Sand Glass (20 page)

Jared was very
still, very calm. First he looked at Janey, and then at me. I don’t
think anyone was quite sure if we had done what we set out to
do.

‘I’m thirsty.’
Jared said.

Janey
immediately fetched her water bottle from the back of the
chapel.

‘Would you help
me down Davey.’

Jared slid of
the surface, and we all sat side by side on the small steps just
below.

‘How do you
feel?’ I found my voice again. I felt strangely exhausted
myself.

Jared put his
arms round us both; ‘I have a reason to try to do this. I just need
one thing more.’

‘We’ll be with
the tribe by sunset.’ said Janey, ‘I know the quickest way out of
here.’

‘I hope she’s
back at the camp.’ I said.

‘Don’t worry.
Marcia is a very resilient woman.’ said Janey with a hint of
amusement.

‘When shall we
leave?’ said Jared, as we all got to our feet. I picked up his
boots.

‘Let see if we
can go in half an hour,’ I said, ‘now we have no time to
waste.’

But as it
turned out we were a little longer than we expected. As we
descended the rocky stair that Janey identified for us I expected
no more surprizes; still reeling as I was from recent events. Jared
seemed buoyed up, and stood straighter and taller. He caught my eye
and smiled, ‘Not long now.’ He said. Perhaps we were running closer
to an edge. Or perhaps a finish line. What was happening back at
home? Did his world change? Was there a road back for him? I was in
a state of suspended thought between belief and fear. My life was
owed to him now, and I wanted as much as he seemed to, to end this
thing; whatever we might call it. Perhaps I was a guinea pig in a
maze who had chewed through the walls and not played by the rules.
Now we must get out of the maze before it was destroyed.

A little while
later I needed to readjust my thinking as we heard the sound of gun
fire from a distance. The sound carried in these caves and it was
impossible to say where it was coming from. When we emerged from
the caves onto the grassy plain that presented a fairly direct
route to the tribes people; we were met with a horrible sight.

There was the
scene of several people who had been left for dead in what must
have been a gunfight we heard earlier.

‘Look!’ said
Janey, ‘they came out over there.’

Sure enough,
soldiers like little moving specks were retreating back to a little
dark depression higher up the cliffs.

‘They must have
come out of the caves this morning.’ Jared mused, ‘but this is
unexpected.’

‘Is it possible
that they are breaking up into factions?’ I asked.

‘I would say
yes,’ said Jared, ‘but I suspect something more sinister.’

‘Look,’ said
Janey, ‘This one is only slightly injured. It shouldn’t have killed
him.’

‘Marcia said
that it was probable that they were using larger and larger doses
of the time stabilisation drugs to stay out here for a day or so at
a time.’

Jared knelt
down puzzled; ‘Janey is right. There is no one here who should have
died from these injuries. I suspect that this is deliberate ploy to
get the rest of them motivated to attack the tribes people.’

‘We have to
warn them.’ I said.

‘Yes of
course.’ Jared stood, ‘but first we need to send these back.’

‘How?’ said
Janey.

‘What do you
mean?’ I asked as Jared took out his hunting knife and went towards
a study bush. He turned to me. ‘There is only one way to ensure
that a soldier does not return to give us any more trouble. It’s
quite simple as well.’

‘What?’ I was
feeling a crawly feeling in my stomach as I said this.

‘Count how
many.’ Jared said to Janey; then to me, ‘Do as I do. Don’t be
concerned. We are not going to do anything too yucky.’

He cut some
sturdy twigs from the nearby bush, and started to pare them into
short sharp bolts. He put a barb into the shaft near to the point
as well.

‘Forty-One’
said Janey wrinkling her nose in disgust, ‘what they do to their
own.’

‘With friends
like that, they definitely don’t need enemies.’ Jared was
thoughtful a moment. he held a short bolt in one hand, ‘the thing
to remember, if it helps you be less squeamish about doing this, is
that you are going to be sending them home today without a scratch
on them.’

I liked my
lips; ‘Okay.’

Jared felt
around for a soft part of the leg, he then stabbed the bolt in with
one swift movement. I felt myself gagging at the notion of it.

‘Watch!’ said
Jared.

