Wildspark Page 12

  Edwin shrugged. “It’s a big responsibility to name someone.”

  “Don’t worry, the personifate can say if they don’t like it,” said Master White.

  “Corabel?” said Cora.

  The eagle winced.

  “Maybe not,” said Master White. “Agapantha, or Frances, any suggestions?”

  But the room felt as though it was closing in on Prue. Her heart ached so much for Francis. She couldn’t speak.

  “How about Gisella?” said Agapantha.

  Master White smiled. “I like it.”

  “So do I,” said the eagle.

  Green curtains were drawing over Prue’s vision, her ears buzzed. Something soft brushed her hand. Edwin’s paw was nudging her.

  “Frances, are you all right?” he said.

  “Francis,” Prue whispered.

  Then the curtains shut and there was silence.

  *

  When Prue woke, it was just her and Master Woolstenbury in the room.

  “It’s all right, Frances, you haven’t been out for long.”

  The memory of the evening came back to her. Master Woolstenbury must think she was useless, fainting at a harnessing. Panic hit her – if they contacted her parents to ask about her health, then she’d be found out.

  “Here, have some sweet cocoa, it will help.”

  Prue took a sip. It warmed her and made her feel less hazy. “I’m fine, honestly,” she said, swinging her feet around to sit up. The eagle personifate had gone, but she noticed Zareen was now in the room sitting quietly beside Master Woolstenbury’s desk. “Silly, really; it must’ve been because I didn’t eat much for dinner.”

  Master Woolstenbury narrowed her eyes.

  Prue hoped if Master Woolstenbury was going to tell her she was too weak to be an apprentice, that it would be over quickly, and she could just pack her things quietly and disappear. Master Woolstenbury’s eyes met Prue’s, and much as Prue tried to hold her emerald stare, she found herself looking away. What if she’d already realized about Francis? Had she mumbled something accidentally while she’d been out?

  Master Woolstenbury leaned forward. She spoke kindly. “You’ve recently lost someone, haven’t you, Frances?”

  For a moment, Prue felt the ground disappear beneath her. She thought it was all over.

  Then she realized that Master Woolstenbury had called her Frances, which meant she probably didn’t know everything.

  Prue nodded.

  “It’s happened before with apprentices. An experience of loss can make the harnessing process difficult to deal with. If you need to talk to anyone, of course you have Craftsman Primrose, but I want you to know that my door is always open too.”

  “Thank you,” Prue said quietly, her muscles relaxing with relief.

  “One last thing. I’m aware of your interest at the library surrounding anything related to harnessing, especially with regards to theories of memory. No good can come of it, Apprentice Haywood. Memory loss is a natural part of the process. It’s the way it is, and this is the important part; it is the way it must be. Can you imagine the chaos to society if the personifates could remember? Imagine the demand from people seeking their lost loved ones?” Master Woolstenbury sat back in her chair. “We are lucky with our current Governor and Sovereign Chancellery, but if events were different and the personifates went to the highest bidder, it could become extremely problematic. Imagine if there were personifates with memories who had vendettas on the living?”

  Silence hung for a moment.

  “The sooner you learn all this the better for you.”

  Prue nodded.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Much better, thank you.”

  Master Woolstenbury stood up. Their conversation was over. Prue walked to the door.

  “Focus on your given tasks, Apprentice Haywood. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Master Woolstenbury.”

  Prue was sure Master Woolstenbury meant well, but there was no way she would ever stop trying to get to Francis. She would just have to be more careful.

  “If you could escort Apprentice Haywood back, please, Zareen, just in case she has any further dizzy spells.”

  Prue and Zareen left the factorium and headed across to the transport hut. It felt exhilarating to walk beside a creature which in the wild would have made her run for the hills. Prue’s skin prickled with the thrill of it, and she couldn’t help but keep glancing down.

  “You know that she might not be completely right,” said Zareen.

  Prue looked at her curiously. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t get me wrong, Hannah Woolstenbury is a genius, and there is no other first lifer I respect and esteem more, but…” She paused in her steps and glanced up at Prue. “Hannah Woolstenbury started all this, but it will be up to others to carry it on. Who knows, perhaps there are new things to come, things that need to be discovered by others.”

  Prue smiled.

  Zareen escorted Prue back to the parlour, where Edwin and Agapantha were waiting, then said goodbye. A fire was smouldering in the hearth and there was a homely glow to the room.

  “Are you all right?” Edwin said.

  “Of course,” she said, shrugging it off. “Must’ve been something I ate.”

  “Lavender said we could stay up until you came back,” said Agapantha.

  “Honestly, I’m totally fine. We should all go to bed now.”

  *

  The full moon hung motionless above the forest to the south, brushing every treetop with white in the night. Beyond, the streets of the forgotten village shone like silver streams. A chaos lamp glowed orange in the window of one of the buildings. Inside, something had awoken. The creature’s body felt strong – formidable. It listened to its orders and felt anger and purpose surging through it.

  It was here to kill.

