Moon Mirror (17 page)

Kristie was puzzled. She was sure that what he said was very important indeed. Yet she could not understand.

Again he was quiet and looked at each of them for a long, searching moment. Then once more he smiled. Kristie let go of her breath in a sigh of relief. It was all right; her not understanding did not really matter in the least. She should just follow the Rhyming Man and all would be well.

He snapped his fingers. The Littles understood his signal and scrambled once more to their feet. He skipped from one red block to the next, always facing them.

"'Now we dance, looby, looby, looby,’”
his voice seemed to fill the whole of the room, big as it was.

"Now we dance, looby, looby, looby, light.

Look to your left hand,

Now to your right!"

Like the others, Kristie obeyed, moving first to the nearest block to the left and then right to the one she had stood on before. Twice the Rhyming Man sang directions, and twice they did just as he told them.

Then he was still, raising his hand with a long finger ready to point.

"Eeery, Orrey, Ickery, Ann,

Fillison, Follison, Nicholas John,

Queevy, Quavey, English Navy,

Out goes you—and you—and you—"

His finger moved very quickly, pointing at first to the two Littles right before him, then at those on a line with Kristie. She did not even have time to gasp as she saw one child after another disappear. Then—

Kristie had no words to describe what happened when that long finger centered on her. There was no light, just a big, thick black in which she was lost. She tried to scream, and then—

She was rolling across something as green as the blocks of the pavement, but much softer. It did not shine either.

As Kristie came to a halt, she lay on her back looking up.
There was no grey dome over her. Kristie gulped. Was that—
sky?
Could she be—
Outside?

She shut her eyes. No! This was so—so open! If this was really Outside, she did not want to be here after all. Lew! She wanted Lew! She wanted Fanna. She wanted most of all to open her eyes and again see the buildings, the wiggle-walk, all that was right and real. Not this—this emptiness!

Clutching Reddy tightly to her, Kristie tried to believe that this was all a bad dream, like her dreams about the rats. It must be a dream—it must be!

"For every evil under the sun,

There is a remedy, or there is none.

If there be one, seek till you find it.

If there be none, never mind it.”

The Rhyming Man's voice. Now the words sounded fainter, as if he were farther away. No hollow echo followed as it had in the big hall.

Kristie knew she could not sit here forever holding her eyes shut. So she made herself think about the words of the song, even though she did not understand them.

Summoning up all her courage, Kristie opened her eyes. There was the Rhyming Man, looking straight at her again. Only she did not feel as confident as she had when he had gazed at her that way before. Outside, his bright clothing did not glitter and his face looked as if he were very tired— somehow a little like Lew looked when he was worried about the breathers stopping or the machines going wrong.

Behind him, all around him, the world was green! Not the bright green of the squares over which they had danced, but a green Kristie had never seen before.

She swallowed again. It was true. This was Outside—as it had been on the reading tapes. That was a tree right behind the Rhyming Man, this was grass under her—

All this openness—no walls, no dome. Kristie crouched lower, hugging the ground, wanting the walls, the dome. They were safe—this was—

She heard a babble of voices and turned her head very cautiously. They were all there, all the others who had followed the Rhyming Man. But now they were strangers. Kristie hugged Reddy tighter. She was fighting tears and she wanted to scream as loudly as she had when the rats caught her.

The Rhyming Man still looked down into her eyes. Kristie tried to avoid his gaze. No! She would not—

He was pointing once more. Not at her this time but up into the open sky.

"Star light, star bright,

First star I've seen tonight.

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight.”

Against her will, but because she somehow had to look where his finger pointed, Kristie once more raised her head to blink at the sky. It was darker now. There was a twinkle of light far, far above.

A star! A real star!

Her wonder fought her fear. She knew what a star was though no one in the city had ever seen one, not even the long-gone Olds. It had been years, and years, and years—so many even Lew could not hope to count them—since the dome had gone up to close out the sky and the rest of the world. But here was a star!

Somehow, staring at that distant wink of light, which was not as bright as the glitter of the Rhyming Man's clothing yet sharp in another way, Kristie became less and less afraid.

Reddy's head was soft and furry under her chin as she wavered up to her knees and then got to her feet.

“This is Outside.” She said the words almost as if she were asking the Rhyming Man a question.

"Outside, inside,

Front to back.

Starlight, Sunlight
—

There is no lack.”

Slowly Kristie allowed her eyes to slip away from the star and move across that very frightening sweep of sky which was not a big, safe cover like the dome but only a big, big emptiness.

No! There was another star! And this one she had found for herself. Maybe it was hers to wish on. Or did only that first star count?

“You said—wish.” She looked now to the Rhyming Man.

He smiled again and nodded eagerly. But he stood quietly. Out here on the green grass, he no longer danced.

“I wish Lew were here!” Kristie had been encouraged by the Rhyming Man's smile. “He said—he said there was no Outside anymore. I want Lew!”

She did want him fiercely. Not just to prove that the Outside was alive and (as she was beginning to guess) a very wonderful place. No, she wanted Lew because he was the closest person she had ever known. He was her own Big.

The Rhyming Man no longer smiled. His eyes, Kristie thought with a small fear beginning to grow in her, were sad.

“Lew can come? He will come!” Her question turned to a demand.

Slowly the Rhyming Man shook his head.

"Little—Big-

Little go, Big no.

Always must it

Answer so.”

“Why?” demanded Kristie. Her fear was heating into anger. “Why can't a Big come here?”

“Some of us do—”

Kristie turned quickly at the sound of another voice. She had half forgotten those who had come Outside with her. Now she saw there were others with them, soothing the very small Littles who were sniffling and holding hands with the others. And right next to her stood a Big girl like Fanna.

The stranger smiled and held out her hand. “Some do, you see,” she repeated. “I did.”

