Chapter Eleven:

Thicker than Water

"Let her up!" Davy shouted, marching from his corner in the Arena of the Ask. He pushed past Captain Hammar, who was holding Viola down over a vat of water, and lifted the frame which she was tied to out. "Jesus, you're gonna kill her!"

Hammar had held the girl in the water so long that Davy thought it a miracle that she was not already dead. Viola let out a harrowing retching sound, water and bile spilling down her front. Her hair hung loose over her face like a shroud. She began to cough terribly. Davy was aware of Todd screaming on the other side of the two-way mirror, and of the blank, frightening look his father was giving him. Never before had his unnatural silence seemed so loud.

"How can she help us if she's dead?" Davy stuttered, his cheeks flushing. "That's all I meant."

He backed away to his corner again, his Noise raging with asking marks, flares of what he had seen in Hammar's Noise; how Lana had ran to help this girl and been beaten back because of it.

Viola, Davy reminded himself. That was her name. Viola, who his new brother cared about more than anyone in the world. Viola, who he had shot. Would he ever have forgiven Todd, if he had shot Lana? No wonder he had hated him so much.

Davy was worried for Viola, for Lana, and for Todd most of all. Todd's desperate Noise made him want to punch through the glass and release him. He couldn't understand why Viola was still being tortured when Todd had already told his Pa everything that he needed to know, that the attack from the Answer would arrive with the sunset, marching at them from the valley south of the Cathedral.

He stayed in his corner as his Pa made Todd confess the plan again, this time so that the girl could hear. Viola hung from the frame, her arms tied above her head. She too had been banded, and the skin around the metal looked red and irritated. She wept to learn how Todd had betrayed her.

"You know when and where, Captain," the President said to Captain Hammar, and it was only then that Davy began to pay attention again. "Take my son. Let him see all the battle he can stomach."

Davy stood a little straighter, both terrified and excited at the prospect of a real fight. He snapped a salute at his father and allowed his eyes to linger on the mirrored glass where Todd was still banging his fists.

Things would be okay again, Davy was sure of it. He would fight as best he could in the battle, and see the world improve on the other side of it; his Pa would finally see that he was a real man, and he would forgive Todd and Viola. After tonight it would all be over, the Answer would be eliminated, and life would be worth living again, just as he had promised Lana it would.

He followed Captain Hammar out to where the horses were tied. Hammar tossed him a rifle, and he caught it by the muzzle.

"You'll be needing that. These Answer bitches are brave, I'll give them that much; only two-hundred strong, and yet they're bold enough to take on a town of three-thousand. I know plenty of men who wouldn't have the guts."

Davy climbed atop Deadfall, following Hammar's horse back down the road into town. Hammar chuckled, listening to his Noise, how it rolled with thoughts of Lana, worrying over where she had been taken, and what would happen to her and Avery now that their father was dead.

"Collins told me all about your little girlfriend before the old Mayor put three holes through his chest. I had another run in with her today on the Cathedral steps."

"Did you hurt her?"

"Nothing a good cry won't fix. She's tougher than she looks. Most women are. You should learn to put her in her place the old-fashioned way so that people like me don't have to."

"People like you? You mean men who get off on hurting little girls?!"

Hammar chuckled. "She ain't so little."

Davy spurred Deadfall so that he blocked the path of Captain Hammar's horse. A glint flashed in Hammar's eye, and for a moment he lowered his guard, allowing Davy to see the scary red reality that was his Noise.

Try it, boy, his Noise said, just you try it.

Davy backed down, the crimson haze of Hammar's inner thoughts frightening him. Deadfall began to pace nervously. Davy put a hand on his side to calm him. They rode on in silence to the barracks, where they assembled the men and began to lead the party towards the southern valley. When they reached the clearing, they were met with nothing.

"No sign of them," Captain Tate said. He pointed at two of the men from his new division and instructed them to ride out ahead to see if there was any activity, then report straight back. As the army waited in the clearing, Hammar shook his head.

"That bitch," he spat. "She lied about the location. We should have pressed Hewitt's whore harder."

"Todd told us it was the southern road," Davy snapped. "You calling him a liar, too?"

