Chapter Nine:

Beneath Two Moons

Lana was still asleep when Davy returned to the stables with Cliff Collins in tow. Looking at her there, with her halo of blonde hair framing her face, Cliff saw in a moment what he had been oblivious to.

Davy knelt beside the girl and touched her hair, waking her. Lana stirred, and noticing Collins, jolted bolt upright. She would not take her eyes off him, fearing some sort of betrayal.

"What's happening?!"

"It's alright," the boy reassured her. "He just wants to ask you a couple of things."

"Is it about my sister?" Lana whispered. Davy felt a stab of guilt and found that he couldn't answer. His Noise began to bubble with the truth, and he knew he needed to get out of there before he gave everything away.

"I'll leave you two to it," he said, heading for the door.

"No, Davy," she implored, "don't go."

"It's okay," he said from the doorway. "I'll be right outside."

He closed the door. Lana looked nervously at Collins. He was staring at her as he was seeing her for the first time. He hovered around the room aimlessly for a minute, seeming as nervous as she was. Lana could not understand why. His lack of Noise made him impossible to read.

"Davy tells me that you travelled a long way to get here," he said, gripping the back of a chair and rocking on his heels. "Which of the settlements were you from?"

"The President already knows everything," Lana said. What did it matter now anyway? Her home was long gone.

"Humour me."

"Farbranch."

"Did you have any family there? Other than your sister." Lana shook her head. "What happened to them?"

"You should know," Lana said. "They died in Prentisstown."

Suddenly Lana's distaste for the man bubbled up to white-hot rage. He had been reasonably kind to her sister these past months, but she knew all about what he had done in Old Prentisstown. Davy had shown her the truth of how he had dragged Cinda away from her brother's body and kept watch over her for the President. The scars on his cheek had been put there by Cinda's nails. He had even hit her when she'd threatened to tell Davy the truth.

Collins pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket. Lana strained her eyes to see what it was.

"I don't know how to tell you this," Cliff said, thumbing what she now recognised as the photograph of her family.

Lana watched him closely. Men on New World tended never to be lost for words, but a man with no Noise was different. She could hear Davy's Noise fizzing with anticipation on the other side of the door. With a jolt of fear, Lana prepared herself for the worst.

"Is Avery dead?" she whispered.

"No," Collins said hurriedly, "no, she's… you're both… I mean, I'm…"

"Just spit it out!"

He's yer father, Davy's Noise cried from the other side of the door. The door creaked open as Davy stepped back inside, already apologising.

"I know it seems mad," Davy said, holding his hands out to Lana, "but it's true. He's your Pa."

"He can't be," Lana said, wishing truth to her words. "He can't be!"

Collins rubbed at his temples and sat down in the chair. Davy sat beside Lana and tried to reason with her as she began to shout, thoroughly upset. After a few minutes he had managed to calm her somewhat, and she turned to the man she had only ever known as an enemy with wet, imploring eyes.

"Tell me the truth," she demanded.

Clifford Collins sighed. He opened his Noise to his eldest daughter, and showed her nothing but.

~oOo~

The fire died sometime in the night. When the morning came the trio were still deep in conversation, with Collins sat in his chair while Davy and Lana huddled beneath the blankets together. Lana watched her father with an almost suspicious gaze.

The truth had been almost impossible to believe, but he had shown her his memories of herself and her siblings as children, and had told them stories all about their mother and even the names they had been given at birth before they were given new ones at Farbranch to protect them from any association with Prentisstown. The names sounded wrong to Lana, particularly her own. She had been named after her mother, being the eldest and, to their parent's knowledge at the time, only girl. Though the thought of a connection to her mother warmed her heart, she could not imagine herself being anyone other than who she was right now.

The plan to escape New Prentisstown had been Lana's. Collins had shaken his head at the suggestion, adamant that once he told the President that the two Patel siblings were in fact his daughters, Prentiss would naturally let Avery go and put the two under his care.

"I'm his best friend," Collins had said. Davy had been the one to convince him otherwise.

"He doesn't have friends."

After that, the three had worked on a plan together. Collins would free Avery from the Office of the Ask using his authority as a Captain; they would meet Lana and Davy at the abandoned water tower, and the three would leave as a family for the abandoned village by the ocean which Prentiss had discovered in his search for the Answer's hideout. Lana felt a little twist of pain as she heard how heavy Davy's Noise had become at the thought that she would so readily leave him.

She wants to leave, his Noise continuously grumbled. She wants to leave me.

"I better see to the horses," Davy said, excusing himself as the sun began to glow on the horizon. He left the two alone, father and daughter.

"Is it true that you slapped Prentiss?" Collins asked after a few moments of silence. Lana nodded. Cliff couldn't help but chuckle.

"You really are a Collins," he said. "Maybe that's why Davy seems to like you so much… he's smitten, you know. Reckons he might be in love with you."

"Don't be stupid," Lana said.

