Box Set - Chapter Thirty-Four

I cross the town in a matter of minutes, going against the grain. Crowds of excited people all with the same goal. To see happy children singing happily, led by their teacher. I may not know what to do with my new life, but I know I have to stop Teague ruining this happy place for these people.

            I reach the house in the corner of the town and notice the quiet around me. There are no children to be seen. There’s a rattling of the door and Teague emerges. There are no locks here. It’s one of the small details that makes the town different. There are no secrets here. No secrets apart from him.

            ‘Teague,’ I say. I don’t know what I’m going to follow with. I’m standing in a small square. He stands on the doorstep. It’s a standoff in the wild-west, the sand and whitewash houses complete the picture. I just hope that my presence might stop him in whatever he’s planning, or at the very least find out what he plans to do so I can put an end to it.

            ‘Easton,’ he proclaims in that saccharine voice he must put on. ‘Why aren’t you in the square with everyone else?’

            ‘You know why,’ I reply. ‘I want to make sure you’re not going to hurt anyone.’

            He smiles and shakes his head. ‘Why would I do that? These people saved me.’

            ‘And I want you to leave them alone. After this recital of yours we can go home, you me, Elle and Yates. Then we can go our separate ways.’

            ‘You don’t understand, Easton. I love it here.’

            There’s a look in his eye. Like he’s enjoying himself. He’s an obstinate bully, a big brother who enjoys mocking me.

            ‘You don’t realise how well I know you. Teague wouldn’t be happy here.’

            ‘Before I was betrayed you mean? By the smartest man who ever lived?’

            ‘Woman,’ I say.

            ‘What’s the difference?’

            There’s a glimpse of the real him. He’s always been cracked. It’s a case of pressing my fingers between them and pulling. Eventually the armour he’s put on will fall away.

            ‘You were hurt by Thacker, I get that, I was too.’

            ‘Really?’ he says crossing his arms. ‘You devoted a large portion of your life to a person and then they stabbed you in the back. That happened to you?’

            ‘I’m not going to argue with you, Teague. I’m tired of arguing.’

            ‘What’s happened to you, Easton? Where’s your fight?’

            ‘You want me to argue with you.’ I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I hate arguing with someone like Teague. He’s a person who will stray from the crux of the argument just to win on a tiny point.

            He steps closer. I don’t like Teague like this, he’s too normal. I’m torn between going home without him and cutting him from my life, but then what will he do when I leave him? He’s like a nightmare pet I can’t bear inflicting on anyone else when all I want is a holiday.

            ‘Of course I want you too,’ he says. ‘I was once like you. Being a man of science means arguing against the status quo. We find the questions and answer them, even when people don’t want to hear it.’

            ‘So you’re a scientist now?’ I retort. ‘What happened to the writer and musical prodigy?’

            ‘I care,’ he says. ‘Like Thacker never cared about me.’

            ‘But you want to stay here,’ I say. ‘In the land of no science. And the people who are at peace and have no questions for you to answer.’

            ‘They could learn in time,’ he replies. His voice has gone quiet. ‘I’m sorry.’ He looks up. ‘I have to get back to the children.’

            He barges past me and then looks back. ‘I think you’re right in a lot of ways. Sometimes a leopard can’t change his spots.’

            Teague smiles and it’s not a smile I can read. His small eyes squint like he’s been planning his words for weeks. But his lips curl in a way that looks almost regretful.

            ‘Wait, Teague,’ I call as he rushes down the street. ‘What do you mean?’

            I panic for a second. I stay still and find my feet won’t move. Does that mean that he really did care about the children after all?

            ‘Teague!’ I shout.

            My feet find their mobility again. I run on the sand and realise how difficult it is to run on sand. The street is packed by people on a daily basis, but still my feet sink and slide and I almost fall over twice before I find another person. The streets are scarcely populated now. Everyone must be awaiting Teague in the square. I need to find Elle, Yates or Upson. Hopefully they’re in the square now. I don’t want to tell them what I think I’ve just done. From what it looked like, I just convinced Teague to return to his old ways when he was in favour of changing.

            I pump my arms faster and feel the sweat gather on my brow. It runs down my forehead, around my eyes to the corner of my lips.

            I curl my fists in frustration. I’m dead, I do not sweat.

            I blink and the sweat is gone.

            I burst into the square and into the mass of people crowded to watch the children sing.

