The Other Side of the Island (2 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
“It’s on the list,” said Pamela.
“Yes, I’ve brought the list with me,” said Miss Blessing.
Honor heard papers rustling as Miss Blessing took out the Approved List of Girls’ Names.
“The trouble is—and I’m sure you realize this—the H in Honor is silent. If she walks around with a name like that,
people will think she belongs in year
O
. She won’t fit in with
her peers.”
people will think she belongs in year
O
. She won’t fit in with
her peers.”
“But here it is on the list,” said Pamela. “Right between Honey and Hope.”
“Hope is a lovely name,” said Miss Blessing. Her voice was sweet and gentle. “Hope is simple. You can hear the H. Honey is also pretty.”
“But her name is Honor,” said Will.
“It sticks out,” said Miss Blessing.
“We don’t mind,” said Pamela.
“Yes, I’m sure you don’t,” said Miss Blessing, “but you should consider your daughter’s feelings—and her future.”
“Are you suggesting she can’t go to school because you don’t like her name?” Honor’s father asked.
“Will,” said Pamela in a soft, warning voice.
“Her math score was perfect,” said Miss Blessing. “Reading, excellent; copying, fair. I am sorry to say she failed geography. Her map skills are poor.”
“It’s our fault,” Will said quickly.
“I realize that. It’s clear to us, however, that with support, Honor could succeed. She is a bright child. We are selecting her for Old Colony.”
“Thank you,” said Pamela.
“She’s a quick study,” said Will.
Honor could hear the relief in her parents’ voices.
“We think she will do very well with us,” said Miss Blessing, “and in time, she’ll change her name. We’ve seen it in the past.”
Honor peeked over the banister. Her parents were not smiling.
“You’d force her?” Pamela asked.
“No, no, of course not,” said Miss Blessing. “She’ll decide on her own. One day, she’ll become, for example, Henrietta.”
“Why do you say that?” Will demanded.
“Because,” said Miss Blessing, “we will educate her. We will train your daughter properly. She will know instinctively that her name isn’t right. Our mission is overcoming difference, and a Colony education is comprehensive. We teach the whole child.”
TWO
SCHOOL WAS FREE OF CHARGE, AS WERE LUNCHES,
uniforms, and transportation. This was fortunate. While Honor’s father had begun his new job, her mother had not. Honor’s parents bought her a cot to sleep on, but they could not afford beds for themselves. Will and Pamela were tired and stiff from trying to sleep on the bare floor.
uniforms, and transportation. This was fortunate. While Honor’s father had begun his new job, her mother had not. Honor’s parents bought her a cot to sleep on, but they could not afford beds for themselves. Will and Pamela were tired and stiff from trying to sleep on the bare floor.
Will rubbed Pamela’s shoulders as the family stood together at the bus stop on Honor’s first day of school.
There were no other families at their stop, only a couple of workers in white jumpsuits collecting recycling bins. The workers looked strange, like grown-up living dolls. They all looked alike, with blank faces and bald heads. They didn’t make a sound. “Who are they?” Honor asked.
“Orderlies,” Honor’s mother told her. “Don’t stare. It’s not polite.”
“Where are the other kids?” Honor asked.
“The other children come from different neighborhoods,” said Pamela.
“They’ll be getting on later,” said Will. “You’ll be alone at first, because you’re the first stop.”
“Are you sure the bus will come here?” Honor asked. Their neighborhood was desolate. DO NOT ENTER signs and barbed-wire fences marked the barriers near the shore, where ancient hotels stood submerged in water. A stench of rotting kelp and mildew filled the air. The only clean new thing in the neighborhood was the Corporation watchtower, which stood tall and slender on stilts. Honor could just make out a man with binoculars inside.
“Look,” said Honor.
“Never point at a Watcher.”
Honor was startled by the fear in her mother’s voice. She had never lived in a city and had never seen a Watcher before. “He could probably see the bus from up there,” she ventured.
“He sees everything,” her mother said, as she touched up Honor’s sunscreen.
Honor looked down at her new sandals and book bag. These were part of her uniform, as were her broad-brimmed sun hat, her khaki skirt, and her white shirt with the letter H embroidered in green on the pocket. She felt strange in the uniform.
