The Scourge

  With renewed energy, Della helped me again to gather the laundry, simply for the fun of pushing it out the window. By the time I had the first load gathered, the window was already open.

  "Let's do the entire floor at once!" she proposed.

  That sounded good to me, so we collected everything into a large clump, and then worked together to push all the laundry out at once. It fell in a giant pile, billowing down the sides of the prison walls--

  "Arrrgh!"

  --and directly onto the head of a warden who had wandered over to figure out what a large pile of laundry was doing in front of the prison.

  Once he had pulled everything off his head and arms, he pointed up at us. "Whoever did this, stay right where you are! I'm coming to get you!"

  The total time I had been able to stay out of trouble: one hour.

  Almost a record for me.

  Go find a room to clean out," I said to Della. "Quickly. Go!"

  Della shook her head. "The window was my idea."

  "But it's my job, so either way I'll get the blame. You don't have to get it too."

  Della nodded and hurried away. I decided the best chance I had of avoiding a second night in the cage was to be as straightforward as possible. At least, that strategy had always worked when I was in trouble with my parents.

  As soon as the warden was in front of me on the stairs, I lowered my head.

  "I didn't see you there, sir, I'm sorry."

  "Laundry is to be carried down the stairs, not thrown out the windows where it can scatter all over the dirt."

  No, we wouldn't want to get the dirt on the dirty laundry. But I only said, "Of course not, sir."

  That stopped him for a minute. Obviously he hadn't expected me to agree with him so easily.

  "Whose idea was this?"

  I saw Della peek around the corner of the room she was in. Quickly, I said, "My idea, sir. I did it alone."

  "I thought I heard giggling."

  Now Della disappeared into her room. "It was only me laughing," I said. "There's no one else." To prove it, I tried giggling. It didn't sound at all like Della's higher-pitched laugh, and irritated the warden.

  The warden shoved me against the wall nearest to the window. "Would you like it if I treated you the same way you just treated that laundry?"

  I tried calculating in my mind how much we'd thrown out the window. Would it be enough to cushion me if necessary? No, probably not.

  "I won't do it again ... sir." It annoyed me to lower my eyes and curb the edge in my voice, but fake humility was better than really being tossed out the window. "If you let me go, I'll get it all gathered up and delivered for washing."

  He loosened his hold. "You will, and tomorrow you will be assigned different work, harder work. Clearly, you are not fit for laundry service. And as punishment, you will miss the evening meal tonight."

  That was better news than it could have been. Besides, I had yet to get food from the tent, so another meal shouldn't make much difference.

  "Yes, sir." Hopefully, no argument meant no further punishment.

  I followed him down the stairs and immediately gathered up all the laundry I'd thrown out the window. Regardless of what he'd said, I still thought throwing it out the windows had been a fine idea. Walking the individual loads downstairs would've taken far more time and cost me valuable energy. It was like the treadmill I'd seen last night--extra work expended for no good reason.

  After delivering the laundry to be washed, I decided to explore the Colony on my own and, with a little luck, bump into Weevil along the way. I didn't know what job I'd be assigned tomorrow, but if it was harder, then I figured I should enjoy today the best I could.

  Northwest of the old prison were the garden and stables for a few dozen chickens and four miserable-looking cows. I didn't stay there long, mostly because I figured the workers there would ask for help. Nor did I go any farther north. Regardless of what I might find along the way, the caves were somewhere in that direction, and I didn't want to accidentally lead anyone there.

  So I moved south, briefly looking around the fence at the treadmill where men were still exhausting themselves with the relentless climb. I wanted to stop and tell the nearby warden about my idea to have water move the treadmill instead. It would probably grind the wheat better because water didn't wear out like muscles, and would preserve the health of these men. But I didn't say anything. I was already in enough trouble.

  I didn't want Weevil to learn I'd lost my supper again. He'd try to split his food in half, like he'd no doubt done for the last two meals. Not this next one, that was only for him. I'd eat tomorrow.

