The Marus Manuscripts (40 page)

The entire way, Maddy wondered what to expect from the group of true believers. Would there be magic or miracles? Would something marvelous happen because she was with them? Maybe the Unseen One would somehow appear to them.

They ducked down another alley and wound up in a small court of townhouses. The Tudor-style beams, crooked doorways, and angled windows peered at them. Large boxes filled with flowers stretched along the windows and at the base of each house. Simet directed Maddy to a door on the far right, where he tapped on it in a rhythm that reminded Maddy of Morse code. A spy hole opened briefly, then closed again, and the latch lifted on the inside of the door. It was opened by a small silver-haired woman with a skeletal face. She smiled when she saw Maddy.

“Oh, dear girl, come in,” she greeted and gestured with a bony finger. “Come in, Simet.” She looked cautiously out the door again and then closed it quickly. They stood in a dark hallway for a moment until she moved around them. “In here,” she instructed and led them to a room at the far end of the hall. It was a modest sitting room with a sofa and divan, one or two end tables, a carpet with pink and blue flowers in it, and thick blue curtains over the windows. The woman stooped and suddenly pulled the carpet back. “They’re waiting,” she said.

“Aren’t you joining us, Annigua?” Simet asked her.

She shook her head vigorously. It seemed so fragile that Maddy thought it might fall off. “It’s my turn to keep watch.”

Simet knelt and grabbed hold of a small ring inset into a floorboard Maddy hadn’t noticed. He gave the ring a tug and a trapdoor lifted up. The old woman took it from him and held it while he stepped onto unseen stairs. Maddy carefully followed him.

At the bottom of the stairs was a large room, cool like a cellar but decorated in comfortable-looking chairs. Oil lamps were lit and hung from the beams crossing the ceiling. Banners on the walls contained symbols Maddy had never seen before. A small group of men and women was gathered in the center. The people were on their knees and looked as if they’d been praying. One man rose to greet
them. He was stocky, with a round, pudgy face, salt-and-pepper beard, and mostly gray hair pulled back in a ponytail.

“Simet,” the man said pleasantly, then turned his gaze to Maddy. “And you are Maddy.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I am Petrad.”

“He’s the elder of our group,” Simet added quickly.

The rest of the group now stood. Petrad introduced each man and woman to Maddy, but they were a blur of names and faces. Once the formalities were over, they drew the chairs into a circle and sat down. Maddy was aware of everyone staring at her, but she tried to ignore it, choosing instead to look at her hands folded in her lap.

“What’s the latest news from the palace?” Petrad asked Simet.

“Hector is putting more pressure on some of us to sign his oath of allegiance. He has cornered me twice about it.”

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him that the oath was buried in a stack of papers in my office, and I would get to it when I could. I suggested it wasn’t a priority over my many other duties for the king.”

“Did he accept that?”

“He gave me that cold look that only he gives so well. I don’t know how much longer I can put him off. In any event, I don’t trust him. I believe this oath is a first step to bigger things. He wants us annihilated.”

“So he does. He’s already sending his soldiers to the homes of suspected members.” Petrad pursed his lips as if his statement brought back a painful memory. All he said, though, was “We will continue to pray for you and the others.”

“Thank you,” Simet said.

Suddenly they all lowered their heads, and Petrad prayed to the
Unseen One to give Simet strength and guidance in his role at the palace. Maddy watched out of the corner of her eyes, wondering if something bizarre or exciting would happen. Then they lifted their heads again.

“And what about you, Maddy?” Petrad asked. Maddy looked at him. “Do you have any messages for us from the Unseen One?”

The question scared her. “No, I don’t think so.”

Petrad smiled. “I just thought I’d ask. Meanwhile, is there anything we can do for you?”

Maddy shrugged. “For me? I don’t think so.”

“Tell me: How is your faith?” he asked.

“My faith?” She was feeling more confused.

“Yes. Tell us the condition of your soul.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Petrad!” a woman with a scarf on her head said sharply. “She’s a young girl. ‘Condition of your soul,’ indeed. You can’t expect her to know what you’re talking about.”

“Then
you
ask her, Bridga,” Petrad insisted.

