Crystal (9 page)

‘Crystal, Crystal,’ she muttered.

‘Yes, Mum, what is it?’

‘Something. I don’t know. I can’t think. I wish I could think but my mind, when I try, it’s all cloudy and cold.’

‘Never mind. It’ll be all right soon, I promise.’

‘Something. Something’s wrong.’

‘Shh. Don’t worry.’

Crystal sounded so certain but inside she was as worried as her mother. She had no idea what they would find on the other side of the Wall or how they would escape. She just knew she couldn’t let such a good opportunity slip by.

The driver glanced at their tickets and punched a hole in them. ‘Welcome aboard!’

Crystal’s heart was thudding painfully as she and her mum got to their seats. She put the carry-box on her knees. The sly-ugg was quiet, munching on the stack of loffseed she’d put in with it. Once they were outside the Wall, she’d give it to someone, lose it somehow.

Trips to the mines only ran three times a year. Crystal could hardly believe her luck in getting
these
tickets at
this
time. She knew some of the day-trippers were hoping to pick up precious stones or maybe some rare fruit grown outside the Town that the mine chiefs would have for sale. Not her. She just wanted to get out. In thirty minutes, she thought, they would reach the Wall. In thirty-five they would be on the other side. Free. It was all so easy. Why hadn’t she done this before? They might have been free years ago! They were going to find their home. The snow! The mountains! Those things must be out there somewhere. She slipped her little painting out from her bag. Snow. She had that clue to the puzzle of her past – if only she’d managed to find the mysterious egg-object before they’d left too, she was certain that was somehow important.

They passed down grey streets, shells of buildings, collapsed towers and empty blocks. Here and there amongst the bricks and fallen steel and concrete, grass was growing. High up on the windowsills and rooftops small patches of flowers and baby trees were sprouting. It made Crystal smile. Perhaps in years to come it would all be green. That would be so much nicer than grey.

‘Where are we going?’ Effie was looking up and down the streets anxiously. ‘Where? Why are you telling me to hush! What is it?’

‘Nothing. We’re going to see the mines. It’s a treat. I told you.’

‘The mines? What are the mines, Crystal?’

‘Shh. Where they dig up Grint’s precious metals,’ Crystal said quietly. ‘You know.’

‘Metal and rock,’ her mum said. ‘Solid and hard.’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘It’s bad, Crystal, bad.’

There were four gates in the Wall and each was heavily guarded. The Town Guard would search their papers. Maybe their names were on a wanted list. She could imagine they might be on a list of people not allowed out. Grint might do that. She could feel her heart pounding madly and her hands were sweating. It was hard to breathe. They were getting closer and closer to the West Gate. The Wall loomed up beside them, towering a hundred metres high like a dark red cliff.

The Town Guard was there; the gold buttons on their jackets glinted. There were so many men, row upon row, as if they expected trouble.

Effie suddenly sat up. For the first time she seemed to see her surroundings.

‘Where are we?’

‘Just coming to the West Gate.’

‘You didn’t tell me we were coming
here
.’

‘I did. Mum, hush, we’re going out to see the mines and—’

‘We’re not! I know we’re not.’ Effie stood up and overbalanced, falling back onto the seat. People stared. ‘Oh, Crystal, no! This is terrible!’

‘Sit down, Mum. Please!’

‘We shouldn’t have come!’

The wagon stopped in the deep cold shadow of the vast Wall. The West Gate was open and everyone was trying to look through it. Crystal glimpsed pale hills stretching away into the distance. She imagined snow-covered mountains and icy rivers. She longed to run there.

Suddenly two groups of the Town Guard detached themselves smoothly from the ranks and surrounded the wagon. In one neat manoeuvre they raised their spiked staffs and pointed them at the vehicle.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked the driver. ‘It’s only me and the mines tour.’ He laughed. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Sorry, mate,’ said a guard with a silvery helmet. ‘You can’t go through. We’ve had word from John Carter to search the wagon. Everyone out! You’ve got robbers on board!’