  I passed the fenced yard and noticed there was no one in the cage today. That seemed like both good news and bad. Bad because it would've been comforting to know I wasn't the only person here who struggled with rules. And good, because if anyone had nearly entered that cage tonight, it was me.

  I didn't want to get too close to the infirmary either, so instead I went as far east as possible, almost to the beach. As I walked, I passed barracks that were probably for the wardens and several other supply tents. Maybe some of them held food, a possibility I certainly would have investigated if I were not determined to avoid trouble.

  So I slipped past the buildings and tents, all the way to the tall fence posts on the south end of the Colony. They were thick and bound together by wide leather straps. Not even a fly could squeeze between them. They extended out from the beach into the water, beyond where a person could reasonably swim. From the beach, I could see Keldan off in the distance, including some of the homes near the beach there. Yet even in perfect health, I couldn't make it across. These were rough waters. Still, looking at Keldan made me miss my home too much, so I decided not to return to the beach until I was cured and in possession of a boat to take me home.

  From the beach, I followed the fence inland, knowing full well I shouldn't be here--although no wardens had warned me away, it seemed perfectly obvious. Curiosity burned within me for what could possibly be on the other side of this fence. Maybe it was nothing in particular. This was a leftover fence from when the island had been a prison, and obviously the prisoners had needed some sort of border.

  If anything was on that side, it was likely just barren countryside, and perhaps graves for the people who had already been lost to the Scourge. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more that made sense. That's probably what Weevil and I had heard last night--wardens out digging grave sites. Those souls lost to the Scourge had to be buried somewhere. If that was the case, then maybe I didn't want to cross this fence anymore.

  As I continued to walk inland, I saw a deep river that ran beneath the fence posts, its current coming in from the other side. I dipped my hand into the river, testing the waters. The current was strong enough that it'd be difficult to get beneath the fence this way. Difficult, but not impossible. If I ever changed my mind and decided to cross the fence, this was my way out.

  But not today. Not when I'd have to explain how I had gotten so wet. Then I'd be in far more trouble than the loss of a meal.

  Instead, I had to wait until I wouldn't be caught. Or when I was already in so much trouble that testing myself against a strong river was better than remaining here.

  On my way back to the Colony square, somewhere ahead I heard the crunching of footsteps on gravel and ducked behind a tree. From there, I saw the warden who had caught me with the laundry earlier. He turned into the barracks, forgetting to close the door behind him. The familiar voice of Warden Gossel greeted him with, "What are you doing here so early?"

  "I'm taking a break. That grub girl is still causing problems. We should send her to the infirmary today."

  Gossel mumbled his sympathies, then added, "I'd have taken her directly there if I could have, but that goes against orders. Governor Felling is clear about who goes to the infirmary. No one goes for misbehavior. Rule breakers are our problem."

  "Well, we've never had a grub here before. If the g
overnor is sending us grubs, then our rules have to change."

  "That boy who came with her hasn't been a problem."

  No, I thought. That's because Weevil is more clever than I am about getting caught. If anything, since coming here he had done far more wrong than I had.

  "The boy isn't even sick, no matter how hard he tries to pretend when we're watching. Who let him come over in the first place?"

  "Doesn't matter," Gossel said. "He'll end up in the infirmary too, probably sooner than the girl. They all do."

  They laughed at that, which made the hairs of my arms bristle. Obviously, the longer he was here, the more likely Weevil would get sick. But for Warden Gossel to be so callous about sending people to a place they'd never leave--sending them to their deaths--that angered me.

  "Listen," Gossel continued, "the same boat that brought me here is leaving the island tonight to get supplies. I'll send along a note to the governor about the grub girl, warning that we'll have an uprising if we can't get her under control. Personally, I'd be fine just to take care of things myself, but it must look like an accident. If we lose the people's trust, we'll have an even bigger problem on our hands."

