The Beneath (6 page)

I grabbed a band from my pocket and hastily scraped her hair back into a messy bun. With that, the hoodie and the sunglasses she was all but unrecognisable. I glanced down the pavement and still couldn’t identify the Listener but the bus had arrived.

“OK, here’s our ride. Walk calmly and let me do the talking, OK?”

Taking a deep breath I stepped out from the relative safety of the shop entrance. I kept a firm hand on Aria’s arm, pulling her with me, and covered the short distance to the bus stop just as it opened its doors. The woman walked straight on board. I could feel Aria’s arm stiffen as she readied herself to actually step inside one of the scary red vehicles. Holding on to her tightly we followed the woman. I showed the driver the ticket for Aria and swiped my Oyster card. Within about five seconds of leaving the shoe shop we were on the bus. Aria was shaking with fear.

“Come on,” I said encouragingly. “Let’s go up to the top deck. It’ll be quieter up there.”

I pushed her ahead of me up the short, narrow staircase, and as we rounded the corner the bus lurched away from the side of the road. Aria stopped dead, clutching the
rail so tightly her knuckles went completely white.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered as I tried to persuade her to take the next few steps. Putting my hand over hers I attempted to prise her fingers off the handrail.

“You have to. People need the stairs. Come on, we’re nearly at the top.”

I could see that some of the other passengers were beginning to stare. Shoving her hard I finally got her up on to the top deck, manoeuvring round her so that I was leading. I glanced down into the street below and saw a guy in a grey jacket standing on the corner, straining to see above the heads of the crowds as he looked up and down the street. He was about thirty, pale and skinny with hair that was greying and thick, bushy eyebrows.

“Quick, let’s sit down.”

I tugged at Aria’s sleeve and she dropped down into the seat next to me, grabbing the rail tightly. I could just see behind the glasses that her eyes were tightly closed and streaks of tears were shining on her face. The bus lurched again as the lights changed and it picked up speed. I sat back, breathing out heavily.

“We’ve lost him, Aria,” I whispered, taking a quick glance out of the back window. “You can relax. I think that going to the library will have to wait. Now we’re here I can give you a bit of a tour.”

“Relax? In all this?”

She lifted one hand briefly but quickly thought better of the gesture.

“Look, he’s gone. If he did see you he has no idea where you’ve disappeared to, so you’re in no danger.”

That didn’t seem to have any effect on her and she continued to hold on so hard I could see every tendon in her hands. Finally the penny dropped.

“Are you worried about being on the bus?” I asked, trying to keep the relief out of my voice, at the same time glancing around to make sure that we weren’t being overheard. “Really, it’s quite safe.”

“How can it do this? It feels so wrong!”

“They’re probably not as fast as the Tube trains but you’ll get a better view of the city.” I gave her a quick hug. “Come on, open your eyes and take a look at London.”

I saw her slowly open one eye and then the other. Sniffing loudly, she looked around, never relaxing her hold on the rail. The bus was coming up to St Pancras Station, the brickwork glowing red in the sunshine. A constant stream of people were coming and going.

“I knew there were lots of you up here,” she said softly, “but I never thought it would be this big.”

As we continued past King’s Cross Station I saw her shake her head.

“There are more than eight million people in London,” I said, remembering a recent geography lesson.

Aria grabbed me as the bus turned a corner, but she continued drinking in the view.

“I don’t have any idea what you’re saying,” she said. “I’ve never heard of a million.”

“No, really? Have I got to teach you maths as well?” I asked, smiling to show her that I didn’t mean it. “A million is – well, lots. More than you could possibly ever count. If there are say, two hundred people in the Community, London has …” I tried to do a quick calculation in my head but failed, “… thousands of people for every single one of you. It’s pretty huge.”

Her eyes were glued to the window as we drove on into the City. Aria was enthralled by all the skyscrapers, even forgetting to hold on at one point as she leaned over me to look up at the top of a particularly tall one.

