The Power of Forgetting (56 page)

'It looks like
infinity.' she said.

'But it isn't.'
I said.

'And how would
you know magician.... Who doesn't use his magic?'

'I'm not....'
but I stopped then; no point in disagreeing with her again on this
point. She had always claimed to psychically tuned. I had always
thought it silly; until today.

She was looking
at me with that same face she had used the day she said she was
reading my aura. I thought that it was stupid. But then we had seen
halos of light around others. Was that what she saw? Just because
we call that a mystery did it make it so? And what had Janey done
to me? Perhaps nothing. It was him. Everyone seemed.... More
real.

'There is the
place!' Janey was on a narrow path ahead. We all gathered to take
in what she saw.

There was a
wide channel at our feet where the deep cut of the river boiled
about seventy feet below us; and to the left was a narrower tunnel
honeycombed with holes and intricate lacings of rock. About a
hundred yards further and we could see a bridge spanning the gap.
It was clearly made of strong fibres and slung across in a place
where the gap allowed a wide enough clearance for the average
person to pass comfortably. On the other side was a wide gallery
with various passages and shafts running in all directions.
Opposite the end of the rope bridge there was a plain wall, quite
flat and bare.

'That is the
place.' Janey bounced on her toes.

'Okay folks!'
Oliver said, 'let's move it.'

We spilled down
onto the bridge quite quickly. Joe was just behind Marcia when we
heard the heavy rattle of feet in the path behind us. Every one
froze.

'Keep moving!'
Oliver yelled and pushed Lorraine on to the bridge next. Hanson was
just ahead and got a move on. Lorraine needed shoving too, so
Oliver got Davey on next.

Marcia was
across and Joe joined her. Hanson was just stepping onto the
opposite side when a shot rang out! Then another.... I saw the
others crouch suddenly and reflexively. Davey was only quarter of
the way across and making slow progress. Oliver had his gun out,
scanning for the target. I was about the get mine out when I
remembered Davey still had it. Oliver looked at me and Janey and at
the two who were stationary; and the bridge swinging in space.
Oliver withdrew the gun and gave it to me.

'I'll get to
Davey. You stay near this rock and if anything else moves apart
from us; shoot it!!'

I just nodded.
Janey and I stayed hidden. Oliver started across at speed. Two more
shots were fired, missing their target. The bridge was swinging
alarmingly and I could see Davey from here, just hanging on and
hoping for the best.

Drat!! I saw
something flickering from behind us down the long gallery. They've
found the side gallery on this side and are moving quickly down it.
Meanwhile Oliver is getting Davey and Lorraine moving. I cannot see
a target; they are well hidden.

'We need to
cross.' I put up the gun, and then quickly got it aimed a moment
later when there is someone clearly in view. The progress of the
others is slow. Davey is struggling. We have to wait. Oliver can
cover us. And then we will be able to cross.

Suddenly a
ringing volley clangs and rattles, and pings off the stone near our
feet. Janey and I roll into a sitting position behind the rock. She
makes a face at me and risks a peek.

'They are
almost there.' she said, 'Are you ready?'

I looked down
the gallery. They are pacing it slowly, wary of us. There are three
I can see, but single file. I looked ahead; the galley beyond
curved away to the left; if we needed we could run and be out of
line of sight in a few seconds.

Meanwhile, the
others are across. They are hiding too. Except Joe, he is feeling
the surface of the stone; even from this distance I can see his
lips moving.

'Remember....'
Janey mutters from beside me, '.... come on Joe, you can save
them.'

'The door key!'
I exclaimed.

Janey jumped up
and started yelling, 'Get down! Get down! All of them need to think
together! Get it together Burgess!'

Joe runs back
towards the others, and a hail of gun fire hammers across the
space. It seems to last for ages, and then stops totally.

'Are we
expecting company?' Janey whispers to me.

I peek round
the rock, 'Not yet.' I said.

'Shit!' Janey
is down on her stomach peering down slightly to the other side. I
crawl beside her. We can see, but they cannot, our little group.
Hanson is pressing his hand against Joe's Leg, really firmly to
stem the blood flow.

'Oh fuck!'
Janey sounds desperate, then turning to me, 'tell them to get
through the door now.'