  I drew in a sharp breath, then clapped my hand over my mouth in hopes they hadn't heard. Were they really discussing a way to get rid of me? Why? I didn't need to be controlled. I'd already promised Weevil to obey the rules here, or at least, the rules that made sense.

  "I know just how to do it," the warden said. "She's getting assigned different work tomorrow. I'll make sure an accident happens then."

  As quickly and quietly as I could, I hurried away from the barracks. Once I was back in the Colony square, surrounded by others, I still didn't feel safe. What job did they intend to assign me tomorrow, and how would they make my death look like an accident?

  More important, why was that necessary? I hadn't done anything all that wrong, not really. Surely, others had spent time in the cage or had done a poor job with their assigned duties. Why had I been singled out? This wasn't their hatred of River People--if so, they would have targeted Weevil too. No, this was just about me.

  Gossel and the other wardens reappeared when the dinner bell rang. Of course they did. The wardens always ate first. They ate Scourge-contaminated food prepared by the hands of Scourge victims and then wandered around us while we ate. Never worrying that they might get the disease too. Never becoming sick. Never entering the infirmary while wondering if they would ever come out again.

  If they weren't afraid of the Scourge, then they were somehow protected from it. Della's father seemed to believe there were some medicines that could prevent a person from getting the Scourge. If that was true, maybe he was also right that they'd heal a person who was already sick. Della looked even worse tonight than when I'd seen her only a few hours ago. If those rumors were true, then the special medicine must be kept inside the wardens' barracks. Inside their unguarded barracks.

  All the wardens were here, eating.

  Sometimes I hated the way my brain worked, like a magnet to thoughts I should not have and actions I should not take. My mother said I was born backward and that probably explained how I'd gotten this way. Maybe she was right--I didn't know.

  "Where have you been?" Weevil asked, appearing beside me. "I looked for you in the tent. You need to get in line as soon as that bell rings or there isn't much left at the end."

  I shrugged. "I'm not hungry. You get in line."

  His eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

  "Nothing! I'm not hungry. Now go eat before it's all gone."

  "You lost meal privileges. How, Ani?"

  I turned to him, using as much anger as possible to make him go away. "Maybe I'm not hungry because the Scourge has taken my appetite! Maybe I'm not like you, someone who begins thinking about his second meal before he's even finished his first. Maybe I don't like the food here! Not everything happens because I'm in trouble!"

  Weevil looked taken aback at first, then nodded at me with a smile. "You must've really done something wrong. All right, I'll go eat. Can you at least manage to stay out of trouble until I finish?"

  No, I thought. That was definitely not my plan.

  "Yes," I said.

  He casually raked a hand through his hair. "I'll save some of my supper for you."

  I sighed. "Go eat, Weevil. Go eat as much as you can."

  He winked at me and ran back to the food tent. The minute he disappeared, I left too. I made it look as if I were headed to the old prison, then cut from there down to the beach and went southward, back to the barracks.

  I studied the barracks for several minutes, making sure no one remained inside. If they were planning an accident for me tomorrow, then getting caught here would save them the trouble. I could think of few things that would warrant a greater punishment than for me to be caught inside the wardens' living quarters.

  Finally, I snuck up to the barracks door and pressed my ear against it, listening for any sound inside. Nothing.

  I knocked. "Sir," I said. "Did you not hear the supper bell? The other wardens sent me to get you."

  No answer.

  Taking a deep breath, I looked around to be sure no one was watching me, then opened the door and slipped inside.

  The barracks weren't fancy, but the room was clean and orderly. It had beds for twelve men, all of them stacked in twos. A table in the center served as a sort of desk, and each man had a trunk for his personal possessions. A window was in the far wall, over one of the beds. If necessary, that would be my escape. Just like the laundry in the prison.

