Several of the girls gasped.
“Death doesn’t frighten me,” Geth added. “I’d take death over standing still any day. Now, where’s the wall? And I’m not smelling any pebble or rock you show me.”
“This way,” Anna said, defeated. “You know we would help if it would make a difference.”
“It would,” Geth said, following her.
“No,” Anna clarified, “I mean if it actually would work.”
“It will,” Geth insisted.
“You don’t understand,” Anna said. “I mean if there were no chance of failure.”
“Right,” Geth said, disgusted. “Make sure you don’t take any risks.”
“We won’t,” Anna replied, happy that Geth was now making sense.
It took only a few minutes to reach the spot where Geth had originally been waiting for Clover.
“You didn’t take me very far,” Geth observed.
“You were really heavy,” Anna said, blushing again.
Before Geth could say thanks, Anna and her followers disappeared.
“I’ll give you this,” Geth whispered into the rows of purple witt. “You guys are good at hiding.”
A tall stalk twenty feet away giggled.
Geth crouched down on the ground and looked out through the crops near the gatehouse. Black birds flew overhead, creating temporary patterns in the orange sky as the once-nitid day evaporated.
Thirty minutes later there was still no sign of Clover.
“Clover?”
Even the soil was silent.
“You should be back by now,” Geth whispered.
Silence.
Geth stood up and crept farther down the field and parallel with the wall. At the edge of the crops he looked up at the towering blockade, trying to get a better idea of just how long and far the wall ran. From where he hid there was no sign of an end in either direction.
“Come on, Clover,” Geth urged.
Geth held his hand out in front of his face and groaned over the fact that there was still enough light for him to be able to see it. The gatehouse had been silent, but now as the sky charred the rattling of chains and gears could be heard. Geth crawled over through the crops to get a better look. The large iron gate was slowly dropping.
The gate slammed down with a tremendous whomp. The sound of metal against metal screeched and was followed by a loud snap as something solid locked into place. Massive wooden doors swung shut behind the iron gate.
“I’m starting to feel unwelcomed,” Geth said to himself.
The dark was filling in fast now. Geth watched his hand disappear as he held it in front of his face once more. He then counted to sixty, smiled, and lunged from the jail of crops he had been confined to all day. He stood out on the path and breathed in quietly. He could no longer see anything.
Geth walked cautiously toward the direction of the wall. When he reached it, he touched the metal gate and stuck his hand through the bars to feel the wooden doors behind it. Neither the gate nor the doors showed any sign of budging.
Geth scooted to his right and rubbed his fingers over the stone wall. It was cold and smooth as glass. He walked alongside the wall, feeling for any sign of texture or grip that he could use to scale it.
There was nothing but slick stone.
Geth pulled out the glowing stone he was carrying in his front pocket. The light swirled around him like a snowy snake, allowing him to see three feet in all directions. He turned around and looked out toward where the fields were. He touched the wall and then glanced back at the fields.
“It could work,” Geth said to himself.
Geth stepped across the small road dividing the wall from the fields. He cupped his hands to his mouth and whispered into the rows of crops.
“Anna?”
When there was no reply he whispered again.
“I know you’re in there, Anna.”
“Maybe I am,” she answered. “But we’re staying out of this.”
“I understand,” Geth said. “Actually, I don’t, but that’s not what I want to know.”
“What do you want?” she questioned, emerging from the edge of the field like a reluctant spirit.
“Do you have a ladder?” Geth asked.
“No,” Anna said soundly.
“I didn’t think so,” Geth said with enthusiasm. “Your dreams are the result of young girls and boys?”
“That’s one theory,” Anna said. “There do seem to be excessive numbers of ballerinas and cowboys here.”
“Well,” Geth started to explain, “when I was a tree I stood outside of this house where this horrible man named Terry watched TV most of the day and I could see right in his window.”
“You were a tree?” Anna asked with concern.
“Not like your trees,” Geth insisted. “And that’s not the point. The point is that Terry watched a lot of sports, and there seemed to always be girls that yelled and could stack up on top of each other. The woman this man was married to said it was her dream to have been one of those. I can’t remember what they were called.”
“Cheerleaders,” a happy voice shouted from behind Anna.
“That’s it,” Geth said.
Anna rubbed her forehead.
“Are there any of those in your group?” Geth asked. “I thought I saw a couple earlier. Or maybe just some girls who know how to stack up.”
Anna mumbled something under her breath.
“Are there?” Geth asked again.
“Yes,” Anna admitted reluctantly.
“I just need their help for a moment,” Geth pleaded. “It’s for Eve.”
“All right,” Anna sighed. “Girls!”
The rows of witt came alive with giggling and chatter as cheerleaders and gymnasts tumbled out of the field toward Geth. Geth couldn’t see them all, but the ones he could see were wearing short uniforms and tennis shoes.
“We shouldn’t get involved,” Anna said over the muted giggling of others. “Eve knew what would happen to her.”
“I’m not just going after Eve,” Geth explained. “Apparently my friend has been waylaid.”