“They’re so high,” she breathed. “You can hardly see where they end.”

“Wait until you see the Shard then,” I laughed, enjoying watching her.

The bus finally lumbered down towards the river. I was really looking forward to seeing her reaction to all that water – the glistening reflections, the sunlight making the surface glitter and sparkle, the bow waves of the boats, the huge bridges. As we approached I got ready to point it out and watch her reaction.

“Look, Aria, what do you think of that?”

But she wasn’t looking. She was staring open-mouthed at a building on the other side of the road.

“What … what is that place?” she whispered.

“That? It’s the Tower of London. It’s one of our oldest buildings. Why?”

“I know it. I’ve seen it before.”

“How is that possible?”

She didn’t answer for a moment but just sat there, staring. I could barely catch her whisper.

“If the building is real, perhaps the rest of it is real too…”

CHAPTER 5

“Do you want to get closer?” I asked as the “Bus Stopping” sign lit up. Her only reply was to nod slightly, never taking her eyes off the building. I hurried her off the bus and we stood outside the Tower on the long, wide slope down to the main entrance, being jostled by the weekend crowd of tourists.

“If we walk down there towards the river we can see the other side,” I said.

Aria nodded. I took her by the arm to guide her through the people, but as we approached the gate she started to speed up. I pulled her back.

“Come on,” she urged. “I need to see.”

“I don’t have enough money, not even for child tickets. We’ll just have to look at it from outside. Sorry.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean money. It’s expensive getting in there and I don’t have enough for us both.”

Nan had given me twenty pounds pocket money earlier, but it wasn’t going to cover getting us both inside and then pay for the food that Aria would need for the weekend.

“No, I’m sorry, I’ve still no idea what you’re talking about. What’s money?”

“You don’t have money? How do you get the things you need – the food, the clothes, that sort of stuff?”

“Someone brings it.”

As soon as she said it, some of her earlier behaviour started to make a bit more sense. If the Community didn’t use money I had some explaining to do.

“When we work, we get given money – like this.” I opened my purse, lifting out the dog-eared notes that were the sum total of my cash. “Then when we want something – food in the café, new books, or to go into that building – we have to give some of the money to the person selling whatever it is. If we don’t have enough money, we can’t have it.”

Aria caught her lip between her teeth and frowned as she listened to me.

“I don’t have much money at all, so we can’t go inside. I’m sorry,” I continued.

“But I need to see! I need to know if it’s real.”

“If what’s real?”

“I’m not supposed to say.”

I took a deep breath. “OK, Aria. That’s not very helpful. Why can’t you tell me?”

I wish I knew how to answer her questions. The Tower is key to our history, to the creation of the Community, and I don’t know how to explain all of that.

The Community was founded to get away from the Aboves and their evil ways. But Lily doesn’t seem at all evil, and, looking about, none of them look or behave the way we were told that they do. Do I believe the stories I have always been fed, or do I believe my eyes? I want to think that the Farmer is wrong but now that I see the Tower is real … he wasn’t lying about that. What is the truth? And what do I tell her?

I realise that I have to tell her the truth as far as I knew it.

“I need to tell you some more about our history, but I can’t do it here – I don’t know who might be listening.”

There are crowds of people pressing around me – so many strangers – and they all seem very excited. They are pointing little silver and black boxes at the Tower. I think they are using what Lily called a mobile, the same thing that she showed me yesterday. I don’t like the closeness of the bodies. Some smell really bad, and I know that we have to leave. I want to leave now.

Lily reaches for my arm. “Are you worried about the crowd?”

I nod, trying to breathe steadily.

“Just our luck to arrive at the same time as all the coach parties,” she said, guiding me through the people. One large group have eyes that are different to mine, and I stop to stare. Lily yanks my hand.

“Come on, you can’t just stand there gawping. You’ll get us into trouble.”

She leads me back to the place where we got off the bus.

“Let’s go back. You can explain everything when we are home again and no one can hear us.”

