Emily (10 page)

Jonas bent down and gave the young girl a hug and replied seriously,
‘But it is quieter than yours from all the snores that come from your tent,’ and he laughed as Dusana pretended to be offended.

Looking at Dusana again, Valeskia realised what a gift the girl was. She could make the darkness of their existence seem like nothing at all. Looking into her face again, Valeskia thought of the vow she had uttered to herself on meeting Dusana,
I will protect you
.

Lying in the cot that night, Valeskia thought of her father. She missed his gentleness and his sharp mind; he would know what to do now. Falling into an uneasy sleep, she had dreamed of her father. In her dream he was covered in blood, standing before her saying over and over,
‘Use your mind! Remember, you are in charge of your life.’ Valeskia woke. It was still dark and there were tears on her face from her dream, but she knew what she needed to do now, and as the dawn broke on the camp, her mind set about thinking of all the plans she needed to make.

The next morning she pulled Sven and Jonas and Thora aside. Dusana had left to find Thomas and the day was warm with the scent of jasmine filling the air.

‘
We can’t live like this,’ Valeskia stated once they had all gathered in the small tent.

Sven put his hands up and said,
‘All we can do is survive.’ He was a large man with white hair and beard but he carried a kindness in the way he acted.

‘
No, we can live better than this. So far everybody is just looking after themselves. We need to work together.’ Valeskia was firm with her reply. Sven thought for a moment. He admired Valeskia’s passion but he wasn’t sure she understood the whole situation.

‘
Have you had the gene treatment?’ he asked her.

‘
Yes, I have,’ Valeskia replied, not sure what he was asking.

‘
Thora and myself have had the gene treatment. Occasionally I dream of events that happen in the future and most of the time they come true, although sometimes they don’t.’ Sven looked at Jonas, adding quietly, ‘But some of us become wolves.’

‘
Wolves?’ Valeskia replied shocked.

Jonas had turned bright red and she could see that he was ashamed of the fact. Standing and turning away from Valeskia he added,
‘On the full moon we’re taken away and locked up with chains; we’re nothing more than animals.’ Looking at Thora he then said, ‘I’m sorry Thora, you’re not just an animal.’

Thora just replied,
‘I am what I am Jonas, you need to accept what we’ve turned into.’

‘
When I turn into a wolf all I do is fight, Thora, you never fight.’

‘
That’s because she is a keeper of the peace,’ Sven added, and it was true, in wolf form Thora stopped fights between the alpha males. ‘Plus she is the prettiest wolf I have ever seen.’

Thora laughed and gave her husband a hug.

Turning to Jonas Valeskia smiled and said, ‘I’m sure you’re not as bad as you think.’

‘
You won’t say that when you see me turned into a savage beast.’ Jonas couldn’t look at Valeskia and he turned away from her and left the tent. Valeskia knew the gentle man was upset. Pondering the information, she was unsure of what to do.

Sven rose to leave as well, the guards didn
’t like to see any group gather for longer than a few minutes. ‘Don’t worry about Jonas, he won’t stay upset for long. In fact, right now he’ll be more upset at being upset, if you know what I mean.’ Smiling, he left to find his friend. Thora picked up, from underneath the table, a large pile of clothes and pulled out her sewing box.

‘
I try to mend as much as possible,’ she said, ‘we never get new clothes.’ Seeing how upset Valeskia was Thora added, ‘Why don’t you go and see if you can find Dusana? The compound is not so big and all you need to do is look for mud.’ Valeskia nervously went to the flap of the tent; everything was still so strange to her.

‘
It’s alright, just move slowly the guards won’t bother you,’ Thora prompted, and Valeskia stepped out into the sun. Moving down between the tents, Valeskia walked past several people who nodded hello. They were all performing different tasks and at the end of the tents she could see children playing a game of catch. Dusana was there with a group of children and while she was small for her age, she was very fast. After a moment, Valeskia noticed a young boy who was better dressed than the rest of the children and she guessed it was Thomas.

Suddenly, a group of guards approached the children and a man with a red face yelled,
‘Thomas, get away from her!’ He marched up to the boy and grabbed him by his collar.

‘
Leave him alone!’ Dusana screamed, launching herself at the man. He just swatted Dusana away and she fell onto her back. Thomas reacted by pulling himself from the guard’s grasp and he ran over to where Dusana lay.

‘
Are you alright?’ he asked, helping her up.

Dusana nodded, she was a bit winded so Valeskia went over to check that she wasn
’t badly hurt. Her anger flared out of her.

‘
What are you doing?’ she demanded of the guards, ‘they’re just children.’

The guards formed a circle around Valeskia and Dusana. The guard with the red face moved closer to her, noticing how beautiful she was.

‘Perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere,’ he said, running his eyes up and down her body. Realising her mistake at having been noticed, Valeskia’s mind raced. Then a thought popped into her head and she knew what to say.

‘
Varrick is planning to breed with me. I think he would mind if you touched me.’ The guard looked confused, not sure if he could believe the girl; but he was afraid of Varrick.

‘
She’s right,’ another guard volunteered, and he laughed in a cruel way.

The guard with the red face stepped back and turning to Thomas he said,
‘Your father will beat you for being here. You know he said that if he caught you again he’d send you to live with your aunt.’

‘
No,’ Dusana cried and grabbed Thomas’ hand. But the guards pushed past Valeskia and grabbed him. Valeskia had to pull Dusana away as she was worried the guards would hit the girl again. Thomas was marched off and Valeskia picked up Dusana who was sobbing.

‘
Shh, it will be alright,’ she crooned and walked slowly back to the tent.

