“Wherein the just shall dwell.”

Nothing’s left for you. The morning mist grows thicker, the steps of frost pummel out their beat louder and louder. Nobody’s coming for you. The ground beneath your feet will abandon you. No blade will escape. Regeneration will cease and the soil will drain life instead. You will be exposed to the frigid wind till even your tears clot. Go back. Go back to the way you were. You made a mark upon the earth, fair enough. However you did not account for such as me who puts their mark upon ideas. When those that tally count your footprints every scratch will be mine. That’s because you ate what you know whereas I devour whenever you are not sure.

Between the clouds and the next hill over a boundary broke. Eight human shapes burst from the purple side of the dusk sky. Abandonment, was it? Fat chance. Cain leant against the stone that faced their approach with his browning oak leaf in hand. The shapes were humans wearing long tunics with hoods attached that covered their entire head. One of them approached Cain as the others branched out around the circle. He flipped his hood back and revealed an elderly man with short curly greying hair. Cain raised his leaf to the man’s eye level to which he smiled and said, “Thank you.” He spoke with an accent that Cain immediately found himself trying to imitate. “Don’t you want to take it?” He didn’t want the oak leaf and flipped his hood back down over his face. Cain tucked it back into his underwear. Dodged.

Eight men, eight sacks, eight stones. Cain took the liberty of spying over one of their shoulders as they went about their task. The sacks were filled with seeds, they placed their seeds in front of the stones on the interior of the circle. One of them offered Cain food. A flat dried savoury biscuit that Cain absorbed into his soul. Something substantial to eat. In turn Cain offered the men his supplies. A few of them nibbled at his bruised berries, but they rejected his soggy seeds in unison, and he didn’t really blame them. The nine stayed the night inside the stones. Cain got something approaching a full night’s sleep, the best kip since his expulsion.

Slightly past dawn Cain was woken up. They ate the same biscuits from yesterday and then got going in the same direction from where the eight of them had arrived. On top of that next hill Cain caught sight of the shore. If only he had known it was so close he would have paid it a visit earlier. His nostrils flared with the unfamiliar smell of salt on the breeze as his ears grooved to the sloshing of the tide. He picked up something, a sun-dried piece of blackened seaweed, off the pebbled beach. It was shaped like his oak leaf but with tiny little bulges, Cain squeezed one of them, shame, only air inside and nothing else. They had three boats with three paddles. Three to a boat, with one paddle to share around to ward off fatigue. Cain didn’t paddle though, they made sure the waters were calm but Cain’s stomach held a different perspective. A few strokes out of the surf and it went off doing somersaults. Cain spent most of the trip hunched over the side saying farewell to his breakfast. The short expedition across the channel seemed like an age to Cain. He was more than appreciative when he got his feet back down on solid, enough, sands.

Cain, slightly hunched, stumbled farther in land. Unbeknownst to him he was followed there by a man, David, “You’re different from what they usually bring ashore.” Cain, in a daze, did not even register David’s voice. He kept on away from the smell of the sea that had fused with the taste of sick in his palate. Cain caught David’s shins out of the corner of his eye. Was he really on him already? “Can we do this somewhere else, pal?” Cain gobbed out phlegm with a vestige of half digested biscuit hitching a ride. David watched Cain continue on until he had to scoot to catch up, “Where are my manners? Welcome to our island. Welcome to our town. I’m here to assist you in your integration. Ask and you will receive.” Cain stood there upright with his hands on his hips, “Are you a town or an island?” David copied Cain’s stance, “We’re both.” Cain was feeling a bit better, “Pick one.” Nope, Cain bent forward with his hands on his knees ready for another bout, “Let me try. Well, this place was an island first, that’s for sure. But then the founders came along and they made it a town. I’m going to pick town. Do you need some help?” David went to support Cain under his left bicep but Cain waved him off and said that he was fine and that it was the boat ride that had messed him up. “Yes, that happens to a lot of people.” Cain went to gob again, but he’d ran out of juice, he crooked his neck up to look at David, “I get it.” David did not understand what he meant, “You need me to get on with some kind of job. Lugging some heavy load or whatever, but, honestly, I feel worse than a man who’s had his stew shat in by a magpie.” David put his arm around Cain’s upper back and bent down with him, “You want a job?” Cain gave David the stink eye, “Right, but before that you’ll need somewhere to rest. Okay, up we go.” Cain was too weak to save his pride as David carried him under his right arm pit. The pair hobbled through the outskirts of the town until David found somewhere for Cain to sit. David took Cain through a gate and then a door. Through to a room with a padded wooden bed and a wooden table. David let Cain know that it was all his, and that he’d be round the next day to give Cain a proper tour. Once David left Cain took the oak leaf out his drawers and placed it on the table. He flopped on to his new bed and crashed into his dreams.