"Not a liar, just dense enough to believe what that girl told him. This is your doing, Prentiss. If you'd have let me do my job instead of playing the hero-"

"Then you'd have drowned her. You'd have killed Viola Eade for no good reason, just like you did that apprentice girl from the dormitories."

"Leave it, Davy," Captain Tate said.

"Why should I?" Davy said. "Everyone's heard the stories. We all know what he does around here."

"Who'd have thought it," Hammar mocked, "little Davy Prentiss, defender of women! That bit of skirt you've been fawning over has made you soft."

Davy's Noise spiked at the mention of Lana and he flashed an image at Hammar; one of his most poignant memories, that of Hammar stood over the body of Lana's brother, with Cinda weeping at his side. Some of the men among the soldiers were from old Prentisstown, and shared the memory; their Noise amplified it from a dozen different perspectives, and suddenly Hammar was surrounded by the truth of what he had done. He did not care.

"You still crying over that sour lump of nothing in a dress?" Hammar said, grinning. Davy clenched his fists.

"She weren't nothing," Davy said, his blood approaching boiling point. "She was kind and she was brave and she was the only good thing that ever happened in Prentisstown. She was good!"

"Yeah," Hammar said, licking his lips. "She was."

Davy got down from his horse. Captain Tate's Noise was spiking, worrying at the much bigger problem of the Answer attack and the consequences for all of them should Hammar hurt the President's son. He brought his horse up beside Davy, trying to talk sense into him. Davy was not listening.

"What did you do to Cinda?" the boy barked.

Hammar struck a match against the zip of his jacket and lit a cigarette. "You've forgotten what I taught you back in Farbranch, lad: you keep the ones that are whores, and you shoot the ones that are not."

Davy grabbed the man's leg and pulled him from the stirrups, sending him to the ground with a thud, the cigarette flying from his mouth. Davy fell upon Hammar, swinging his rifle from his back and using its stock to hit the man around the head as hard as he could, knocking him half senseless.

"Christ, Davy!" Anderson Tate yelled, getting down from his horse and grabbing the boy by his uniform jacket; Davy turned on him, pointing the rifle in his face. Anderson backed up, raising his hands in surrender. The other soldiers stood around, gawping at the scene.

Davy turned back to Hammar. The blow had weakened his control of his Noise, and at last Davy saw the awful truth of what had happened to Cinda. It was so terrible that Davy began to cry tears of rage, even as he bloodied his fists on the man's face, punching him over and over until he opened up cuts on his bloody knuckles and Hammar's Noise became a half-conscious blurr. The much larger man wasn't even trying to fight back; he seemed amused more than anything. Davy might as well have been tickling him with a feather duster.

Davy sat atop Hammar's chest, breathing hard, not wiping away the tears as they came. He aimed his rifle at the centre of Hammar's forehead. Hammar really laughed then, not the mocking sort of laugh he had spat out between punches, but genuine, side-splitting laughter. He coughed up a little blood, the redness glazing his teeth.

Davy cocked the rifle. "You think it's funny, having a gun pointed at yer head?!"

"Do it, boy," the Captain grinned, his face demonic. "Pull the trigger."

Davy couldn't understand his laughter. He couldn't understand him.

"Why'd you do it?" he said, his voice cracking. His tears fell onto Hammar's uniform. "She didn't do nothing to us. I should kill you. No one'd mourn. You deserve it. I should put you down like a rabid dog."

"Then do it. Or are you just like your daddy, don't like getting your hands dirty?"

Davy pressed the barrel of the weapon to his opponent's forehead.

"Don't you say nothing about my Pa."

"Loyal as a dog to him, ain't ya? But I bet you never stopped to think who gave the order to have that bitch back in Prentisstown killed."

Davy winced. He thought back to his Pa's white jacket reappearing on the coat stand when he had last seen it wrapped around Cinda's shoulders. He had known the truth, but until now he had not allowed himself to acknowledge it. Memories of Cinda flared in the Noise of the Prentisstown soldiers around; they only knew fragments of the truth, but of course there had been rumours… rumours which they had only discussed when Davy and the other young boys weren't around. Davy looked around at their faces, the shame which drifted there. Anderson Tate would not even look at him, his head bowed.

