The Other Side of the Island (14 page)
Read The Other Side of the Island Online
Authors: Allegra Goodman
Tags: #Nature & the Natural World, #Social Issues, #Families, #Family, #Juvenile Fiction, #Individuality, #Fantasy & Magic, #Fiction, #Science Fiction, #Family Life, #Weather, #Peer Pressure, #Islands, #General, #Domestic fiction
But Pamela shook her head. “If you wait for that, they’ll miss their bus.”
Honor had to run all the way to the bus stop. She dragged Quintilian by the hand, and they made it just in time.
At lunchtime she went up to the teacher’s desk. “What can I do for you?” asked Ms. Lynch.
Honor hesitated. She felt a little sick. She had to force herself to talk. “It’s about my name.”
Ms. Lynch looked at her closely, but her eyes were kind and understanding.
“I want a new one,” said Honor, “because mine doesn’t have a proper H.”
Then Ms. Lynch smiled. “That would be just fine,” she said. “I will get you the list, and at recess you and the other girls can pick out a new one if you like. Once you’ve decided, all you have to do is go to Miss Blessing and she will register your new name in the school record books.”
The whole class was excited at the idea of renaming Honor. Even the girls who liked her less gathered at recess at the green benches under the monkeypod tree. Together they pored over the list. “Ooh, ooh, what about Hecuba?”
“No! It sounds like geometry!”
“Hephzibah.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet. Could you be Hephzibah?” Haven asked.
Honor didn’t answer. She felt funny. She’d been determined to go through with this, but now she felt as though she were falling.
“Hannah!” said Hildegard.
“Hypolita,” said Harriet V.
Honor knew she had to pick a name fast, while she still had her nerve. She took the list and flipped the pages. She closed her eyes and set her finger down.
No one spoke. Honor opened her eyes and saw the name she’d picked. “Heloise,” she said.
“Ooh, that’s so cute,” said Hortense. “I wish I could pick out my own name. You are so lucky.”
“Heloise is so nice,” said Helena, “and the beginning of your name will sound just like mine!”
Recess was over. Honor returned the list to Ms. Lynch and told her the name she’d chosen.
“That’s very pretty,” said Ms. Lynch. “You may see Miss Blessing while the rest of us are at archery.”
All the school buildings had excellent cooling units, but
Miss Blessing kept her office extra cold. As soon as she walked in, Honor wished she were at archery in the hot sun. She loved archery. She had a good eye and a strong arm. “You are extremely Accurate,” Miss Teasdale, the archery teacher, had complimented Honor. Once Miss Teasdale even said, “If you practice, you could learn to shoot a taser when you grow up.” Honor had been so pleased. She’d imagined herself high up in a watchtower. What a view she’d have! What cool breezes high in the air where she’d sit, guarding the community below.
Miss Blessing kept her office extra cold. As soon as she walked in, Honor wished she were at archery in the hot sun. She loved archery. She had a good eye and a strong arm. “You are extremely Accurate,” Miss Teasdale, the archery teacher, had complimented Honor. Once Miss Teasdale even said, “If you practice, you could learn to shoot a taser when you grow up.” Honor had been so pleased. She’d imagined herself high up in a watchtower. What a view she’d have! What cool breezes high in the air where she’d sit, guarding the community below.
“Sit down,” Miss Blessing said now in her sweet voice. Her skin was smooth and white, her eyes watery blue. She was dressed in the same fashion as Earth Mother in the picture on the wall. Just like Earth Mother, Miss Blessing wore glasses dangling from a chain around her neck and a cardigan sweater draped over her shoulders. “I hear you have something important to tell me.”
“I’m changing my name.” Honor’s voice trembled a little, but there was no turning back now.
Miss Blessing smiled and put on her glasses so that she could read the papers on her desk. “Ms. Lynch told me,” she said. “I will record the new name in your file and I wish you great success with it.” She turned to her papers and began writing.
Honor shifted in her chair. She wasn’t sure whether or not she was excused to go. “Thank you,” she whispered at last, hoping the principal would release her.