            It’s truly like a gig, with excited people squashed together in a space too small for them. I never realise how many people were here. In the moments when we arrived there was space to move, and a ring in the middle of a new townsperson to escape the doldrums. The population seems to have doubled. There’s excitement and nudges and chatting. I’m now dreading what Teague’s going to do more and it’ll all be my fault.

            I stretch onto my tiptoes and scan the heads around me.

            There, about twenty yards in front of me is a bobbing head of wild hair that can only be him.

            I prise the two people in front of me apart and squeeze into the gap. After the third time of doing this people start to get annoyed. They refuse and push back. There’s tutting aplenty and more often than not, I’m confronted by a steadfast wall of people.

            I change tact. I skirt to the side of the square and try and squeeze around the edge.

            After a few more minutes I’ve lost Teague completely.

            I press my hands to my temples.

            ‘Easton!’

            I turn and am overjoyed to find Yates parting the crowd to find me.

            ‘I couldn’t find him,’ he says as he reaches me. ‘I think Elle and Upson are with Tarquin.’

            He sees the look on my face and reads the worry. ‘What’s wrong, Easton?’

            ‘I did find him,’ I blurt out. ‘Yates, I think I’ve made a huge mistake.’

            I quickly run through my meeting with Teague. Yates’s face darkens with every passing word.

            ‘So you think he really had changed?’

            ‘Not anymore,’ I reply.

            ‘We have to find Tarquin,’ Yates says.

            I nod and follow him through the crowd. He’s a lot better at parting it than me. I don’t know how he does it. He finds gaps that I didn’t realise were there. Maybe that was my problem all along. I went after Teague single-handedly when really I should have gone to get help.

            Right now I feel more lost than ever. Sandra’s words echo in my head. I should have given this place more of a chance. What was ever wrong with a bit of peace? Now my negativity might have ruined it for everyone. I’ve unleashed the monster in Teague.

            Elle stands with Upson and Tarquin near the front of the crowd. After a few more nudges and several more tuts, we stand beside them. It doesn’t take long for Elle to read our expressions.

            ‘Oh for christ’s sake,’ she says. ‘What have you done now?’

            I relay my story for the second time in a few minutes. Before Elle can even reply there’s a cheer from over on our left. The children have arrived.

            They file in in a long line like a school play. There are toddlers to early teens and they all look happy and nervous all at once. I don’t think I can watch and put my face in my hands.

            Elle places a hand on my shoulder. I meet her eyes and find a look that seems to say everything’s okay.

            I can’t believe it. As they take their places, the chatter in the crowd rises to a crescendo. Teague stands at the front smiling and waving to his new subjects.

            ‘Good afternoon everyone,’ he calls. Everyone grows quiet. For them it’s quiet excitement, for us I can feel the tension as close as the heat around me. ‘Although it’s hard to know here isn’t it.’ He laughs, so do they.

            ‘He should take up politics,’ Elle observes.

            ‘These children have prepared some songs for us today,’ he continues. ‘Songs of love, songs of life,’ he turns to us. He locks eyes with me. ‘Songs of home.’

            And I know what he means. I can do nothing to stop him. He’s going to use the children to take them home. I look at Elle and Yates, even Upson knows what’s going on.

            ‘So without any further ado, let’s begin.’ Teague begins to clap. This starts a ripple and then an outbreak of thunderous applause.

            He steps to the side and the children begin. And it is a song of home. It’s a song of a life left behind. I’m guessing by a teenager who dreamed of the best grades in his upcoming exams. He wanted to make his dad proud of him. It’s a simple song, but the children sing in layers like a choir. On the last chorus, the town join in. I don’t think they can resist. Music keeps this place flowing. It saves lives.

            And that’s when I feel the change. The electricity in the air.

            ‘He’s doing it!’ I call over the song of the town. How can it be that simple? How can one little song written by someone so young mean so much. Teague’s taken something wonderful and turned it sour.

            And it’s all my fault.

            ‘We have to get to him,’ Upson barges through the crowd. He sends people flying and he’s halfway across the square before anyone can stop him. Finally Tarquin’s caught on too. He can feel it in the air. His world has been unsettled.

            I follow Upson but I’m soon lost. People are in front of me and behind me and everyone is singing.

            The edges of my vision blur. They sing so loud I feel the ground rumble beneath my feet. Suddenly everything is changing. The colours wash into one another. Lines of black claw at the edges of my periphery. The sky is sand, the earth is clear and I’m falling, we’re all falling away.

            In an instant, the town is gone.