'Joe has the
password.' I said.

'Yes. But
reversed.'

'Clever girl.'
I said wondering how the heck we can get out of this one.

'Oliver!' I
shout, 'Agor y drws yn awr!'

'ddweud wrthyn
sut?' Oliver yelled back.

'What is he
saying?' Janey asked me.

'How do they
make the password work Janey?'

'Oh! It is
taste for smell, and smell for taste. Got it?'

'Okay, okay....
just a minute.' I have to think how to phrase this, my Welsh is
pretty basic.

'I'll tell
him!' Janey looks like she is about to move.

'No!' I said
sharply, 'I've got it.... Oliver?'

'Ie Beth?'

'Arogl yn blas;
blas yn arogl!'

'Rwy'n bwyta
rhosod?' Oliver asked.

'I.... Oh
crap!,

'Technically
we're fucked.' said Janey.

'Not quite.'
then shouted; 'bwyta rhosod, mintys arog!' (eat roses; smell
mint!)

'Deall!' Oliver
replied.

'Deal?' Janey
looked even more startled than she had a few minutes ago.

'It's that he
understands. And I want to cut and run in a minute.'

'Yes.' said
Janey, as another block of gun fire rang out, 'we must get above
them all.'

I took out my
knife. We peered round the rock. There was a silence in which we
saw our friends open the door of that shimmering curtain to another
reality.

'Is there any
way of closing it?' I asked her.

'Yes.' Janey
looks down as if calculating the distance. 'It's far enough. But
they are in an exposed position.'

Just at that
moment someone shouted my name. The sound echoed, and there was a
rushing of wind from somewhere. We crawled round to the edge of the
rope walk.

The doorway was
open, and the stiff breeze was stirring the air in eddies of dust
and grit. We could see Marcia and Oliver just inside the doorway,
which shimmer slightly; leafy greenness and a stiff breeze. I
sniffed, and could almost smell the sea.

'Come on!
Jared! What's the delay?' Marcia ducked then as shots rang out. One
of them fizzed into nothingness at the boundary where the stone had
become an opening. Oliver saw me peering down and raised a hand. I
knew what he meant, but perhaps Marcia did not. More shots rang
out.

'There's no
time!' Marcia called, 'Send Janey first. We can both cover
her!'

It was stupid.
Rimmington's men had heard it too. Then I realised. Marcia wasn't
being stupid. She was buying us some time to make a run for it. As
long as they thought we were following the others they would know
we could be caught at the other end. I saw Marcia's expression; she
knew just as I did that they would shoot to kill Janey.

'Jared!' Oliver
called, 'Gwrdd â ni yn y cartref drws!'

'What's he
say?' Janey hissed.

'Meet us....
Home, doorway.... Meet us at the doorway home.'

'Okay.' said
Janey, 'Jared, you have to cut me.' she held out her right hand. In
the left she had a small pebble.

'What!'

'To close the
doorway.'

'How?' I
slithered forward, Janey crawled next to me.

'Elemental
blood spilled closes a doorway permanently. They will not be able
to follow at all. They'll be safe Jared.'

'Hold out your
hand.' she did so and I pricked her palm with the point of my
knife. She put the pebble in that hand and curled her hand into a
tight fist.

'Ready.' she
whispered.

'Alright, we
run along the gallery and go up?'

'Yes,
agreed.'

'Right.' I
wriggled forward and started to saw through the ropes. I saw Marcia
staring at me. She knew this moment had to come. They were small
fry, not worth the effort if Rimmington could reel in the big fish.
She was perfectly still, just inside the arch of the doorway with
Oliver. I had one rope on a few strands and started on the next. A
minute and they were all almost through. Oliver nodded slowly.

'Ready Janey.'
I warned.

She slowly
raised herself against our sheltering rock. She needed enough space
to throw the pebble straight and true. I was poised with knife. I
sensed, but did not see the soldiers easing along the gallery
behind, and just round that little corner.

'Ei wneud ar y
nawr!'

'Yes my
friend...' I spoke to myself, raised the knife; and then breathed.
I looked up one last time and caught Marcia's eye.

