Shymers (29 page)

“Well this is all really great news,” the spectacled boy cuts in. “We’ve heard for months all about this child of the Rebel leader who will help to start the next revolt, only she doesn’t know anything about it. How does that fit into the master plan?”

I agree it is a good question. Then again, no one seems to know who Kendall really is. What i
f
he’
s
the Rebel’s child they spoke of? Suddenly, I see an opportunity. Kendall doesn’t want me to fight. He also doesn’t want me to share the fact with everyone that he is my brother. He won’t be able to explain in front of everyone why he’s so adamant that I don’t come with them.

Leaving the Free Lands when the soldiers are sweeping the area more thoroughly because of my disappearance will make things even more dangerous for us now. Fear washes over me. What if Harrison and Tayrn are no longer safe?

“Now
I
hav
e
to join you once I find my friends,” I say. “I don’t think there is any other choice.”

Kendall’s jaw tightens. He knows I’m right. He mutters something and forces a burst of air through his lips. “Now is not a good time to be out looking for them. Not with soldiers crawling all over, looking for you.”

“The discussion is over, Kendall,” I say.

Arlandria turns to me, her eyes wide. “Wait, you still haven’t found Tayrn?” The color from her face drains away. She turns to Kendall. “They never came to the blackberry patch?”

My brother shakes his head. “No.”

“But we found a communicator that had to belong to one of them,” I tell her.

“We have to find them!” Arlandria says anxiously.

“Why?” Kendall asks. He sounds just as irritated with her as he has been with me. What exactly is their relationship? It wouldn’t surprise me if he told me she was another sister. Nothing of my life and what I know is real anymore.

“Tayrn is my girlfriend,” she answers.

Now I know why she had asked me to take care of Tayrn.

“What?” Kendall asks.

“We have to find them,” Arlandria repeats calmly. The worry settled in her eyes is glaringly obvious. She is just as worried as I am.

* * *

The next morning while some of the Shymers are off collecting water for our journey, Kiki snuggles deeper into her blanket near me. Her little chest rises ever so slightly with each snore she takes in. I sit on the dirt floor with my arms wrapped around my legs and my chin resting on my knees, watching Kendall as he packs. His face clouds over while he concentrates.

When I gaze at Arlandria, she is staring my way with her arms crossed tightly in front of her, her face sullen. Aside from her angry composure, she is quite attractive when I study the small features of her face.

“How long have you known Tayrn?” I ask.

She scrunches her face up when thinking. “A little over a year, I guess.”

Does Harrison know about his cousin’s relationship? He never even mentioned Tayrn to me before. Maybe they weren’t close. “Why didn’t you cross over the border with her?”

“I planned to eventually, after the revolt. She wasn’t trained like a Rebel. I’ve been begging her to come to the Free Lands for months. I didn’t want her in Society when everything goes down.” She watches me impatiently, waiting for the next question that she knows is coming.

“So why did you decide to come over now?”

She laughs, making a surprisingly high sound. “Things got crazy with the search for you. Someone had to let Kendall know what was happening.”

“How did you cross over here?”

She shrugs. “Same as you. We fixed the ladder.”

I watched her move around earlier when playing with Kiki. She didn’t seem to wince in pain the way I do. “Is there a safer way to climb over?”

Her eyes narrow. “Why? What do you mean?”

“My fall wasn’t exactly graceful.” I shrug my shoulders, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Although the pain has gone down somewhat, it is still there.

Kendall whirls around to look at me. “You didn’t tell me you were hurt. What happened?”

“I think I may have hurt my ribs. It’s not as bad as it was. It only hurts sometimes when I breathe or make any sudden movements.”

“Why didn’t you say anythin
g
befor
e
?” Kendall asks, his eyes flooded with worry.

I roll my eyes. “Because I figured there was nothing that could be done about it anyway. It’s not that big of a deal, Kendall.”

“Let me see it,” he says, taking a step closer.

“No, I’m okay.”

His face clouds over. I have noticed when he is upset, the skin between his eyes turns into two deep creases that make him appear much older than nineteen. “What if you have a bone sticking out? You could damage one of your organs.”

“I can leave if the two of you need some alone time,” Arlandria says dryly.

“It’s not what you think,” Kendall tells her.

Arlandria laughs. “Oh believe me, I know. I heard all about it. She’s in love with Tayrn’s Shymer cousin. Lik
e
tha
t
is going to work out.”

Kendall whirls around to face her with such speed and malice, the movement actually frightens me. “Don’t talk like that!” His face is hard and he stands so close to Arlandria their faces are nearly touching. She glares back at him, looking ready to fight. Kiki stirs near my feet and I stroke her head until she soon falls back into a steady breathing pattern.

Kendall backs away from Arlandria, shaking his head. “Don’t say things like that. You know I loved her.” He returns to the task of packing the bag without another word on the subject.

Arlandria suddenly appears remorseful—she holds her head low and her shoulders are slouched. She looks down at the ground. “I know you did. I’m sorry, Kendall. You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“What are you two talking about?” I ask. “Loved who?” If we are counting on each other to make our plan to rescue my friends and join the Rebels work smoothly, the two of them can’t continue to argue like this.

“Kendall was in love with my sister,” Arlandria blurts. “Then she died, just like every other Shymer.”

Kendall’s head swings back in her direction. “Can we not talk about this right now?”

