Coldmaker(31)

Moussa nodded. ‘Me too. In the Bathing Quarter. Do you know what it is, Micah?’

I sat with them on the blanket, a smile breaking free across my whole face. ‘It’s called the Opened Eye. But I also have something else, something even better.’ I licked my bottom lip, savouring the moment. Putting the carving down by my side, I pulled out the Khatmelon, bouncing it up and down in my hands.

‘You found that in the boilweed?’ Matty asked, astonished. His hands went out, but he snatched them back, a guilty look in his eyes.

I shook my head, knocking the rind so they might hear the hollow sound. ‘I found it in the hands of a girl.’

Matty’s head tilted so far I thought it might topple off his neck.

My smile grew. ‘The most wanted girl in Paphos, I might say.’

‘The Upright Boilweed Girl?’ Matty’s jaw dropped. ‘Did’ja talk to her?’

Moussa’s face darkened. ‘Micah, you know better …’

‘Can she make herself avisible?’ Matty asked.

‘You mean invincible?’

‘No.’ Matty slapped his hands over his eyes. ‘Avisible.’

‘Oh, invisible.’ I chuckled, handing over the melon. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Matty, when have you ever seen a Jadan make themselves invisible?’ Moussa asked with an amused shake of his head.

Matty shrugged. ‘She got away from the Vicaress. Maybe she can.’

‘Plus,’ I said with a shrug, winking at Matty, ‘you can’t actually see someone who’s invisible.’

Moussa shook his head again, but a grin lifted his cheeks. ‘You shouldn’t encourage him.’

I got up again and grabbed my sharpest blade. ‘Anyway,’ I sliced into the fruit and let the scent carry through my whole head. ‘She had the Opened Eye tattooed on her arm, and she set off into the dunes after we spoke. I have a feeling she knows some secret the rest of us don’t.’

Moussa’s disappointment thickened his voice, and when he spoke, it was almost a growl. ‘That’s impossible. Nothing exists beyond those dunes.’ He held his piece of melon away from his body as if it might turn around and bite him. ‘I’m serious, Micah, this is dangerous. The taskmasters are working double shifts to try to find her. You shouldn’t get caught up in her lies—’

I didn’t want to listen to him. My heart swelled at the scent of the melon, hope pushing away all the hunger and thirst and pain. I took a bite of my own piece, and it tasted like freedom.

‘Moussa, please, let’s just enjoy this.’ I began singing between bites. ‘The Jadan’s work upon the sands. Come on, Moussa,’ I said, now standing on top of my sleeping blanket. ‘The “Jadan’s Anthem”. You wrote this. Sing with me!’

‘The thing is, I don’t want to make the Crier angry,’ Moussa said, in an almost pained voice.

‘The Upright Girl is still alive,’ I said, licking my palm. ‘I’m still alive. Abb touched a Frost and he’s still alive. You’ve sung it before, and you’re still alive. If the Crier didn’t want us to share this melon, he wouldn’t have let it get this far.’

Moussa observed us, our chins dribbling red juice. A fearful look passed through his eyes.

‘The Gospels don’t say we can’t eat melon,’ I said.

Moussa sighed and took a small bite of the rind. He swallowed, and couldn’t hide the joy the taste brought to his lips. He began to mumble: ‘So maybe the World Crier …’

I held a hand against my ear. ‘I can’t hear you.’

Matty’s grin was full of melon. ‘Yeah, Moussa. We can’t hear you!’

Moussa took another bite, sucking up all the juice, and sang louder. ‘So maybe the World Crier, might release their han—’

The chimes rang out.

Our faces turned towards the door as one. It was past rations time, and there was no reason for Gramble to be calling everyone together to the main chamber.

Moussa spat out the pulp, scratching at his tongue. Matty quickly wiped down his chin with a handful of the boilweed door.

‘Relax, both of you,’ I said, putting my melon down on the blanket. ‘It must be Old Man Gum messing with the wires again.’

The chimes kept ringing, however, strong and heavy, and together we stumbled into the hallway heading towards the main chamber. Worried murmurs swept towards us, whispers brushing along the walls, and the closer we got to the chamber, the bigger the sense of dread filling my stomach became.

When we reached the room, dozens were milling about, outside of their divisions. No one seemed to know what was going on, and we stared at the chimes, worried conversation hissing in the air.

Old Man Gum stood very still in the centre of the room, waving two knuckles at the chimes. I thought I could hear him saying ‘In the ground,’ over and over.

Abb clapped his hands and called out: ‘Lines! Everyone, lines.’

No one stopped to question him as we stepped into our normal spots, trying to keep order in the near dark. Matty kept close behind me as we swept into position, holding a hand on my back as if to make sure I was still there.

By the time the chimes stopped ringing, we were mostly organized, and Gramble’s key sounded in the door. Each scrape of the metal sent a wave of dread into my stomach.