“He’s probably dead,” Anna said matter-of-factly.
“He’s not,” Geth insisted. “But thanks. Listen, all I need is for some of you to build one of those pyramids so that I can climb up and over the wall.”
“We could totally do that,” one of the cheerleaders said, clapping.
“Fantastic,” Geth replied, happy to finally hear some enthusiasm.
“You’re so tall,” another one of them cheered.
“Okay, quickly,” Anna ordered. “We’ll do this, but it is the extent of our commitment.”
The girls ran to the wall, and in moments seven of them were on their knees with their rears facing the wall and their hands on the ground. Almost as quickly six more climbed on top of them, and they were topped by five others. It took a little effort to get the fourth row up, but they were stable once they were in place.
“I think one row higher will do it,” Geth said.
A fifth row of three girls climbed to the top and took their place. Geth couldn’t clearly light them all up due to the weak glow of his stone. Anna stepped up beside him, holding her own glowing stone.
“Are you sure that’s high enough?” she asked. “I can’t see the top of the wall.”
“I think so,” Geth answered.
“We could try to stack up higher,” one of the mid-level cheerleaders said as she struggled to hold up all those positioned above her.
“No,” Geth said compassionately. “This will work.” He looked at Anna. “Wish me luck.”
“It won’t help,” Anna said. “You’re going to end up captured.”
??
?Thanks,” Geth said, smiling.
Geth tucked his glowing rock into his pocket. He then climbed as quickly and gently as he could. The cheerleaders and gymnasts shook and trembled slightly, but the wall at their backsides gave them adequate strength.
“I feel so useful,” one of the girls cheered as Geth climbed up and onto the top row.
Geth pressed himself against the wall and stood up on the cheerleaders. He could see Anna’s glowing stone below, but everything else was dark. Geth reached up but couldn’t feel the top of the wall. The girls beneath him began to sway and rock.
“Nothing like leaping into the dark,” Geth said to himself.
As carefully as he could, he jumped off the cheerleaders’ backs, lunging upward. His fingertips caught the top edge of the wall, and with all the strength his digits could muster, he grabbed on and pulled. He kicked at the smooth wall, trying to get some traction as the sword tied around his waist clanged against the stone. Geth moaned and grunted as he got one arm up over the top edge. He grabbed at the stone lip with his other hand and hoisted his entire body up and onto the wall.
The lithen took a moment to catch his breath and then flipped over and sat up. His legs hung down as if he were sitting on the edge of a dock looking out at the ocean.
Geth could hear movement down below as the cheerleaders broke up and scurried back into the fields to continue just living. He watched Anna’s stone disappear and two seconds later it was as quiet and black as the deepest well in a darkest forest.
Geth turned around and looked toward the city. There was nothing but darkness.
“This ought to be fun,” he said sincerely.
Most of him agreed.
Chapter Fourteen
It Takes Two to Tangle
Too few people actually look you in the eyes these days. I know that sounds like an old person lecturing you about etiquette, but it is concerning. How can people possibly know if the person they are talking to is real or an evil machine without looking that person in the eyes? I wouldn’t be alive to be typing this if it had not been for an eye-to-eye conversation that I had with a short man wearing way too much cologne. The smell didn’t give him away, but the flecks of metal and focusing coils in his eyes did.
Thank goodness for proper etiquette.
Geth was taught by his father, Wren, at a very early age not only to look people in the eyes but to be aware of everything around him. He was taught to take in every detail and marvel so that he wouldn’t miss a moment of his time alive. It was an ability that Geth had mastered. But now, as Geth sat on the top of the wall and looked out at nothing but darkness, his eyes were of no use. He took out the glowing stone, but he could still see so little. It was as if his whole world were three feet in diameter and outside of that there was nothing but mystery and the unknown.
Geth stepped carefully along the top of the wall, looking for a way down. He passed two boors that were probably lookouts by day but nothing but frozen statues by night. One of the boors was frozen in midclimb coming up from a ladder. Geth pulled the boor all the way up onto the wall and laid him on his side. He then climbed down the ladder and onto the ground.
Geth was standing near bushes with closed buds and a tree that had three different boors clinging to it. They all appeared to be staring straight at Geth, but none of them moved.
“That’s odd,” Geth whispered.
Geth bypassed a few bushes and a short stone wall, and when he reached the main road he walked straight down the middle of it. The light of his stone didn’t even stretch across the road but he moved quickly, hoping the path ahead was clear.
When the dirt path turned to cobblestone, Geth slowed down and moved to the edge. He could see the fronts of buildings and bits of a stone sidewalk. A large glass window with the word Bakery on it covered the front of a deserted store. Geth looked through the window, but there was nothing but darkness. Geth turned around and bumped into a tall wooden lamppost.
Tahlm—pauh.
A strange tiny noise came from the east. Geth slipped his glowing stone into his pocket and there was nothing but black again. He stood still, listening. When the noise didn’t repeat itself, he walked slowly along the stone path in front of the shops, listening carefully for any sound or disturbance. He moved like a blind man without a cane, sliding his feet and hands forward to feel his way through the dark.