I stared at the
soldier. And then he seemed a little greyer. As if the sun had
disappeared behind a cloud. Then without warning the soldier’s body
crumpled into dust. I went forward to examine the place where he
had been. There was nothing. Not even a trace of dust or any other
mark.

‘Oliver
discovered it. The Summerland twigs work to destroy all connections
with this place. They go straight back to Base. And they cannot be
recruited again. It has some effect on the basic modulation
frequency that got everyone here in the first place. It actually
works best on someone who has taken the stabilisation drugs.’ Jared
seemed disgusted too.

‘Unpleasant but
necessary?’ I ventured.

‘Indeed.’ said
Jared. ‘You just make sticks. Janey and I will do this.’

‘No. It’s ok.
I’m good.’

A little while
later we walked swiftly from the place, following the treeline. The
hostile presence of the soldiers we were alert for, but also some
sign that our friends were not yet victims of this sickening
assault. There was nothing essentially “wrong” in what we had done;
but it left a feeling of queasiness inside for me. There had been a
moment where I really could have puked; right after the third one I
“sent back”; but my sense of shame, plus the practical problem of
clearing the evidence should anyone return that way, kept me
focused. I was now beginning to feel a little better. Jared seemed
in better spirits; yet Janey looked troubled. The freshness of the
air was helping. We were aiming for a secluded place to cross the
river. The course was deeper there, and there was less chance of
being ambushed. The morning seemed to be interminable. It was still
only around elevenish. I wondered how soon the tribe would find us.
It was unlikely we would ever stumble on them first. Jared seemed
especially concerned about the time. We kept up the pace for
another hour. At last the river was near. The course was deep here
and Janey pointed then: something flashed towards us.

‘Get down!’
Jared yanked the both of us into the long grass. Janey rolled over,
clearly winded. We waited and listened. Nothing. I knew better than
to speak. Janey wriggled forward a few minutes later and touched
Jared’s right hand. She signalled to our left. There was something
there. For several brain-aching minutes we lay there keeping
perfectly still.

Suddenly with
an ululating cry there was a noisy disturbance to our left and near
the deeper shadow of the tree line. Someone was running; pounding
closer to us. We heard the call again; this time nearer and more
insistent.

Jared wrapped
both hands round Janey’s waist, and pulled her out of the way. He
rolled right over throwing her into my arms. I saw a brief flash of
someone running away, and then a man of the tribe bounded in a
great leap right over our heads, landed with a cartwheel that
carried him with greater momentum towards his prey. He was bronzed
and barefoot and wore the skins of the tribe as well as the cloth
bindings and the small neckpiece. He was a hunter. I was in no
doubt that he had seen us in that fraction of a second of a
gymnastic display that my old teacher might have actually described
as impressive.

Jared and Janey
were practically laid on top of me. We didn’t move for fear of more
soldiers. We had to wait. I tried to move slightly because I was
being squashed. Jared gripped my upper arm to still me. Janey
rolled her eyes at me. She was sandwiched between us, her nose and
mouth an inch from mine. We all listened. Then relief. I heard them
calling to each other. The sign the hunt was successful. It was a
cry like a bird; I recognised it then. We all relaxed slightly
relieved. Janey smiled at me.

‘I must say
Milnes; you are quite the muscly man now.’

I could feel
myself blushing. Janey was pressed down on me in a way that would
leave no room for excuses should my mind stray in the wrong
direction.

‘Jared?’ I
asked. He moved and turned towards the group that now came towards
us. Two soldiers were being held quite firmly in a strange arm lock
by two of the hunters, a third came forward directly to us. Those
captured were unharmed. But then it wasn’t the way of the tribe to
take life without reason.

‘Ah! The Chief
of the Pale Tribe!’ the warrior held out his hand to Jared.

‘Maki?’ Jared
asked as he stood.

‘We will speak
of names when they are gone from here.’ Here the warrior indicated
the two soldiers, and drew a knife from a leather sheath at his
waist.

‘May I ask for
a question to be answered before you sent them home?’ Jared was
polite but firm.

‘As you wish?’
the one Jared had identified as Maki stood aside. I noticed he kept
the knife in sight all the time.