"You could do a lot worse for yourself than the President's son. He's a good kid, in spite of it all."

"Yeah," Lana said, just able to make out Davy's Noise as he greeted the horses in the stables below. "Yeah, he is."

Cliff left when Davy came back up, his Noise still stormy with the thought that, should everything go according to plan, Lana would be leaving him in only a few hours.

"You could skip work," the girl suggested, feeling wounded herself. "We could spend the rest of the day together, get things ready."

Davy shook his head. "That's just make Pa suspicious. I don't want anything to go wrong for you and your family. When I get home from work we'll have a little bit of time together before…"

Before you leave, his Noise said. He could not bring himself to say the words out loud.

Lana squeezed his hand. She could see that he was thinking again about kissing her. In truth she was thinking about kissing him, too.

"I better go," he said. "Todd'll be waiting."

And then he was gone. He met with Todd, who had instructions that they ride to the Office of the Ask, where Captain Hammar wanted the last few outstanding prisoners to be banded. As Hammar handed over the gear for their task, Davy saw that his rubber gloves were sticky with blood from his last Asking.

Davy and Todd moved from one cell to the next with the bolting tool, banding the prisoners through the bars. Most of them appeared to be half-dead, so wounded from their Askings that it was a miracle they could even muster the strength to hold their arms out. So exhausted were they that most hardly even gave a cry as they were banded.

A sense of dread dripped over Davy as he approached the last of the cells. He knew what he would find there; he knew that this was a test from his father. Curled up in the darkness lay Lana's sister. Her hair, once long and golden, had been hacked short by an unskilled hand, and there were bruises up and down her long arms. Her singed soldiers uniform was gone, and she was wearing only a grubby shift. When Todd called out to her, she refused to put her arm through the bars.

"I'll handle this one," Davy said, rummaging with the keys. Todd backed swiftly away, glad for any excuse to get clear of the cells and the tormented sobs of the prisoners within. He went to fetch water for the other prisoners.

As Davy unlocked the cell door, Avery backed as far from him as she could, her arms raised to defend herself.

"Ain't no way in heaven or hell you're putting one of those things on me, Prentiss," she said, her tone jumpy. "I'd rather be dead than another one of your dad's slaves."

Davy put the bolting tool in his back pocket. Avery relaxed a little.

"Is my sister okay?" Avery asked.

"Pa's had her locked up in the Houses of Healing. I think he would have sent her here, but he wanted her to finish her work first."

"Of course," Avery said, pausing to spit blood into the refuse bucket. "God forbid she should bleed on his precious new suits."

She spat again. When her eyes met Davy's, he thought he saw something more than just suspicion there.

"When I first met him, I really didn't think he was all that bad. He charmed me, helped me out. Treated me like I was special… I was so blind. I thought he was a hero, you know."

"Yeah," said Davy. "Me too."

They shared a long look.

"You alright in there?" came Todd's voice from down the hall.

"Yeah," Davy said, still looking at Avery. "We're good."

He took the bolting tool from his back pocket and used it to twist one of the bands into a circular cuff. He slipped it loosely onto Avery's wrist.

"You keep that thing on and you don't take it off, do you understand?"

Avery nodded, stared at him in shock.

"We're getting you out of here tonight. Be ready."

Davy gave her one last look and rushed out to meet Todd. He opened the door for them to leave, only to find his father stood the other side of it, shining like a sentinel in white.

~oOo~

That afternoon, Davy rode away from the Office of the Ask with a smile on his face, his Noise beaming as the sun began to settle below the falls. Todd was quiet at his side, nothing more in his Noise than the usual sad, heavy feeling.

Davy saw no reason for him to be sad, not after something so marvellous had just happened. His father had promoted them both, Davy to a Sergeant and the younger boy to a Lieutenant. Would it really kill Todd to crack a smile, just once?

"He called you son," Davy said, trying to lighten the mood. "Guess that makes us brothers."

He hoped for a flicker of a smile, even just a little jump of joy in his friend's Noise. But Todd said nothing. For a second Davy grew stormy, irritated that he had no one to share his triumph with… then he remembered that Lana would be waiting for him, and his Noise glowed anew. Surely she would be happy for him. And seeing as it was their last night together…

"We should do something to celebrate," Davy said.

"Where?" Todd asked. "How?"

"Well, we're officers now, ain't we, brother? It's my understanding that officers get privileges."

Davy shot him a flare of Noise filled with a jumble of undressed women, Lana somewhere in amongst them. Todd scowled and sent the pictures right back, but this time with what Davy had omitted, the band on their arms.

Davy scowled. "So?"

"Yer sick."

"No, brother," Davy said. "You're talking to Sergeant Prentiss. I may finally be well."

Davy left Todd at the Cathedral, whistling as he rode up to the Houses of Healing. In spite of knowing that he might never see Lana again after tonight, he felt in high spirits, riding along on a cloud of his father's praise. Even if Lana's parting words to him were that he was awful and ugly and that she never wanted to see him again, he was sure he'd be able to mee them with a smile on his face.