"I may be a dog," Hammar said, "but your Pa's the one who let me off the leash. Maybe you should be pointing that thing at him instead."

Davy said nothing. Captain Tate grabbed the nose of the gun and pushed it away. He gave Davy a colossal shove which the boy hardly resisted and got to his feet. Anderson offered to help Davy up. The boy picked up his rifle and went to Deadfall. Tate held the creature's reigns still as his rider mounted.

"Ride back into the city and tell your Pa that there's no sign of the Answer. If my men return with no new sightings of them, we'll follow after you. You ride now, and you ride quick."

Davy knew Anderson was only sending him so that he could split him up from Hammar, but he was glad of a reason to escape. He nodded firmly, gave Hammar one last deadly glance, and rode Deadfall back down the road. Only then did he wipe his eyes.

Davy stopped at the summit of a small hill, looking down on the town and further down the eastern road, where the Houses of Healing sat like great tombstones on the hillside. Would the Answer approach from that road, bombing everything in their path? What would happen to Lana, if that were the case?

Davy looked to the Cathedral, little more than a rainbow of shattered stained glass and the huge chunks of rubble littering the town square. His orders were to go to his father and warn him of the change in the Answers plans; but he knew that as soon as he was there, there would be no getting away. His father would find some new mission for him, and the fate of everyone in the Houses of Healing would be left to the terrorists in the Answer.

Five minutes, Davy thought. Five minutes was all it would take to get her out of there and somewhere safe; to her father's house, perhaps, where the two had first met. In ten minutes or so the Army would be riding back into town regardless. But his Pa would be waiting. Anything could happen in those five minutes he'd be wasting on Lana. That's what his Pa would call it; wasted time.

Five minutes, Deadfall said beneath his master, picking the words out of Davy's Noise and mimicking them. Then, with something like determination he said, Girl Colt.

"Well that settles it then," Davy said. "Let's go, boy."

They stopped briefly at the stables, and Davy withdrew Starlight from her paddock. Davy knocked on the door when they reached the House of Healing, only to be told that Lana had not been brought back there. Women came to the windows, hoping for news of what had happened at the Cathedral.

"There's trouble on its way," he said to the soldiers on guard. "Answer trouble. Protect this lot. Get everyone together and barricade the doors."

He spurred Deadfall away and rode as quickly as he could back towards the town. Starlight galloped alongside them. In the distance he could see the army returning, moving down the lane like a colossal millipede. He dismounted the moment he reached the Office of the Ask and began waving his arms at the soldiers on guard.

"Get to the town! The Answer are coming, we need every man we can get. Forget the prisoners! President's orders!"

Within five minutes, Davy was alone outside of the building; heading inside, he found the place dark and empty. The floor of the Arena of the Ask still wet with blood from where Viola had been tortured scarcely half an hour before. Davy's footsteps echoed eerily as he approached the cell block. He reached for a set of keys from the rack, twisted a key in the door, and found that it was already unlocked.

The door was wrenched suddenly open and a figure swung for him, hitting him in the head with a pipe torn from one of the walls. Davy heard a gasp as he stumbled, and saw that it was Lana who had struck him.

"Davy!"

She threw her arms around him, apologising profusely. Behind her crowded the rest of the prisoners, Avery and a dishevelled Helena among them. The group was mostly women but some men too. Some Davy recognized; they recognized him, too, and they cowered. Davy squeezed Lana tightly, a little dazed from the blow.

"I've sent the guards away," he said. "The Answer are coming. How did you get out?"

"Then we better get out of here," Lana said. She told him how she had stolen the keys from her father's corpse.

"If you two are done playing happy families, I think it's time we got out of here," Avery said, pushing past the two as they embraced and leading the rest of the prisoners into the Arena of the Ask. The bloodied tools Captain Hammar would use in his interrogations were kept locked away in a huge wooden chest; there was no sign of the keys.

"Stand back," Davy said, pointing his rifle at the lock. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The gun was empty. The gun his father had given him, the one Captain Hammar had prepared specially for the battle to come.

It was empty.