“We have squares here on earth, we keep our circles in the sky.” David had picked Cain up early that day and was in the middle of some screed or th’other. David had apologised for the rain, but it was no bother. “Creating knowable symmetry in this world is so important.” Cain was warming to his surroundings and wondered, to himself, why nobody wanted to stop here. “You can’t let yourself ignore oppositional unknowable arrangements. You can’t have too much of something, however agreeable it might be. What do you think?” Cain locked up, “It’s nice.” What? It was nice. You had gravel, mud, and wood structures, the usual, with the added splash of reeds and colourful engravings to liven things up. “More organised than where I’m from that’s for sure.” The town wasn’t fenced off yet every space managed to end somewhere. Very nice.

The two sat down together, David watched Cain watch other people, “It’s the busiest time of the day right now.” Cain shrugged with his right shoulder, “What they up to?” David scratched the top of his right ear, “Ah, so many things. What about where you’re from? You mentioned it earlier, how does it compare?” A sharp sense of Cain’s own rusticity tickled the bottom of his feet, “You get the job done and then knock it off, no need to keep going.” David produced a short laugh which he quelled with his hand over his mouth, David cleared his throat, “No shame in that.” Apart from the colossal lack of ambition it displayed, “Shall we get going again?” The pair got up and ambled on, “Too easy people forget why they’re even pushing things around.” Cain agreed without saying anything, he thought David was laying it on a bit thick though. David’s clothes were superior, his mannerisms more open, and his town more vibrant, there was no need to soothe Cain’s ego.

Farther down the road Cain stopped in his tracks, David had to twist back on himself to hear Cain ask, “What is that?” Cain pointed to a structure that loomed over the rest of the town like a feathery bear with its claws out, “That’s the Sett. A little place where we badgers enjoy wasting our days away.” In his dreams he could not have imagined such a place, “The founders, remember? I was telling you about them,” David received no response from Cain, “Oh, you probably don’t. Well, the founders, according to legend, dug the Sett out of the hill with their bare hands. Not the worst place to find yourself. Cool when it’s hot, cosy when it’s freezing. You can come with me and get a closer look, if you want?” Cain, with the same surety he’d stepped on to dry land, said, “Yes.” He did want to have a closer look.

“Square as well.” David lauded Cain’s, natural, observation skills. “And you’re right, very cosy.” David had taken Cain back to his crib that was buried inside the only hill present on the island, “See, told you.” David let Cain drop through the opulence of his abode. Cain ushered himself around the four corners of the room until he got to an open stone dresser, “What’s this?” Cain went to reach out a hand and David grabbed Cain’s wrist like a barn owl snatching a common shrew, “Please, don’t touch. Those are quite antique.” Cain was too enraptured by curiosity to be offended. He raised his hand again but this time merely to signal where his attention was aimed, “What’s that one?” David followed where Cain gestured, “Yes, isn’t it exquisite? Personally I’ve always referred to it as the Hedgehog, but its spikes could represent a whole range of interpretations. It’s from a community that, similar to ourselves actually, live on an island too. Over some set of hills,” David flapped his left hand, “Over there somewhere. At least that’s what the guy who sold it said.” Cain, satisfied with David’s description, shuffled his feet to the left and leaned in, “This one?” Cain pointed and David pointed with him, “That one?” Cain said, “Yes.” David leaned in and spoke a little more softly, “Those are my wife’s. Do they not have jewellery where you’re from?” Cain stood back up, “Yeah course, but where do they come from?” David stayed leaning in, “We make them here in town.” Cain said, “Oh.” And then shuffled over to the piece that had already caught his eyes some moments earlier. “Is this yours?” David laughed, “No, no, this is an heirloom from my wife’s family.” It was a hat made out of deer skin that was crowned with a pair of antlers. Cain asked, “Can I try it on?” David told him that he would need to consult his wife about that. Cain took that as a no. David let Cain gaze at the hat for a while, he was in a dreamworld all his own, until David finally shifted Cain’s attention on to his more cherished, and expensive, selection of items. “Now, I want you to play a game with me.” Cain had no problem with games, “Over here we have one very old piece partnered with one that is a little more recent but comes from very far away, even farther than the Hedgehog.” David glanced at Cain to make sure he was paying sufficient attention, “I want you to guess which is which.” Cain shuffled closer to the two objects, closer to where David was standing, “Go on, give it a go.” Cain clasped his fingers with the exception of his index fingers which he placed underneath his bottom lip, “Give me a moment,” Cain took his time and then came out with his reasoning, “A giant bird monster. Ah, yes, and it’s about to eat these people that I presume are the locals? Interesting. And, so, this must relate to the time of heroes.” Cain waited for some approval to come from David, but he got none. Cain transferred his attention to the other object, “A man, that is, until we get to the head. Here we come face to face with some kind of terrible disfigurement. Maybe, I’m just speculating here, perhaps his mother, when bearing him, crossed the path of a, erm, is that a mouse?” Cain took a closer look, “A dog?” David stopped him there. One of the objects was a stone tablet which came from, David explained, “An Dun,” It was a depiction of a, “Guffin.” The other object was from the ancients. It had been a very powerful, magic infused, talisman, though he assured Cain that the magic had worn off quite some time ago, “You got it wrong, but don’t worry, what’s more important is that you engaged with such charming vigour.” What a lovely pat on the head. At this point David’s wife, Mary, entered the room.