John Carter? Crystal was surprised. That was Stella’s father – what had he got to do with robbers?

There were moans and complaints as everyone climbed down and was made to stand in a huddle beside the wagon. Some of the guards kept up the fence of pikestaffs; others climbed onto the cart and began to search it.

Crystal’s legs were weak; her knees longed to fold so she could sit down. She could not keep herself from staring out at the free, vast landscape through the big gateway. She just knew there would be clear water there: waterfalls, pools, rivers, oceans. And she was close. So close …

‘I saw this,’ Effie whispered to her. ‘I remember seeing all this, as if it was in a mirror. It was flat and bare, but I saw it. Why do I always remember too late?’

‘What do you remember?’ Crystal whispered back.

‘The gate, the guards … I saw them …’

The other Towners were muttering quietly to each other too. Crystal knew that some were glancing over towards her and her mother as if this delay was something to do with them. It was dreadful to be different. Perhaps they should have dyed their hair for the trip? Perhaps they should have dyed their hair long, long ago. But how could they ever hide their blue eyes?

A tall guard jumped down from the wagon. ‘Who was sitting in seats thirteen and fourteen?’ he demanded.

Crystal stared at her feet.

‘Hang on a minute.’ The driver was checking his papers. He read out from his list: ‘Seats thirteen and fourteen, was it? Effie and Crystal Waters, that was.’

The other travellers turned and stared at them. Then began to shift back, putting as much distance between the Waters and themselves as they could.

The guard held up the sly-ugg’s carry-box that Crystal had left under the seat. ‘They were trying to smuggle out a sly-ugg,’ he said.

‘We weren’t!’ Crystal cried. ‘I didn’t know you couldn’t take it. You know we have to take it with us everywhere, so of course we took it. Anyway, it wanted to come!’

‘Sly-uggs do not have wishes or wants. It is highly illegal behaviour. And look here! This is what we were looking for, a gold candlestick belonging to Grint, Bless and Praise his Name. It has his initials on it. John Carter suspected Effie Waters had stolen it and he was right. She was probably going to try and sell it to the mine chiefs.’

‘She didn’t!’ Crystal cried. ‘It’s not true! I don’t know how that got there. It wasn’t—’

Suddenly she knew. It was as shocking as being drenched with cold water. She remembered how keen Stella had been to get her on the trip, how delighted she’d been to give up her tickets. She recalled Stella’s cold knowing smile.

Stella, surely not you! The Carters, father and daughter, had set them up!

‘Arrest them!’ the guard cried.

Immediately they were surrounded. Two burly guards grabbed Crystal and held her arms behind her back. Two more took hold of her mother and marched her off to their office. It all happened quickly, so quickly Crystal could hardly believe everything had gone so completely wrong.

‘Mum, Mum!’ Crystal struggled against the strong hands. But they had already got her mother through the door of the West Gate office and she was out of sight.

‘Stop yelling!’ the guard said. ‘She’ll be taken to the prison for questioning. You can see her later.’

‘She didn’t do anything wrong!’ Crystal sobbed. ‘It’s not fair! We didn’t steal anything!’

‘Not how it looks to us,’ said the guard.

‘But it’s true! Wha-what about me?’ Crystal asked.

‘Back home for you,’ he said. ‘You’re a minor so you aren’t responsible. Mr Carter has had his eye on that Effie Waters for some time, I understand. Here, take your horrid sly-ugg and get off back to your block.’

‘But I want my mum!’

‘Do as you’re told, go on!’

The other guards began to usher the Towners onto the wagon. They got back on with obvious relief. Once they were safe in their seats they peered down at Crystal as if she were something disgusting, something unclean. The driver gave her a sad little smile as he returned to his place and chivvied the horses to go. The wagon disappeared through the gateway and the great gates slowly closed behind them.