Lana wasted no time. She took an axe from a counter top, still slick with the blood of the last poor soul whose toes or fingers it had sliced off, and hacked open the chest. The escapees armed themselves with whatever instruments they could find and followed the girl out into the fields.

Davy was dumbstruck by Lana's relentless determination as she barked orders left and right. It was unlike anything he had seen from her before; she seemed frightful in her certainty, taking the horses by the reigns once they got outside and seeing that the sickest of the Prisoners were helped onto them.

A colossal BOOM shook the world somewhere further along the eastern road. Davy cursed loudly.

"There's the Answer," he said. "Bombing everything they come across as usual. Still think they're coming to liberate the town?!"

"You've got more reason to be scared than we have, Prentiss," Helena said. "We'll head to the hills. If war really is coming, we should be able to see it out safely from there."

Lana nodded, guiding Deadfall by the reigns.

"Wait!" Davy said, pushing through the crowd to her side.

"Come on, Davy, we have to hurry-"

"I'm not coming with you. I have to go to my Pa, Lana."

"Oh, don't start that shit!" Lana snapped. Davy was surprised by the new fire in her. He wondered if it was anger over what had been done to her sister which had lit it, or whether the rage at every injustice she and the rest of Haven's inhabitants had faced since the day his father had ceased power had finally bubbled over.

"Your 'Pa' is a bloody maniac. How can you support him after all this?!"

"He's family."

Lana looked at her sister. The others were already hurrying for the hilltop, but Avery had turned back to watch the pair squabbling.

"Go," she called to Avery. "They need your help. I'll catch up with you."

Avery nodded and took off after the group heading for the hills. Another bomb was let off behind them.

"I have so much to tell you," Davy said. "I'll tell you everything, once the fighting is done."

"You don't have to fight," Lana implored. "Come with me instead and help the people you just saved-"

BOOM!

The sunset flared momentarily red as the Office of the Ask was blown apart, debris flying in all directions. The explosion shook the ground beneath their feet. Davy shook his head.

"I didn't save those people. You did. I have to go. I'm sorry, but it's Pa, and Todd, and the whole town. I can't leave 'em. I'm a soldier. I've got a duty to do."

Lana fought with her grief. It hurt her more than she could possibly say, but she knew there was no swaying him from his loyalty to his father and the younger boy who he thought of as a brother. The sunset was at its highest now, casting a vibrant pink glow over the landscape. The colour touched Lana's face, in the same place where there was a bruise forming from where Captain Hammar had hit her.

"I'll come and find you afterwards," Davy said, resisting the urge to touch her face. "If I can."

Lana felt the longing in his Noise so deeply that it touched her own consciousness. She could feel that he was frightened that he would not survive the night and the war it promised. He was swollen inside with fear, and desperation, and the determination to do what he saw as his duty. She too was hurting, for this boy and for her sister and for everyone else in the accursed town. Again Lana felt the longing in him, saw how he wanted nothing more in that moment than to kiss her.

But he didn't.

As though the effort were too much for him to bare, he turned away. Not because he had changed his mind about wanting to kiss her, but because he knew he didn't have the right. His Noise sagged around him. How could he touch her, after all he had done? Not just what he had done to her, but to all of the people he had hurt. He thought of Viola Eade, and of the Spackle whose deaths he had caused. He thought of Mr. Gault, who he had killed on his thirteenth birthday to prove himself a man.

But now he would pay the price, he knew. For the first time since he had learned of the man's death, Davy thought of Preacher Aaron, and all his talk of sin and redemption. If he died on the battlefield, defending his town and the people in it whom he loved, his penance would at least be paid.

All of this is my fault, his Noise whispered. Lana saw in his Noise a lifetime of being subjected to those words, branded onto his brain by his father.

"It's not your fault, Davy," she said, reaching out to touch his cheek. "Whatever wrong you've done, it can be forgiven."

Davy nodded, but his Noise remained sallow. It betrayed that he did not believe her words. Neither did he believed that she believed them.

"I do," she said, brushing her fingers through his hair. "I do believe. I wish I could show you just how much."

She realised then, looking into his icy eyes, that she could.