“Don’t worry,” Pamela said, but her voice trembled.
“There’s the bus,” said her father.
A blue school bus pulled up to the curb. The doors opened with a whoosh of cool air.
Honor looked up at the open doors, and for a moment she was overcome with dread. She felt suddenly that once she got on the bus she would be leaving her parents for good.
“We’ll be waiting for you right here at the end of the day,” Will said.
“What if I don’t know the answers?”
“Let’s go,” ordered the bus driver.
Honor ducked her head down and ran up the stairs.
“If you don’t know, don’t say,” said Will.
“Be careful, sweetie,” Pamela called after her.
Honor sank down into a seat and clutched her book bag to her chest.
“Buckle up,” said the driver.
As the bus lurched to the next stop and then the next, students of all ages crowded on. The big kids from years F or E boarded cheerfully, but some of the little children were crying. The embroidered letters on their shirts were N and M and L and even O. The youngest were just three years old and didn’t want to leave their parents. Some even tried to run back down the aisle of the bus and escape, but the bus driver was a strong, burly man, and he scooped up the littlest children and strapped them in with special locking seat belts. The windows were unbreakable as well. Children could pound with their fists, but they soon discovered that the glass was stronger than they were. Then all the little ones could do was scream. The bus driver didn’t mind. He wore earplugs.
Honor covered her ears and gazed out the window as the bus drove up a steep road through great iron gates wrought in the shape of long trumpet flowers. She began to see a whole fleet of buses entering terraced school grounds. A great field spread before them, framed by whitewashed buildings, ocean view, and sky. Teachers stood on the grass holding white pennants painted with class letters.
“Everybody off,” announced the driver. He marched down the aisle unsnapping the seat belts of the littlest children. “Go find your flag. No pushing.”
The sun was hot now. Honor was sweating as she made her way to the middle of the field, where the other ten-year-olds were gathered around a flag painted with the letter H.
“Boys on this side, girls on that,” said the teacher’s kindly voice. “Are you the new girl? Over here, dear, for the head count. Twelve?” the teacher asked another adult.
“Yes, twelve,” the other teacher replied.
“Line up nicely, boys and girls.” The two teachers spent some time straightening the lines and straightening the students as well, adjusting hats and patting down shirt collars.
“Off we go inside,” said the teacher at the head of Honor’s line. “Follow me.”
After the sweltering sunshine on the field, the classroom was deliciously cool. The room was large. Twelve desks stood ready, with a microscope on each. There were twelve easels and twelve armchairs in a circle for reading time. Twelve standing looms and twelve glossy black upright pianos. On one wall, gardening tools hung from hooks. A giant saltwater aquarium sparkled with tropical fish, lacy coral, sea anemones, and even a class octopus called Octavio. At the front of the classroom above the blackboard hung a framed portrait of Earth Mother. Honor could not remember ever seeing such a big picture of Earth Mother. Her eyes were blue and twinkling, her hair silver, tucked up in a bun. She wore a red cardigan sweater and reading glasses on a chain around her neck.
At the blackboard, the teacher wrote, Mrs. Whyte. She was an elegant-looking woman with long cool fingers and white hair to match her name. She took attendance.
“Hagar,” Mrs. Whyte called out. “Harriet, and—why, yes, here’s another Harriet. You shall be Harriet K. and Harriet V. Haven . . . Hedwig . . . Helena . . . Hester . . . Hilary . . . Hildegard . . . Hiroko . . .” She paused for a moment and stared at the attendance sheet with a puzzled look on her face. “Honor,” she said at last, and then went on. “Hortense.”
Because Honor had never been to school before, she watched the other girls to learn what to do. Everyone in the classroom had a job, and no one else could do that job. The book monitor distributed books for reading. The snack monitor wheeled in a cart with cups of juice and plates of cheese and crackers and lychees. The fish monitor fed the fish. There were many rules at school and many classes: painting, math, copying, science, gymnastics, music, weaving, and, of course, geography, Earth and Weather.