Cain, who had been quite at home alone with David, caught a whiff of his intrusion and smiled his way through the guilt. David put his arm around Cain and with the other motioned towards Mary, “This is my favourite, most precious, collectible. Look at her, isn’t she simply divine?” Cain followed David’s instruction. Soft, round face, but with a long, pointed, nose that seemed only to draw out her other features. Red, curly hair framed those same features. Very striking. Mary raised her eyebrows at David, “Charming. What a lovely way to introduce me. Thank you for that dear.” She addressed Cain, “I see, precisely, what he’s been doing with you.” Cain made the mistake of locking on to Mary’s dark eyes and the only thing he could do was let out a confused, “Yeah?” Here we go. He’d fallen, helplessly, in love with yet another woman, “He’s picked you up at the beach, is that right? And then he’s brought you back to our home to try and impress you with his bits and bobs. It’s all he cares about, him. He’s a fiend.” Cain didn’t know what to say, he didn’t look direct at David but he leaned his gaze over towards him. “That reminds me,” David went to Mary and pecked her on the cheek, “He was very interested in one of your bobs,” David gestured towards Mary’s family heirloom. Mary didn’t need to hear any more, she went straight to the hat, plucking it from its perch, and placed it square on Cain’s bonce, “Fits perfectly.” Cain committed an open cheeked blush. He caught a little of Mary’s body scent as well. He tried not to sniff Mary like a dog greeting another, but her proximity excited his glands more than he was prepared to admit. “You like it?” Cain blushed more shades, “I really should be off.” Cain felt the possibility of a stiffy betraying the warmness David had shown him. “Oh, that’s a shame.” Mary put the hat back on its perch. Cain went towards the door, but David said to him, “Wait.”