“There is something else I want to ask you about,” said Miss Blessing. “Please don’t worry. You’ve done nothing wrong. I want to know if there is any trouble at home.”
Honor tensed. Instinctively she held still. She tried not to move, but her heart was pounding. She did not know what Miss Blessing meant, but she sensed danger.
“Some trouble with Quintilian?” Miss Blessing asked.
Honor shook her head.
“Or with your mother and father?”
Honor swallowed.
“Was there some special reason you wished to change your name?”
“No,” Honor said clearly. “I just wanted to have a name easier to pronounce.”
“Of course you did,” said Miss Blessing. “And your parents agreed.”
She didn’t ask it as a question, but she seemed to be waiting for Honor to answer.
“Yes,” Honor lied. She couldn’t breathe. She thought she’d suffocate for the long moment Miss Blessing examined her.
“Are you sure?” Now Miss Blessing’s voice was chilly sweet.
Honor had two choices then. She could tell the truth or lie some more. If she told the truth, she’d be forgiven. She’d have Miss Blessing’s sympathy. She would be perfect as she’d hoped, but she would also have to admit there was trouble at home, and then her parents would get in trouble. If she lied more . . . She remembered Mrs. Whyte’s words her first day of school. We do not lie. Do you know what happens to children who lie? Honor had no idea what would happen.
She wanted to run away, but no one could run away from school. There was a watchtower right at the school gate. If she tried, the Watcher would sound the alarm, and Miss Tuttle would retrieve her.
“At first my parents didn’t agree,” Honor said. She was surprised at how clear her voice sounded. “But when I explained why, then they understood.”
“Is that the truth?” Miss Blessing asked.
Half the truth, thought Honor, but she nodded solemnly. She might have looked too solemn, because Miss Blessing narrowed her eyes. “All right, Heloise,” she said at last. “You may be excused.”
Honor sat there a moment longer. Then she remembered she was Heloise and scrambled to her feet.
SIX
WILL AND PAMELA WOULD NOT CALL THEIR DAUGHTER
Heloise, no matter how Honor begged. They refused to believe she had a new name.
Heloise, no matter how Honor begged. They refused to believe she had a new name.
“I need to go to the Identity Bureau,” Honor pleaded on Errand Day. “I have to get a new card.”
“You will not go,” said Will.
“We will not take you,” said Pamela.
“I hate you!” Honor cried. She was desperate. She could not get a new card without the signature of her parent or guardian. She also knew she could not return to school after Errand Day with her old card showing in her shirt pocket. That was all the proof Miss Blessing would need that her parents had not agreed to the change and that Honor had lied.
Errand Day passed, and a new week began. Honor came to school on day one and hid in the crowd of girls in the classroom doorway. She clutched her stack of books to her chest. Ancient History, Intermediate Climatology, Algebra I. She hid in the crowd, but she had to walk to her desk, and she couldn’t hold her books over her ID card forever. She had to put them down.
All that morning she bent self-consciously over her work. She felt her old name burning on her shirt. The other girls were so used to the old ID card they didn’t notice. They kept calling her Honor and then catching themselves. “Oops! I mean Heloise.” Ms. Lynch never made that mistake. She always called Honor by her new name. It was just a matter of time before Ms. Lynch noticed that Honor’s ID card was wrong.
“Hiroko will recite today,” Ms. Lynch announced in history. “Please open your books to chapter five.”
“When the Flood began,” Hiroko recited, “countries battled for fresh water.”
“Let’s hear your voice,” said Ms. Lynch.
“Armies fought for a safe food supply. When the Flood ended, ninety percent of Earth’s population was no more. The old communication networks were broken. Fear and famine overcame Earth. At this time, the Earth Mother, our Provider, began to gather men and women from each country to form the New Consensus. She appointed seven Councilors to advise Her, and together they formed a new government. She called this new government the New Council for Cooperation, or the Corporation, for short. . . .”
