The Disappearance of Ember Crow (26 page)

“It might not be completely functional, of course,” Leo continued. “It’s been sitting around for a hundred and twenty-three years now.”

“I didn’t think you still had it!” Ember said. “Where is it?”

“You remember the cave where father used to work? I’ve been using the place as a storehouse. It’s there.”

Hope lit up her face. “It’s worth a try. Only I’ll need a vehicle to reach it. And a sample of the antidote would also be useful.”

“I suppose I am to provide you with these things?” He sighed. “Are you quite sure you wouldn’t be better to let this human go now? Before you become even more attached? He will die eventually, you know. And you won’t.”

What a horrible thing to say! I cast an indignant glare at Leo. But Ember didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll take whatever time I have, Leo. The same as you did, with Peter.” She reached out to squeeze his hand briefly. “Are you really going to tell me it wasn’t worth it?”

The Lion smiled his rare, sweet smile. “No, I am not going to tell you that.” He patted her shoulder, and strode to the door. “I’ll get the antidote.”

I opened my mouth to ask Ember exactly where this storehouse was, and thought the better of it when she leaned over to brushed Jules’s hair gently back from his face.
Let her be, for now
. Connor still wasn’t looking at me, and I could sense both his anger and his absolute unwillingness to discuss it at this moment. No point in speaking to him, either. I wandered over to a bed and stretched out, sitting up with my back against a pillow. After everything that had happened, it would be nice to sit for a while and absorb the events of the evening.

I have decided how you can repay your debt
.

On the other hand, perhaps what I
really
needed was a conversation with an ancient spirit.

Starbeauty came padding in and leaped up onto the bed to loll at my feet.
You must keep the chaos from returning
.

Do you mean … the great chaos?
The Reckoning?

Those were bad times. Difficult to survive. Even for cats
.

There were suddenly a thousand cats in my head, yowling in pain and terror. Their voices merged and changed, turning into a mournful roar that lingered in my ears, and I knew I was hearing one of the lost lions.

The sound vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving an empty silence behind.

Shaken, I said,
Starbeauty, I had this bad dream about a hill, and bodies, and the death of the world. Is that what you’re afraid of? Was it about the future?

If life is a ball of string, then what is before, and what is after, depends on where in the ball you begin
.

I thought about those words for a second, in case they would make more sense if I did. Nope.
The man in the dream
…

He is a bad man
.

You know about him?

I know about taffa dreams
.

Of course she did. It couldn’t be a coincidence that those dreams only happened in a city where an old earth spirit resided. Maybe they really
could
show you lives beyond this one. Or the future …
What does the dream mean? I don’t understand how Neville could cause the end of the world
.

We each of us cause the end of the world, or its beginning. And you will ensure that there is no death of cats
.

I don’t know how to do that
.

You must learn to understand your power
.

What was this, some ancient spirit conspiracy to deliver me the same mysterious message?
LISTEN –

She sat up, ears twitching.
Quiet
.

I went obediently silent; I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but she seemed suddenly anxious. After a second she said,
There is trouble
.

What? Where?

The tent. Come!

She jumped down, bounding out of the room. I scrambled off the bed and ran after her, calling over my shoulder, “There’s something wrong in the tent!”

Connor followed. Ember didn’t; she must have decided to stay with Jules.
Or she thinks I’ve gone crazy, chasing after a cat
. I’d found the chance to tell Connor what Starbeauty was right after we’d left the Lion earlier in the day, but Ember didn’t know.

Connor reached into his pocket to toss me something as we pelted along behind Starbeauty.
The stunner
. I gripped its reassuring weight as we tore through the house. I could hear screeching and shouts, faint at first, and growing steadily louder and more discordant as we neared our destination. The three of us ran into Leo’s dream journal room, and burst past the curtain to the tent beyond.

We’d arrived in the middle of a huge fight. Cats were pouring in through the front entrance; deadly, wailing storms of teeth and claw.