One of David’s hands grabbed Mary and the other took Cain. He placed both of them by the nearest stone bed and then sat down on it, “Come.” David patted the two spaces beside him and they both followed his invitation. “So,” David had put an extra stress on this word, “You up for giving us a try?” Cain didn’t know what David was asking him to try but he still answered, “Yes.” David lightly squeezed Cain’s right thigh and said, “Excellent.” Cain’s thighs had gotten extra swoll from all the walking to be fair. “Right.” David smacked his own thighs, “Let’s not piss on the wrong bush, I remember you telling me something about wanting a job?” Mary leaned forward and gave Cain a puzzled look, “You’re absolutely positive about that?” Cain didn’t really understand, “Isn’t that what you do in settlements? Isn’t that the point of them?” David corrected him, “We’re a town.” Oh yeah, silly us. David continued, “I can’t really help you, however, my wife might be able to squeeze you in somewhere.” Mary, still leaning forwards, smiled at Cain and then addressed David in a stern tone, “Not me personally, remember we discussed this last night, I don’t hand out positions.” David did not respond, Mary continued speaking in a milder manner to Cain, “We’re going to be having one of our big dinner parties soon, everyone should be there. If you want you can tag along with us, I’m sure nobody will mind, and I’ll have a go at bending someone’s ear for you. How’s that sound?” Cain mainly heard the word dinner. “A feast? Ah, I haven’t eaten anything proper in so long. I was with these women, you see? They didn’t let anyone there eat meat.” David leaned back on to his palms and Mary straightened up her back a bit asking Cain a question with just one word, “Women?” David replied to her, “See, I told you, didn’t I? I told you it’s strange to have a man get off the boat. If anyone turns up it’s usually a handful of women. Not that I have a problem with that. I still see some of them around, they’re sweet.” Mary tutted, “You never brought them home to meet me.” David raised his right arm behind Mary’s head, “He was interested in a job, oh, and you should have seen his face when he saw this place. He has a keen eye, and a furtive imagination.” Mary talked to Cain again, “But, anyway, I’m sorry, but it’s important, you can’t refer to it as a feast. That’s not allowed. It’s a dinner. Not that it bothers me, it’s that there will be people there who are afraid of anything that suggests they have roots.” Cain apologised and explained that it was just because he was used to calling it that. He promised not to call it a feast. Cain had one last question, “What tasks do you want me to get on with in the meantime?” Mary collapsed backwards and laughed her head off. She got back up to lean over David and bop Cain on his nose, “You are so cute.” Cain thought about it but did not have anything smart to say in return, he could, quite easily, have repaid her in kind though. David gave off a loose sigh, “I think that’s it then.” He gave it some thought and then spoke again, “Oh no, one last thing.” David and Mary exchanged glances and Mary continued David’s sentence, “It’s not a big deal. You see, every third day the town has a service for the whole community to get together. You don’t have to go, but you kind of do. Is that something that would be a problem for you at all?” Cain, as he got up on his feet, told Mary that it wouldn’t be a problem. Cain thanked David for everything and David got up and gave Cain a quick hug. Cain thanked Mary and she flapped her hand at him and let him know that it wasn’t a bother. “I’ll leave you two to it then.” Cain walked a few paces and then David reminded him, “I’ll be round for you in a couple of days.” Cain nodded his head and then left.

Cain mulled over things on his way back to his room, he took a few wrong turns so he had some extra time to think. Mary. You know? Was she the one? The woman he was looking for. She was very pretty, there was definitely an attraction on Cain’s part. But he didn’t want to upset David. And he’d be sure if it was her, right? I don’t know, don’t ask me. Maybe. Maybe in the future it’d reveal itself here on the island. The great mystery. Who knows? Hey, maybe David would happily remove himself with no hurt feelings and Cain would live with Mary, hand in beautiful hand, at the Sett. Cain had a dream about the woman that night. He saw her properly for the first time and, although he couldn’t remember what she looked like, he remembered that she didn’t look anything like Mary. Ah, what’s a dream anyway?

David arrived at Cain’s room a few days later. He was wearing a very sleek tunic, finely embroidered and decorated with shiny pebbles and polished shells around the waist. David handed Cain a folded tunic and stepped outside of the room as Cain put it on. They were of a similar quality to David’s, what a welcoming fellow to gift such high quality apparel to a person he barely knew. As Cain disrobed he got a sense of how tattered his old clothes had become. They’d been through a lot together, holes plugged by spare strips of leather and cloth, mud stains that would not let go, he could not get rid of them. He placed them on the table next to his oak leaf. As he put his arms through he saw that they were padded. When he got it all on he looked down at the sleeves, kind of looks like something, you know, like a dog’s knot. When David walked in, Cain saw that he also had the padded sleeves, “It’s not just us wearing these sleeves?” David assured him, “It’s all the rage.” Cain tugged on them for a while trying to get them to feel natural until he gave up and let David have a look. David made him twirl and said that it was lucky both him and Cain were of similar, petite, builds. It did fit well, Cain gave him that, maybe even better than his old clothes. David let Cain know that he would get him a couple more in the future, so that Cain could keep it fresh.

