Sky Child (18 page)

32

Once Flot finishes eating, I return to the cooking room and fill the bowl with my own dinner. I take it back to our room and eat while Flot tries to fall asleep. As I finish my meal, I can hear him quietly snoring.

Now I wait. I have to make sure that everyone has left the feast, and that they are all asleep, before I carry out my plan. I cannot be seen. Not by anyone if this is going to work. So I wait until I stop hearing noises, and then longer after that.

While I wait, I think about all the horrible things that have happened recently. I spend part of the time crying, the other part trying not to cry. Finally, after what feels like forever, I am sure that everyone is asleep.

I walk down less used side-tunnels, and hide in the shadows as much as I can. Some of the protectors of the Crag walk the tunnels during the night, making sure that animals haven't come into the cave, looking for food. I didn't really pay attention to them much before, but now I must avoid them. It would be very difficult to explain why I was up when everyone else is asleep.

It is not their job to protect people from each other, but if one of them sees me, it might get back to Chaff that I was wandering the halls at night. That would make him suspicious, and it could ruin my plan.

As I move along a well lit tunnel, I hear very faint footsteps coming near me. I notice light moving around a corner. It is probably one of the Crag protectors, walking around, carrying a glowing stick.

I turn and move as fast as I can, away from the protector and down a side-tunnel. I see a large rock toward the end of the tunnel that points at the ceiling like a spear. I panic, because as I go past the rock, I realize that I am at a dead end.

I lie down on the floor, on my side, trying to make myself as small as possible. That way, when the protector comes by, he won't see me around the rock. I stop moving, and I pray to the Sky Gods that I'm not found.

The footsteps grow nearer and then stop. I watch as light dances around the rock, throwing its shadow against the cave walls behind me. I never see any part of my own shadow on the wall, which makes me think that the protector can't see me. I am relieved when I finally hear the footsteps of the protector disappear.

I look around the rock slowly, just to make sure that I wasn't wrong. Thankfully, I am alone. I move back down the tunnel and turn toward Chaff's room, leaving the dead end behind me.

As I walk, I do my best to walk quietly. Some tunnels can make sounds louder, or travel a long distance. Because of that, I have to be careful not to make much noise.

I stay in the shadows, jumping across light only when absolutely necessary. I pass by several rooms that still have glowing sticks burning in them. I do my best to stay hidden as I look into them, making sure that I am not being watched. As I come up to the room nearest Chaff's, I hear someone moving inside.

I look down on the ground in front of the room, and watch the shadow of the room's owner move back and forth in front of the light. I try to figure out what they are doing from the shadow, but the movements are so quick that it is hard to tell. That is when the shadow suddenly gets much larger.

I jump away from the shadow and push myself against the wall near the opening of the room. Several bumps in the wall crash against my back, knocking my breath out of me. I start to panic, because I can't breathe right. But I know that if I make a sound it will mean the end of my plan. If the shadow that I am hiding from is a killer, it could also mean the end of me.

I wait. I slowly draw a breath, using all of my strength to stay quiet. It causes my body to shake, but I make no noise. Finally, the shadow goes back into their room and puts out their glowing stick.

There is very little light for me to see by, so I have to use my feet to feel for my next step. I see Chaff's room ahead, but not much light comes out of it. At least I can see where I am heading. I realize now that there was one part of my plan that I hadn't yet figured out: how do I search Chaff's room if Chaff is in it?

If he puts out his glowing stick, I won't be able to see well enough to search his room. If I look into his room and his glowing stick is still lit, and he sees me, then I am dead. But I would rather he catch me than have to protect myself, killing him and dooming the Crag.

As I get closer to Chaff's room, I hear the sound of snoring. The Sky Gods have smiled on me. I move around the corner, pull back the curtain, and look into his room. He is asleep, flat on his stomach. Next to him is a pitcher that is nearly empty. I can smell the beer inside it from many steps away. I am very lucky, because I know that people who drink too much beer sleep very deeply. I should be able to look through his room without waking him.

I step inside, and the first thing I notice is the smell. It smells like rotten food. As I move closer to Chaff, I realize that it's him that smells, and not something in the room. I try hard not to throw up, but I start gagging from the odor. I have to pinch my nose and breathe through my mouth just to get air inside me.

I look around Chaff's room. It is the largest in the Crag by far. I see the table I sat at, with the big rocks that look like chairs. Further into the room is a space where Chaff hangs his clothes. He also has a set of shelves, with many odd things on it that I have never seen before. Some of them are made out of metal, while others look like they are made from some shiny and brightly colored... stuff.

I pick up one of the shiny objects, and I am able to bend it in my hand. It seems strong, almost like metal, but it is lightweight. I wonder what this strange thing is. It looks like a handle, with some sort of flat spoon at the end, but it wouldn't work at all as a spoon, because it has slots in it.

I resist the urge to take it with me, and instead I keep looking. I try to look for an object that could hold things. There are only a few objects that look like they might.

The first object I try seems like it's made out of the same stuff that some of our bowls are made out of. It's shiny, and has an odd blue creature on it with a pair of large white eyes. The creature looks like it is holding a light brown circle of food up to its mouth. The food has dark brown spots on it. I have absolutely no idea what it is. I pick the creature up off of the top of the object and look inside, but I find nothing.