I instantly feel crushed for my brother. Maybe this girl’s death is part of the reason he is so protective of me. Does he know if I am a Shymer or a Future? Until now, I hadn’t thought of asking him. I certainly can’t do it now with Arlandria in the room. He made it clear I am not to tell people we are brother and sister.

Yet he seems to know more about myself than I do—maybe he knows what I am or eve
n
wh
o
I really am. Maybe he knows why people think I’m a Future even though I have the Shymer mark.

My mind drifts back to my mother. She spent my entire life trying to keep my fate from me. She would not want me to know. The Rebels are trying to stop people from being discriminated against because of their quantity of life. Everyone would be better off not having any idea of when their time is up. Maybe I’m not meant to know the truth.

Arlandria’s eyes are filled with tears when she frowns at Kendall. “You don’t even let me say her name anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kendall tells her, that aging-frown reappearing on his face.

“It matters to me,” Arlandria tells him softly. “And whether you want to admit it or not, it should matter to you. She wouldn’t want you to forget her like this.”

There are scurrying noises in the tunnel with the return of the others. Arlandria turns to the corner of the room, wiping her tears away with her hand.

Kendall’s eyes fall on me, the pain he has tried to bury resurfacing. I want to wrap my arms around him, even though we’re still strangers of sorts and despite the whol
e
not liking to be touche
d
thing. What happened to make him afraid of physical contact? Does this brother of mine ever know our mother’s love the way I do? Did his family in Society love him? Has no one touched him before? Is Arlandria’s sister the only one who he every truly loved?

The boy with spectacles comes rushing through the tunnel opening. “There are
a
to
n
of soldiers coming this way. It won’t be long.”

Kendall nods. “It’s time to go.”

Kiki won’t detach herself from my arms. Kendall groans and gives in, with the condition that Arlandria has to carry her to spare my tender ribs. Kiki instead opts to walk alongside me, holding my hand. It’s strange how this little girl made an instant bond with me, considering the situation. We are family of sorts and she seems to sense it.

We travel for as long as the daylight will allow. When darkness covers the sky and we can hardly see anything, Kendall announces we will camp out for the night. Agreeing that we won’t make it any farther in the night, I spread my blanket out across the ground and let Kiki curl up into me. Arlandria settles in on the other side of Kiki, while Kendall sleeps close enough to us that I can feel the heat from his body. His presence is comforting.

Once Kiki and Arlandria are breathing slow and steady, I whisper over my shoulder to my brother. “How old were you when our parents took me away from Society?”

For a moment I think maybe he’s sleeping, too, when he doesn’t answer right away. Then, “I was ten.”

My breathing slows. That would have been around the time I was six—around the time all my memories seem to have disappeared. While it’s true there was some kind of familiar connection to him when we first met, I still cannot remember one single thing about having a brother. “Why did they leave you behind?”

“I told you, it’s really complicated, Olive.”

“You also said there wasn’t time before. Whe
n
wil
l
we have time to sit down and talk? Between looking for my friends and your running off with the Rebels, we may not get the chance to speak like this again.”

I can hear him inhale deeply. “Sometime when we are totally alone, I promise I will tell you everything. Right now we have bigger things to worry about.”

“How long have you known Kiki?”

“Since she was born.”

This answer, however, doe
s
no
t
come as a surprise as the two of them seem very close. “You lived with her parents all these years?”

There is a pause of silence. “Yes. Can I please go to sleep now?”

I chew on my lip. “Kendall?” He grunts in reply. “Why don’t you like to be touched?”

“I can’t…it’s…now is not the time to tell you, Olive.”

I huff. There are so many secrets he refuses to tell me. Arlandria doesn’t know Kendall is my brother, yet she seems to know why he doesn’t like to be touched. I plan to ask her about it when we’re alone.

The voice I have been trying to push away all day resurfaces—Harrison and Tayrn may have moved beyond the Free Lands by now. I may never see any of them again. I have a hard time falling asleep, even though the coolness of the night and the noises of the forest are familiar.

* * *

My eyes pop open to find the bright sun already shining through the trees. Kiki dozes soundly in my arms and I can see the slow, steady movements of Arlandria in her slumber. I don’t have to look back at Kendall to know he is still out. His long breaths are warm against my neck.

I yawn and stretch my arms up over me, tilting my head as I do. Inches away from the ends of my hair, I find a pair of soldier’s boots.

Harrison

20 –
Something is Wrong

We run through the forest for a short while until Tayrn nearly collapses with exhaustion. The extreme warmth of the night air and my worry over Olive’s safety keeps me awake most of the night. Just before dawn, I hear the faint rumble of loud explosions in the distance, followed by flashes of something bright against the sky. Have the Rebels started their attack? With my heart hammering in my chest, I sit up.

Tayrn attempted to appear brave and undamaged by everything that has happened, but now I hear her sobbing beside me. Cutting the communicator out from behind her ear had been every bit as horrible of an experience as I had feared it would be. She was surprisingly calm when I stood beside her with the blade, but she cried in pain when it cut through her skin. Although I tried to be as gentle as I could about it, I think I cut too deep and had to press my shirt to the wound when I feared the bleeding would never stop. Finally it did, however, and the glue worked as well as JoLynn promised in keeping her skin together.

I slide closer to her. “Does it still hurt?”

She sniffles. “It’s not my ear. I mean it’s sore and everything, but I’m just afraid of what is going to happen to us. What if someone finds us out here, Harrison? What will happen if the soldiers discover us?”