For geography, Mrs. Whyte rolled down a great map over the blackboard. This was a map of the world. The map was entirely blue, except for the tiny dots of green representing the world’s islands. “Who can find the Colonies on the map?” asked Mrs. Whyte, offering her pointer to any student who could find the islands in the deep blue Tranquil Sea. “Who can find our island on the map?”
The girls strained their eyes, but there were so many islands it was hard to find their own. Mrs. Whyte had to point to the correct island herself. “And what sort of island is this?” Mrs. Whyte asked.
“Big,” suggested Hagar.
“It is relatively big,” said Mrs. Whyte. “But what sort of island is this?”
“Tropical,” said Harriet K
.
.
Mrs. Whyte nodded.
“Important,” said Hortense.
Mrs. Whyte looked pleased. “Yes, Hortense, this is an important island for several reasons. But that’s not the answer I was looking for. This is a volcanic island. We are living on the tip of a great volcano that rises from the ocean. And you will all enjoy learning about volcanoes this year. Who can find the Northern Islands?”
“Me!” Honor called out, but Mrs. Whyte called on Hester because she was raising her hand.
“Who can find the Polar Seas?” asked Mrs. Whyte. “And who would like to tell us what they were like before Enclosure?”
“They were cold,” said Hiroko, standing at the map and pointing to the oceans near the North and South poles.
“Stormy,” said Hilary.
“The blizzards could kill you,” added Harriet K
.
.
“Very good,” said Mrs. Whyte. “Who will show us what they are like now?”
Honor’s hand shot up, and this time Mrs. Whyte called on her. Honor got to stand on a special footstool and roll down a transparency over the map of the world. The transparency was tinted over both Polar Seas and the Northern Islands as well, so that those parts of the earth now looked rosy pink and warm.
“Honor,” said Mrs. Whyte, “you come from the North. What’s the North like now? Are there polar bears up there in the Northern Islands?”
Some of the girls giggled.
“I saw one,” Honor said from her place up on the stepladder. The giggling stopped. Mrs. Whyte looked so severe that Honor’s heart began pounding.
“We do not lie in this classroom,” said Mrs. Whyte. “We do not exaggerate or tell untruths, ever.”
Honor flinched.
“Do you know what happens to children who lie?”
“I didn’t lie . . . I really . . . It was swimming,” Honor spluttered. She remembered her mother calling after her, Be careful, sweetie! “I think it was another kind of bear.”
Mrs. Whyte’s face softened. She helped Honor off the ladder. “Oh, now I see what you meant,” she said kindly. “That’s absolutely right.” And as Honor took her seat, Mrs. Whyte told the children, “The Polar Seas and Northern Islands are Enclosed. What does that mean?”
“They’re Safe,” said Hiroko.
“Secure,” said Hildegard.
“They have a ceiling,” said Hortense, tossing her blond hair with some importance.
“Yes, they are ceiled,” said Mrs. Whyte, smiling, “and because of that, they are enjoying what we call . . .”
“New Weather,” chimed the girls.
“Are the Northern Islands cold?”
Sometimes, thought Honor.
“No,” answered the girls.
“Are the Northern Islands hot?”
Sometimes, thought Honor.
“No.”
“What is the New Weather there?”
“Sunny!” said Hilary.
“Gorgeous!” said Hedwig.
“Perfect!” said Hortense.
“Good,” said Mrs. Whyte.
Honor shook her head. She wanted to say, “No, the North isn’t perfect. Some days are sunny and some days are cold. The Northern Islands are muddy and icy. Sometimes you can see to the next island and sometimes there are only marshes as far as the eye can see.” She wanted to ask the other girls, “How can you know a place you haven’t been?” but she kept quiet until the lesson was over and Mrs. Whyte told the girls to line up for target practice. It was time for archery.
At hour five, when school ended, Honor was exhausted. Slowly, she gathered her books and made her way to the door. Something caught her eye just as she was about to leave. Something or someone was watching her. She pivoted slowly, searching the room. The other girls were hurrying out the door. None of them so much as glanced in her direction, and yet, she felt watched. She searched again. Then she saw that the octopus was staring at her. He was bunched up against the glass of the saltwater tank, and he was watching her with one great bulbous eye.
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