The Travels of Scout Shannon: Books 4-6

Chapter 7

7

Scout rested her head against the window and watched the mountain slope pass below her. The glass of the window was pleasantly cool, and the rocking of the tram car was like a cradle trying to lull her to sleep.

Then she saw light below and snapped out of her doze. The sun had completely gone, the ground below her had lost all definition, but directly in front of the tram car, where the cables were descending to, was a cluster of bright lights.

“The hamlet,” John Carlo said. “Most of the homes are close to the station, and there is a market there on good-weather days. The lights are around that. The McGillicuddys actually live a little further up the slope, but they are meeting us at the station with lights, so you won’t be walking alone in the dark.”

“Alone?” Scout asked. “Aren’t you staying?”

“We can’t,” Mary Grace said, putting a hand on Scout’s shoulder. “We have too much to do, and the communication systems down here are spotty at best.”

“But you said this was the last tram of the day,” Scout said.

“Yes. We’ll say good-bye from here. But there will be enough time to introduce you to Emma and the kids,” Mary Grace said.

Scout nodded, then turned back to watch the lights drawing ever closer.

As they reached the end of the line, Scout saw John Carlo and Mary Grace both adjusting their clothing, tugging on knit caps and turning up their collars. Scout dug her own cap out of her jacket pocket and put it on, smoothing the ear flaps down over her ears.

The tram car lurched to a halt and swung for a moment before the doors slid open. For a moment, nothing seemed different. Then a gust of wind danced inside the car, carrying flakes of snow with it, and Scout gasped out loud.

She had slept out at night in the prairies of Amatheon on many occasions. More than once she’d woken to find a fine layer of frost clinging to her blanket. Those had been cold nights.

Or so she had thought at the time. As Scout struggled to zip her own collar up over the bottom half of her face, she realized her idea of what cold was had been off by several orders of magnitude.

“Scout,” John Carlo said, holding out a hand for her to step up beside him. Scout clutched the dogs’ leashes and led them to the edge of the doorway.

The tram platform on this end wasn’t in an enclosed room. She could see a flat surface beneath a fine dusting of snow, although if it was stone or concrete, she couldn’t tell in the yellow-toned light.

The platform was one side of a large open square, probably where they set up the market. The other three sides were all houses, squat structures that also appeared to be made mainly of stone, with low doors and no windows.

Waiting on the platform was a woman and three children, too bundled up in warm clothing for her to make out any details.

“Scout Shannon, this is Emma McGillicuddy and her children Willem, Trevor, and Neil,” John Carlo told her. “They’re going to take good care of you.”

Scout bit her lip, not sure what to say. To her dismay, the garbled loudspeaker voice was already announcing the tram’s departure, and the chime was sounding.

“We have to get back,” John Carlo said, “but we’ll be in touch. And the moment we’re sure it’s safe, we’ll send for you.”

“Thank you,” Scout said.

Mary Grace pulled her into a tight hug that ended with a gentle push to encourage her to step off the tram. She did, the dogs jumping down after her.

Then the doors hissed shut, and the tram rose back up the mountainside. The Torreses inside were still waving back to her when the tram reached a point too distant for Scout to make out any more details.

She turned to face the family that was missing a member thanks to her. She held the dogs close to her side. Shadow was fine with this, shivering and picking up his paws one after another, not liking the cold radiating from the platform. Gert, on the other hand, was straining at her leash, desperate to run and explore, pushing her nose through little drifts of snow with happy snuffles.

Emma McGillicuddy pulled down the scarf that had been wrapped around her face. Her cheeks went from pink to red at the first touch of the cold air, and Scout thought she had a clue why no one seemed to want to be the first to speak. “We should get up to the cabin. It’s warmer there, and we can talk.”

“Okay,” Scout agreed, then tucked her chin deeper into her collar. She found gloves in the pockets of her coat and moved the leashes from hand to hand as she pulled them over her fingers, which were already turning a ghoulish sort of white in the cold.

Then she followed the row of figures that stepped off the platform into a trench dug in the snow. The snow on either side was nearly a meter deep, and Scout was glad they didn’t have to walk through that. Plus, the walls of the trenches protected them from the worst of the wind.

