Phillips Harbour
October 24, 1868. Saturday Evening.
After bidding farewell to Miss Townes, Mr. Shaft and Caliban separate on their way back into town. Mr. Shaft intends to return to the boathouse to work on the Analytical Engine, but Caliban want to look for Lei.
Now where would Lei have gone? ponders the ape, having left his master happily puttering away on the Analytical Engine. He could have stayed to help, but in his experience, that usually amounted to handing him the occasional tools - on the other hand, if he can find Lei, maybe he can pump the bird some information about any remaining Players. The most obvious choice seems to be that Lei would be keeping his mistress under watch - otherwise, he might have returned to Mrs. Stephenson's.
By the time the chimpanzee returns to the doctor's house, it's dark enough that the road is hard to pick out even by the light of the half-full moon. He feels footsore and is wishing he'd just stayed at the doctor's house instead of walking all the way back into town only to leave again. He wanders around outside, avoiding attention while he looks for the nightengale. One small bird would be hard to pick out among the shadows of the trees surrounding the doctor's relatively isolated house.
But apparently a chimpanzee is easier to spot. Lei's chirping voice comes quietly from a branch behind him as he investigates near one of he house's windows. What are you doing here?
Lookin' for you, the ape responds in quiet ooks. Miss Pau's okay for now, half the townfolks think that she's just hysteric an' the church guys are harassin' her. Not out o' the woods by a long shot though, the other half still think she's a witch an' they're lookin' hard at anything else strange goin' on.
Now that she's speaking, Caiban can spot the bird perched on a slender pine branch. Her feathers are puffed out, making her look like a pinecone in the shadows of night. Who told them she was a witch?
We found out about it when we hit the inn, the ape says. Boss got a note from the Mikkelsens sayin' the witch hunters were arrestin' strangers. Not sure who pointed the finger at Miss Pau... What'd you see from your end?
Returning to old habits, the chimpanzee looks about shiftily, hunkering low.
Nothing. I wasn't there when they took her, Lei chirps dismally. I spent most of the day trying to figure out what happened to her. And that cursed preacher's still hanging around her even now, I don't dare try talk to her.
The chimpanzee nods. We got her out okay, they didn't have a chance to really question her. She's safe fer now, but we gotta find a distraction for the witch hunters. Otherwise they're gonna make it inconvenient for alla us. He pauses uncomfortably. Lei, y'know me an' the boss, we're Closers, right?
Caliban eyes the nightingale, not sure what he'll do if Lei abandons him. But it's something he feels needs to be laid out between them.
I know. Lei's wings mantle, fall. I thought you were the ones who set the witchhunters on her.
Nah. Miss Pau's nice. She's never raised a hand to us. The boss an' me like to treat people right, it's the decent thing to do. A twinge of disappointment, he'd been hoping that Rev. Hale had erred in his assessment. We helped get Miss Pau out, staged a little pho-to-graphy an' she went into a pretend-fit when the boss used his flash.
A twitch of the bird's head in a shadowy nod. I heard. You did a good job. Her voice is hard to read. I didn't know what to do. Even if I'd found her. Thank you. Her gratitude sounds oddly strained; not so much grudging as ... worried, perhaps.
Caliban grins wryly. S'all right, you'd do the same for us, huh? He looks toward the doctor's house. I won't lie, me an' the boss, we were hopin' we could talk Miss Pau into sittin' the round out. But not by throwin' her to the witch-hunters.
Or by leavin' her in their clutches, either.
I wish we could talk you into Opening. You don't understand how important this is, Caliban. This world can't keep holding the gate Closed forever. These worlds were meant to be joined; it'll destroy both if we keep denying that, Lei chirps, lit briefly by passion.
It can be Opened next round, an' you an' Miss Pau can be more prepared then, Caliban points out, focusing his attention on the bird's reactions. Is there another Opener they don't know about? Girard's skipped town, St. Johns is dead... It looks like a kinda bum hand to me.
The nightengale makes a strangled noise. And there may not be a next time. For anyone. It doesn't matter what the odds are like. We have to try. I have to try. Even if you killed Xiao Chen like you killed St. John, even if I were the only one left ... I would still try. Won't you even consider it? Consider that we might be right and you wrong?
The ape ooks softly. I've seen visions. Horrible visions of what would happen if the door were Opened. People dying, jungles an' cities melting, humans an' monkeys changing into something we can't understand... Not because they asked to, because something changed them. Maybe you think what they'd be changed into is better. Me, I say nothin' should get changed without its say-so. He studies the bird. Too canny to give away the names of other Openers, or is Miss Pau the last of them?
As the chimpanzee and nightengale converse, hoofbeats sound quietly in the distance, then stop a little ways off. A human creeps towards them through the trees. Lei stirs from her branch and flutters higher. I'm not saying that what happens from Opening will be good. But are you sure that what happens from Closing won't be worse? Not immediately, no. It'll seem like nothing's changed. But change is coming anyway, whether you want it to or not.
