Juno of Taris (24 page)

She glared right back. ‘Did I ask you to? Do I want you to?’ Then to my utter horror, she burst into tears. Hera beamed in on her distress. She plopped down on her bottom and sobbed.

I leapt over the rocks to reach Vima and hugged her – strong, stroppy Vima who never cried. I babbled at her, rubbish that made her lift her head and say, ‘Crazy kid – you do talk rubbish sometimes.’

She sniffed and smiled.

I turned around to check on Hera. She wasn’t there.

H
era!’ Where was she? I scanned the deeper water in the middle of the stream. If she’d been swept into that we’d never find her. I could hardly breathe. ‘Hera! Where are you?’

Vima slapped her hand onto my arm. ‘Sh. Listen.’

I strained my ears and heard it – a faint crow of glee, almost like the sound of the water running through the rocks.

‘The little wretch!’ Vima gasped. ‘She’s found a way through all this tangle of stuff.’

We searched the bank. Even down at water level, the vines and brambles grew thickly. How could she have got through? But another shriek of glee proved that she had.

‘Here!’ Vima called. ‘She could have got through here.’

I waded over to where she squatted in the water to peer under the vines. There wasn’t much room – enough of a tunnel in the undergrowth for a hen to run through … or a fifteen-month-old toddler to crawl through. Vima leaned forward and parted the branches. ‘In you go,’ she said. ‘Good luck – it looks like quite a steep haul up to wherever she’s got to.’

The only way I could move forwards was to lie on my stomach and wriggle. Even so, the vines clawed me and tore at my skin. It served me right. The daughter of an uptight mathematician and an astronaut with high-quality genes would never have gone on an exploring expedition. Derrick and Margaretta’s daughter, on the other hand, had. I could hear her chattering away to herself somewhere ahead of me.

‘You okay?’ Vima yelled when I’d been squirming along on my stomach for about five minutes.

‘Having a great time. Thanks for asking.’ My arms were bleeding and my legs probably were too. My tunic would be filthy. The gossip would scream around the island as soon as the first person clapped eyes on me. ‘Hera! Where are you?’

‘Juju!’

I heard rustlings and the giggle she gave when she knew she was up to mischief. ‘Hera, where are you? Wait for me, I can’t see you!’

She sounded close. I shoved a tangle of blackberry out of my way. The thorns dug into my fingers. I could hear her and it sounded as if she was moving freely – but how could she? Not even somebody of her size could stand up here. I fought my way through a dense patch of ferns and emerged onto a path. I stood up. The path was narrow but well used. And secret.

A shriek from higher up got me moving. ‘Hera! Wait for me!’ She was howling now – what had she done? But at least she was still alive. I tore up the path, rounded a corner and there she was – lying where she’d tumbled and become wedged between a couple of saplings.

I picked her up. She put her arms around my neck in a strangling hug. ‘Juju.’

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.
U ok

both fine

‘Vee,’ said Hera.

‘You,’ I told her, ‘are too smart for your own good.’

‘Smart,’ she agreed, and let me carry her.

There was no way I was going to slither back the way we’d come – especially not when there was a perfectly good path leading who knew where. Something new on Taris! Well, not new – definitely not new. But new to me, and a secret uncovered.

The path ran along the flank of the mountain, hidden from the stream by rocks and bushes. Which way to go – up or down? Up must lead to the top of the mountain, and down probably went to the stream, although I’d never seen evidence of where it must come out.

Hera grew impatient. ‘Walk!’

I couldn’t take her up the mountain even though I desperately wanted to see where the path led. I headed downhill towards the stream.

I walked for about five minutes before we reached the end, but although I could hear the stream, I couldn’t get to it – the path simply stopped in front of a sheer face of rock. I put Hera down. There must be some way to climb over it. I searched for steps but couldn’t find any, tried scrambling up using the vines, but I’d never get Hera up that way. I glanced down. She had disappeared.

I dropped to the ground. This disappearing was becoming a habit. She couldn’t have gone off into the bushes this time – the sides of the path here were solid rock and too high for her to climb. I squatted down, shoving the vines aside, and found a narrow tunnel in the rock face.

