Days Like This (6 page)

The connecting door opened easily. If it had been locked, she’d have had an excuse to creep back to bed. The door made a tiny click as it closed behind her. Lily held her breath and listened while her eyes adjusted to the dim light. Ahead was a long, thickly carpeted hallway.

Lily had never been in this part of the house before. The air-conditioning seemed colder and the carpet had a new smell, the pile springy beneath her bare feet. Matching the chilled air, the wall was cool to her touch. There were some framed paintings, but Lily couldn’t make them out. She was certain they didn’t contain any reminders of long-gone family birthdays or picnics or times at their beach house. She wondered whether that house even existed anymore, or if the rising oceans had crept in to claim it.

She could hear the soft rumble of her father’s voice interspersed with her mother’s lighter tones. Touching one wall with her fingertips, Lily crept forward, lifting each foot carefully. Her parents’ voices came more clearly from behind a door that was ajar at the end of the hallway. Lily knew it was risky being here, but what could they do to her that would be any worse than her life in this house, without Daniel? Lily listened at the door.

‘Do we have to have this conversation?’ Megan was saying. She sounded like she was close to tears.

‘We can’t avoid it, Meg,’ Pym said.

Lily shuffled closer to the door.

‘They say Daniel’s output … highest quality,’ her father was saying, his words fading in and out.

Lily’s heart flipped at the mention of Daniel. Did that mean Pym and Megan knew where he was and that he was still alive? Cautious relief surged through her. She tried to hear more, but her father’s voice became fainter as he moved away from the door.

‘The Committee … Lily sooner …’ Lily was frustrated by the low, unintelligible rumble of her father’s voice. She frowned at the mention of the Committee. Standing here in the dark, eavesdropping on her parents, Lily was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness at how much her parents had changed. Thinking back, they seemed to stop loving her and Daniel around the time the Wall went up about twelve years ago.

Lily remembered when Pym and Megan had been loving and gentle, like normal parents. The funny quips and joking had stopped first. Then they seemed to lose interest when Lily and Dan hurt themselves or were sad and needed comforting. Then physical affection, like cuddling, stopped. Now it was as if Lily was an unwelcome guest. It was the same with Daniel before he disappeared.

It hurt the most that her parents seemed to care more about the Committee than their own children. Pym and Megan were in awe of the Committee. Lily didn’t even know who this faceless group was or what they did apart from issuing rules and edicts, each more draconian than the next. All she knew was that they were all men and there were about twenty-four of them. She and Daniel had asked Megan and Pym for information, but their parents merely dismissed these requests.

‘Don’t talk about Daniel.’ It was her mothers voice again.

‘We must, Meg.’

Her father sounded as if he was right next to Lily, right on the other side of the door. She sprang back, almost tripping in her haste.

Get it together, Lily
, she told herself sternly.

‘We’ve done what we’ve done,’ Pym was saying. ‘We’re not the only ones and it’s not like the Committee really gave us much choice, you know that.’

‘I don’t want to be reminded,’ Megan whispered. Lily was surprised by the emotion in her mother’s voice. She hadn’t heard her express any real feeling for such a long time.

‘Don’t be ridiculous! We’re reminded every day by this.’ Her father was obviously pointing at something and Lily wished she could see what it was.

‘Yes, but we’ve done our bit now We’ve made our contribution.’ Megan’s voice rose again. ‘You said we might not have to do any more.’

‘It doesn’t work like that, Megan. We have to keep contributing to the harvesting. It’s mandatory, remember?’

Harvesting? There was that word again. Lily shuddered. Were they talking about harvesting people, like Daniel and her and Alice?

She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her father’s raised voice. ‘We have to make a decision soon, Megan. We don’t want to be cut off, do we? Not when we’ve come so far. Look at us.’

There was a pause. Lily hardly dared breathe. She had to stop herself from barging in there and demanding to know what they were talking about. She knew they would never tell her.

‘All right.’ Megan’s voice was quiet again, resigned. ‘But tell them it has to be soon. I know there’s no choice, but I can’t stand the waiting. I want it over with. Not that we’ll ever be able to forget it.’

The softness in her mother’s voice reminded Lily of how Megan had once been when Lily was small. Lily backed away, touching her bracelet, trying and failing to wrench it off.

‘I’m going to the kitchen for a drink, can I bring you anything?’ Pym said.

Lily, thankful for the soft carpet, bolted down the corridor. She ran to her room as if all the creatures of the night were chasing her.

Her parents’ conversation had been confusing, but it was clear that, like Daniel, Lily was in danger. She knew time was running out for him and probably for her. She also knew that once she left her parents’ house, she could never turn back.

The next day, Lily waited for a chance to speak with Alice. When she was sure Pym and Megan weren’t around, she tapped softly on hersistes door.

‘Alice?’ she called out, slipping into the room. Alice stopped what she was doing – mapping the world’s longest remaining rivers on her geography spreadsheet. Alice didn’t really enjoy lessons and would much rather play with her dolls or listen to music or draw improbable flocks of birds in even more improbably coloured trees.

Almost obsessively, Alice drew the things that were disappearing from their world. Lily noticed that many of the rivers Alice had mapped no longer existed.

‘You’re making the rivers longer than they actually are,’ Lily couldn’t resist saying.

‘No, I’m not,’ Alice said, defiantly adding another few centimetres to the Zambezi.

‘Idiot,’ Lily said, grinning.

‘Sticks and stones, Lilla.’