Starbeauty plunged into the fray to attack the other felines. Everywhere, people were fighting off cats with fists and feet and … abilities? Small bursts of fire were popping. Water was splashing down out of nowhere, and those taffa vines that I’d thought were mere decoration were winding out of the pots to grab hold of furry bodies.
Waterbabies, Firestarters, Leafers …
How many Illegals did Leo have guarding this place?

A few cats surged towards us, and Connor threw out his hands, flinging them away with air. I raised the stunner.

You cannot kill a cat in my city!

I couldn’t even distinguish Starbeauty from the other cats anymore, but she was obviously keeping an eye on me. Would the stunner kill an animal? I didn’t know. I stood there, not knowing what to do, and abruptly noticed that
no one
was really hurting the cats. The water wasn’t drowning them, the fire was only singeing them and the vines were just holding them in place. Even Leo, fighting in the centre of the room, was tossing them away without too much force. Cats were the perfect weapon in Spinifex City, and that couldn’t be an accident. Someone was using them to strike at us.

There had to be a Yowler somewhere in this tent.

I scanned the turmoil, and finally spotted him. It was the mousy haired boy who’d been guarding Terence’s house, the one Marta had drugged hours ago. He threw back his head to let out a wail, and the cats became more frenzied. I pointed the stunner but couldn’t get a clear shot.
Starbeauty!
I shouted out in my mind.
It’s the boy near the entrance who’s doing this. He’s using an ability!

An awful high-pitched screeching split the air. I clapped my hands over my ears, and so did everyone else. On it went, rising in pitch and intensity until it drowned out every other noise. When it ended, there was total silence in the tent. The cats had lost all interest in attacking; they were milling placidly about, and the Yowler was on his knees.

Starbeauty stalked forwards, stopped in front of the Yowler, and purred.

Suddenly
all
the cats started purring, even the ones being held up in the air, filling the tent with the low rumbling of felines. Starbeauty lifted up her front paw and pressed it against the Yowler’s leg. He whimpered. Then he began to tremble, wrapping his arms around himself as shivers wracked his body.

She let her paw drop.
I have saved you all
.

I cast a dubious glance at the boy, who was still shaking.
What did you do to him?

He speaks the language of cats. Therefore, he belongs to me. All that is of cat belongs to me. I have reminded everyone of it
.

Leo strode over to Starbeauty. He was bleeding from a dozen vicious scratches, but seemed to be moving all right. He stared incredulously down at her, and she stared back as if to say,
What do you expect? I’m a very clever cat
.

He shook himself, clearly deciding that whatever mystery surrounded his pet could be dealt with later, and glared at the boy. “Why did you attack us?”

“You attacked Terence,” the boy replied through chattering teeth. “You all turned on him.” Tears began to stream down his face. “I was trying to do what he would want. To earn redemption … redemption through service. But I’m not … I don’t belong … I don’t know any more!”

He dissolved into helpless sobs. Leo sighed. Then he drew back his fist and struck.

I jumped as the Yowler collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

It is best that he sleeps. When he wakes, I will make sure he knows that he is mine forever
.

That sounded a little scary, but better to belong to Starbeauty than to Terence.
Listen, he’ll probably have a toxin in his system. He’ll need to take this …
um, actually, don’t worry about it
. Leo had the antidote, and the Yowler was a source of information about Terence; the Lion wasn’t going to let him die.

Leo began to issue orders. Secure the tent … treat all wounded … People started to organise themselves. Taffa vines unwound to deposit cats gently onto the floor, and Connor allowed the ones he was levitating to drift to the ground. A few Menders were already moving through the space, laying hands on people to heal them, but I pleased to see that no one seemed to be gravely hurt. Certainly no cats.

The Lion stalked past us and through the curtain into the journal room. He motioned for Connor and me to follow. When we were alone, he snapped, “Has Terence run mad, launching an attack on me? And with an Illegal? Neither of us wants the governments of the rest of the world looking into the people who work for us!”

