Laurie Blackwell
1998 Years After Novus
River Colony, Joint
Province of Campora and Victoria
A bead of sweat dragged down my temple as my father squirmed on the carriage seat next to me, the two of us dressed in our better pants and button-down shirts for our meeting with the mayor. When I sunk lower in my seat, Dad reached over and patted my knee, “You just let me-” He pulled a face and adjusted his glasses as he leaned forward to see a figure slowly coming down the pathway, sitting back heavily then. “You just let me do all the talking, okay? I know how this goes. I know what to say to get them to give you more time.”
I nodded a little as I saw the figure slowly come toward our where our carriage was parked on the road outside the home that belonged to one of my Dad’s cousins, where Big Blue lived. And typical for Big Blue, he was wearing his bright green bowtie, matching the suspenders he wore, his face set in a similarly hard look Roy was wearing at the front of the carriage with Lawrence, who also wore a similar look.
Big Blue was my Dad’s great, great grandfather and part of the first generation to join the colony. He was one of only three thousand residents that lived here and had actually lived outside and knew the ways of the world. He was also the head of my Dad’s family and the one that we all had to answer to if we fucked up.
And by being single and childless at eighteen, I had fucked up.
“Dad…” I said quietly as he continued down toward us, “If he’s coming, they’ll probably...be giving me a punishment, don’t you think?”
“No, no -” Dad said, shaking his head and patting my knee again, “They had Big Blue come with my Dad when he needed the approval to buy more land. They likely just want him to sign off that we’re on top of getting you married. They did the same with me. Don’t worry.”
I swallowed and nodded. I could trust my Dad. Maybe he was wrong, but at least he’d be as surprised as me if he was.
As Big Blue neared, Roy climbed out of the carriage and opened the door for him so he could sit up with Roy at the front, and once Roy was back in, Little Laurie crammed between them, Big Blue gave my brother a look. “Why are you coming again, Roy?” Big Blue asked, giving Roy a hard look.
“If they’re going to harass Laurie, I’m going to be there to remind them that Laurie should have been in the God damn city studying to be a God damn doctor!” Roy said loudly as he gave the reins a sharp jerk, the pair of horses pulling our carriage huffing before they started forward. He leaned back to hold onto the reins with one hand, stretching the other out to wrap it around his son’s shoulder and pull him closer, since Lawrence was known to stand while the cart was in motion. “Best God Damn student in this whole colony and the mayor choose to send his daughter instead because he wanted her to marry a freaking city boy!” He raged on, “We should have run that scraggly bearded, beady-eyed, tar sitting fool years ago!”
I sighed, because even though he wasn’t necessarily wrong, Roy and his good intentions always seemed to cause more harm than good. I exchanged a glance with Dad before we both stared at the back of Roy’s head with a frown, my Dad patting my knee again as we remained quiet and listened to Roy’s angry ranting, Lawrence turning his face up to listen with a gaping mouth and a look of utter concentration.
When his shouting lessened to frustrated mumbling, I perked up and leaned forward to give Big Blue a little smile.
“Thank you again for coming with us, Big Blue,” I said then, my Dad nodding with a similar smile.
“Yeah, thank you so much – I know you have a lot on your plate, but I didn’t want to have to call Hester – you know how he is when he is put in charge of these things,” Dad said with a nervous laugh that I shared with him.
Big Blue nodded and spared us both a glance before he returned his gaze forward onto the road. “I understand that it can be difficult finding the right partner,” He said lowly, pulling the brim of his hat lower on his brow, “Finding the right girl can be the difference between the future of our family being bright and plentiful, or producing bitter, anxious children.”
My father and I nodded at that in agreement and Roy spit out of the carriage, scowling. “I’ve always said Laurie needs to be extra careful because he’s too fucking nice,” He said with a shake of his head, “He’d allow himself to be bullied into marrying a real piece of work, and then the whole family would get fucked.”
Big Blue grunted at that, shaking his head. “He still has time.” He said firmly, “We’ll find him a proper bride – I’ll make sure of that.”
I swallowed thickly and averted my eyes, chewing the inside of my cheek as the buildings of our town came into sight down the road. A carriage coming in the opposite direction waved us down and Roy pulled the carriage over, all eyes on the man in the other carriage. I recognized him as Quinn Violetfields, the primary school teacher and a cousin of Mabel’s.
“They hung that Greenbelt boy last night,” He said, and my stomach dropped. “He must have pissed someone off because they really did a number on him – I’d cover Little Laurie’s eyes, Roy.” He said his eyes narrowing as he asked then, a little breathless, “How’s Mabel?”
