The Garden of Darkness

AS THE DAYS slipped by, Clare’s hand began to heal, the Cured-in-the-blue-dress began sleeping in the barn, and the first frost came. One morning they woke to see feathers of ice on the windowpanes. The greenish tomatoes that they hadn’t yet picked hung limply from the vines. Clare noticed that Bear’s coat had become thick and dense. And all around the house, leaves scudded in whirlwinds of color as the cold wind blew.

Jem talked about the master-of-the-situation, and all of them began to have a sense that their time at Fallon was drawing to a close. Scavenging had become a hard, desperate frustrating task.

There was nothing fun about Fallon anymore.

“You think it’s time to leave,” said Clare one bright cold day as Jem was slicing ham for lunch.

“Yes. It’s time to think about how we’re going to find this Master. If he’s organized, he’ll have food. And we have to get the cure. For you. And then for me.”

“Before I met up with you,” said Clare, “I kept hoping for an adult who would take care of everything. Now I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“Clare, you still have the rash. I have the rash. We’re all marked.”

“I know.”

“You’re already fifteen.”

“I don’t think that’s so old. Even for Pest.”

“Besides. If we can stay with the Master, it might be a good thing.” Jem cut the fat away from the ham slices as he spoke. “I don’t want to settle into one place and eat everything that’s there and then move on to a different place and eat everything’s that’s there and then—”

“I get the gist.”

“The Master may have a place where we do more than just try and survive another day and search for food and go to sleep every night bone-tired.”

“Yeah. But what do we do with all that free safe time?”

“Exist.”

“That’s it?”

“We could play a lot of chess.”

“What about me?”

“You could write a book. Like your father.”

He finished slicing the ham as Mirri and Sarai came into the kitchen. They sat at the counter and ate without taking off their jackets. The house was drafty, and the wind rattled the windows. Bear lay at Clare’s feet and looked up as the ham was doled out.

“Give him a bit,” said Clare. “That dry dog food we found is disgusting.”

“Then you shouldn’t eat it,” said Jem.

“Seriously. He needs meat.”

“Clare,” said Jem very seriously, “we can’t support him if he doesn’t hunt.”

“A little ham?”

Bear had not taken his eyes from Jem. Jem gave a slice of ham to Clare.

“You give it to him,” Jem said. “With you, he’s gentle. The last time I tried to give him a treat, he almost took my hand along with it.”

Clare gave Bear the ham, and he nuzzled it out of her hand.

“That dog loves you,” said Jem.

“I know.”

Clare wondered how the Cured-in-a-blue-dress was coping out in the barn. She knew that Mirri had smuggled the pink sleeping bag out of their bedroom to her. How Jem managed not to notice was beyond Clare—he had noticed right away when she had put an extra comforter on her own bed. He had even said something about it, although she couldn’t remember what.

Mirri and Sarai finished eating the ham using their fingers.

“Let’s go find a house to break into,” Sarai said.

Her suggestion met with instant approval. It had been a slow day, and they were bored.

“Maybe I can find some more Breyer horses,” said Mirri. Mirri scavenged horses and unicorns, ranging from cheap plastic models as small as the tip of her little finger, to bronze sculptures heavy enough to bring down a strong Cured. Sarai collected children’s books, which she would sometimes read aloud to Mirri. They were in the middle of Tuck Everlasting and Mirri was very doubtful about the way the plot was going.

“Eternal life is the right choice,” she told Sarai. “And I plan on living forever no matter what.”

Mirri and Sarai kept their collections by the side of their beds. Clare sometimes kept treats for Bear next to hers, but she had never seen much by Jem’s, except for an earring that at first she thought must have belonged to his mother, but that turned out to be hers. He had found it on the floor.

Today, it was Mirri’s turn to pick the house they were going to pillage. They walked into Fallon, and she chose one near the playground where they had all first met. Sarai heaved a rock through the windowpane.

“Maybe we’re letting them run a little too wild,” said Clare to Jem.

“Could be.”

The Cured-in-the-blue-dress watched all this from the edge of the playground.

“Have you noticed how close she’s getting to us?” said Jem.

“Yes. But Bear seems to think she’s all right.”

The house was empty of food. Bear sniffed around the kitchen and then lay down on the floor.

“I’m going to look at the garden,” said Mirri. “Maybe there’s fresh stuff.”