The August Five Part 20

When he was back inside his room in Tauber Hall with the door locked, he stared out the window at the fires flickering on the horizon. What would the world be like tomorrow? Across the river, the Plough and Sun was either under attack or burned to the ground. Somewhere, Emilie was harboring the vain hope that Tommy might be able to do something to help. But he had nothing to offer her or anyone else.

27.

OFFICERS RAID ILLEGAL COTTAGER BUSINESS.

Zunft soldiers raided Green Timbers, a grocery in South Sevenna that has been linked to illegal cottager activities. "There are many more of these establishments," said an officer from the Zunft army. "They are like a cancer eating away at the economic health of Seahaven."

-Zunft Chronicle, Evening Edition, November 3 Bern Sh.o.r.e had rekindled Tamsin's rage. She had so many troubles on her mind, but all she could think about was his smug face. It was no wonder that Mrs. Trueblood had hated him so much. Tamsin wished she had punched Bern and broken those pearly white teeth. She stalked the streets for a while, but eventually she grew weary of being furious and headed toward the Plough and Sun, where hopefully someone had news of Gavin. When she reached the other side of Shadow Bridge, she heard boots pounding toward her. She whirled around, ready to fight, but it was only Navid.

"Not that way," he said desperately. "Come this way."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I've been waiting and waiting for you," Navid said. The boy was visibly upset. "Mama said to wait by this bridge because you would most likely use it. I waited forever, and I was certain you wouldn't come. But you came!"

Confused by his babbling, Tamsin let Navid lead her into an alley and out of sight. It was getting dark, and she couldn't imagine the Leahys telling their son to wait by Shadow Bridge for her. Sure, she used it often, but there were a number of other routes she might have taken. They had no idea what direction she would be coming from.

"Slow down," Tamsin said, and laid her hands on Navid's shoulders. He was a tough boy, and he was doing his best to seem that way now, but his lip was curled like he was trying not to cry. "I don't understand."

"Papa told me that I had to watch for you," he said. "He said if I didn't see you by the time I heard the eight o'clock bell, I was supposed to find a hiding place on the rooftops and spend the night."

"Navid, what is going on?" Tamsin asked.

"The Zunft soldiers crossed the Seventh Stone and Hanged Bridges," he said. "And they have checkpoints at the corner of Connell and Ash."

"How many?" Tamsin asked.

"I don't know," the boy said helplessly.

"Let's go to the pub," Tamsin said. "Let's see what's happening."

"No, Papa told me to find you and not let you go to the pub," Navid insisted. "He made me promise. He said that you're in charge of me now. You have to keep me safe."

"You're not fooling me," she said, trying to sound lighthearted. "No one needs to keep you safe. You're the one helping me."

Navid gave her a shaky grin. "Either way, Papa said we had to stick together. And we can't go to the pub."

"All right, we won't go by the street," Tamsin agreed. "But what about we take the roofs? I'm sure you know the way."

Navid thought about this seriously. "Yes, and there aren't any big gaps between here and there. But you have to stay down and follow me."

"I promise," Tamsin said. She watched Navid as he quickly scampered up the drainpipe like a squirrel climbing up a tree. Tamsin was strong, but she wasn't sure she could manage the same feat. Then she noticed ridges in the bricks that she could use like a ladder, but it still took her twice as long to reach the top. She was climbing over the railing and onto the roof when a loud explosion jarred them. The impact knocked Tamsin and Navid off their feet and onto the rough shingles. Had the explosion happened a moment earlier, Tamsin would have fallen down to the cobblestones. Tamsin started to pick herself up, but Navid tugged her back down.

"You're too tall," he said. "The soldiers might see you from the ground."

Hunched uncomfortably, they crawled across the roofs of three row houses that ab.u.t.ted up against each other before Navid stopped and pointed at the far corner. The roof had a decorative wooden railing and a small section had broken away.

"You can see the pub through that gap," he said. "But keep your head below the railing."

"I'll check it out, and then we'll go somewhere safe," she said. "You stay here, all right?"

She thought he would disagree with this, but he didn't. He nodded and chewed on his dirty fingernail. Tamsin crept forward and peered through the ruined railing. Across the street, the Plough and Sun was engulfed in flames. Fire shot out of the open door and through the shattered windows. Guards with chatter-guns forced people to kneel in the middle of the street. From where she was, Tamsin couldn't see their faces clearly, but one of them had muscular shoulders and a lean stature that reminded her of Brian Leahy. There were no women to be seen, so she didn't know where Katherine might be. She pushed herself back from the edge and crawled to where Navid was waiting.

"What did you see?" Navid asked.

"It's on fire, but they got everyone out," Tamsin said.