  THE INVENTORS PARADE

  The rest of the week was busy with more muscle wiring and a new class that Prue found even more trying than design – administration lessons. They were being taught by Craftsman Ashby, who was about ninety years old and spoke in a single tone of voice that made Prue want to fall asleep within three minutes of being in the room. He told them that administration was of the utmost importance with the imminent hundred. Parts of it might have been interesting, had the delivery been a little more exciting, but words like “quota”, “regulations”, “accountable” and “non-expendable” trolled through Prue’s brain. She was saved when she worked out it was possible to position her textbook upright on the table to look as though she was reading along, but was really making notes and plans for her memory machine. She decided her best shot would be to try and adapt a GODAR machine, which wouldn’t be easy to get hold of – she’d been through all the boxes in her memory lab, so she knew there wasn’t one there, but perhaps she could find an older model in one of the other storage rooms.

  Cora was pulled away to assist Sollentude every day, so it was easy for Prue, Edwin and Agapantha to check the trap regularly before they made their way back from the factorium. Prue wondered if they should take it down, as they had only caught the one deer and the likelihood was the fox or wolf was long gone, but she liked the way it was a secret between the three of them; it somehow made it easier that she was keeping a bigger secret from them.

  Soon it was the weekend again and the Inventors Parade. By the time they had left the Guild house, the streets of Medlock were already rapidly filling with people and personifates. They headed for the main square, which Agapantha had told them was the focal point; her parents had brought her every year since she was born. Prue noticed that often the people and personifates tended to stay in their respective company, but she also saw many first-lifers walking along together with personifates. An elderly lady in a feathered hat walked happily chatting and laughing with a sapphire-blue bird personifate on her shoulder. A little further ahead, two gentlemen held hands with a young girl and swung her in the air, while a large rainbow-colou
red cat danced loops around them, singing a nursery rhyme with the girl.

  “Hurry, Lavender said all the best spots get filled up quickly and I’ve thought of just the place for us,” Edwin said, urging them across the road. He stopped at the rear end of the huge mechanimal bee.

  “Edwin, I’m pretty sure that’s a no-go,” said Agapantha.

  The great metal components whirred as the metallic wings lifted and lowered.

  A grin spread on Prue’s face. It was exactly the sort of thing she and Francis would’ve done together. She didn’t need convincing. “Want a ride?” She looked at Edwin and patted her own shoulder.

  Edwin turned, and for a moment it looked as though he was scampering away, but then he turned and scurried forward, took an almighty leap up to Prue’s shoulder – then leapt again on to the platform.

  “You are one bonkers stoat.” Prue laughed.

  With a big jump, she grabbed the top of the platform. Prue scrambled her feet up the side and pulled herself up.

  “Come on, Ag. Honestly, it’s the best view in the square,” she called down.

  Agapantha shuffled uncomfortably, her cheeks ruby red. Prue noticed there were already other people looking at them and heading towards the statue.

  “Take our hands and we’ll pull you up,” Prue urged.

  After a deep breath and an awkward smile, Agapantha reached up and took Prue’s hand. A couple of girls were trying to climb up on the other side.

  “Quick, it’s a race to get on the bee’s back,” said Edwin.

  The great wings of the bee whirred, rising above them.

  “We have to catch the down motion,” he said.

  One of the girls was already on the platform on the other side and was trying to pull her friend up.

  “I’ll go first,” said Prue, jumping as the wing arced down. She almost slipped and fought to regain her balance. There were large rivets on the bee’s body that she could hold, so without another thought, she used one to push herself upwards to grab another, and before she knew it, she was on the back of the great statue, the vibrations of the mechanics rumbling gently through her body as though she was now part of it. “Hurry up!” she said.

  Edwin and Agapantha climbed up the other side and soon joined her. The three of them sat on the top and took in the view.

  “Didn’t I tell you it would be the best seat in the house?” said Edwin.

  Prue looked around at the people and personifates starting to fill every inch of the busy square. She spied many blue jackets like their own and some mustard and ruby too. Barriers were keeping onlookers off the road and the windows on the upper floors were open, with colourful flags crisscrossing and people waving.

  By now, others were on the statue’s platform and a few climbed up to sit behind them where there was still room.

  Prue had never been to a parade before. They had the summer fetes in North Owlcot, but nothing on this scale.

  Somewhere, several streets away, music began playing; a thumping, booming, drumming with whistles trilling like excited birds.

  “Yes! Here we go!” said Edwin.

  Prue could feel her heart rate rising as the drums neared.

  “The first cart is the showpiece, so be prepared to see some weird things,” said Agapantha. “Most of it will never function in the real world of course; it’s mainly for fun.”

  Soon a huge shadow fell on the street at the south end of the square. A band streamed in, playing their great rhythmic drums and blowing whistles. The crowd gasped then erupted with applause as a huge person, almost as tall as the surrounding buildings, stepped into the square. It was an automaton made entirely of cogs, which ticked and clonked as it stepped from one foot to the other, two huge arms slowly swinging forward and back.

  Prue clapped and cheered, amazed at what looked like a great wind-up mechanism powering it.

  The cog person was followed by a cart with chairs and tables which sprang into action and began dancing about each other.

  “I suppose it makes it easier to play musical chairs,” said Prue.

  “Very practical,” said Edwin, smiling.