The two sat on Cain’s wooden framed bed for the next reveal. A bag was sat down beside both and David pulled out a handful of reeds which he tucked into Cain’s collar and then his own. Next a bundle of cut and bound straws were produced from the bag, along with a small vessel filled with something viscous but liquid. David handed a brush to Cain. It took Cain a while to hold the brush right, David had to correct him a couple of time before he got the technique down. First David showed him how to do it, he used his brush to slather his face with an oily white pigment. When it was his turn Cain was hesitant but he gave it a go. He directed his whole face to David with his chin out, and, when he was finished, David complimented him on his attempt as he touched up parts that Cain had missed. As the duo waited for the first coat to dry there was talk about how Cain was settling in. He was doing great. Another vessel came out the bag, this time holding a black pigment. Cain was shown what to do again. David applied a splodge to the tip of his nose and worked it with his brush until his whole nose was covered. With his eyes closed he did a similar thing to his eye sockets. No compliments were needed for the second attempt, Cain did such a good job he didn’t even need a touch up from David. The last part was difficult and needed a very special technique. Without a brush David made the motion he wanted Cain to follow. He flicked his wrist from the top of his eyebrow to the highest corner of his forehead. Cain had to do it several times before David was satisfied, he let him do it with a dry brush and then, finally, with a brush that had black pigment on its tip. It was not perfect but it was close enough that Cain could blend it and loosen out the blotches. “There, done.”

A rummage went on through the bag until eventually David found what he was looking for, a comb. David made Cain face away from him and went through the virgin forest that was Cain’s locks. He’d never had hair long enough to comb, since he had grown it out it had been free to come and go as it pleased. Parts of it were not too bad, but then parts of it were quite similar to being kicked in the head by a goat. It took a long time, it left hairs all over everything, but it did get done. Cain stood as David got up too and brushed his tunic down. Both took the reeds out of their collars, David stepped back and told Cain he looked, “Wow.” He could keep the brushes, paint, reeds and comb so long as he kept practising with them. Cain put them on his table. All packed up, they were ready to hit the town.

David gave Cain a pep talk, “Your centre is your backbone.” Cain stiffened up his back, “Your posture begins at your ears,” David pinched his thumb and forefinger together beneath Cain’s ears, “And runs all the way down.” David dragged his thumb and forefinger to the side of Cain’s torso. Cain made sure that he held himself up by his ears, “Excellent.” The pair strutted through the gate of Cain’s lodgings, Cain was taller than a tree.

Two hooded men welcomed people in front of a large wooden building. It wasn’t that busy and, as the pair got next to the entrance, David got talking to one of them. Back came the hood and forward the chat, mainly about the weather, but towards the end David mentioned that it was Cain’s first service. The man clasped his hands together and bowed a little towards Cain, “I dressed him myself. Would you have guessed he got here a few days ago?” The man agreed that Cain fit right in. They both wished him well and went inside together.

A gathering of near empty wooden benches greeted the pair. A narrow gap in the middle gave passage to a position at the front and to the left. David explained that they were a little early, “I wanted to leave us extra time to get everything sorted, you understand?” It was fine. “You were so good though, it didn’t take us half as long as I thought it would.” To this Cain stretched out his back as far as he could. The whole place filled up. Some very important looking people came to occupy the benches around David and Cain, all dolled up with their face paint and, the men, with their puffed up sleeves. Behind the masses took their place, not quite as fancy looking but not covered in muck either. Mary arrived and took a place beside David that he’d saved for her. A sense of relief slobbered its way through Cain as no pigeons in flight accompanied her. It’s alright, it’s fine, not in love with her. Just a normal woman. A normal woman in a normal place sitting down on her exquisitely uninteresting posterior. Mary greeted Cain and Cain returned. Apart from that she didn’t seem interested in him at all, she talked some with David and that was it. Normal.