“I’m not sure that Terence did send him,” Connor replied. “The Yowler said he was trying to do what Terence would want. Anticipating orders, rather than following them.”

“Delta and Terence were fighting when Em and I left,” I put in. “Really fighting, I mean, like a proper knock-down battle. I think maybe the minions – um, Terence’s Illegals – believe the other aingls are acting against Terence.”

Leo blinked in surprise. “Delta and Terence were in a physical fight? What about?”

Well, he basically desecrated your brother’s remains
. I couldn’t say those words; I wouldn’t want someone I barely knew giving me news like that about my little sister. “I think maybe you better ask Ember about it.”

His eyes narrowed. “Do you now? Then you’d better follow me.”

The three of us made our way back to the infirmary, where Ember was standing in front of Jules. She was watching the door with a fierce glare, clearly determined to beat off any potential attackers.

“Is everything all right?” she demanded as we came in. “What happened?”

“It’s fine. Now.” I rushed through an explanation, leaving out the part about Starbeauty being an ancient spirit – that was the cat’s secret to tell to Leo, if she wanted – and finishing with, “Um, Leo was wondering why Terence and Delta were fighting.”

She sighed. “It’s to do with Dominic.”

He frowned, and she drew him aside, speaking softly. Connor threw a questioning look in my direction, and I gave him a brief summation of the origins of the black box, without telling him that Dominic was also Nicky. That was too long of a story for now. He must have been as startled by it all as I had been, only he didn’t show it. He had a tight grip on his emotions at the moment; if I hadn’t been able to sense his anger I’d never have known he was mad by looking at his flawless, impassive face. That wasn’t good, of course. It was the mask he wore when he felt things the most deeply.

There was a sudden roar from Leo. “Terence did
what
?”

I looked over at him. The Lion’s big body was shaking, and he was clenching and unclenching his fists. Ember said something to him, and he snarled, “He will answer to me for this!”

Leo took a single step towards the door.

Ember darted in front of him. “Vehicle, Leo! You need to give me a vehicle. And a sample of the antidote, remember? Then you can do what you like to Terence.”

It was obvious Leo wanted to go charging after his brother right this moment. But he bowed his shaggy head in a reluctant nod. “Very well, little sister.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ember, Connor, Jules, Leo and I were moving through the house. We formed a strange procession. Leo strode ahead, with Jules floating behind him, levitated by Connor. He walked at Jules’s side, and Ember and I followed. I was wearing my pack, and Connor his; Ember had Jules’s, which was where she’d put the antidote sample Leo had given her.

I expected that we’d have to go outside to get to the vehicle. Instead we seemed to be heading deeper into the house. The Lion led us to a staircase that went downwards, and we trailed after him into a well-lit basement. There was a weird black car in the middle of the space. It had huge tyres and a boxy shape; I’d never seen a vehicle like it. In fact, I wasn’t sure there
were
any other vehicles like it. But there seemed to be one very serious problem.

“Um. How do we leave?”

Leo put his hand against a small panel by the stairs. I jumped as the wall ahead of the car slid upwards, revealing a long tunnel with tiny lights running up either side.

“That will take you out of the city.” He glanced at Em and sighed. “Please don’t crash my car. I know how you drive.”

She walked over to hug him. “Goodbye, Leo. Try to remember there’s more to life than taffa. And thank you.”

He wrapped his big arms around her. “Farewell, Ember.”

We got into the car – Connor and Jules in the back, Ember and me in the front. There was a bewildering array of screens and lights in front of Em. I watched as she adjusted a few dials and entered a set of numbers – coordinates? – into a keypad beneath a small display. Then she pulled on a lever and the car rocketed forwards.

I clutched hold of the door, bracing myself as we barrelled along. In what seemed like no time at all, the end of the tunnel loomed ahead.

We were hurtling towards a flat, blank wall.

Connor shouted, “Ember!”

“It’ll open.”

We got closer and closer. The wall was still there. “Are you
sure
?” I demanded.