‘Hera!’

There was no reply. I crawled into the tunnel – she had to have come this way. I eased around a sharp bend, calling for her and not getting any answer, but there was daylight in front of me. I scrambled forward and almost fell on top of her. She was right at the edge of the water, struggling to untangle herself from the curtain of vines that must hide the tunnel entrance from the stream.

I rescued her and tucked her under my arm. ‘You, little miss, are coming with me whether you like it or not.’

She didn’t. ‘Down!’

I ignored her and held on tight while I got us away from the vines. The stream here ran over rapids where three flat rocks stuck up above the swirling current. Kids never played here – the high rock walls and trailing vines full of thorns made it dark and unwelcoming. ‘Stop it, Hera! If I put you down here, you’ll drown.’ And anyway, I didn’t like it here.

‘No!’ she yelled.

She was heavy and it wasn’t easy holding her when she struggled. I managed to get us out into the middle of the stream then I plonked her on one of the flat rocks. ‘Just wait a sec, poppet. I have to send Vima a message.’

‘Vee,’ she said and watched me key in the message.

walk up stream

‘Vee coming,’ Hera remarked.

‘Yes, she is.’ But how did she know?

She sat quietly beside me on the rock, watching for Vima. ‘Vee!’ she shouted as Vima came round the bend, splashing through the water.

She stopped when she saw us. ‘You, sweet pea, are a mess.’

‘Never mind about that.’ I picked Hera up and waded through the water. ‘Take a look at this.’ I lifted the vines away, bent down and set Hera on the floor of the tunnel. She scuttled round the sharp bend and vanished. ‘Follow me,’ I called back to Vima.

Seconds later, she stood beside us on the path. We said nothing. She picked Hera up and started walking. Well, what had I expected? I followed her and bit back words about danger and secrets and what happened to people who asked awkward questions.

She got to the spot where I’d pushed my way out through the ferns and come out onto the path, then stopped. ‘This isn’t such a good idea. It’s too risky to take Miss Noisy up there. We’ll need to be quiet.’

‘You’re not going by yourself,’ I said. ‘And it’s not fair either – I found the path and I want to see where it goes.’

‘It’s dangerous,’ she repeated, ‘and there’s no way we can rely on Herself keeping her mouth shut.’

That was true. I knew it was true, but I wanted to go. I wanted to find what was at the end of the path. ‘Listen. This is probably the only chance I’ll ever have to do something different. To go somewhere different. I want to go. I am going.’ I glared at her.

She shook her head. ‘No. We can’t both go. You stay in the stream with Hera. I’ll go up, then if it’s safe, you can go and I’ll look after her.’

I slapped at her arm. ‘That’s not fair! Why can’t …’

She cut across me. ‘Juno, I’m going first. It doesn’t matter if I die. It’ll solve a lot of problems.’

That knocked the fight out of me. ‘What do you mean? Of course it matters if you die! Vima, what are you talking about?’

She handed Hera over and grinned at me. ‘Don’t worry about it – I’m just being dramatic.’ She dropped a kiss on Hera’s head. ‘Look after your big sis, Hera.’ With that, she went running up the path.

Hera and I made our way back to the stream. Instead of the excitement over the novelty of something new, I felt only dread. What had she meant?

I carried Hera to the shallowest pool I could find, sat her down then washed the mud and blood from my body and tunic. My scratches stung. Hera dumped a stone on the dam she was building, looked up and said, ‘’ady.’

I glanced around. It was indeed a lady – Lenna, to be precise. ‘That’s Lenna,’ I said. ‘Can you say
Lenna
?’

‘’enna,’ she said.

‘Well well, this is a surprise,’ Lenna said, wading carefully through the water. ‘Not exactly Calico Bay, is it? And where’s Vima?’

‘Vee,’ said Hera.

‘Swimming.’ Lies rushed into my brain. ‘I didn’t want to – it hurts. Look.’ I held out my arms.

The look she gave me was far sharper than a few scratches warranted. ‘Where did you get those?’