The sound of trickling water filled his ears and he cautiously made his way toward it. He reached the headless statue at the crossroads and cupped his hands under the dripping water to take a drink.
Tahlm—pauh.
The noise was back. Geth turned his head and squinted into the dark. He slowly wiped water from his lips and brought his arms in front of him.
Tahlm—pauh!
The noise was growing and sounded like something holding its breath and then releasing it with a pop.
Tahlm—pauh! Shhhruuut, shhhruuut.
Now the sound was followed by the noise of something dragging. Geth carefully felt his way back behind the headless statue and crouched as low as he could without kneeling.
Cahlm—cluh! Scccriiit, scccriiit.
Whatever was slithering was now on the cobble-stone.
Geth’s heart raced, but not with fear. His fist was clenched and he could feel the two sides of him melding together. He saw hope and fury and the chance to fight a little evil and it made him happy. He smiled, but there was no way whatever was making the noise could see it.
Cahlm—cluh! Scccriiit, scccriiit.
The noise sounded so close that Geth stretched out his arm, wondering if he could touch whatever was making it. He could feel nothing but dark.
Something snorted.
Geth pulled the stone from his pocket, forcing fate to make a move. There, just out of his reach, was what had to be the Tangle. It was two feet taller than Geth’s six-foot height. Fleshy horns grew straight out of the sides of its head and curved up to a point at the ends. Its eyes were as wide as small plates and its pupils looked like silver dollars. Its nose and mouth jutted forward, giving the beast a doglike snout. Its chest was bare and built like a brick house. The beast’s arms looked like ropes of frozen turkeys with fleshy mitts on the end. And its massive, fur-covered legs were supported by hoofed feet. Geth momentarily wondered where the slithering had come from, but his curiosity was slaked as the beast turned and flicked a long scaly tail up and then down to the ground with a thwack.
“Whoa,” Geth whispered in awe. “Who dreamt you up?”
The Tangle lunged forward with its arms back and spat flames through the air. The fire caught one of the wooden posts at the edge of the cobblestone road and lit it up. The Tangle then lunged again and lit another pole on the other side of the crossroads. The darkness became orange as the beast lit a third pole. The boors came alive in the firelight, but they moved away from the scene to leave things to the Tangle.
Geth stepped back and looked at the now-useless glowing stone in his hand. The Tangle glared at Geth, snarling its teeth-filled mouth.
Geth reached back and threw the stone as hard as he could. The rock flew through the air and hit the beast directly between the big eyes.
The Tangle sneered and licked its lips again.
“All right,” Geth said, pulling his sword from his sheath and pointing it toward the beast.
The Tangle dropped its arms to the ground and charged at Geth, knocking over the stone statue and sending water shooting into the air. Geth spun around, just missing the right horn and clipping the beast on the right arm with his sword. The Tangle overshot Geth and ground to a stop, flipping its tail behind itself. It screamed and pounded its meaty fists against its chest.
Geth ran from the fountain toward the shops.
Light from the burning posts made things visible but confusing—shadows danced off of every angle and
shape, creating images and illusions. Geth reached the bakery as the Tangle barreled into him from behind. The sword flew backwards into the street as Geth was pushed through the front window and into the deserted shop. Glass flitted around the room, reflecting off the firelight like dust mites.
The Tangle flailed its tail as it flipped over trying to tear at Geth. It breathed out, and fire lit the ceiling of the shop. Droplets of flame dripped down and caught on the floor and tables as Geth scrambled toward the broken window. Before he could get there, the Tangle grabbed him by the right shoulder and lifted him onto his feet. Geth punched the beast in the stomach. The Tangle stumbled backwards, swinging. Its left hand grazed the right side of Geth, knocking any stability out of him. Geth fell on all fours. His dirty brown hair hung in front of his blue eyes and his soul felt like a boiling kettle with no release valve. He shot forward, hitting the Tangle in its furry knees and knocking it back out of the broken window and into the street. The Tangle pounded the cobblestones with its fists as it rolled, sending bits of exploding stone into the air.
Geth scrambled to his feet but was pulled right back down by the beast’s tail. Geth’s body slammed against the road as he reached for a chunk of the broken fountain. His right hand grabbed a large piece of granite, and as he rolled over he threw it at the Tangle’s head.
The beast screamed and grabbed at its face as Geth got to his feet and retrieved the sword.
The angry Tangle stood tall as the two of them faced each other. Geth was breathing hard and his hands and legs were scraped up and bleeding. The wooden posts were still burning, but adding to their light was the raging fire of the now-burning bakery.
Geth wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his left hand. He then hefted the sword and tried to catch his breath.
“I don’t know what you are,” Geth said to the beast, “or why you owe allegiance to Payt.”
The Tangle growled at the mention of Payt.
“But I just want to pass through,” Geth explained, stepping slowly to the left as the Tangle stepped to its right.
The two of them circled for a moment before the Tangle threw its tail up and smacked it against the ground. The impact caused Geth to wobble.