Lana kissed him with a force that made him stumble back a little in surprise, as though struck by electricity. A strange feeling overcame him, as though he were falling. His Noise became radiant, a sparkling, effervescent thing. He brought his hands up into her hair and kissed her back. When the two broke away, his Noise was as rosy as the red in his cheeks.

The two smiled at one another, even in amongst the peril they found themselves in. As the reality of their world slowly returned, Davy noticed the shape of the Answer marching towards the city; beyond them moved the snake of the army, who would undoubtedly reach town first. Davy looked at Lana, trying to find the words. She saw the strength of feeling in his Noise and smiled.

"I know," she said, squeezing his hand. "Me too."

Something whirled above them. The pair looked up to see something glittering against the bright pink sunset, passing over the waterfall and the Cathedral, heading in their direction.

"That's a ruddy space ship!" Davy yelled, though there was no hope of Lana hearing him over the roar. The sound became so loud as it passed over them that both covered their ears, crouching to the ground. The craft was as big as a house, streaming fire over the sky. It seemed to be following the curve of the river, heading towards the hills where Avery and the other prisoners would be hiding out for safety.

"Wow," Davy said, watching the silver craft, and his Noise said the same. Wow.

"That must be new settlers," Lana said in awe at the thing which no child of New World had ever seen before. "Whatever happens tonight… there's hope, at least."

"Yeah," Davy said, and for a moment his heart was light enough that he believed it.

Without their having noticed it, the pink of the heavens had turned to an inky purple. There was almost no light left. Davy let go of Lana's hand.

"I have to go."

Lana hugged him close.

"This isn't goodbye," she said. She gave him one last look before heading towards the hills.

Davy kept his arms open, willing her back into them. It sure as hell felt like a goodbye. He watched her go with a mix of emotions, sadness and longing and something like pride.

"I'll find you!" he shouted after her. Lana turned and smiled, in spite of it all.

"Not if I find you first."

And then she was gone, her hair flowing out behind her, and Davy thought of how she had hardly needed saving after all.

~oOo~

Davy shouldered his useless rifle and headed back into town. His five-minute diversion had far extended that time period, and he hoped that there would not be any ill consequences because of it. When he reached the ruins of the Cathedral he was shocked to find a heap of bodies strewn about in the rubble outside. One of them he recognized as Ivan Farrow. Not bothering to check if Farrow was alive or dead, Davy climbed over the rubble and into the skeleton of the once grand church. With the furthest wall caved in, the darkness had begun to creep in like a mist.

"Pa?!" Davy shouted, climbing over a collapsed pillar. Was he too late? Had the Answer snuck in and got to his father while he had been too busy with a girl?

"Pa!"

"He ain't gonna answer, Davy," called Todd. Stepping into the clearing which housed the only remaining window, Davy saw his father gagged and tied to a chair, unconscious, with Todd tightening his restraints.

"What the effing hell is going on?!" Davy asked.

"He attacked us," Viola said from her position on the floor, where she was bleeding from a wound to her head. Davy was reminded of how dreadful her broken ankles looked, her feet purple and blotchy and looking twice too big for her small frame. Todd flashed the truth of the events in his Noise, telling the tale much quicker than Viola could ever have hoped to; upon seeing the settler ship fly overhead the Mayor had demanded Viola accompany him to its landing site, threatening her with his gun when she had refused. Todd had lunged for the weapon, and a fight had ensued; they had fought with their Noise, and Todd had won.

Davy couldn't believe it. His father was beginning to wake; in his semi-conscious state, his Noise emerged in a way Davy had never seen it before, not even when he was sleeping. There was none of the clean control it had usually exerted back when he had Noise; it seemed very much like the Noise of other men, cluttered and clumsy.

Ugh, it said, not even a word, just general sounds of moaning, and my head and fuck and quick little bastard and oh God oh God that hurts.

Davy had noticed that his father had been affecting a more prim and proper accent, but his Noise now was all Old Prentisstown, the accent heavier than Davy had ever heard it in life.

All this over a girl, Davy heard, and should have let Hammar have his fun and no matter, she'll die with the rest of them and-

LOOK AT ME, SON.

Davy looked up to see that his father's eyes were open, blood dripping over his brow from his bloodied temple. His blue eyes appeared ice-white the gathering dark, and the look in them was frightening.

