horrifically. “I told everyone to play it cool
before you arrived, but so many of them want to meet you.” She was actually
excited about parading me around.

 “Oh, I
don’t know Gwen. That person wasn’t really me. At least, I don’t remember,” I
pleaded, trying to find a way out of this.

 “C’mon, Elodie!
Just a few friends, I’ll be next to you the whole time.”

 “I don’t
know,” I mumbled, fumbling for a loophole. “It would be like lying.”

 “Not really.
Not if you don’t remember.” Her innocent face was very convincing.

 Strangely
and without forethought, I looked at Asher to back me up. He just stared my way
as if I were a confusing puzzle. Well, what would it hurt? Shake some hands. Meet
the folks I would be on the lam with for the rest of my life. Gwen latched on to
the indecision in my eyes.

 “Okay! Let’s
go, my grandmother is
dying
to meet you!” She yanked me out of my chair,
toward the crowd.

 One very
long half-hour later, I was back at the table we had claimed earlier, my head
spinning. Everyone I’d met had been sincerely nice. I did notice that most of
the Caravs were older or younger; not too many middle aged people, though I
hadn’t met all of them. Regardless, they did not take my part in the rebellion
lightly. It seemed they were counting on me to keep the Speakers’ attention. As
I sipped some water, I contemplated what I’d just been through: the pretense of
torture, being tranced, found out by a remarkable girl whom I would have loved
to call my friend, along with others in the Carav families. Caring about what
happened to each of them. I wanted our side to win. I would’ve been on this
side anyway, because of Dan, and because it was the
right
side. The good
guys. Of course this is where I would be.

 The only
sourness I felt was from Asher. Still. It was ridiculously frustrating and annoying
not to be in his good graces. Even though I didn’t know him, for some reason I
wanted him to see what Gwen did. Her Grandmother saw me in the same light
immediately. She’d hugged me before calling me an angel; not that he had to go
that far, though it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me, and I
still felt warm from the interlude. She was motherly and had given us cookies. Why
couldn’t he see what she had?

 “I
understand why people are enamored with you. You act as well as you dance.”

 I didn’t
jump at his voice the way I normally did. Instead, I just let my head fall into
my hands. My emotions were morphing from numbly afraid to slightly pissed-off. Could
he have been provoking me on purpose?

 “I don’t
know what you mean.” I barely whispered. Gwen was once again taking the stage,
and everyone in the cavernous room hushed. Her river rolled through again, slowly
submerging us with smoky, melodic ache. My eyes began to water. What was his problem
anyway? 

 “The Elodie
I know would’ve devoured all that praise.” 

 He
had
known her, River Elodie. I was shocked. Was this a new torture he was
subjecting me to? Did he think I’d been conned by my own subterfuge to the
point that I wouldn’t remember
who I was?
Once again, I was stunned into
silence. 

 Choosing to
attempt to forget about Asher sitting beside me, making me question my very
mind, I just listened to Gwen sing. She gracefully pulled lyrics out of the air
in her lungs as I felt tears begin to burn, blurring my vision. All the
confusion and bewilderment was eating at me again. Was I insane and living in
make-believe? Did New York and my past even exist? What the hell did the Fates
get me into? Without answers, I could only continue to drift further and further
away from my old life. Maybe Asher was right, and I was just playing a part
after all. Pretending. I gathered my resolve by the time Gwen had gotten her
heartache out. My chin was up, shoulders squared, and I had decided. These
people needed me to perform tomorrow, and I would try. I’d do what I could to
help them escape. Maybe that was the only reason I was here.

 Out of the
corner of my eye, Asher sat, staring at me ambiguously as the rest of us stood
and clapped for Gwen. 

 Turning
toward him abruptly, I felt braver. I guessed that I had most of the Caravs on
my side, but for some maddening reason, his approval was all I needed to move
on. That and to trust me enough to let me leave. I needed to check on Danny
before finding my way back to River Elodie’s apartment.

 “There’s no
reason for Gwen to show me the way out in the cold. Since you’re so damn concerned
that I’m going to rat you out, why don’t you walk me home instead of following
me around like a wraith?” I went on, getting all the aggravation out. “You can
even bring back-up if you’re worried about me tricking you into a Speaker trap
along the way.” Crossing my arms, I stared down my nose at him.

 “There she
is,” he muttered bafflingly. Asher’s expression didn’t change in the least, except
to look more impassive, if that were possible. “Okay. Let’s go. No back-up
required.”