“She’s doing better – they gave her something to help her sleep last night and have her on a-” He made a motion with his hand as he patted Lawrence on the shoulder roughly, “A vitamin drip, so hopefully she’ll be feeling better soon.” Lawrence looked between his father and his cousin before he frowned, listening.
Quinn swallowed thickly as he nodded slowly, a troubled look on his face. There was a weird sort of silence then, like he wanted to say something, but he instead just leaned out of the carriage with his hand extended and my brother leaned out as well to shake it before they both went back on the road in opposite directions.
Losing a baby was very difficult, and you needed to always support someone that was dealing with that loss. Since Roy and Mabel lost Joy, there had been a lot of outpouring support, which Roy wasn’t used to since he was a bit of a shit and had more people that rolled their eyes when he neared than smiled.
But that look was strange, especially for Quinn, who was a bit of a big mouth and usually said exactly what was on his mind.
I looked to my father to see he appeared to be as troubled as I was and we exchanged quick looks before he looked forward, my Dad reaching over to help my nephew into the back seat so he could cover his eyes if we came across anything unsightly.
This close to noon, the town should have been in full swing, but it seemed that once you passed the soap boutique about two miles into town, everything got real slow, the streets mostly void of townsfolk and their carriages.
And right about there was where we saw him – the Greenbelt boy, John, who was hanging for the lampost with the rope under his armpits and board nailed to his back. His head was missing and his chest cavity pulled open so that his ribs could be used as a perch for the crows, one sitting on the top as it picked at the shredded flesh, one of his legs resting on the pavement below and looking like it had been ripped right out.
Written on a board beneath his one foot was a sign reading ‘SEE NO EVIL’, and I looked to make sure Dad had his hand over Lawrence’s eyes, which he did. He was quick like that, something I most surely was not.
Rule Number Two - you were never allowed to look at the faces of the Novus.
Though they wore masks, every inch of skin covered, they could see through the goggles they wore and so they could see when you looked at them, which is why you always adverted your gaze if you knew one was around, kept it down. John Greenbelt was confrontational. If you caught him in a bad mood, he’d let you know it with his glare, and now he was crow food.
We had always been so afraid Roy would piss off a Novus and we’d be sitting nearby, waiting under we were able to collect his corpse to go with it to the crematorium, but since Little Lawrence had been born, Roy really reeled his temper in. If anything, he was almost too cautious when it came to those outside the house, avoiding interacting with others if not necessary out of an abundance of caution. It was a pleasant and wonderful surprise, and I was so proud of him.
It was just a short ride to the mayor’s office, located across from the library, and when we got there, I suddenly felt very nervous.
What would I say?
Would I lie, as I had been lying?
“Come on, Laurie,” I heard my Dad say as he slid out of the carriage, “It won’t be so bad. It’s just a talk.”
I swallowed thickly but slid out of the carriage to stand on the sidewalk, our hats left in the carriage before we went up the three stairs to the double doors there.
I had been to the mayor’s building a few times before when I had to hand in my forms, explaining why I was single, but this was different and the building looked strange for it. It was different, and I couldn’t explain why.
The mayor’s secretary met us just inside the door and walked us up to his office, and my Dad talked to her about the weather and upcoming harvest and anything but my situation, and absolutely not about the mutilated corpse on display less than twenty yards from the building.
If it related to the Novus or anything that might be related to breaking the colony’s rules, then the subject was avoided at all costs because the Novus could hear a great distance, and if the Novus had done that to Greenbelt – and the surely had – then they were likely hanging around. We were not taught much about Novus other than the basics and how to behave around them, but the level of violence used this time suggested that the Novus had been very angry and would likely want to come back and look upon his work as they sometimes did.
The Mayor met us at the door to his office and he shook Big Blue’s hand first, then my father’s, then mine, and then he stared at Roy and his pinched look before he knelt down and took Lawrence’s hand in a shake as well. When he stood he closed the door to his office and walked us over to his desk, where four seats were waiting.
I sat in the middle with Big Blue to my right and my Dad to my left, with Roy at the very right, Lawrence sitting in his lap.
The mayor went and retrieved a thin file before he sat down, opening it. “So, Laurie, talk to me.” He said in his low drawl, the mayor and his children all speaking like the folks further north. Roy called it ‘the talk of the lazy tongue’, but I thought it was better suited to be called ‘syrup speak’, because it was rich and slow and warm. I liked it. Roy, not so much. “What are our plans?”
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