“Who are you?” Kristie demanded bluntly.

“Lisa. And that,” she pointed to another Big who had picked up one of the Littles, “is Truda. Beyond there is Sally. We are from London Town. Come—”

Kristie eyed her warily. She glanced back to where the Rhyming Man had been. There was no longer anyone there.

“Where—” her surprise now sent her toward Lisa. “Where did he go?”

“Back Inside,” Lisa answered.

Her fingers curled about Kristie's in warm welcome.

“Come on, let's go to London Town.”

“But Lew said that's far off across the sea. How do we get there from here?” asked Kristie.

She did not pull back, however, as the Big girl drew her around some bushes and down a slope. The light in the sky was a lot dimmer, making it harder for them to see where they were going. There seemed to be no glow-lights Outside.

“Not this London. Not where we are to build the bridge,” Lisa answered.

“Lew!” Kristie halted and tried to jerk away from the gentle hold. But Lisa tightened her grip.

“If he can come—in time he will,” Lisa told her.

“I wish I knew what you meant,” Kristie said sadly.

“But you shall, you shall,” Lisa promised as they went on. The tall-standing live grass brushed softly against their legs and the stars came winking into life over their heads.

6

Believing Is Seeing

I
f she had been alone, Kristie might have grown uneasy and even frightened as the night darkened. She could hear queer noises. The loudest was made by the brook as it gurgled along just a little way off. She lay beside Lisa on the heap of grass which was her bed.

There were other sounds, too. Some buzzed and some called. Each time Kristie would stiffen to listen. Lisa seemed to sense her vague fears, though Kristie said nothing. Then the older girl would explain that such and such a noise was a harmless flying thing or a small animal they did not have to fear.

Kristie kept peering into the dark which she had never seen before. Though the stars hung overhead, they were too far away to give much light. However, something else was beginning to shine—a great orange-yellow ball was rising in the sky. The moon! It must be the moon!

Once people like her, and Lew, and the Crowd had flown up to the moon. Kristie remembered a tape Lew had run in which
Olds, wearing queer thick clothing, walked with slow strides across the broken surface of the moon. The tape voice had spoken of a later moon station where people lived for a while.

But men had not stayed there long. Shortly after, the world had become so bad all the Olds went into their cities and sealed them up tight. Only—if the world had been so bad, how could Outside now be green and good again? Kristie drew a deep breath. The air Outside was different and full of strange smells, but not the bad ones you sometimes sniffed Inside. What had happened to the Outside? Why had the Olds said it was poisoned, bare, brown and dead?

“When the Olds left it,” Lisa's voice came as a soft whisper through the dark, “the world began to clean itself—”

Kristie's head jerked around so that she was no longer looking at the big ball of the moon but facing Lisa through the dark. The girl's face was only a thin sliver of white which Kristie could not truly see.

“You—I did not ask about that—not out loud.” Kristie shivered. She was sure she had not said a word. She had only thought. Yet Lisa answered what she was thinking about! How could that happen?

"'Believing” s seeing‘
—” Lisa whispered. “Do you understand what that means, Kristie?”

“I—I guess not.” She told the truth. The Rhyming Man had said the same thing when she asked about Lew—but she could not understand.

Lew—where was he now? What was he doing? Hunting for her? She wanted Lew!

“If he can come, he will.” Again Lisa read Kristie's thoughts.

Holding Reddy tightly, as if he were the only real thing she had left, Kristie sat up on the grass bed. Again the feeling of being lost in a big open place where there were no safe walls closed in on her.

Lisa moved too. But when she tried to put her arm around Kristie, the younger girl shrank away.

“I want to go home—” she muttered. “Tell the Rhyming Man—I want to go back!”

“Listen, Kristie, there is no going back,” Lisa told her.

Panic flooded through Kristie. Then, before she could move away, Lisa held her in a tight hold. And—Kristie uttered a small cry, but she did not battle the arms around her.

She, Lisa, was talking to Kristie without words—in a queer way in her
mind
!
There was nothing to be afraid of, Lisa was telling her. Kristie gulped. What was happening to her? Please, she cried out silently, oh, please tell me what is happening?

“We are not sure ourselves yet,” Lisa whispered. She was no longer inside Kristie's head, but spoke as people always did. Somehow Kristie was no longer so scared.

“This has something to do with the way we came here,” Lisa continued. “The real Littles accept it without trouble. It's only when you are older that you wonder. We do not know why this happens to us. Neither does the Rhyming Man, or else he won't explain. But when we come out of the city we begin to learn that we can understand what others are thinking—if we wish to.

"'Believing” s seeing‘
—” Lisa whispered, “Rhyming Man
says. It means, Kristie, that we must not think that anything is true only because we see it in one way. We must be able to guess that things can happen which are very strange and different from everything we have known before.

“Those who follow the Rhyming Man seem able to do this. He cannot bring anyone out from the city who does not have this sort of mind. Some Bigs will never believe in what they cannot see. Those Bigs may never leave Inside. Most Littles are not yet so sure of what they are supposed to believe to say this or that may not be so. Do you understand?”

Kristie had listened closely. Yes, she could see a meaning in the words of the Rhyming Man now. It was like some of the Bigs who did not care to use the reading tapes. They argued that the reading tapes were all just made-up stories. Then there were others, such as Lew and Fanna, who hunted for knowledge. Since Kristie had so wanted to know what was Outside, her dreams could all come true.

“Like the reading tapes,” she said, “are not all made-up things after all. Some of them are real if you hunt for the right ones.”

“Yes. Most of us who came Outside have listened to the tapes and imagined what other ways of life would be like. So the Rhyming Man was able to make us listen and follow him. That is why we are here.”

“Why does the Rhyming Man want to bring us Outside?”