The chimpanzee nods. Future's what we make of it, that's what the boss says. He turns his glance toward the hoofbeats. We got company. He moves to a more shaded area to see who's coming.
Even astride her mare, Townes cuts a distinctive silhouette, and she waits where she is quietly and unobtrusively.
Miss Townes. She's okay, she helped us get Miss Pau out, comes faint ooks from the underbrush, aimed up to the branches. She can understand us too. Dunno if you've met her yet.
Caliban peers around a tree trunk to see if anyone else is out there.
The bird flutters between the tree branches. Oh yes. I remember you now, Miss Townes. She pauses, then continues, You went to speak with the Still Forest. Was it you who induced the woods to turn St. John out?
Bernice looks up at the branches, searching them in the dim light. "You saw me speak with the Oak, then. Yes, I convinced them to withdraw their protection of St. John."
Caliban looks up at the bird, curious what Lei's reaction will be.
I should have known that sooner. The nightingale lands on a tree branch not far from the woman's head. And you who killed her, you who brought their bodies back to the woods. All of you? Mr. Shaft and Rev. Hale too?
The woman shivers a little at the memory. "She killed herself, you should know. Caliban tells me she spilled her own blood from her own throat."
The bird gives a startled chirp. I did not know that. I did not think her the sort to kill herself. Why?
The ape glances over at Miss Townes uneasily. Some kinda ritual she was doing up on the Hill. No idea what the end result was s'posta be... Maybe come back to life more powerful. Maybe get a new body, one we wouldn't know. He doesn't confide his fears that St. Johns isn't really all-the-way dead, because all of a sudden Lei doesn't sound so friendly.
Lei gives a soft chirp. She was an Opener, and we need more Openers. But I cannot blame you for hunting her. She was a monster.
Caliban relaxes a little. You ain't kiddin', Lei, you ain't kiddin'.
Bernice exchanges glances with Caliban, then nods at Lei. "I would have sought her even if I were an Opener. She killed almost everyone I called friend."
I am sorry for your friends, Miss Townes. But you must not judge the cause by the worst of its proponents. St. John would have been as much a monster if the Game had never existed. If there were no Gate. That she wanted it Opened doesn't mean that Opening it is wrong, the nightingale chirps.
The woman dips her head, acknowledging what Lei says. "I've judged this based on what I've been taught by the Ovates, by what they know of balance. Don't think I bear anyone ill will based solely on their position in this horrid Game. The man I..." She hesitates, and looks away again, fidgiting a little. "One of the Openers I... I have a.. er... fondness for. He withdrew through no doing of mine."
Caliban grimaces unseen in the dark. Doesn't sound like Lei will be their messenger of peace and compromise.
If you believe in balance, can't you feel it, Miss Townes? the nightingale pleads, one more time. Can't you see the imbalance in all these Closings? In forcing the Gate shut, time after time? It has to be allowed to Open. Before it's too late for all of us.
Balance's in a fair fight, the ape opines. He peers up at Lei thoughtfully. Miss Townes, it gets kinda stuffy in the doc's house, dunnit? Maybe Miss Pau ought to be let out for a mornin' con-sti-too-shun-all. Fresh air, sunlight, birdsong, good for what ails her.
'Course there'd be someone with her to make sure she don't run off on the witch-hunters an' all..
"Just what is meant to pass through this gate, then?" asks Bernice. She frowns, and shakes her head. "Are we forcing a gate Closed, or are the others forcing it Open? If it were left to be, would it Open by itself? The very Woods themselves know it shouldn't be. To die in this world and to be reborn in the next, to move closer to the Source... maybe that's the way the balance is supposed to shift." She gives the ape a long, even look. "I don't want to see Miss Pau hurt. The Rev. Locke disturbs me. But to be frank, I don't think she should move for at least a week."
Caliban nods thoughtfully. Rev. Locke's going to be keepin' a real close eye on her, huh?
Bernice nods somberly. "He is, and Dr. Greene has already been put at risk. He's innocent in all this, I don't want them to harm him. I'm hoping Miss Pau can be kept safe for now."
Lei gives a distressed chirp. I think it would Open, if no Players were there to help or hinder it. These two worlds were meant to be connected. It's only Oldman who's been able to keep Closing it, all those millenia. But he's not here this Game. Don't you wonder why? Don't .... She trails off, shaking her head and hopping to the end of the branch. Think about it, will you?
The young woman sighs. "I will... that's all I can promise."
Lei, y'know where I stand on it, but I'm not yer enemy, the ape says quietly to the overhanging branches. Maybe we got some common causes, too. Like the witch-hunters. We gotta come up with a way to distract 'em, maybe get 'em out of the way.
Wings poised as if to take flight, Lei hesitates. Yes. We do. If any of you have plans for that ... let me know. I'll help as I may.
The chimpanzee nods unseen. Be seein' you, Lei.