Blood Red Road
Page 24

Helen lost her second fight today. She ain’t told me herself but I heard th’others talkin. We both know she ain’t got much time left.
Now she says to me, tel me what happened to yer brother.
So I do. I tel her what happened the day the Tonton came an kil ed Pa an took Lugh away. It’s such a relief to talk about him, after him jest bein inside my head fer so long. When I git to the bit where they asked about Lugh bein born at midwinter, I feel her go stil .
Wait a minute, she says. Midwinter. D’you remember what they said? Their ezzack words, I mean.
Wait a minute, she says. Midwinter. D’you remember what they said? Their ezzack words, I mean.
I don’t even hafta think before I answer her. The words is burned into my brain. I says, The guy says to Procter John, is this him? Golden Boy here? Is he the one born at midwinter? An Procter John says yes an then the Tonton, he asks Lugh how old he is. Lugh says eighteen an then he asks him agin, was you born at midwinter. Lugh says yes, an that’s when they took him.
It’s like they came lookin fer him, says Helen. Like they knew they’d find him at Silverlake.
I’m surprised she says it, jest like that. That’s it, I says. That’s it ezzackly.
Was there anythin else? she says.
No, that’s about it. Oh, of course. Mercy says there was a stranger there when Lugh got born, a man.
A man. Who was he? D’you know his name?
Yeah. Trask. Mercy said he cal ed hisself Trask. Said he got al excited when Lugh came, said how he went on an on about how a boy born at midwinter was a wonderful thing. He kept sayin it over an over an nobody knew why an then he jest … disappeared. They never seen him agin.
No, says Helen. I don’t s’pose they did.
My heart slams aginst my ribs. I grab at her through the cage bars. Find her hand an hold it tight in both of mine.
Helen, what is it? You know somethin. Tel me.
I don’t want to, she says.
Just say it, I says. Say it quick.
Al right, she says. Saba, John Trask was my father.
I wish I could see her face. Look in her eyes an know if she’s tel in the truth. I squeeze her hand hard.
Don’t lie to me, I says.
I wouldn’t, she says, I swear it’s the truth. Saba, yer brother is in great danger. It was the Tonton who took him al right.
Is he here in Hopetown?
I don’t think so, she says. No. I think they took him to a place cal ed Freedom Fields.
Where is it? I says.
North of here, she says. Deep in the Black Mountains. It’s hard to git to. Hidden away.
Freedom Fields, I says. Lugh’s at Freedom Fields. What else d’you know?
Listen, Saba, she says, if he’s at Freedom Fields, that means the King’s got him.
The King? I says. I ain’t never heard of him.
Hopetown belongs to him, she says. Hopetown an al the land around, as far as you care to go. DeMalo’s his man. His second in command.
What about the Cage Master?
He does what they tel him, she says. There’s the King, there’s DeMalo an there’s the Tonton who’re like his … his personal army. That’s who you got a be afraid of.
What else? I says. I need to know everythin.
The King ain’t right in the head. None of ’em are. They believe strange things. Mad things. My father believed ’em too.
Yer father, I says. John Trask.
Yes. He was one of ’em. A Tonton, a spy fer the King. He’s dead now, but he was de nitely the one at Silverlake that day. I was only lit le but I remember him comin back to Freedom Fields an how excited they al got when he said he’d found the one, he’d found the boy.
Found what boy? I says.
She’s silent.
Helen! I says.
I don’t wanna tel you, she whispers.
You’ve got to, I says. Please, Helen. Go on.
He said he’d found the boy, she says. The boy born to be kil ed at midsummer. Kil ed so the King wil live.
My stummick twists. My breath tightens. I … I don’t … unnerstand, I says. What d’you mean … kil him so the King wil live? What’re you talkin about?
She starts to talk fast. Low, so’s we don’t disturb nobody. It’s al about chaal, Saba. You seen this place. Everyone here’s chewin it or smokin it. Mad Dog, the cel block guards, everybody who comes to see us ght. An one person controls the chaal. He grows it, harvests it, an supplies it.
The King, I says.
That’s because there’s only one place with the right conditions to grow it. You need the right kinda earth, the right light, the right amount of rain.
Freedom Fields, I says. In the Black Mountains.
The Tonton round people up, take ’em to Freedom Fields as slaves an force ’em to work in the fields.
An they control ’em with chaal, I says.
Now yer git in the idea, she says.
So the man who controls the chaal, controls everythin an everybody. He’s al powerful, I says.
That’s the King, she says.
But … I stil don’t unnerstand, I says. What’s al this got a do with Lugh?
Every six years, on midsummer’s eve, they sacri ce a boy. They kil him. An that boy cain’t jest be any boy. He’s got a be eighteen year old an born at midwinter.
The lit le hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Lugh, I says.
The King believes that when the boy dies, that boy’s spirit, his strength moves into him, it moves into the King. An his power’s renewed fer another six years.
But that’s … crazy, I says.
But that’s … crazy, I says.
I told you, she says, the King’s wrong in the head. But he believes it. An because he believes it, the rest of ’em do. It’s the chaal, Saba. Jest enough of it makes people dul -wit ed an slow an easy to control. Too much of it an they’re out a control, like the crowds in the Colosseum when a fighter runs the gauntlet. Like Mad Dog. Once they start on it, they cain’t stop. They don’t wanna stop.
But sacrifice, I says. I don’t believe it.
I know how it sounds, but it’s true. I seen it myself. This midsummer’s eve it’s six years since the last sacri ce. Yer brother’s eighteen. He was born at midwinter. It’s his turn.
An they knew about Lugh because of yer father, I says.
Yes. Like I said, he told ’em about Lugh. After that, they kept watch on him over the years to make sure he didn’t come to no harm.
Our neighbor, I says. Procter John. That’s what he meant when he said, I bin keepin a eye on him al this time.
Don’t blame him, Saba, they would of forced him to do it.
But why didn’t they take Lugh when he was born? I says. Or later on? Why wait til now?
Because they need the boy to have a strong spirit. An let in him live with his family, livin in freedom, keeps his spirit strong.
Lugh’s strong as they come, I whisper.
The stronger he is when he dies, the stronger the King wil be. Listen Saba, she says, it’s less’n a month to midsummer’s eve. If you wanna save yer brother, you got a find a way of git in out a here soon. You got a—
The cel block door ies open an Mad Dog, the watch captain, comes in. He’s twirlin a long thick stick in his hands. He’s out a his head on chaal, al jit ery an bright-eyed, laughin to hisself. The guards light his way with torches.