The hooded men, in a large group, filed down the gap. Their place was at the very front on an elevated stage. Split in two they stood, forming a line, facing the seats. As one of them stepped forward the chattering of the crowd went silent. His hood came back and, hey, it was the guy from before, at the stone circle. He led the town in a moment of silence and reflection. Cain closed his eyes and reflected. Nope, didn’t mean anything. The hood went back on and another of them stepped forward. Cain tried to listen to this next guy, but not much of it sank in. He picked up a smidge, something about pair bonding and how it pertained to the precious production of offspring. Now he thought about it, Cain gave the audience a quick glance, every man did seem to have a woman and every woman a man, apart from Cain and the geezers on stage that is. Another came forward, he wanted everyone to know about the importance of the substances. The light of the sky and its illumination, Cain knew that one. The soil beneath our feet and its regenerative qualities, yep, check. The rock and its stability, got. Water and its formless unity, right on. And how fire made the coldest night spark. He had travelled all this way only to come back round again. Last bloke wished to share how important he thought it was to respect hierarchy. A few of the fancy lads seemed to perk right up with the airing of this idea. Apparently, according to this fella, there was a hierarchy amongst the substances. Cain was lost again and he didn’t hear most of what was said. The mere suggestion of substance hierarchy had got an argument going on in his own head. You shouldn’t apply such an animalistic concept to non-animal beings, it’s not right. Hierarchy is when you tell other things what to do, okay? So how do the substances work that out? Don’t make sense. Cain listened to the last part of the man’s speech, “Hierarchy is observed above us, and thus we observe it amongst us. Illumination leads where mud follows. We are shaped, like clay, by this truth revealed.” Whatever you need to get you through the day, I guess. As long as everyone buys it, it’s a sweet deal.

They finished up with reflection again from the same man. Most of the town left when that was over with, but David got Cain to stay so they could chat with Mary. The three talked about insignificant stuff revolving around Cain’s first few days, “Yeah, nah, I’m doing great.” Till more of the people around them had thinned out. Cain then asked David the deep metaphysical question that had been burning inside of his soul. “What, exactly, is clay?” David grabbed his chin whilst he umm’d and ah’d at Mary. Mary asked Cain, “You do know what pottery is?” Cain scrunched up his brow, “Yes, I know what pottery is.” She explained that clay is used to make pottery, “Oh, I get it now.” He didn’t get it. Cain asked David if he could see some clay, David responded, “Perhaps some other time.” David broke that conversation by clapping his hands into a clasp and said, “Oh.” Mary had some news for Cain, “I booked you in. Told everyone how eager you were to get a position in town and how you wanted to get stuck in.” Such a blessing to be accepted so quickly, such anxiety fuel to be accepted so quickly, “You two will be there though, won’t you?” Mary would be there, David had other things he needed to do that evening. A date or an interview? Either way it was settled, Cain would go with Mary to dinner. They exited together and Cain said his farewells and went back to his room. He did his own face paint for the next two services, not the greatest job, however nobody pulled him up on it so it can’t have been that bad. Nothing crazy happened, the same sort of people talking the same sort of rhetoric with Cain similarly sort of not listening. Mary came up to Cain at the culmination of the second of his solitarily attended services. He would need to pick her up that dusk and wear what he’d been wearing for service. “Maybe give the white on your cheeks another go.” There it was.

Cain arrived at Mary’s dead on what she’d instructed, she wasn’t ready though. Had to stand outside in the chill, no bother, until Mary came outside to show him the tiny little fleck of orange still left in the sky. Mary let him inside as she finished up her face paint and tutted to herself. Mary, between tuts, asked Cain a variety of familiar questions, “What was it like where you come from?” And, “What was life like on your travels?” And, “Why did you decide to stop here?” Cain gave the same answer to each, non-committal mouth noises with smatterings of pleasant sounding possibilities. Mary was the last person Cain needed to know the truth about him.

Mary and Cain walked through the Sett together, a short trip, until they reached a small opening that went down into a large cave that had been restructured to form a dining hall. A large stone table was in the middle of the hall, the bottom half appeared to be found the way it was with the top half being worked into place. Mary drew Cain’s attention to the pottery that lined the interior and lit the hall. Cain noticed the pots for her, but he had seen pottery before. They were ornate, fair enough, and the light they brought to the hall bounced curtly off the divots in the walls. Around the table sat, ten? Cain counted a few of them and then gave up. Let’s say ten or so. Two wooden chairs remained empty, one stone chair also, again, partially worked and partially found, stood at the end of the table. Cain did not dare presume that the stone chair was for him. Mary guided Cain to his wooden chair and took hers to his left. He tucked himself under the table clasping his hands between his thighs as he went. The table chatted as Cain sat silent staring at the table top. Eventually the guy to the right of him, Edward, asked a question towards Cain, “You new?” Initially Cain did not realise he was being spoken to, he gradually elevated his gaze towards Edward until he realised he was, indeed, being addressed. Belatedly the answer came, “Yep.” Edward enquired as to how Cain was settling in, “Nothing really.” Edward repeated himself, “Oh, sorry, didn’t hear you proper. Yeah, everything’s great.” Edward mentioned how he’d seen Cain at the last few services, “That was me, yeah.” Edward wondered what he thought about it, “Was great.” Edward wasn’t satisfied, “What did you really think about it though?” Cain could not really judge something he was a stranger towards, “Sure you can. You can say whatever it is that you want.” Cain gave Edward’s eyes a quick once over, he did not look like he was joking. “We were always told that nature served balance. Hierarchy isn’t balance. So, that whole thing didn’t really do it for me.” Edward agreed with Cain, “But don’t let them hear it.” Edward motioned to the other side of the table. Edward then served inquiry as to the circumstances of Cain’s arrival to the town. And there you had it, the second to last person that needed to know the truth. Their conversation dribbled on till the table fell silent and everyone stood up which Cain copied. A person, even later than Mary and Cain, arrived.