"Help her, Davy," Todd was saying, but Davy was hardly aware of what was going on around him, fixed by his father's stare. Davy was aware that he was hearing his father's Noise in his head, the way he always did when he struck him with Noise as punishment. But this time there was no pain; it was a silky, slithering feeling, as though his head were a cauldron and the Mayor was stirring the contents inside.

Point your rifle at the girl and tell Todd to untie me. We'll ride out to meet the settlers, you and I. When all this is over, you'll be my Prince.

"We could go together," Davy said, his voice distant and dream-like.

Viola narrowed her eyes at him.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Yes, David. If that's what you want. That is what you want, isn't it? To have Todd as your brother, and Viola as your sister. All of us living happily… and your girl, of course. That's what you want, isn't it?

"Yes," Davy said, his eyes glazed over. "Yes, that's it."

Then raise your rifle, son.

Davy touched the stock of the weapon.

"Todd," Viola said, her voice panicky, "something's not right."

Raise your rifle.

"It's no use," Davy said in a whisper.

DO IT, DAVID!

"Todd-!"

WHAM! Todd smacked the Mayor around the face with the butt of his gun, and in an instant Davy felt his father's voice torn from his Noise like a barnacle from the base of a ship. He staggered back a little, his hands still on the rifle. Realising that he had been being controlled, he eyeballed his father and dropped the rifle onto the floor. Davy's remembered how Captain Hammar had laughed as he had pointed the rifle in his face; he had known that the weapon was empty. Surely it was Hammar's doing, he reasoned; who else would be so cruel as to send a man to the front lines with an empty gun? But still Davy felt uneasy.

I may be a dog, but your father's the one who let me off the leash, Captain Hammar had said. Maybe you should be pointing that thing at him instead.

"It's empty," he said, scowling. "So much for yer trick."

The Mayor narrowed his eyes at his son. Davy held his stare. He wondered if his father had known, and the thought hurt him worse than any pain he had ever endured. Surley he wouldn't do such a thing to his own son… but there was doubt enough in Davy to make him glad that his Pa was tied to the chair.

"Stop looking at him," Todd warned. "He has to look at you to get into your head. Maybe I should have blindfolded him instead of gagging him."

"I prefer him quiet," Viola quipped. Todd's horse was kneeling at her side, and she was struggling to try to mount it. Davy moved to help her, and between the pair of them he and Todd were able to get her up onto Angharrad with little effort.

"Viola's going to meet the settlers off the ship," Todd said. "Will you go with her, keep her safe?"

"I don't need help," Viola said. "Especially not from him."

"Davy's ain't like he was before," Todd said. "And you can't even walk. You could do with someone watching out for you. I'll stay here with him."

"I'll stay, you go," Davy suggested. "You can't just leave him tied up like that."

"No. I'll keep watch until the soldiers get here."

Davy saw in his friend's Noise that he did not trust Davy to keep his father tied up, or to resist his attempts at control. In truth, he didn't trust himself either.

"And after that?"

Todd shrugged. Davy suspected he had a plan which he did not yet feel like sharing. Davy thought of who would be leading the approaching army; Captain Hammar was there, but so was Anderson Tate, and a few other half decent men in amongst the racket. Between them they would sort something out; they would have to, with the Answer marching into town.

Another bomb went off; they were running out of time. Davy looked again at his Pa, avoiding his gaze.

"Swear to me now you won't hurt him," Davy said, stretching out his hand to his friend. Todd frowned but shook Davy's hand all the same. Davy turned to Viola. "I'll take you to your ship, if you'll let me."

Viola frowned at Todd. Davy ran out to the unconscious soldiers and took pistols from two of them. By the time he returned, Todd had convinced Viola to allow Davy to accompany her.

"Don't worry, Pa," Davy called as he climbed up with Viola, trying not to think of the consequences they'd all face once his father was untied. "I'll put in a good word for ya with the new settlers."

"Just cuz yer going and I'm staying don't mean we're parting!" Todd called to Viola, as Davy took the reins and began to lead Angharrad out through the rubble. "I ain't never leaving you again, not even in my head."