Then they reached the last house at the edge of the little hamlet and the end of the neatly dug trench.

Emma helped her children clamber up onto the snow. Scout tried to climb up after, but Shadow made a little whine, and she went back to pick him up. Gert was more willing to plow through on her own, eager even. Scout let go of her leash, trusting she’d stay nearby. Gert plunged into the snow like a dolphin in water, throwing great masses of it up into the air to slowly drift back down in the low gravity, or more often to be carried away on the wind.

The wind was cold, but it was nowhere near as strong as the wind Scout was used to back home. She guessed that was because of the thinner atmosphere.

Plowing through the snow was hard work, but she was only a little winded, so the nanites must be doing their job keeping her blood oxygenated.

The hamlet had been built on a plateau, but Emma led them to the edge of that plateau and then up the slope of the mountain. The wind was more prevalent here, if not exactly strong, and had swept the rock nearly clean of snow, making the walk easier.

Scout realized they were following a path of sorts when they passed through a deep fissure in the rock where someone had fashioned stairs to help at the steeper bits. Beyond the fissure was another open slope, this one so steep that Scout had to put her head down and focus on taking step after step as the muscles of her legs started to burn.

She hoped she wouldn’t have to make this walk again, except to get back down, and surely that would be easier. Even pedaling her bike over the hills back home hadn’t been this much work.

Then the slope ended on another plateau with deep piles of snow. Scout lifted her head and saw a light shining from over the door of a little stone cabin on the far side of the plateau, Emma and her line of children spread between her and it. Gert came galloping past Scout to plunge once more into the deeper snow. Shadow watched her go by, then shivered as if he felt the cold Gert didn’t seem to notice at all.

The others were waiting at the front of the cabin for Scout when she arrived, the littlest child stomping their feet, perhaps from the cold or perhaps from impatience. Emma opened the door and led the way into a small room not unlike an airlock, closing the door once they were all inside.

Then the family began shedding outer clothing, and Scout finally saw them all. Each of the boys had red hair like Liam, although where his had been thinning and cut close to his head, theirs was thick and wavy like their mother’s dark blonde hair. Scout guessed they were all between ten and six.

Scout unzipped her jacket but left it on. Even with the shirt, vest, and second shirt, the air still felt cold. So far the indoors didn’t feel all that much warmer than outside.

“We have food,” Emma said as she opened the far door and warm light from the home beyond filled the coat room. “Soup and fresh-baked bread. And lots of hot tea. The best thing for warming back up.” She tried to smile at Scout but was repeatedly distracted by her three children barreling past her into the kitchen. When the last of them had gone, she bent to pick up the hats, scarves, and gloves that had fallen helter-skelter to the floor and put them in the cubbies over the coat hooks.

“I’m sorry,” Scout said.

“Oh, it’s all right, dear,” Emma said. “I don’t mind the cold, and it’s good for the boys to get out now and again.”

Scout had to puzzle over this for a moment before she realized Emma thought she was apologizing for making them meet her at the station. “I meant for Liam.”

“Oh,” Emma said, and her cheeks colored. “Oh, there’s nothing to apologize for there. We talked about it before he left and we both agreed that he had to go get you. We owe Gertrude Bauer so much, both of us. And we knew he would almost certainly be arrested and might be unable to continue working as a marshal even if he was cleared. We made the choice together, and I don’t regret it, not a bit. I know he doesn’t either.”

“But now you have to hide out here, so far from home,” Scout said.

“It’s not so bad,” Emma said and tried to muster up a convincing smile. The smile faltered, and Scout was afraid she was about to break down into tears, but to her surprise, Emma burst into laughter. “Okay, I hate it here. There, I said it. So cold, so dark, so remote. But it’s the safest place for the boys, who think it’s just grand they get a bonus break from school. And it’s not forever, is it?”

“I hope not,” Scout said.

“Come inside,” Emma said. “Let’s get some warmth inside of us.”

The food was just as warming as Emma had promised, and tasty besides. The soup contained potatoes and corn, two things Scout knew well, but it was mainly cream, something she had never had before. The bread was light and crusty, and there was a huge crock of butter to smear over it, the golden pats melting the moment they touched the steaming bread.