She was waiting for him when he climbed up into the attic of the stables; Captain Collins had dropped off three bags filled with supplies for their escape, and Lana was sorting through them. Davy went immediately to his stash of cider and cracked open two bottles. He handed one to Lana and clinked his glass against hers.

"What are we toasting to?" Lana asked. Davy's Noise buzzed a little rosier.

"I got promoted today," he said. "I'm a Sergeant now."

Lana could not help but frown.

"Don't look too pleased for me," Davy grumbled.

"It's just harder when I remember what you do out there all day."

"Harder to what?"

Lana sighed. He saw the way she tugged at her sleeve, hiding the band on her arm. She didn't have to say the words for him to understand what she'd meant; harder to be your friend.

"You don't have to cover that up around me," Davy said. "I know what I did. To you and all those other women. I know you think I'm a bad person."

"I think you're a good person, or else why would you feel guilty about the bad that you've done? I know you're good in your heart; which is why I can't understand why you still do everything your dad tells you."

Davy's Noise coloured red at the mention of his father. His Noise began to fill with the words of his Pa, phrases like put this planet back on track and crush the terrorists and two sons instead of one.

"Where do you think all of this is heading, Davy?" Lana asked him. "What's his endgame? All this hurt, all this fighting. If he carries on like this, there won't be anything left to fight over."

"He wouldn't have to keep fighting if those bloody Answer women weren't blowing people up like it's going out of style. Once he wipes out those terrorists everything will be just as it should be."

"My sister is one of your so-called terrorists."

"Then maybe it's a good thing you are leaving," he said, immediately regretting it. "Once all this fighting is over, things will get better around here… things will be normal, for the first time in forever."

Lana frowned. "Do you really believe that?"

Davy clenched his fists and moved to the window. His Noise was like a hailstorm. It span around him like a whirlwind, and there he was, unreachable in the centre. Lana came to his side and placed a hand onto his shoulder. The silver A she had sewn there glittered in the light of the moons.

"Come with us," Lana whispered. "Leave tonight with the three of us."

In Davy's Noise, Lana could see pictures of his father and his friend, Todd, living as his brother. Lana could feel the hurt there, and the hope.

"I can't just run away like you can," Davy said. "You have your family, and I have mine."

"You know better than almost anyone how people are suffering because of what your dad has done. You know better than anyone what he's like."

Davy pulled away from her. His eyes were fixed on the ground.

"Is that what all this has been about? All this being nice to me, acting like we're friends… has it all been about getting information out of me, cuz I'm his son? Are you one of them?"

Lana searched for an answer, and found she could not lie to him.

"Yes," she said. "In the beginning, that's what it was about. But then I saw you, the real you, and all of that changed-"

Bitches, his Noise spat, the word jumping out of him high and red as a flare whether he wanted it to or not. Bloody bitches and can't trust any of them and killed our men and terrorists and lied to me lied to me she's lying to me-

"I'm not lying to you," Lana said, "not anymore. I'm telling you the truth when I say that I care about you…. and I know you care about me, too."

He looked at her. A scowl had set in his face. He looked more like his father than ever.

"Tell me the truth," he said. "The real truth. Whose side are you on?"

Lana released him. She stepped back a little.

"Not his," she said. "Never his."

Davy frowned.

"Then not mine, either."

"Please come with us," she all but begged. "We don't have to stay here. We don't have to fight. At least not with each other."

Davy's eyes softened a little. Before he could speak, a whoosh of hot air hit the pair of them from the outside window, and he instinctively pulled Lana down to the ground as a tangle of sound as loud as the world imploding wreaked through the room; a myriad noises seemingly all at once, the blast of a bomb, the shattering of glass, screams from the town and the ROAR of frightened Noise, all balling together in the shape of one colossal BOOM!

Davy held Lana as the ground beneath them shook. The horses screamed in the stables below, kicking out at their paddocks. Davy clamoured to his feet and looked out of the window, shocked at the sight of the bell-tower of the Cathedral rocking impossibly back and forth. The bells were screaming out a dull throng and the building- what was left of it- was smoking. One wall had been completely blown out, and much of the roof was gone. Glass and brick lay glowing with heat in the streets, as well as the bodies of two unfortunate citizens who had been passing by; whether they were dead or unconscious, Davy could not tell.

Soldiers and civilians began to pour out into the courtyard, keeping their distance as they had become accustomed to the threat of a second Answer bomb meant to kill any unfortunates who might have the common decency to try and help the wounded. As Lana trembled to her feet, she saw the devastation in Davy's Noise, and the fear that came with it; fear for his father and his friend Todd, both of whom had made the Cathedral their own.

Pa, said Davy's Noise, a single word, as gentle as a sob. Lana looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. Oh, no.