It was a relief to get back on to the comparative peace of a bus. I was itching to ask her some more questions, but the middle-aged woman in front of us was obviously trying to hear our conversation so I kept quiet. Finally we inched our way down Oxford Street, and as we passed Selfridges Aria’s eyes lit up.

“What’s that over there?”

The window display was for the summer sale, and featured hundreds of bright-yellow carrier bags and boxes.

“It’s a big department store, “I whispered as the grey head of the nosy woman tilted almost imperceptibly towards me. “You can buy almost anything there. Do you want to see?”

Aria nodded excitedly, no longer the frightened girl she had been earlier.

“There will be crowds,” I warned, “so stay close.” We
made our way down the staircase and waited to be let off the bus. It stopped almost immediately.

She grabbed my hand and led me back to the window with the display of bags. “I have one of those!”

“What, the carrier bag?”

“The yellow bag, yes. Dane got it for me ages ago. It’s such a lovely colour. It’s one of my favourite things.”

“You mentioned Dane before. Is he a friend of yours?”

Aria nodded briefly, not taking her eyes off the window.

“Do you want to go inside?” I asked, holding open the door. She took a step forward, but the overwhelming smell of the perfume counters hit us and she stopped dead, sneezing loudly.

She stepped back, surprised, letting the steady stream of people through the door. “I can’t go in there,” she said, shaking her head. “How do people stand it?”

“Most people up here like it,” I said, grinning. “Come on, let’s go home.”

I directed her up a side road and we made our way home via the back streets where there was minimal traffic and very few people.

Towards home we took a shortcut through the park. I loved the little park – it wasn’t at all grand, just about a dozen London plane trees squished together around a scruffy lawn. Despite the sunshine there was a bit of a breeze, so the trees were moving gently above us. There were also some swings and a long line of wooden benches, most of which were dedicated to dead people.
As we walked through the gate I glanced over at Aria and saw that her lips were pressed together in a tight line and her hands were in tight fists. She seemed to be keeping her eyes fixed on the floor.

“I can’t believe that those huge things can move so much,” she said as a larger gust shook the branches. “I’m not sure I like being so close to them.”

I was about to answer when I saw Will. He was circling one of the trees, obviously looking for something. Foggy was on the end of a long lead, sniffing around in a small patch of straggly flowers.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go and help him. And just ignore the dog,” I added as she hesitated. “He’s really not a problem.”

I hurried Aria over to the trees, hoping that Will wouldn’t find what he was looking for before we got there. He was peering into the long grass that had grown up around the trunk of one of the largest trees.

“Um, hi, Will,” I called out as soon as I could. “Have you lost something?”

He straightened up and looked over towards us, a polite but distant look on his face. It wasn’t until we stepped into the shadows that he smiled.

“Oh, hi, Lily, it’s you.”

He nodded quickly at Aria, having obviously not forgotten that she really didn’t like dogs. Foggy’s tail was the only sign of him as he rummaged deeper in the undergrowth.

“What are you looking for?”

“Foggy’s ball. Again. Honestly, that stupid dog is supposed to be a retriever but he’s completely hopeless. If it was one of the old tennis balls I’d leave it, but it’s a new rubber one, so I’d quite like to take it home again.”

“Do you want a hand?”

“Cheers, that would be great. I think it landed around here somewhere.”

He swept his arm around, covering quite a wide area.

“Could you be a little more specific?” I laughed. “We’ll be here all day!”

“I didn’t really see,” he said with a wry smile. “I don’t have my contacts in.”

I didn’t realise he wore contact lenses, and was surprised at how pleased I was to learn that about him. It made him a fraction less perfect and, to me, a fraction more approachable. “Well, you need our help then. What colour is the ball?”

“Yellow, which isn’t very useful in all this old grass.” He dropped his voice and leaned in towards me. “Is she going to be OK today? I don’t want her frightening Foggy again.”

He was so close that I could catch the clean, shampooed smell of his hair.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” I muttered back, trying to keep my voice steady. “She just got a bit of a shock yesterday, that’s all.”