"Are they trying to put it out?" Navid asked.

"Yes," she lied. "Let's go find somewhere to hide, like your papa wanted. You know where the shrine is? Can we get there on the roofs?"

Navid nodded. "We can get all the way there. I've done it before."

"All right, I'll follow you," she said. "We'll go as slow as we need to. We'll be like shadows, and no one will ever know we're here."

Having a plan seemed to cheer Navid up, and the two of them scuttled across the rooftops until their hands were raw and bleeding. Explosions rocked the night and sparks rained down, and it took half the night to make it to the dead-end alley. They spent the rest of the night huddled together in the cellar deep underground behind a locked door while the faces of the missing watched over them. Finally, they fell asleep as the sun made its way into the sky, but its rays went unseen by the exhausted pair.

It was late afternoon when they finally made their way up the stairs. Tamsin pushed the door open a crack, almost expecting to see soldiers waiting for them. There was no one in sight, not even when they reached the street.

"It's like we're the last people in the world," Navid said, glancing up and down the deserted street.

She took Navid's hand. She wanted to tell him that everything was going to be fine, but she didn't know if that was true. They didn't have to go far before they saw wreckage. A building on the corner had been reduced to rubble. It had been a produce market, one of the bookless shops operated by cottagers but owned by a Zunft sympathizer. Tamsin tried to recall the name, Green Timbers, or something like that. They turned the corner and the next street was worse. One entire side had caught fire, and all the row houses were reduced to ash.

"Where should we go?" Navid asked, still gripping her hand.

"Let me think for a second," Tamsin said. She knew that wandering around in the open wasn't very clever, but she couldn't go back and hide in the shrine without more information. She was the author of The Right to Rule, and Colston had attacked the cottagers because of the Cessation. With every footstep through the ash and rubble, Tamsin's guilt grew heavier. She had been a destroyer after all.

"Do you think my parents are alive?" Navid asked. "Can we see if they're at our house?"

"The soldiers might be there," she said. "We can't go to the pub either."

The pub was leveled, but she didn't want to tell Navid that. Tamsin thought desperately about where they should go. Her father was dead, and Gavin was in the hands of the Zunft. Back on Aeren, her mother and sisters would stand by her, but they were unaware of what had happened. Maybe she should take Navid back to Aeren, but there was no way to afford the ferry.

"Ash Street Garden," Navid suggested. "Let's go talk to Nova."

Tamsin nodded in agreement-maybe the Zunft had left the garden alone. On Ash Street, one store had been burned, but most of the street was undamaged. Rover engines rumbled to life in the distance. Navid glanced at Tamsin fearfully and they rushed through the open gate. Except for the broken greenhouses, which had been destroyed last month, the garden was unaffected by the previous night's violence. But there was no one inside the walls, and Tamsin wondered if every cottager in the city had been killed or arrested. Then something moved inside one of the ruined greenhouses. Tamsin and Navid crept cautiously toward it. There was a flash of gray, and then Nova appeared. She was backing through the doorway and trying to tug an unbroken pane of gla.s.s out the door.

"Nova!" Navid called.

Nova spun around, and when she saw Navid, joy bloomed on her aged face. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around the boy.

"Your mother is searching for you," she said after a long hug. "She's staying at the Millers' house. Do you know where that is?"

"Sure," Navid said. "It's the third house from the corner of River and Front Streets."

"Go straight there," Nova said. "Your mother will be frantic by now."

Navid nodded. "Bye, Tamsin. I'm going to see Mama."

After Tamsin watched him run toward the gate, she turned back to Nova. "Is it safe for him to go?"

"The Cessation is over," Nova said. "I guess you haven't seen the damage, but it's over."

"Katherine Leahy is safe?" Tamsin asked. "Who else? Who did we lose?"

Nova shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. There were a lot of arrests. Brian Leahy, for one."

"Did the soldiers leave?" Tamsin asked. "Did they go back to North Sevenna?"

"After they burned our businesses to the ground," Nova said.

Tamsin sank down on her heels and stared up at the gardener. "What do I do now, Nova? Tell me what I should do."

Nova gazed down at her sadly. "Help me put this gla.s.s in. Help me make the plants grow. That's what I'm going to do. That's all I know how to do."

28.

RETURN TO NORMALCY.

"The work stoppage is over, and our city is returning to normal," said Chief Administrator Sh.o.r.e.