"Alright, lovebirds!" Davy groaned. "You can snog each other's faces off after we've stopped the world from blowing up."

Davy and Viola rode out of the Cathedral and into the mania which had engulfed the streets. Even as they meandered through the soldiers and civilians Davy could feel his father's eyes burning in the back of his head. Over the crest of the hill the world was alight with fire. The Answer were burning everything in their path. Davy held Viola about the waist despite her protests, trying to secure her to the saddle as she floundered with her broken ankles. Guilt ate at him even as they rode among the chaos. He knew what he had to do, and he had to do it now, before it consumed him alive.

"I'm sorry I shot you," Davy said. "It was a bad thing to do. An evil thing."

Viola said nothing. He felt her stiffen beneath his hold.

"Todd's right, though. I ain't like I was. You gotta understand, being from a place like Prentisstown…"

"Todd grew up in Prentisstown too," Viola snapped. "He's always known the difference between right and wrong. What's your excuse?"

Davy felt that she had stabbed him. He thought of what life had been like with his father, and the things he had been forced to do to prove himself a man back in their town. Even so, it was no excuse.

"I ain't got one," he said. Still, he was changing, and for the better. He had rescued Lana. He had stopped Avery from being banded. He had saved Viola from drowning in the Arena of the Ask. He was trying to be good.

Viola saw the memory in his Noise of him lifting her out of the tank of water.

"That doesn't make up for it," she said.

"I know," Davy said. "But maybe it's a start?"

Viola took a moment to consider. She could see the truth all over his Noise, the truth that he really was sorry.

"It's a start," she nodded.

A horn blasted across the valley, its sound loud enough to shatter the sky. Angharrad screamed beneath them, whirring around at such a speed she almost threw her two riders from her back. As Davy regained control of her, Viola saw where the sound had come from.

"Davy," she said, almost a whisper. "Look."

The zig-zag road which ran alongside the waterfall was radiant with light; a new army was marching down it, neither Ask nor Answer. Again the horn sounded, and the people around them became hysterical. They darted from left to right, the Answer marching on them from one side of town, this new threat attacking from the other. A man grabbed at Angharrad's reigns, trying his best to take control of the frightened animal.

"Give me the horse!" he yelled. "Give it to me! The Spackle are coming!"

BANG! Davy shot him in the shoulder with his pistol, cantering away as the man fell backwards.

Spackle? Davy thought, the word bouncing around his head. He remembered the piles of Spackle bodies lying in the monastery grounds. How can it be Spackle?

"We've gotta get out of here," Viola said. The two unlikely allies rode on towards the settler ship, through fire and smoke and screaming. As they crested the next hill, a new explosion clattered in the air, and by the light of it so they were revealed; the Answer army, two-hundred strong, lines upon lines of marching men and women with blue 'A's painted on their faces and their clothing, manning carts filled with stolen weaponry from Captain Tate's artillery workshop and looking more than ready to die for their cause.

"You might want to get rid of that uniform, Sargent," Viola said, breathless at the sight.

Davy pulled his jacket from his shoulders, the one Lana had made for him, and felt a strange sense of loss as he let it flutter down into the mud.

"Viola?"

Both Davy and the girl jolted at the sound of the name. There was a dishevelled-looking man on an ox cart, riding ahead of the Answer army.

"Wilf!" Viola shouted, relief in her voice. She took Angharrad's reigns and led them closer to him.

"Yer alive!" the man called Wilf said, climbing down from the cart. "Mistress Coyle told us you were dead."

"She's wrong about a lot of things, Wilf."

Davy felt his nerves overtake him. Here he was, the President's son, riding among the Answer army and this man who seemed to be leading them. Davy felt the man reading his Noise with a clarity he had never felt from anyone except his own father; but it was a gentle, evasive sort of searching, with no malice in it at all. Wilf saw the truth of who Davy was and jutted his chin up at him.

"Who's this? New friend?"

Viola turned back to look at Davy. He looked very different without the uniform, less like a man and more like a boy. She saw the fear in him, and the suffering, and the hope and the promise in his Noise.

"Yeah," she said, looking him in the eyes and trying for a smile. "A friend."