 My arms
fell to my sides.

……………………

“I’m very pleased
we captured you, Elodie,” Gwen said when she hugged me goodnight.

 “Um… so am
I,” I whispered. Unsure at first, though full of meaning as I said, “I’m glad
that I met you, and the rest of the Carav families. I won’t let you down
tomorrow.” As her Grandmother waved to me over Gwen’s shoulder, my resolve not
to chicken out faltered, but I waved back.

 Laughing,
she let me go. “Of course you won’t.”

 “So, I
guess I’ll see you soon.”

 “Actually,
I’ll walk you to the end of the corridor. You need to see something.”

 Before I
could reply, Gwen pulled me out of the room and linked our arms, guiding us
through the darkened hall.

 “Asher is stubborn,
and I want to show him at the same time that I show you.”

 “Show me
what?”

 “The test.”

 Without any
idea what to say to that, I held back as she dropped my arm after several paces
and pulled open a huge door. Soft lanterns in various shapes lit a room within;
autumn colors surrounded the semi-tidy space. Cluttered and cozy as Danny’s old
apartment in New York, excluding the occasionally noxious smells.

 “This is
where Colin and I really live. All of us keep up the charade upstairs, but our
real lives are below. I guess soon to be elsewhere.” Gwen’s tone sank as the
side of her mouth quirked and made her look younger for a moment.

 “This is
really nice. More to my liking than River Elodie’s place,” I commented,
observing her home. There was a faint scent of cinnamon in the air… and
something else. Clove, I decided. “Her taste is way too poufy.”

 “You keep
saying that. I mean, you said it when you were tranced, a couple of times. Is
it really that bad?”

 I rolled my
eyes. “Worse. It’s obnoxiously happy.”

 Gwen
giggled and walked across the room to a table by a small sofa. “It’s getting
late. You both need to get moving, and I’ve got to get Colin to bed… so, here
goes.” She held up a deck of playing cards. They were slightly larger than the
usual size; tattered and worn with a look to them reminding me of layered
parchment paper. 

 Every nerve
in my body jumped when a shape appeared out of a corner near the door. I hadn’t
forgotten Asher was following us, but his silent approach took me off guard. Having
inadvertently placed my hand over my heart, I became self conscious when I saw
him staring at it. I slowly lowered my arm back to my side, wrapping my other hand
around it in a casual way.

 “Sorry,” he
mumbled.

 I just
shook my head, a quick and awkward acceptance. For some reason, words eluded me
whenever he addressed me civilly. Only anger seemed to loosen my tongue when
Asher was involved.

 “What did
you do now?” Gwen’s voice heightened in pitch, chastising him.

 “I startled
her. Didn’t mean it,” he added laconically. They both waited for me to comment.

 “I’m fine,”
I finally blurted, wanting their attention drawn away from me. “What have you
got there?”

 “These are
my family’s cards. We read them for information, guidance, and reflection.” 
Gwen smiled as she said this, her heritage obviously an integral part of her
life.

 “Oh, like
tarot cards?” I asked, without really knowing anything about that. I’d seen
some here and there at parties, and when Old Dan had thought he was psychic for
a couple of weeks. A smile played with the memory and I sighed, wondering if
life would ever be normal again.

 Asher
seemed to notice this. “What do you mean by ‘tarot cards’?” He was staring at
me.

  I looked
at Gwen to give me more will over my thought process. Asher just made me a
nervous wreck. “Back home, I guess, people would use tarot cards to tell
fortunes. Like psychics and palm readers. I wasn’t really… into that, I guess,”
I barely spoke above a whisper. “I mean… that’s all I really know about it.” Shuffling
my weight, I locked my eyes to the floor, feeling moronic.

 “Well, I
can’t give you fortunes, but I can give you the truth… Asher.” Gwen walked over
and handed him five of the cards, not at all trying to disguise the smug expression
on her face.

 Without
thinking, I moved closer to see. Asher was very still before looking from Gwen
to me. I took a step back automatically.

 He ignored
me after that, flipping the cards back over after giving them a cursory glance.
Rolling his eyes, he laid them on a nearby table and folded his arms with a
dubious look on his face.

 Gwen
tightened her gaze at him, clearly disappointed in his reaction.

 “You didn’t
show them to Elodie,” she said, picking the cards up while shaking her head in
frustration. Asher backed away once again to lean against the darkened nook by
the door.