The woman called Bridga smiled at Maddy. “You came to Annison as a helper from another world, which is a wondrous thing to us,” she explained. “But Simet tells us you are unsure of your faith.”

“I am?” she asked. She couldn’t figure out what they were getting at.

“He suggested that you think you may be in a dream or a fairy tale,” said the woman.

Maddy looked at Simet helplessly. He gave her an embarrassed wink and spread his hands in resignation.

“I see what you mean,” Maddy began. She tried to form an answer. “I think . . . I understand now that this isn’t a fairy tale. What I mean to say is that I wasn’t very happy that Annison had to marry the king when she didn’t love him. But she did it anyway. Out of duty to the Unseen One. I guess that’s how it happens
sometimes. Real life isn’t always a fairy tale, but sometimes . . .” Maddy paused, unsure of her words or how to finish her thought. Finally she said, “What I mean is, when I grow up, I hope to be as brave and courageous as Annison is.”

The group seemed to approve. Petrad clapped his hands together. “Well said! Bravo!”

Bridga looked at Maddy earnestly, but she had a faraway look in her eyes. “The time will come soon when you
will
have to be as brave and courageous as Annison,” she suggested. “Perhaps more so. But you must give up your ideas of magic tricks.”

Maddy’s mouth went dry. “What do you mean?”

“You’re still thinking as a child,” she said. “Even now you want magic tricks from the Unseen One. You hope to be amazed and astonished, like a member of an audience watching a magic play. But the Unseen One does not stand on the center of this stage. He watches from the wings while
you
play your part. Do not wait for magic and miracles, dear child. Play your part and play it well. That’s what you’re here to do.”

The group was silent now. Maddy felt the heat of their watchful eyes. She didn’t know how the woman called Bridga had known to say what she said, but she was right. Maddy was still thinking like a child.

Just then a small bell on the far wall rang. The men and women leapt to their feet, leaving Maddy to sit, unsure of what was happening.

“We have guests,” Simet said softly, coming close to Maddy.

“Guests?” Maddy asked.

Simet put a finger to his lips. “We must be quiet and wait.”

Above them, heavy footsteps beat against the floor as a large group of men—“Soldiers,” Petrad whispered—entered the house. There were shouts. Something hit the floor and crashed. They could
hear the old woman, her voice squawking like a bird’s, rebuke the men for barging in on her. Then the heavy footsteps came closer. They were right overhead, the voices now clearer. Someone said that an illegal meeting was taking place in her house. Did they see a meeting? she asked. Did they see anyone else there? The old woman demanded that they leave.

The men thumped and crashed around. Everyone watched the stairs to the secret hatchway, waiting to see if the soldiers would find it—and them. The tension was like a low hum in Maddy’s ears.

“We should leave,” one of the men suggested. “Quickly. Through the tunnel.”

The rest agreed, and they moved to the far corner of the cellar. Petrad pulled a small chest away from the wall, revealing a square hole behind it. The women began going through, while the men looked at them and back at the stairwell anxiously.

Maddy hesitated where she was. “What about Annigua?” she asked.

“Yes,” Simet said, also lingering, his eyes fixed on the stairs. “I don’t like this.”

Petrad returned and put his hands on their shoulders. “She’ll be all right,” he assured them.

But even before the words were out of his mouth, they heard the distinct sound of a slap, and Annigua cried out with pain. One of the soldiers shouted questions at her, demanding to know where the meeting was.

“They’re roughing her up,” Maddy stated, alarmed.

Simet rushed to the bottom of the stairs. Petrad followed, grabbing his arm. “Don’t, Simet,” he warned. “If you go up now, you’ll be arrested, and then they’ll have the evidence to convict her, you, and any of the rest of us they can catch. They’ll also know about this secret room.”

“I can’t let them hurt her,” he answered sternly.

“They won’t do her much harm. You live in the palace, so you don’t know what it’s like for the rest of us. They’ll knock her around, mess up her home, and then leave. But if you go up to help her . . .”

Simet clenched his fists as he tried to decide. Then, angrily, he spun on his heels and went to the tunnel. The rest had already gone.

“We’re going to leave her?” Maddy asked.

“We have to,” Simet said sadly. Maddy thought she saw tears in his eyes, and then he ducked into the tunnel.

“Come along, child,” Petrad said and nudged her along.