-Zunft Chronicle, November 4 When Tommy awoke, it was a beautiful day outside his window. For a moment, he forgot that the world had turned upside down, but then he remembered the sea of sparkling gla.s.s in front of the burned-out toy store and the glow of the fires that had burned long into the night. Quickly, he rolled over and checked his chronometer. He was supposed to meet Ellie at noon, and it was now past eleven. It was much later than he usually slept, and he had missed the morning meal, if there had been one. As Tommy dressed and scrubbed his face, his heart was beating with nervousness. It seemed like the sun shouldn't be shining today. Like even the sky should show some indication that something had changed.

On his way through the Seminary grounds to the gate, he reminded himself that he didn't know what had happened, not for certain. Maybe every name on that list hadn't been destroyed. Maybe his father's ominous p.r.o.nouncements were only rhetoric and not facts. On Dawson Street, he pa.s.sed cottager laborers cleaning up gla.s.s in front of the boarded-up shop. For the first time in days, there were shoppers along the street. It was a lighter crowd than typical for a Sat.u.r.day morning, at least before the Cessation, but everything seemed so normal.

When he got to Sebastian's Circle, Ellie was perched on the edge of the bench. She shivered in the shadow of the old oak tree. The hood of her green wool coat was pulled up, and she was wearing black leather gloves and a scarf, but she was clearly miserable. The bench across the path was in a beam of sunlight, and he found it endearing that she was so particular about waiting for him in the correct location.

"Hey," he said. "Are you all right?"

"I hate the world," she said miserably. "I hate my place in it."

He sat down beside her, unsure of what to say.

"Do you know how many explosions there were?" she asked. "They're calling it the Night of a Hundred Fires. Abel's Toys was the only business. .h.i.t on Dawson Street, but I heard the porters talking and they said the cottager districts were decimated."

"I guess it ended the Cessation," he said.

Ellie nodded. "It's horrible that your father gets to win this way. Oh, and Kristin and I are expelled."

"Wait, what?" Tommy asked.

"It happened yesterday," Ellie said. "That's why I wanted to meet you up here. But it seems so unimportant compared to what happened last night."

"It is important!" Tommy said. "What's going to happen?"

"I'm all packed," Ellie said. "After we're done here, I'm taking the ferry to Norde. I'm going to stay with Kristin's family. With Hywel missing, I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Oh, Ellie, I'm so sorry," Tommy said. "I wish there was something I could do."

She scooted closer to him and grabbed both his hands with her gloved fingers. "I only have a few minutes, but I need to tell you something."

"All right," he said. He was feeling a little choked up. Ellie was smart, tough, and spoke her mind. And now he had no idea if he was ever going to see her again.

"I didn't really trust you," Ellie said, struggling with her words. "Not for a long time. You were the son of the chief administrator."

"Do you trust me now?" he asked.

"Yes, and I should have said something earlier," she said. "I should have told you."

"Told me what?"

"I was with Mr. Hywel the night before he disappeared," Ellie said. "Since I became his ward, I handled his paperwork and calendar. I spent a lot of time in his office. Honestly, I probably knew his business better than he did. He was an extremely disorganized man. Anyway, we were planning on going to Norde for the summer holiday, but that night, he got a message from your father."

"From my father? What night was this?"

"Two nights before the August Rising," Ellie said. "I don't know what your father said to get him to go all the way to Aeren, but he immediately changed his plans and left for Sh.o.r.e Manor."

"Wait, he went to Aeren the day before the Rising?" Tommy asked.

"Toulson Hywel wasn't in Sevenna City when he was kidnapped. He wasn't on Norde. He was with Colston Sh.o.r.e at your manor on Aeren."

Tommy stared at her. "What does that mean? He was kidnapped by cottagers on Aeren?"

"I don't know," Ellie said. "You were there that day, right? You never saw him?"

"No, I didn't," Tommy said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he remembered the carriage in front of the manor house when he and Bern had set out for Giant's Ridge. The Zunft symbol had been removed, and he'd found that strange at the time. He'd seen two figures standing near the window of his father's library. Could it have been Sh.o.r.e and Hywel? There was no way to tell.

Tears filled Ellie's eyes and she wiped them on her sleeve. "I'll miss you, Tommy," she said. "If things ever get better, come and visit me on Norde. Or send word to Kristin's family, and I'll come back for a visit. We'll meet here and freeze together on this bench."

Tommy put his arm around Ellie's shoulders and hugged her. "Don't worry, we'll see each other again," he said, wondering if it was a promise he could keep.

Back at Tauber Hall, he opened the door to his rooms and had an unpleasant shock when he realized that someone was already there. Bern sat in his chair with his feet up on Tommy's desk, pretending to read a book.

"Get your feet off my desk," Tommy said. He couldn't believe that he'd forgotten to lock his door. "And turn the book right-side up."

Bern grinned sheepishly at the cover and then tossed the book onto the desk.