Suzanne LaFleur - Threads of Blue

Where was Mother? Father? Didnt they hear us? Why didnt they come? Ill help you, I tried to tell Kammi and Tye. I reached out my hand from under the blankets. No, one wasnt a blanket, it was my coat. That was right, it had been a bombing night. Id slept under my coat. The other was a blanket, but not my own.

It was gray-blue, woolen, heavy, and damp. It smelled fishy, like the sea. The sea, the sea The sea The sea! Gulls cried above us. Not my sisters. The boats motors slowed. Land ahead.

Are you feeling better? the fisherman asked. Had I been sick, then? Better? Rough night. After it got choppy you lay down, clutching your stomach. It was better knowing that Mother wasnt here. Better than having called and called her when I was sick, to have her ignore me and Kammi and Tye, when we needed her. She wouldnt do that.

I feel okay. Thats Eilean? It is. My stomach gave another awful swoop. I had never been to Eilean. I would set foot in a new country for the first time. Alone.

But Megs, my best friend, would be there. She had set out ahead of me. We would find each other. She had said she would be with me, whatever happened. I was the one whod fallen behind, but Id promised to catch up. Megs?Megs? I called for her in my heart, like wed practiced.

It had worked one time in the past, our silent way of reaching for each other. But there was no answer. My fault. I sat up. I felt better looking over the edge of the boatwatching the deep blue water rock and sway made it feel more natural for my body to be doing it, too. What are you meant to do in Eilean? the fisherman asked.

I watched the waves for another moment, gently biting my lip. I dont know. I was just told to get there. I was sorry I couldnt tell him more. He had shuttled me across the water overnight at a moments notice. Could I say that the Tyssia-Erobern Empire was about to occupy Sofarende? I knew that our country was far behind us, but its absence from the horizon made a lump rise in my throat.

As if Sofarende already were no more. I might not be welcome back there anyway, not ever again, if anyone had figured out what Id done. You should stay when we get to Eilean, I said, the most I could hint. Ive got two little ones at home. Theyre probably worried because I didnt come back last night. A boy and a girl, faces pressed against their front window, waiting for their father.

Their mother, even more anxious, pretending she wasnt, hovering nearby. I sat back and drew my knees up to my chest. Im sorry. Its my fault you didnt go home. We should have taken the time to get his family. I hadnt thought. Not at all.

Orders are orders. How did you stay out of the military? I asked. Most men his age had been called up to serve. Twisted leg. My foot turns the wrong way. No good for marching.

But just fine in a boat. My arms are strong, I can cast out my net and pull it back in.How did you get in it? Didnt they have the test in your town? What test? Maybe they hadnt. Or maybe he hadnt paid attention because his own children were too young. The Army Adolescent Aptitude Test. For children who wanted to serve. If youd passed the test, you had to spend the rest of the war in the army.

But theyd taken us from the bombed cities, kept us safe and fed. It was what my parents had hoped for. What are you, twelve years old? Almost thirteen. I tightened my arms around my knees, pulling them to my chest. What is the world coming to? Did anyone know? I raised my eyes to the sky. Still no aerials.

Are there dybnauts out here? On land, I feared attack from the sky; on the sea, should I look into the depths below, for the deep-undersea boats? The public believed that Tyssia had no access to the sea, but at Faetre, the manor house full of war secrets where we whod passed the test had worked, my friend Annevi had told me otherwise. In the night I saw plenty of Sofarender and Eilean ships headed in the same direction as us. All sizes. Whats going on? I bit my lip again. You should pick up your children and come back. I dont have permits to land in Eilean.

Waityou? Calm down. You do. Your yellow transit card is pretty powerful. But if you cant land Youll swim. Swim! II cant! A Sofarender who cant swim? Im from the south, not the coastI They didnt teach you that in your training? I didnt have any kind of training. Unfortunately.

The fisherman shook his head in amused disbelief.