I let a moment of silence settle between us before I said in a slightly puzzled voice, ‘Those vines at the end of the mango orchard. Hera got away and I fell, chasing her. But it’s okay, Lenna. It’s not serious.’

She frowned and huffed a bit before she said, ‘You’d better go home and get them seen to.’

‘I’m fine. I’ll wait for Vima. She won’t be long.’

Hera gave a sudden yell and burst into noisy sobs. Over the top of the racket, Lenna snapped, ‘Juno the rebel. Always knows better than her elders. Do as you’re told for once in your life.’

I snatched Hera up. ‘You’ll have to tell Vima.’ I made my voice sulky. ‘She’ll be worried if we’re not here.’

‘She’s got a brain in her head – so they say,’ she snapped. ‘She’ll work it out. Now go.’

Hera clutched me in a stranglehold. I set off back down the stream towards Calico Bay.

It was a long way to carry Hera back to where I could scramble up the bank and onto the path – too long to wait to warn Vima. As soon as I was round the bend and out of Lenna’s sight, I set Hera down on a rock. ‘We have to send a message to Vima,’ I told her.

‘Vee,’ she said and leaned against me.

lenna coming. sent us home. said I fell in mango
vines. said u swimming

I hoped it would get to Vima before Lenna did.

I waited long seconds before her reply came:
hiding. go home. dont worry

How could I not worry?

I was halfway home and practically bent double under Hera’s weight when I almost walked slap into Marba.

‘Whoa! Your nose is just about on the ground. Here – give her to me.’ He lifted Hera from my back as he spoke.

I stretched. ‘Thanks, Marba.’ I saw him studying my scratches. I held up a hand. ‘Don’t ask! I’ll tell you the official version, and when I can I promise I’ll tell you the truth. Okay?’

He considered for about five seconds. ‘A deal.’

So I told him about Lenna and the lie about the mango orchard. I thought he’d protest, demand to know more or maybe make a statement about how good a liar I was. But instead he confounded me. ‘Be careful, Juno. It’s dangerous to defy the Companions.’

‘How do you know?’ Did he have secrets too?

He shook his head. ‘Work it out. Elin died. Oran died. Nobody who was there at the start of Taris speaks up so it’s logical that they know of the danger. I suspect, though, that they don’t know who to trust, so nobody says anything. Be careful.’

Tiredness and worry crashed in on me. ‘Okay. I’ll be careful.’

But Vima wouldn’t. She invited danger. Walked into it gladly.

At home, Mother took Hera from Marba and smiled her thanks. I could almost feel her mind switching from Paz to Marba as my prospective husband as she tut-tutted about my scratches. ‘You’ll look a mess for your birthday, too.’

I let her fuss over me and rub ointment over my arms and legs until I couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘I’ve got to go, Mother. I’ll be late for work.’

I rushed to the toilet before I left to text Vima.

No reply.

I ran off to my work-station, collecting Silvern on the way. ‘Wow,’ she said. ‘Tattoos aren’t allowed, Juno.’ She grinned. ‘What happened?’

When the path was clear I told her what I’d told Marba. She just grunted. ‘Well, tell us soon. There are just too many secrets in this place.’

Yeah.

Our job this week was to chop branches off felled trees to prepare them for the woodworkers. It was good to work hard – it stopped me thinking.

Vima didn’t text me until I was in bed and nearly demented with worry, fury, curiosity and impatience.

building with communication technology

Rage chased away all other emotions. She’d crept up the secret path and watched, with no one to look out for her. Stupid, idiotic, crazy girl.

she could have caught u

She didn’t reply.

M
y scratches were still raw the next evening, but nobody remarked on them as I greeted my guests.

‘Great hair!’ Silvern and I said as soon as we saw each other, then we collapsed, giggling.

I examined her spiked head. It looked amazing. ‘What did you use?’

‘Flour and water. If I don’t get home before the rain starts it’ll turn to paste.’ She chuckled. ‘The parents hate it.’ She leaned forward and inspected my hair. ‘That’s very classy. What did you use?’