Lily sighed. ‘Alice, there’s something I have to tell you.’

‘What?’ Alice said.

‘I need you to listen to me and try to be a big girl.’

When Alice didn’t want to understand something she became irritable, and if that didn’t work, there was always the tantrum.

‘What are you talking about, Lily?’

‘I think I’m going to be taken away, like Daniel was,’ Lily said in a rush.

Alice pressed her fingers into her ears and hunched up her shoulders. Annoyed, Lily pulled Alice’s hands away and held them down, forcing her to listen.

‘Okay, I’ll just tell it like it is,’ Lily said. ‘Megan and Pym have a problem with me. You know it’s true, Alice. They had a problem with Daniel, as well. And they’ll probably end up having a problem with you, too.’

‘What are you talking about?’

Alice had gone red and looked like she might begin wailing. Even with her face all scrunched up, she was pretty. She was pale like Lily, but Alice’s eyes were velvet brown, not washed-out blue, and her teeth were small and perfect.

The kind of teeth our parents might aspire to
, Lily thought sourly.

Now Alice’s teeth were clenched together and she was struggling against Lily, who was much stronger.

‘You have to listen to me, Alice. I can’t exactly explain it, but I think we’re in some kind of danger – me now you later.’

‘Ow, you’re hurting me! You’re just jealous!’

‘What?’ Lily said. In her surprise, she let go of Alice, who sat up, rubbing at her wrists and scowling at Lily.

‘You’re mean, Lilla.’

The lights flickered out then and they waited for the emergency generator to kick in. Lily knew that all the ‘privileged’ families inside the Wall had generators to supplement the erratic electricity supplies. She wasn’t sure why the main supply was erratic. That was yet another thing her parents wouldn’t explain.

When the generator grumbled and stopped and the lights came back on, Alice was still scowling, her face wet with tears.

‘Why do you think I’m jealous, Alice?’ Lily said. No matter how exasperating she was, Lily didn’t like seeing her little sister upset.

‘You’re just trying to frighten me because you’re jealous that Mum and Dad love me more than you,’ Alice said.

‘Oh, Alice, I’m not jealous. I’m just worried and scared. There’s something wrong with Pym and Megan.’

‘There is not.’ Alice’s voice was high and wobbly.

‘What’s going on here?’ Their father had entered the room in that stealthy way of his. ‘What’s she saying to you, Alice?’ he demanded.

‘Nothing,’ Alice sobbed.

‘Why is she upset?’ He swung around to face Lily, grabbing her hard on the upper arm.

‘She’s done nothing, Dada, honestly, we were just arguing, that’s all. Let her go. She’s… she’s been using the moisturiser in my bathroom, that’s all,’ Alice stammered.

Pym put his arms around Alice with the same gentleness that Lily and Daniel had once known. Lily looked away.

When he left, Alice shuffled her chair closer to Lily’s, reaching out tentatively to touch the finger marks on Lily’s arm. ‘Sorry Lilla, I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. I’m sure they love you, too. I know they do.’

Lily put her arm around her sister’s shoulders.

‘They do love you, Lily,’ Alice said quietly. ‘And I know they love Daniel and he’ll come home soon, you’ll see.’

She turned back to her rivers.

Lily was at her screen when she heard the familiar sounds of fighting coming from the street. She ran to the window in the bathroom, but was too late. The street was empty. She stayed to watch, hoping whoever it was would return.

‘What are you doing? Get down from there at once!’ Pym shouted.

Her father’s sudden appearance in the doorway startled Lily. She wobbled before jumping down from the edge of the bath. It would be easier if she could lock the bathroom door, but a few days after Daniel had gone her father had come upstairs and removed the lock. It wasn’t right that he had taken away her privacy. And his abrupt arrival now made her suspicious that he’d been spying on her. She peered around the bathroom, but there was no surveillance camera that she could see.

Lily crossed her arms tightly over her chest and waited, glaring at her father. She thought if she could keep conversation to a minimum, she could avoid an outright fight.

Lily tried slipping past, but he barred her exit. He wasn’t a particularly big man, but his presence was strangely dominant.

‘What are you looking for out there all the time?’ her father said.

‘Why do you care?’

‘What are you looking for?’ Pym said again. He seemed to have forgotten that he’d already asked that question. Lily had noticed that same inability to concentrate in her mother, too.

‘I’m watching the Blacktroopers out there attacking people for no reason,’ she answered.

‘Get down. It doesn’t do anyone any good.’

‘Where do those kids out there come from?’ Lily said.

Pym ignored her and turned to go back down the stairs.

‘Do they want to sabotage your wonderful life? Are they anti-Committee?’ she shouted.

That made him pause and turn to look at her, but he wasn’t going to be drawn. His refusal to explain anything was so frustrating. No wonder Daniel had been furious all the time.

‘Max will be here tomorrow night for dinner and he wants to say hello, as usual. Dress properly and no talk about Blacktroopers attacking people. Understood?’ Pym said coldly.

Oh God, not again
. Lily took a deep breath. ‘I … do… not… want… to … see … Max!’ She spoke each word clearly. ‘Just because he’s “important”.’

Pym looked at her and didn’t deny it.

So Max
must be
Committee.

‘Why aren’t you Committee, Dad? Is there something wrong with you?’ She wanted to stir him.

‘Just do as you’re told,’ he said, then turned his back on her and went down the stairs.

Lily gritted her teeth.
Not much longer
, she thought. She waited for a minute and then climbed back onto the edge of the bath.