[DISCLAIMER] Messenger and all of its characters and ideas belong to Lois Lowry. I own nothing.
PART II - Consequences
"C'mon, you oafs!" Mentor yelled harshly. "Put your backs into it!"
It was now the last day, the day that Village would be closed. The wall was almost finished. Everybody that was not working on the barrier was watching with neutral faces, waiting with drawn breath.
"What do you see, Jean?" Seer asked his companion.
"They're putting the last beam in place – or trying to. Father's yelling at them," she added, blinking back tears of anger. Her father used to be a nice man, but then he changed because of Trading and Stocktender's widow.
Why does Village use Trade Mart anyway? she thought angrily. I wish I had never heard of it. Suddenly, she gasped.
Seer heard it and gripped Jean's hand. "What's happening?"
Jean didn't answer. She, and the other members of the crowd, were all watching as Leader, his clothes ripped and his hair muddy, dropped down over the unfinished part of the wall. Next came Matty, just as dirty, clutching a struggling Frolic in one hand. Finally, both the boy and Leader helped Kira, a dark-haired girl in a filthy blue dress with a twisted leg, over the wall and into the boundaries of Village.
"Seer," she whispered joyfully, "they're alive! Leader found them!"
The workmen and Mentor stopped their work. Mentor seemed furious. "Leader, what is the meaning of this? You know Village closes today!"
"The wall's not finished yet," the other man responded coolly. "You can't keep people from getting in." Some people in the crowd started to nod and talk among themselves, sneaking glances at the spectacle.
"But that doesn't mean you can bring new ones in all of a sudden!" Jean's father was livid now, his face turning bright red.
Suddenly, Jean saw Leader whisper something in Matty's ear. Matty nodded solemnly. Kneeling down, he placed his hands on the ground. It looked like he was concentrating hard, for he started to shake slightly – and so did the wall.
Mentor's eyes widened as he felt the birthmark reappear on his face. "What are you doing!" he shrieked. "Stop it, Matty!"
Matty looked up. He was sweating and pale, his muscles tight, but he never took his hands away from the ground. "No," he whispered hoarsely. "I won't."
The wall was shaking fiercely and then, suddenly, it fell: wood crashing against the earth, stirring up storms of dust.
"NO!" Mentor screamed – he now looked the same way, stooped over, balding – but was not the same in his mind. Furiously, he reached behind him and drew something from his back pocket – a gleaming knife, flashing in the sun.
Jean knew what he intended to do.
Breaking away from the crowd, she ran toward Matty, her skirts and long hair flying behind her. "Matty!" she screamed.
He looked up, looking weaker than before – then she threw herself in front of him just as her father's blade hit flesh – but not Matty, his intended target.
His own daughter.