The black kitten had disappeared, so Crystal sat in the apartment alone. Alone, except for the sly-ugg who had curled up in its carry-box on the table where she had left it. She could see it had shrunk into the corner, as if it were shy or suddenly nervous of her.

‘What’s up with you?’ she asked it crossly, opening its box. ‘You’ve nothing to worry about, you horrid little worm.’ The sly-ugg cringed and she regretted her words immediately. ‘Sorry.’

She felt leaden. She couldn’t move. She looked round at the grey walls and metal furniture. She hated it so much! And she’d really thought this morning that she would never see it again.

Of course her mother had not stolen the candlestick. That weasel, John Carter, had planted it in their seats knowing exactly which ones they would be sitting in. And she had actually thought that because Mr Carter sometimes spoke up against Grint he might have been on their side. But he was no different from the rest. The injustice of it all! What a false friend Stella had turned out to be! The Guard had been expecting them at the West Gate all along …

West Gate
.

She tried to think but her brain felt like treacle. Her mother had mentioned the West Gate to Grint. She must have seen it in the icicle thing. A fortune, that’s what she’d said. And she’d told Grint about it just as she told Grint everything … and Grint, or Grint and Carter, had fixed for them to be arrested.

They would never escape now.

The sly-ugg slithered warily out of its box and waved its eye-stalks about. It oozed over the table and came and sat close to her.

Crystal moved away. She wanted the kitten; she wanted to stroke his smooth warm fur and have him cuddle under her neck.

The sly-ugg slimed over the table, keeping its eyes focused on Crystal all the time. Crystal watched it, vaguely wondering what it was up to. Then, as if it hadn’t noticed the table edge at all, the sly-ugg dropped into the kitten’s basket with a damp
plop
.

‘That’s not
your
bed!’ Crystal tipped the sly-ugg out and the kitten’s red cushion tumbled out with it.

And something else.

Something egg-shaped.

Crystal knew immediately it was the thing from Lop Lake that her mother had caught.

She picked it up and rolled it around in her fingers, examining it. It was a beautiful green stone acorn in an acorn cup. As she rolled it, the two sections fell apart. For a second she thought it was broken, until she saw the tiny roll of paper inside.

Crystal’s knees gave way and she sat down with a thud.

The sly-ugg had wormed up the table leg and was staring at her. It was smiling, she was sure it was smiling and yet she didn’t think they could, that they did. Had the sly-ugg
shown
her where the acorn was? Was that it? Of course, it probably
had
watched her mother when she came back from Lop Lake that day when the smoke had cleared. Of
course
it had seen what Effie had done with the acorn and yet it hadn’t revealed anything to Raek – even under torture. She looked at the sly-ugg again. It was definitely, certainly smiling. Had it come over to
their
side? Had she got a friend where she least expected it?

Crystal got up and brought the sly-ugg a few leaves of loffseed. Its eyes gleamed and it gobbled them up with delight. She was sorry now; sorry for all the bad thoughts she’d had about it. She quickly heaped more herbs on the chair for the sly-ugg before picking the acorn up again.

Somehow this was good, this acorn felt
good
– it felt hopeful. Greenwood, whoever he was, was hope. But where was he? How did he exist in Lop Lake? She never for one moment doubted that the acorn and its message were for Effie and her. They were. She knew it.

She quite suddenly wasn’t sad any more. She actually felt optimistic and almost happy. It was bizarre.

She turned the slip of paper over and wrote on the back of it. Carefully she put the message back inside the acorn and screwed the two parts tightly together.

She paused at the doorway – the sly-ugg wasn’t going to stop her. It wasn’t going to cry out. It went on nibbling quietly on the leaves, looking up at her only for a second with a kindly look, before returning to its food.

She was free.

Outside, the sky was overcast and heavy. The trees’ shrunken leaves trembled in the wind and the smell of the lake came down to meet her.

She stood at the water’s edge, breathing in the magical scent of water; and thinking of her mother, she threw the acorn into Lop Lake with all her force.