* * *

Valeskia woke with a start. It was early in the morning and still dark. Reaching her hand out to Dusana’s cot, she realised that the girl was gone. Quietly getting up, Valeskia wondered what to do. She was afraid that if she woke Thora she might wake Sven and Jonas. Knowing that the guards would shoot anyone that was out at night, Valeskia grabbed a dark blanket and threw it over her clothes. The moon wasn’t out so Valeskia crept silently through the tents, not sure where to look for the girl. As she peered behind the tent closest to the fence, she caught sight of Dusana by the fence and on the other side of it was Thomas. Valeskia crouched down slowing, approaching the pair – she could see that they were holding hands through the fence.

‘
Dusana, what are you doing?’ Valeskia whispered.

Both Dusana and Thomas jumped at the sound of her voice. Looking at her face, Valeskia saw that Dusana was crying. She could see tears on Thomas
’ face as well.

‘
What’s wrong?’ Valeskia asked, scared that at any moment a guard would come and see them.

‘
Thomas’ father is sending him away,’ Dusana wailed quietly, she was very upset.

‘
Oh Dusana, I am so sorry,’ Valeskia replied, putting her arm around the young girl’s shoulders.

‘
I hate my father,’ Thomas vehemently declared.

They heard a noise and realised that the guards were walking down the stairs from the guardhouse.

‘We must go,’ Valeskia said and pulled Dusana away from the fence.

‘
Wait!’ Thomas called and he gave Dusana a piece of folded paper. ‘I will return for you, I promise,’ and Thomas ran off into the darkness. Valeskia lifted the young girl into her arms and as quickly as she could, went back into the tents. It took her a moment to work out which tent was hers as Dusana was no help sobbing silently. As she entered the tent, she found Sven and Jonas inside.

Thora cried,
‘Oh my God! I was so worried.’ Moving to help Valeskia with Dusana, Thora led them to one of the cots and helped Valeskia sit down.

‘
What were you thinking?’ Sven asked Valeskia, he was really cross with her.

‘
Don’t be angry with her,’ Dusana sobbed, ‘she came looking for me.’

‘
Dusana, what were you doing? You know better than that,’ Thora asked gently, but Dusana was inconsolable and just pressed her head into Valeskia’s neck, sobbing even more.

‘
Her friend Thomas is being taken away,’ Valeskia softly told the small group.

‘
Oh child,’ Sven said and patted her on the head. They all felt so bad for Dusana but the truth was, their lives were bitter. There was no hope and it was foolish to give it.

Thora told the men to go back to the tent and try to sleep a little before dawn, kissing Sven as he went. Valeskia lay down on the small cot with Dusana pressed against her.
This is not living
, she thought before closing her eyes. After a few minutes she felt Dusana’s breathing slow down and the sobs become less until the little girl fell asleep.

The next morning, Valeskia woke as soon as Dusana did. Kissing the girl on the head, Valeskia gave her a hug before getting up.

After they had straightened up the small tent, Thora said to them both, ‘Today is bath day.’

‘
Oh no,’ Dusana cried, ‘not again.’ Thora smiled, knowing that Dusana was only happy when she was covered in mud.

‘
I think every second day is not enough young lady, be grateful, that I don’t throw a bucket of water over you every night.’ Dusana gave a small smile but her heart was sad at losing her friend.

Valeskia remembered the paper that Thomas had given Dusana and asked her,
‘What was on that paper Thomas gave you?’

‘
Oh, I don’t know, I forgot about it,’ Dusana replied. The pair found the paper under the cot and Dusana unfolded it on the small table. It was a hand draw map of the world and Thomas had drawn a circle around one of the countries. He had written on it, ‘Dusana and I live here.’

‘
What is this country?’ Dusana asked. The map had words but Dusana didn’t know how to read.

‘
It is a place called Australia,’ Valeskia told her. ‘See, the words say it here.’ Dusana was interested. ‘You can read?’

‘
Yes, I can,’ Valeskia said. Would you like me to teach you?’

Looking at Thora, who smiled and nodded, Dusana said,
‘That would be good. Would you teach my friends as well?’ Valeskia thought about it for a moment and a sharp wave of sadness caught her as she thought of her father and the dream he had for her to become a teacher.

However, she straightening her back and put a determined look on her face saying,
‘Yes, I will teach you all.’ And she thought to herself,
Maybe this is what will bring the people together
. Looking down at the young girl, Valeskia smiled and said, ‘Go round up your friends, we start today. Tell them to come to the food tent.’

As Dusana left the tent, she turned to the women and said,
‘I’ll be able to read when Thomas takes me to Australia,’ and while both women smiled at the girl, they both felt a touch of sadness knowing that such a thing would never happen.

A week passed and Valeskia
’s school now had all the children in it and a couple of the adults had begun to come along as well. With no resources, Valeskia just used a stick in the dirt. A few of the adults had given her some books, which she had read to the class, on different subjects.

The guards had been nervous at having Valeskia gather the children in one place but after they saw that she kept them busy and that they had less fights to break up, it was decided that she
could continue the lessons, at least until Varrick came back.

The class finished every day when the guards brought in the food. After a week, Valeskia had decided to have the children line up first to get fed. A couple of the men had tried to push the children aside but the stern looks that Valeskia gave them and the fact that Jonas, Sven and two more men stood between them, caused them to wait before the frenzy. Over the next few days, more of the people began to line up without pushing others out of the way. When the food ran out, Valeskia ordered the people to share, telling the ones that missed out that they would be first in line on the next day. By the fourth day, there was no pushing in. By the sixth day, people were talking and laughing over dinner. The food was still awful but everybody trusted that they would at least get a little bit. Valeskia didn
’t eat until everyone did and her stern gaze kept them all in line.