I turned to look at Aria, who was glancing between
the dog and the branches above us, biting her lip and clasping her hands together. She had taken a few steps back towards the gate.

“We’re searching for a yellow ball,” I called over to her.

She nodded briefly, but continued to stand there, tense and jumpy, her head jerking at every sound.

“So who is she then? A new girl at school or something?” Will asked.

“Yeah, something like that. I’m looking after her for a bit.”

I knew that I should move away before he asked a question that I didn’t want to answer, but I couldn’t.

“She needs quite a lot of looking after, but she’s all right really.”

I glanced up at him and saw that he was watching Aria. She looked like a beautiful waif, thin as a willow and with skin so smooth and pale she seemed to be made of porcelain. Tendrils of her long dark hair had escaped from the hastily constructed bun and were wafting around her face in the gentle breeze. She was poised on the balls of her feet as if ready to run. For a second I could see the world from her point of view, the enormous trees moving above her head, the clouds scudding across the distant sky, the sheer vastness of it all, and I felt a wave of sympathy. It all must be so hard, and I wasn’t sure that I would cope so well if our situations had been reversed.

I smiled at her, feeling suddenly ashamed for the
times I had been cross with her. She was actually doing amazingly well, considering all the things that she was having to learn about. She smiled back, a radiant smile that transformed her pretty face. She was stunningly, unbelievably beautiful. And then I realised that she wasn’t smiling at me.

The boy with the dog is here, but it seems to be under control this time. I think she likes him – I see the way she glances at him when he’s not looking. He has kind eyes, and seems strong. I don’t really understand how they pick partners up here, but he must be a good choice. The idea of it makes me smile.

I looked from Will to Aria and back again. They seemed to be oblivious to everything. Aria obviously hadn’t twigged that Will was the one I thought was special. With a sinking feeling in my stomach I realised that I should have told her about him when I had the chance.

“So have you searched over here yet?” I asked breezily, breaking their gaze. “It really shouldn’t be that difficult to find. Aria, why don’t you look over there, away from Foggy, and I’ll take this patch. How big is this ball, Will?”

“Oh, it’s, umm, a bit bigger than a tennis ball, I suppose.” Will sounded distracted. “Yes, a rubber ball, yellow, about so big.”

He made a fist to demonstrate the size.

“OK. All right, Aria?”

She nodded and turned to start looking in the grass. We worked silently for a few moments, Will and me kicking aside the long grass with our feet, Aria nervously picking her way through it, but disturbing it as little as possible. Foggy stayed obligingly out of the way. I watched them both out of the corner of my eye. Will seemed intent on finding the ball, but once or twice Aria glanced over in his direction. I was trying not to think about it when my foot landed on something hard. I lurched sideways, feeling the muscles in my ankle give as the small yellow ball shot off to the side.

“Owww!” I yelped. “I’ve found the ball.”

Pain shot up my ankle and I hopped on the spot, trying to rub it better. Tears pricked my eyes.

Will was instantly by my side.

“What have you done?” he asked, putting out a hand to steady me.

The warm pressure of his hand on my arm momentarily distracted me from the red-hot pain, and I gulped back the tears.

“I’ve turned my ankle. I found the ball by standing on it.”

I tried to laugh, but it turned into a sob as pain shot up my leg again. Foggy tried jumping up to help, almost knocking me sideways. Will batted him down.

“Stupid dog. Get out of the way!” he muttered. “Can you walk?”

His dark eyebrows were knitted together in a deep
frown. I took a tentative step and felt the pain as if a hot wire was being pressed deep inside my ankle.

“Not easily,” I admitted, trying not to sob out loud again.

“Here, hang on to me.”

He effortlessly hoisted me up and took my weight. I was pressed tightly against his side.

“This isn’t going to work,” he said, abruptly setting me back down.

“W … what? Why not?”

“Foggy! He’s a positive menace, that dog.”

I couldn’t understand what he was on about.