Ms. Lynch can’t see my ID card, Honor thought as she bent over her open book. Her eyes are bad. For once she was grateful for the boring history recitation. Slowly, steadily, Hiroko kept talking.
“Sadly, not all the survivors on Earth joined hands in Cooperation. Those who did not cooperate soon learned that Earth Mother could not provide food and water and housing for them. She cast them out. . . .”
A sharp rap on the classroom door startled Honor. “Excuse me, Hiroko,” said Ms. Lynch. She opened the door and there was Miss Blessing.
“We’d like to borrow Heloise,” said Miss Blessing.
Now Honor wished she were invisible. She wished she could fly away, but she had to obey Miss Blessing.
“Go along, Heloise,” said Ms. Lynch.
Honor set down her book and slipped through the classroom. She felt the other girls wondering about her as she walked past, but when she turned toward them, they looked down at their desks. “Shut the door behind you, please,” Ms. Lynch said. Honor’s hands trembled as she obeyed.
“We have a problem,” Miss Blessing told Honor in the hall.
Distantly, Honor heard Hiroko picking up just where she’d left off. “. . . into wild places. Those who did not cooperate could not survive. However, those who did join hands with Earth Mother soon formed a Safe and Secure society. They took refuge in the Colonies, the islands of the ancient South Pacific, now renamed the Tranquil Sea. . . .”
“The problem is Quintilian,” said Miss Blessing. “He is in the infirmary.”
Honor’s eyes widened. No mention of her card at all? And Quintilian sick? Or hurt? He was just three and a half and he came home with I’s for Inaccuracies on his report card. He
was known in year Q as Unruly. But he had never been in the
infirmary before.
was known in year Q as Unruly. But he had never been in the
infirmary before.
Nurse Applebee was sitting at her desk filling out a blue accident report. “We have left messages at your parents’ places of work,” she said to Honor. “Your little boy”—she politely avoided the term brother—“will have to spend the night here.”
“But what did he do?” asked Honor.
“He fell out of the banyan tree in the playground,” said Nurse Applebee.
“How did he—?”
“He didn’t say,” said the nurse. “He can’t remember.”
Honor followed Nurse Applebee and Miss Blessing into the clean white infirmary lined with beds. Quintilian lay small and pale, propped up with pillows. His head was bandaged, his eyes wide open.
“Quintilian,” said the nurse gently, “can you hear me?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Do you know what day it is?”
He hesitated.
“Do you know where you are?”
“In bed,” he said.
“Where do you live?” asked the nurse.
“In the Colonies,” he said.
“But what is your address?”
He didn’t answer.
“And who owns the Colonies?”
“The Corporation,” Quintilian said quickly. He seemed to be waking up. Honor sighed with relief.
“Good.”
“And who is this?” Miss Blessing pointed to Honor.
He smiled at her even as he said the wrong name. “Honor.”
“You see, he has a concussion,” said Nurse Applebee.
But now Miss Blessing turned to Honor. “Where is your new identity card?”
“I don’t know. I forgot it,” Honor spluttered. Then she gave up. “I don’t have one.” She shuddered, tensing for the punishment she knew would come.
But Miss Blessing did not call her out into the hall. She did not threaten punishment. She just turned to leave, and as she did, her voice floated back into the room, so quiet and sweet and frightening. “You see now? Isn’t it better to tell the truth?”
All that afternoon, Honor trembled to think what would happen. She could not concentrate on algebra and spoiled her bowl in ceramics class. She knew she would be punished for having the wrong identity card. The punishment would come, even if Miss Blessing chose not to mention it yet. Honor wished she were home. She wished she’d never thought of changing her name. If she’d listened to her parents, she wouldn’t have gotten into this mess. All she’d wanted was to fit in, and now her card was Inaccurate. That was Not Allowed.
She rode the bus home without Quintilian. Alone, she trudged up the hill to the house. Her book bag was heavy. The sun beat down on her shoulders and sweat trickled down her face. Once she got inside the cool house, she dumped her bag, pulled off her hat, and sank down on the tiled living room floor.
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