Maddy bit her lip. The last thing she heard as she entered the dark passage and Petrad pulled the chest back against the wall behind them was the sound of glass breaking and Annigua crying out a loud, “No!”

The tunnel led under several houses and emerged in a stairwell, flooded from the day’s rain, at the bottom of a large, industrial-looking building. The people went their separate ways without acknowledging one another. Simet and Maddy traveled in silence. Neither could escape the feeling that they’d abandoned poor Annigua.

To get back to the palace, they had to circle around to the street leading to Annigua’s front door. As they walked, Maddy noticed a man in a long coat walking toward them. He looked at them, his eyes reflecting recognition, and then turned his face away ever so slightly. Maddy thought it was a curious action, but then she felt a twinge of recognition as well. She had seen the man somewhere before: the high forehead and heavyset eyes, the square jaw—at the palace, she was certain.

She intended to mention it to Simet, but they were now passing the small street leading to Annigua’s house. Glancing in that direc
tion, they could see the door standing open, a dim light coming from inside, the silhouette of someone moving about in the hall.

“It’s no use,” Simet groaned.

Maddy hated feeling so helpless. It seemed wrong to leave Annigua to the mercy of those terrible soldiers. Suddenly, without thinking, she turned and marched toward the door.

“What are you doing?” Simet asked, trailing her.

“Petrad didn’t say we couldn’t visit a friend, did he?”

Simet understood and nodded. Then, moving so quickly that Maddy almost didn’t see him do it, he snatched up a handful of flowers from one of the boxes along the street. “Flowers for our friend,” he explained.

They reached Annigua’s door, a commotion of crashes and bangs still coming from inside. Simet pounded on the door and shouted out, “Hello? Are you at home, Annigua?”

A soldier appeared in the hallway. “What do you want?” He sneered at them.

“We have come to visit our friend.” Simet held up the flowers as if to prove the statement. “Is there a problem here?”

“Your friend is busy,” the soldier growled. “Come back tomorrow.”

“But I’m very busy tomorrow. I must see her tonight.”

The soldier approached them, eyeing them from head to foot as if to decide whether he could hurt them easily. “I said to go away!” He grabbed the edge of the door, intending to slam it in their faces, but Simet shoved his foot in the doorway. The soldier looked at him indignantly. “Do you want to be arrested?” he demanded.

“And do you want to explain to the king why you’ve arrested one of his palace guards?” Simet challenged.

The soldier was clearly surprised and took a second look at Simet. “What’s that you say?” he asked.

Simet stepped into the door. “I am Simet, a palace guard for the king.” He gestured to Maddy. “This is my protégée. Now, we’ve come to see our friend. And unless you can show me a warrant authorizing your insolence, we
will
see our friend.”

Simet pushed the soldier aside and marched down the hallway. Maddy smiled at the guard, who stood with a numb expression on his face, and followed Simet.

The damage was worse than it had sounded. It looked as if they had literally turned the room upside down and shaken it until everything had either fallen or emptied. Three other soldiers stopped their destruction to look dumbfounded at Simet and Maddy.

Annigua sat like a crumpled doll in a chair off to the side. Her hand barely covered a red welt on her right cheek. Maddy’s heart lurched at the sight.
It will be a deep black and blue in no time at all,
Maddy thought.

“Annigua?” Simet said.

Annigua looked up, her face alight with the surprise of seeing him. Her eyes quickly went to the rug and the trapdoor as if he’d come up through it and she had somehow missed the moment.

“We brought you flowers,” Maddy said brightly. Simet gave them to her. She took them uneasily, as if she still couldn’t figure out what had happened.

“We were passing by and thought we’d stop in to visit you,” Simet explained. “But I see you have visitors. What goes on?”

“They’re ruining my house!” the old woman sobbed, tears filling her eyes. “They’re accusing me of things! What’s our nation coming to when barbarians can invade an old woman’s home like this?”

“That’s a question I would like answered, too,” Simet said, scowling at the soldiers.

The soldier who had met them at the door entered the room. He
seemed to have gotten over his shock. “Look, you two, we’re here on the business of Lord Hector,” he declared. “And if you don’t leave right this minute, I
will
arrest you for obstructing justice.”