  Then followed a lady who was wearing great mechanical wings strapped to her body.

  “I can’t see that taking off anytime soon,” said Agapantha. “Mathematically speaking, the proportions just don’t work.”

  They watched and cheered as parade carts flowed around the square: peddle bikes powered by miniature engines, a giant self-playing piano with an advertisement on the float stating Sponsored by Marvello’s Automated Musicians, a robotic trumpeter, a small house on wheels with the banner Why stay still when you can move home every day? Then a cart rolled in with enormous glass orbs high in the sky on great prongs.

  “I don’t get that one,” said Prue.

  In a moment, the glass domes filled with black, as though night existed within, then flashes of light exploded and the domes were ablaze with vibrant colours.

  “These would make it possible to party anytime!” said Edwin.

  Lastly, Governor Watson-Wentworth stood like a figurehead on a cart of personifates, waving and being cheered by the crowd. A banner was displayed: All for personifates and personifates for all.

  “As the city’s most esteemed invention, the personifates always take the final place,” said Agapantha. “There’s a personifate draw for which personifates are chosen to be on the cart. Everyone’s name goes in and twenty are chosen.”

  “It is amazing, isn’t it?” said Prue. “Those earlier machines were huge and impressive, but personifates are so much more advanced. It really shows how much further the Guild is, how brilliant Master Woolstenbury is…”

  Suddenly, something flew through the air from the crowd – it hit the side of the cart and exploded red.

  The parade wheezed to a stop and everyone began looking around, wondering what was going on.

  “Rights for personifates!” someone shouted.

  “Look down there,” said Prue, pointing to a leopard who raised herself on hind legs and threw a second paint bomb.

  Then across the square a few individuals started chanting, “ASL! ASL!”

  “Oh no, it’s the Anti-Second Lifers,” said Prue.

  In no time, Sovereign Chancellery guards seemed to appear and bundled both the leopard personifate and the Anti-Second Lifers away.

  “It’s quite all right, nothing to worry about,” Governor Watson-Wentworth called to the crowds.

  “What was the leopard upset about?” said Prue, as the music started up again.

  Edwin frowned. “Let’s just say that some personifates aren’t happy with being controlled by the first lifers.”

  “Oh, I’ve not thought about it like that before.”

  “That’s the problem,” said Edwin. “I’m not saying that the personifate was right in what she did, but…”

  “But what?” said Prue.

  “But you’ve got to admit there’s an imbalance. How would you like to know you at best had fifteen years? Wouldn’t you want to choose your path and to do everything you wanted to in that time rather than doing what the Sovereign Chancellery want?”

  “Yes, of course, but even though it’s not ideal, isn’t it best to be given any chance at a second life?” said Prue.

  “Without our memories, without any history, without any sense of who we are, we are putty in their hands, and they can tell us who we are.” He huffed.

  “But are any of us truly free?” said Agapantha.

  Prue shrugged. “True – we all have to live with rules.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you both to understand.” Edwin jumped down from the statue.

  “Edwin, wait!” Prue called.

  “Let him go. We’ll talk more when he’s cooled down,” said Agapantha.

  SPIRIT LIGHTS

  The Inventors Parade had come to an end fairly swiftly after the incident, even though Governor Watson-Wentworth had waved the trouble away and ensured his personifate cart finished the full rotat
ion around the square. The red paint bomb that had hit the side of the cart dripped like a wound down the side and was not so easily brushed away.

  Prue, Edwin and Agapantha didn’t talk any further about what had happened, but the incident continued to play on Prue’s mind into the next week. She’d thought about what Edwin had said, and the leopard personifate had a good point. Even though all the personifates she’d met seemed perfectly happy, it didn’t seem fair. When she eventually found a way to bring Francis back, she wouldn’t want him to be assigned in a post as a messenger or kitchen worker. She wanted him back on the farm with her.

  If she found a way to uncover the personifates’ memories, surely that’s what most of the personifates would want?

  At breakfast on Wednesday, there was a lot of excited chatter around the table.

  “What’s going on?” Prue asked Yan, one of the other apprentices.

  He indicated the mantelpiece where named envelopes were lined up. “See for yourself!”

  There was one with “Frances Haywood” on in scrolled gold handwriting. She ripped it open.

  Dear Frances,

  You are invited to the Imperial Personifate

  Guild of Medlock Annual Sahwen Celebration on 31 October

  Dress code: formal evening wear

  Master Woolstenbury

  Agapantha joined her. “What’s going on?”

  Cora breezed in, almost knocking Yan flying. She fanned herself with her invitation. “It will be so difficult to know what to wear. I only packed seven dresses.” She threw a barbed glance at Prue.

  Prue sat down at the table with Agapantha. “Well, I certainly didn’t bring anything. What about you, Agapantha?”

  “No, I wasn’t thinking of evening wear when I packed for the Guild.”

  Lavender came in from the kitchen bearing a great tray of pancakes dripping with syrup. “Come on, girls, tuck in. Ah, you have your invitations, I see! Master Woolstenbury is confident they’re ahead on the hundred. We were a bit worried it would be cancelled, to be honest.”