Jared went
forward to the soldier nearest to us; he bent over and whispered
something in the man’s ear. The soldier shook his head. He seemed
angry but unafraid. Jared nodded and Maki moved swift as lightning.
There was a drift of dust that dissolved into the air. I wasn’t
quite sure but I thought he had marked his hand with the point of
the knife. And the soldier had just vanished as I had seen the
others do a while ago. Jared spoke quietly to the other, who seemed
hesitant. He said something back to Jared, who stood for a moment
contemplating the answer he had received. I thought it was high
time we joined in the discussion so I went forward.

‘I have seen
the Divided Man,’ said the soldier, ‘He’s here. Not far away. He
wants a word with you!’ he seemed more confident then.

Jared looked at
me, ‘Tell him,’ Jared began, and turned back to the soldier, ‘that
Jared Arden requires his compliance in one thing.’

‘Really?’ the
soldier was almost sneering.

‘You see the
woman?’ asked Jared.

The soldier
nodded.

‘She has
certain powers. She can tear you into two people. And we can keep
one of them here as insurance if you don’t do what we ask.’

‘Yes… yes of
course....’ the man blanched, and his attitude became deferential
and someone wheedling, ‘whatever you want of course I’ll do it.
Just say it!’

‘Good,’ Jared
told him, ‘So now you go back to Alexander and say that he must
come to the jungle entrance at exactly six o’clock tomorrow. He
will bring the drugs for all our team; that is thirteen people. And
then I will go with him and do whatever he wishes.’

The man seemed
surprized. ‘That is all?’

‘Tell him
exactly what I told you. Exactly, do you understand? And then we
will send you home.’ The man was relieved then, perplexed even.

‘Release him
now.’ Jared ordered.

The hunter let
the man go. He scurried into the trees as quickly as he could. A
few minutes later we heard the distant roar of a desert
vehicle.

‘Did you know
he had a transport?’ I asked, ‘And what the hell is this plan? I
wish you would share this with us first.’

‘David. Stop,
please.’ Jared gave me that look I hadn’t seen for a long time, ‘I
will ask just one thing of you.’

‘What’s
that?’

‘That you trust
me.’

I didn’t reply.
I felt ashamed. Not for the first time, at my mouth being in gear
before the rest of me. I thought of the fear that he had chased
away at that distant shore. My cheeks were burning now with a sense
of real impropriety. The tribesmen stood impassively by while this
exchange took place.

‘I’m sorry.’ I
said, ‘I do trust you. I mean I will Chief.’

The one called
Maki smiled; ‘Mr Milnes. We were looking for you. And you have
brought your Chief back. It is a good day.’

They turned at
once and began to stride swiftly through the tangles of grasses and
bushes and then down to a river crossing.

We waded across
the stream and continued up quite a steep gradient for about 50
feet or so. Then it levelled out and opened into grassy area and
forested patches. I struggled to keep up at this point; but the
feeling of not wanting to let Jared down kept me going. I walked
very fast on and on, way past the point when I would normally have
needed rest. Janey kept her serious face on all the time. I thought
it was because it was about what Jared had said. But it dawned on
me a little while later that she was quickly arriving at a point
that most people rarely actually arrive at… to meet with herself.
She ignored me. Not because of anything really to do with me… but
she was focusing inward, finding the words, the way of being that
expressed the voice inside to reach out to the other; to the twin
who really was that other self. Or like when you cannot make up
your mind. Or when one thing is not decided, and you wait and
wonder what you will eventually do. She glanced at me once. But it
was only to see if I was catching back up when I lagged behind
momentarily.

We entered the
landscape that I knew to be near the home of the tribe at about
three o’clock. I still hadn’t got back into the days being the
“normal” length again. I yawned as we stopped and looked about.
Maki stood listening. Then we slipped into some bushes and followed
a barely discernible path through this area of the forest. We came
out near to the hollow drop of the great water fall. That
background roar had been absent for some time and now it hummed
with a familiar notes of watery comfort. I would soon be able to
rest. We turned a sharp corner and entered a little maze of
channels that were open to the air above. Then went through a
little arch and entered the city underground, where the waterfall
was the glass to the window in the wall of a deep pit. The sun
slanted into the placed that housed those balconies where the
weavers and spinners did their work. We were taken to rooms where
the evening light would illuminate the place for one hour with a
golden haze at the approach of the burning down of the day. And
then lamps would be lit and, as Maki informed us, we would eat.