4. Moonlight
One day, a day not much more hot than all the other days of the year, the girl dares to ask her father what her name is. Because she is thirteen now...it is her birthday...and she feels, somewhere inside her, as if she has a right to know. Her father throws dirt at her and does not answer.
Mercy remembers that today is her daughter's birthday, however. There is some chocolate left over from the last steal, but she can't bring herself to give it away, mostly because in the back of her mind she feels that the lizards won't like it. In her head, though, she gives her daughter all the presents she would like. A car of her own. Clothes that aren't dirty. A world that she has control over. Power.
The sister watches wearily. She would like to know her name, as well. She's sure she has one. She's wondered many times about what it is. She doesn't feel right without one.
She has never once in her life felt right.
The family eat together. It is the only thing they ever do as a family, and they don't much like it. They eat under one of the oak trees. The girl looks up and dreams of climbing it. Supper is dry sandwiches. They eat them because it's all they have. Night starts to fall. The girl does not mention again that it's her birthday, but for some reason her father is smiling.
"I know what your names are," he says, looking at these two girls who are his daughters. They stare. They have waited for this all their lives. A cold wind blows. There is no light, but their eyes are used to the dark. Like their mother, they're creatures of the night.
"You know about Sam," he tells them. They nod. They have heard too much about this villain. About how he stole Kate away from their grandfather, was killed and his ghost cursed the town and walks it at night. They are the town now, though, and they've never seen him. They've heard about his onions, which protected the town against lizards but were poison really, and about the boat and about the donkey.
"The donkey was named Mary Lou. My father told me," he says. "Those are your names. Your name is Mary-" he points to the black-haired girl, who nods, a strange expression on her face, fear and disgust and anger... "-and your name is Lou. You're named for the flea-ridden pet of a filthy bastard-and it's all you deserve!"
He walks away from them. The girl-Lou-sees the holes in the moonlight. They've destroyed the earth, she thinks. We have. But nothing like that matters anymore...I have a name. No matter who or what I'm named after...I exist.
But her sister-Mary-gets up and walks away. She goes to the cabin and shuts the door. Slams it. The sounds echoes across the whole wide wasteland, and her father laughs and laughs and laughs.
He is still laughing next morning when Lou wakes up. But she is happy. She will dig, she will be hit, she'll do anything, because at least she has a name now. Her sister stays hidden under the blankets. With their grandfather dead, the other cabin is free. That's where Joseph and Mercy sleep now. Joseph is outside now though, digging and laughing.
Lou goes outside to help. Today will be the day, she thinks. I'll find the treasure.
She does not think about what will happen after that, because the truth is that nothing will.
She digs all day and all evening. When she returns to her cabin, she sees her sister kneeling by the box and rummaging through it. She looks up when she sees Lou.
"I'm leaving," she says quietly.
Lou is suddenly terrified for reasons she doesn't know. "Why?"
"Because I can't stay here, I can't stay here with him. I'll hear him laughing until the day I die, and I don't want that. You've got to come with me."
"But I'm going to find the treasure."
"There is no treasure! It's a lie! It's because they hate someone, someone who's dead! Someone who's been dead for years and years and years! You can't stay here and just...and just let the hate go on forever!"
She says this very fast. Lou stares at her.
"But I have my name now, and you have yours..."
"But I don't want it. I'm going to get out of here and I'm going to change my name, and you've got to come too."
"I can't." And she doesn't know why.
"Well, what about Mother?" Mary says desperately. "She has to come. She's not right. Grandma said so. She said she wasn't really a witch at all, that she was just...just ill or something..."
"What about the lizards?" Lou demands. "She did something to the lizards. They obey her. If you take her away the lizards will kill people."
"They won't! They're just animals, we're more dangerous. Please...Lou. You have to come with me."
But Lou shakes her head.
Mary runs out of the cabin in tears. She sees the holes that stretch out as far as the eye can see. We've destroyed the earth, she thinks. And for what? For nothing.
She knows in the back of her mind that she'll have to leave her mother here, and that her sister won't come with her either. Her stupid stupid stupid sister who she doesn't know and never will.
She gets in the car. The keys are in there. Why has no-one done this before? It seems too easy. If she can escape without driving the car into a hole, that is.
Mercy comes out of the cabin. Her eyes are gleaming. Maybe they're gleaming with tears...who can tell? She runs to the car.
"Mum," Mary says in relief. "Get in the car. Please. Lou won't come with me, but we can come back for her. Please."
But Mercy just stands looking at her, and playing with the chocolate in her pocket. How can this girl think of leaving her, when she has killed and destroyed lives just to keep her? Mary stares at her pleadingly. Mercy stares back and takes her hand out of her pocket. The chocolate has melted over her fingers; it looks as though she has brown blood.
"Please," Mary says.
But she won't. She can't. She has to stay here with the lizards and the man who gives her chocolate and the remaining daughter. She has to stay where she belongs.
With a sob Mary turns the key and the car starts. She has never driven before. She is scared out of her mind. As each second passes she expects to hear a sickening crunch as the car falls down a hole. But it doesn't. Maybe her mother is doing this with magic, maybe she's letting her escape.
The car leaves a trail of dust behind it. Mary sticks her head out of the window. She can see a strange rock formation...it's shaped like a thumb. It chills her for some reason. It's too hot inside the car.
But she is free, free, free. Burning up but free.
Lou watches the car. The heat is blurring it. Her stupid sister. They're going to find the treasure, and now Mary won't get even a coin. But they're down one digger now, though. Her father will be furious.
She hears his string of swear words. He's yelling at the disappearing car, cursing his daughter, cursing them all. Mercy says nothing. The lizards stir in their homes beneath the earth.
Finally Joseph Walker runs out of things to shout. The car has long since disppeared. He turns to the remaining daughter, the one who looks like him.
"You'll do her work too. I expect there to be as many holes today as there are always."
Lou nods. She brushes her red hair from her face. She goes into the cabin to find a spade and she starts digging.