A New Plan

 

“Where is he?” Alpen leaned close to Alithea and Bebe tugged him back.

“At the mine,” Alithea said. She turned to Drindl. “I think it’s a mine. You’ve been here longer than we have. What are they mining?”

Drindl shrugged. “That must be where the energy comes from. The elephants transport it down the coast.”

Alithea turned back to Alpen, reaching toward him with sympathy. “Oh, Alpen, at first I didn’t recognize him. He looks old and beat down.”

“What was wrong with him?” Alpen asked. “Injured? Will he be OK? Where is – oh, I forget her name – Sisseku? Surely, they have a few children by now.”

“Slow down,” Bebe laid her hand on his arm. “Let her answer.”

“He said he not seen them in a while,” Alithea shook her head. “It was like his family had disappeared from his life and he had grown used to it.”

“That’s not Mellen,” Alpen said. “They’ve done something to him.”

“We need to find his family and get him and get us out of this place,” Alithea insisted, then remembered. “Mellen had the same blue tinged eyes as Erthen. Only more so. Is it that white stuff they give them?”

Alpen looked over Alithea’s shoulder to the guards. “Keep your voice down. How are we supposed to get out?”

“You’re the warrior,” Alithea answered. “I thought you and Fallon would have a plan by now.”

Alpen looked to Fallon, who shifted Erthen to his other arm. “We’ve learned a lot. We thought about capturing a ship and taking it down the shore.” 

“I need a few days,” Fallon said. “I’m hearing a lot of conversation but how do we sail the boat down the shore? We would need rowers.”

“The prisoners at the mine?” Alithea asked.

“Can we trust them? Are they all Jade?”

“Different tribes, but all People,” Alithea answered.

Fallon shook his head. “Can we trust them?”

The guards made a loud tapping on a gourd, the signal for lights out and prisoners down. On the first night, they had seen what the guards did to prisoners who did not obey.

“Erthen can sleep with me,” Fallon offered to Alithea. “You need to quiet down.” She agreed.

/////////////

The first pale light touched the darkness of the sleeping quarters and Fallon opened his eyes. Resting on his dad’s stomach, Erthen stirred but kept sleeping. Hearing his stomach rumbling with hunger, Fallon wondered how Erthen could sleep with his ear next to that growling noise. Turning his gaze to Alithea, he saw that she was agitated. “Can’t sleep?” he asked.

When she rolled over to face him, he realized that the sound was coming from her stomach, not his. Her hands were quivering. Careful not to move his torso, he reached for her hands and held them. “Have you eaten since yesterday morning?” he whispered.

“I – I can’t remember.” Her teeth chattered as she spoke. “If I had a little more of that stuff, that would help. Does Drindl have any? Can you ask him?”

Erthen started talking gibberish in his sleep. “He’s at that stage,” Fallon said.

She was more interested in satisfying her hunger than Erthen. “Can you ask him?” she repeated.

Wanting to let Erthen sleep, Fallon spoke in a loud whisper, “Drindl, you awake?”

Bebe spoke up into the gray darkness. “He’s sleeping next to us.”

“Ask him if he has any energy,” Fallon said. “We’ll be waking up soon anyway.”

The rustle of sound, then the low voice of Drindl in the quiet. “No, he doesn’t have any,” Bebe said.

Fallon gave Alithea’s hand a squeeze. “We need to get some food in you.” He reached to transfer Erthen to Alithea, but stopped, not wanting to burden her.

A touch on his shoulder and Drindl’s voice in his ear, “Give her some of this. Tell her to chew and suck.” He pressed what felt like some leaves into Fallon’s hand.

“She needs to eat,” Fallon whispered.

“This will help. We won’t eat for a while. The light is still dim.”

“Take Erthen, will you?” Drindl gathered the boy into his hands and lifted him from Fallon’s belly. Erthen grunted, then curled up against Drindl’s belly.

Fallon sat up and turned to Alithea. “Chew and suck, chew and suck.” He touched the leaves to her trembling lips, which grabbed one leaf and drew it into her mouth. She moaned a soft satisfaction at the taste, then reached with her lips for another small leaf. He wrapped his other hand around her clasped and trembling hands to steady her spirit. “That’s good,” he repeated, mimicking the soothing tone that she used with prisoners.

In a few moments, he felt the quivering in her hands quiet as she took the last leaf from his hand. Even though his hand was empty, he held it steady at her lips, an intimate connection between them. He felt her lips surround one of his fingers and he let her suck for a few moments until she fell asleep.