'Duw fod gyda
ni!' and I stuck the remaining fibres with all my strength. The
rope threads gave and the bridge dropped away. I saw Marcia looking
at me, then stepping back as the firing started anew. Janey sprang
up and took one swing the way you would throw a skipping stone with
considerable force.

The little
pebble sped through the air as the bridge dropped. It made contact
with the shimmering surface of the doorway as the soldiers started
to move, and we turned and ran pelting pell-mell down the narrow
gallery. A sudden roar of wind billowed through the cavern, and we
clung to the rocky protrusions to stop ourselves from being blown
over. The soldiers weren't so fortunate. We heard the cries of
those in considerable pain. It didn't please me at all. Even though
they would be fixed up, I felt some pity for the poor sod! Just
following orders, I guessed. We ran, and the gallery curved and
begun to climb. I thought we would spiral upward. We reached what
looked like a dead end. And we could hear the heavy boots like a
hoard of rhino chugging behind. A keen wailing was heard also. But
whether that was the wind in these caves, or someone who was hurt
we could not tell. We made a sharp left and continued to climb.
Inside my pack the head set buzzed. Signal was getting better I
supposed. It must be Oliver trying to call us. But I couldn't
answer as we weren't out of trouble just yet. Janey heard it too,
and she looked towards me. I ran faster, pulling Janey along.

Suddenly we
burst out of this tunnel into a vast table land, gleaming like a
pearl on this softly cloudy-bright day. We were fifty yards across
it before the head set rang again. I fished it out and struggled to
put it on. Just before us was a protrusion of giant crystal shaped
rocks. We skidded to a stop behind them.

'Hello?'

'Ellis here.
You take care now Arden, stay with Janey. She knows what to do.
We'll see you on the other side of the mountain.'

'How's Joe?' I
try to speak in a calm level way. My eyes are darting looking for a
way off this smooth expose place.

'He'll live.
Andrew and Lorraine are taking care of that. I just wanted to
say.... Be careful. Please....'

'Yes....' my
mouth felt dry.

'Oliver here!
Now listen! You need to get out of there now. The whole mountain is
swarming with his men. There's at least thirty closing on your
position.'

'Sharp eyes
Reece!' I said with a note of desperation.

'Bloody big
binoculars Arden.' said Oliver with a warning note, 'Now move your
arses!'

'Janey!'

'Yes!' what do
we do?'

'Over there!
Run.... One; two; three!'

It was a gut
crunching two hundred yards. I might not be an athlete but I was
fast like a chicken from a chopping knife. Janey kept up easily;
but she was breathing too hard. We made for the next bunched
together out cropping of giant crystals. As we skidded round the
side of these I caught the men Rimmington had sent after us like a
dark swarm of huge ants invading my peripheral vision. Janey was
panting, clearly panicking. She was trying so hard not to. I had to
think for both of us. There, spread out to our right like a
beautiful undulating pearl, was a field of stone that spread to the
edge in the far distance. We were above the line of the great hall.
I found this reassuring in some way; even though our position was
dire: It had occurred to me, as perhaps it had to Janey too, if the
bosses of this experiment thought they had a version of me who was
compliant, they may have no problem with shooting us both. Only Mr
Charles knew that we had visited. And perhaps he also suspected
that it was my future self's doing. But we couldn't depend on that.
There was only one way. I had to capitulate. I would give myself to
him. No tricks. The only condition was the life of my friends, all
of them.

'Don't Jared.'
Janey pleading and breathless; 'it's not meant to be!'

'Then tell me
Janey dear!' I growled, 'What the hell is meant? Just come clean
for once! What did you not tell me?! And what happened to us all?
Why are we living in this nightmare? Tell me!'

'I don't think
that's very nice.' said another calmer voice. Mr Charles slid into
view. He was tense but seemed to be in control.

'Pig!' Janey
spat, 'Call off the dogs!'

'Or you'll do
what?' he seemed sad; 'I had always hoped we could be friends. I'm
sorry it has come to this. But you must understand that Mr
Rimmington has special orders to use your brother's generative
power. He would rather you didn't try to get in the way. Or do you
have a double too?'

'No.... What do
you mean?' she eased herself to her feet and so did I. I was
looking to see if he carried a weapon.