  I glanced at a half-written letter on the table, addressed to Governor Nerysa Felling. My name was on it, near the top, but thanks to the conversation I'd overheard earlier, I already knew what it said. I was a problem and might cause an uprising here if I wasn't stopped. No need to waste time reading it. I knew everything I'd done, and it was far more than what was written in that letter.

  No medicine flasks were hanging from the men's bunks, and no wardens carried medicine over their shoulders, as Scourge victims did. So their medicine must be in the individual trunks.

  I searched the one closest to me, as quickly and carefully as I could. There was a change of clothing, stacks of letters, probably to that man's family, a holy book, and some personal grooming items. But no medicine.

  The second trunk was nearly the same. Clothes, letters, books, and grooming items. No medicine.

  I started into the third. This one might've been Warden Gossel's or maybe even his commander's. Beyond the same items as the others, it held a thick key, letters from the governor, and lists of names. Scourge victims' names perhaps?

  Suddenly, I heard voices approaching the barracks. It was time to leave. I quietly closed the trunk, then climbed up to the bed and looked for the latch to open the window. Where was it? River People didn't have windows in our homes, so I didn't have much experience with them, but the prison windows opened wide. How did this one open? Did it open?

  It had to! The voices were getting closer. Even if I escaped now, they'd see me running away.

  I jumped off the bed and looked beneath the lower bunks for the best place to hide. How long would I need to stay in here? Not through the whole evening, I hoped, but I would if necessary.

  In my panic, a pain shot up my side, the first time I'd felt sick all day, but returning with a vengeance. Doubling over from the pain, I got to the floor to crawl under the nearest bed, hoping against reason that this would work.

  The barracks door opened. I wasn't yet all the way under the bed, and nothing else was down here to help me. Not unless I could hide behind tiny grains of sand and someone's missing sock. Thinking about the punishment surely headed my way made my brain want to explode.

  Then I heard a voice. "Pardon me, sirs, can you help?" That was Weevil.

  Weevil? He must have followed me here.

  "What is it?" one warden answered. Hopefully the other wasn't Gossel, who'd be more suspicious.

  "I f
eel warm. Do I have a fever? Can you check?"

  I heard the shuffling of feet as one warden moved away from the door. The other guard must've continued holding it open, though, obviously signaling his desire for Weevil to leave so they could go inside.

  With hands pressed against my aching side, I crept to the open door. I couldn't see through it to know whether the warden holding the door was looking at Weevil or not, but I had to take the chance that he was.

  "You're not warm," the warden said. "Now go away, grub, you shouldn't be down here."

  I snuck out the door and backed away from it. Almost instantly the other warden walked around the door to enter the barracks. He spotted me.

  I looked at Weevil as if I had just come from the opposite direction. "There you are! I already told you that your head wasn't warm. You didn't need to bother these nice wardens about that."

  Weevil frowned at me. "I just wanted to be sure, since I know that sometimes you tell me what I want to hear, instead of what's really going on."

  I grabbed his arm and started to pull him away. Looking back at the wardens, I said, "Sorry he troubled you. Boys can be such babies about deadly diseases, don't you think?"

  The wardens didn't laugh, but they did let us go. And as soon as they went inside, I found myself leaning more heavily on Weevil's arm.

  He stopped walking, and when he did, I closed him into a hug, clasping my hands around his neck so he wouldn't know how bad they were shaking. "Thank you, thank you."

  He pushed me back, clearly angry. "You'd better have a good reason for doing that."

  "I thought they'd have more powerful medicines, ones I could share with Della and this old woman I saw in the prison today, and everyone here who probably needs more than what the governor gives us. But I didn't find anything. Where are the wardens' medicines?"

  "Maybe they don't have any!"

  "They have to! Why aren't the wardens sick? Or the physician who tested me for the Scourge? Or the governor, who sat in the testing room with me? They know how to keep from getting sick. Whatever that secret is, the wardens must have it in their barracks!"

  He sighed. "You checked everywhere?"