I hear a loud noise and jump, but I realize it's just a change in Chaff's snoring. It startles me so badly that it takes me a moment to catch my breath.

The next thing I look at is a box made of metal. It has a red handle that is made from the same stuff that the flat spoon thing was made out of. On the outside of the box is an image of a man standing next to what looks like some large evil creature with a long, sideways red eye.

I open up the box and inside is a smaller, round container. I shake it, and there doesn't seem to be anything inside. I can't easily remove the top of this container, so I twist it, trying to force it off. As I twist, it loosens. I keep twisting, and it finally comes apart. Inside, just like the metal box, it is empty.

The last box I check is just that: a box. It is brown and made of wood, and has many small shapes on it. I try to find a lid, but it doesn't seem to have one. I shake it, but it does not open. I twist it, but still, nothing happens. Just as I am about to give up, my thumb moves a piece of wood on one of the sides.

I try pulling on the piece, but it won't move. It only slides back and forth. I leave it pulled out, and check the box for other pieces to move. After playing with the box for a while, I find another piece that slides. I pull it all the way out too. The next piece I find is by the first piece that moved. Even with many pieces pulled out, I can't get it to open.

I start to get frustrated and accidentally drop the box. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest as I turn my head to see if Chaff is awake. Thankfully, he is still asleep on his mat.

I pick up the box, and the entire side of the box with the first moving piece slides down. I can see that the top of the box could pull out, if the side that slid down could move down even further. I try moving more of the side, but only the pair of pieces can move.

It takes me a while to realize that maybe the pieces shouldn't be pulled out all the way. That maybe they only need to be pulled out some. So I start moving the pieces in and out, until finally the side moves down, and I can slide off the top. I look inside, but there is nothing.

I get angry that I wasted so much time trying to open the box. I put the box back together the way I found it and set it down on the shelf. It only takes me a few more moments to realize that the paper isn't hidden on the shelves.

I look around the room, trying to find some other place where he might be hiding such important information. That's when I look down at Chaff, sleeping on his bed mat. What better place to hide something important than underneath you?

It makes sense. Someone would have to be a fool to try to move a sleeping person, especially one that might wake up and kill you for it. Also, with Chaff's large size, it would take many people working together to move him.

I decide to leave because I have nowhere else I can look. I am now certain that the paper is hidden underneath him. I very carefully make my way past Chaff, pinching my nose and holding my breath as I go by. I still cannot believe how bad he smells.

Once I leave his room, I move as quickly as I can until I am sure I can breathe the air again. I cough, realize my mistake, and cover my mouth with my hands. I can hear the sound of a protector coming down the tunnel that I am in. Thankfully, it is long and curved, but I won't be able to escape with the protector walking so quickly.

I come to a room that has its glowing stick still burning. I look inside, and a pair of girls are asleep. They both look like they have seen the same amount of snows as me. I slip inside, and lay on the hard stone floor next to them, pretending to be asleep. The footsteps of the Crag protector stop right in front of the girls' room.

I keep my eyes closed and my mouth open a little to breathe. Sometimes I look at Jet and Flot when they are asleep, and that is how they look. Or at least how Jet used to look when he slept. The feeling of loss from Jet's death overwhelms me. I can feel a tear running down my cheek. I have to hope that the protector doesn't see it.

I can hear him breathing now, staring at each of the us. It sounds like he is making a noise with his mouth, like he is licking his lips. I am disgusted by the sound, but I don't really know why.

Eventually, the protector leaves the room. I look over and see the girls, and they are still asleep. I roll over onto my stomach and push myself up and off the ground. I decide to follow the protector, but I keep him far ahead of me. I try to take my steps at the same time he takes his, so that he cannot hear me.

It helps that the big tunnels in the Crag almost form a circle, with both ends meeting at the mouth. Sometimes the protector goes down a side-tunnel, so I have to stop and wait for him. But then he comes back into the main tunnels, and I can follow him again. It seems to take forever. I have a hard time holding in my yawns as I get more and more tired.

Finally, I reach our room. Flot, thankfully, is still asleep, although I can tell he is having a rough time of it because of his injuries. I can only imagine how bad his nightmares must be after losing Jet. I wish there was a way I could make him feel better, if only a little.

I take off my clothes, throw them in a pile on the ground and slip under my blanket. Even though I am tired, I have a hard time falling asleep. I can't help but feel that I have failed Jet; that it's all my fault he's dead. I know it was Chaff and his evil sons that killed him, but it was my stubborness that pushed them to it.

I also lose sleep trying to figure out how I am going to get the paper I need, if it even still exists. I worry that once he had the knowledge, Chaff destroyed the missing page. I know if I wanted to keep a secret, that I would do everything I could to destroy any proof of it.

At the same time, Chaff may want to make sure that at least one of his sons runs things after his death, and you never know when you might meet your end. You can be sure that Sickle and Scythe would turn Chaff's room upside down looking for the secret of the harvest. They would probably find the information if it was hidden under Chaff's bed mat.

I am also sure that neither Sickle nor Scythe know how to grow things. If they did, they would have killed Chaff long ago. I hold onto that thought as I finally force myself to rest.