Once the food was all gone, the boys scampered away, Emma calling instructions after them. “Neil, pick up your toys before bed. Willem, double-check your homework before you transmit it to your teacher. Trevor, I’ll be along in a moment to help you with math, but at least take a stab at it without me.”

All three groaned loudly in protest, but Emma just poured herself and Scout another mug of tea.

“Your dogs are very well-behaved,” she said. Scout looked down at Gert, flopped down as usual right on top of her feet. Shadow was sitting at attention nearby, clearly hoping for a few table scraps and not deterred at all by no one paying any attention to him.

“They’re good dogs,” Scout said. “They’re my family.”

“Have you thought about your future once you’re done testifying in court?” Emma asked.

“Not really,” Scout said. “Bo Tajaki gave me an AI teacher, and I’ve been working on getting my education level up to where it should be. Or trying to work on it. Things have been chaotic a lot. But I know with an education I’ll have more options.”

“Yes, you will,” Emma said. “Of course, I’m biased. I’m a teacher as well.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I teach science to kids between nine and thirteen. It’s a very exciting age.”

Scout nodded and tried for a smile that wasn’t too halfhearted. In her experience, that was a good age for molding kids into killers. But surely that wasn’t the only thing a kid could learn how to become.

Not that she knew herself. She had spent those years working for every meal and missing more than a few when work was scarce.

“When you’re done with your tea, I’ll take you out and show you where you’ll be sleeping,” Emma said.

Scout took a deep gulp of tea, lemony and sweet, then asked, “Out? I thought I was staying with you.”

“You can if you like—I can convert that couch to a sleeper—but I thought you’d like a bit more privacy. And quiet, something that’s in short supply here.”

Scout didn’t doubt that. Whatever tasks the boys had been assigned must still be waiting for them; it certainly sounded like some sort of throwing and tackling activity was going on its place at the moment.

Scout swallowed the last of her tea, then gathered up her dogs and zipped up her jacket while Emma put back on the layers of her own clothing.

Then they were back out in the cold night, although it didn’t seem so bad this time with a belly full of warm food and tea. They trudged through the snow around to the back of the cabin, then a little further uphill to a second, smaller cabin that stood on a rocky promontory, the door on the side facing the hamlet below. Emma punched a code into the lock and then opened the door, stepping aside to let Scout and the dogs in first.

It was definitely smaller than the other cabin, all one room with a little screen dividing the shower and toilet from the rest of the space. A bed piled high with thick blankets and an overstuffed chair sat on either side of a dark metallic box that looked like some sort of stove, and opposite the bathroom was a tiny kitchen with a single cupboard over a sink and just enough counter space for a little kettle.

“This was Gertrude’s,” Emma said, her voice going soft. “She was Liam’s partner, but she was my good friend.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Scout said.

“Thank you,” Emma said. “I can see why she liked you. At any rate, when her grandmother fell into a bad way, Gertrude gave everything she had in the world to take care of her until the day she died. Gertrude was left with nothing. Working as a marshal, she was always traveling, but when she was off duty, this was her place. Liam and I had to make her take it. Proud doesn’t begin to describe her. But I know she loved it. I think you being here is just what she would have wanted.”

“I hope so,” Scout said.

“You’ll see in the morning, when the sun comes up, why she loved it so. Whenever you’re up and ready, just come down the hill, and I’ll fix you something to eat. There’s tea and coffee in that cupboard. I’ll have to scrounge up something for the dogs to eat besides the scraps the boys were giving them under the table when they didn’t think I saw.”

“They what?” Scout asked. She hadn’t seen any of that. Emma laughed.

“Don’t worry, nothing dangerous for dogs or I would have said something,” she said. “I better get back before they destroy something. If you should go out, the code to get back in is just five-five-five-five. I can show you how to change that tomorrow. Good night, Scout.”

“Good night, Emma. And thank you so much.”

Emma smiled again before wrapping the scarf once more around her face and pulling the little door to the cloakroom closed behind her.

Then Scout heard the deeper boom of the outer door closing, and she and the dogs were alone.