Elizabeth entered the hall, now, Cain, all jokes aside, there’s a woman to crush on. Neat, red mercury, hair that ripples off her scalp and barely dares to cover her ears and neck. An aloof yet luring presence. A face as placid as the moon marching through the night, with a mouth that could howl with the pack and sing with the morning chorus. But you stick to falling in love with Mary, oh, oh no, wait, you’re not in love with her any more, are you? Unlike the other women Elizabeth wore puffy sleeves, perhaps even larger than the men. Cain took another look at Mary’s sleeves next to him, he had misjudged previously, they were actually a little bit puffy but it was very slight, easy to overlook. He was also impressed by the amount of shiny Elizabeth carried around on her dress. Must have weighed a lot.

Elizabeth took her position at the head, on the chair of stone. Everyone sat down as she sat, thus Cain sat too. One of the people opposite thanked Elizabeth for her attendance and clapped for her which everyone followed. Cain clapped as well but he did so with his hands under the table. “Please,” Elizabeth placed her fingers on the table and everyone ceased clapping. Elizabeth stalked the hall with her eyeballs and caught Cain staring off into space, “I don’t know you.” Mary elbowed Cain in his side. Cain jumped to his feet half ready to bolt. Cain gave Elizabeth his name and got out of his mouth, “I’m here looking-” Before Mary pulled him back to his seat. “Very good young man. Keep your eyes peeled.” Elizabeth addressed the table, “It is no secret. We all know about the challenges we face from without us. We have limped towards the future. Towards security. Towards prosperity. Towards expanding our way of life beyond the shores of this island. The world is a dangerous place and at times a wicked place. We justly stand against those who would threaten our liberty and right to trade, against those that would, if they were to gain a foothold, harm us and those we hold most dear.” Elizabeth let the table soak in her words, “However, what good is any of this without the courage to take the tough decisions here at home? There’s the enemy beyond us, but, alike, there is an enemy that we ourselves feed. We must cleanse ourselves of the malignant eaters. Not only do they consume our fruits, they gnaw at our trunk and deform our roots. I am a woman, one woman bonded to this island. I am prepared to stand alone, one woman against the flood. Should you find it in your heart to stand there with me, I promise justice, opportunity, and, above all, sovereignty.” Everyone at the table stood at this point. Only half of them, the half opposite, clapped their hands for Elizabeth’s speech.

The table sat with the exception of Mary, Cain thought about pulling her down like she did to him, however his manners superseded. Mary stood silent until, reluctantly, Elizabeth recognised her with a fanged, “Yes?” The opposite side of the table had a minor fit and when they settled down Mary spoke, “My most splendid cousin,” Ah, no way, Cain thought they looked similar, “I have no personal quarrels with you, and no reason to become your enemy or, for that matter, the enemy of anyone else present. Till my end, and beyond, I will be forever at your side.” Mary paused a bit too long at this moment and she was about to be interrupted but she cut them short, she continued, “The people who founded this place, the people who calmed this island, went by a set of codes and created, for themselves and us, a set of institutions. And you appear not to respect them as fully as you might.” The opposite side of the table went at it again. Shouting until one of them, William, stood and said, “You care only for institutions as they favour you. If it wasn’t you up next I doubt you’d even blink. Might you think less about your position and more about the welfare of this town?” William sat down in a huff with a man next to him lightly slapping him on the back. Mary went on with the patience of a woman that had witnessed this sort of thing many times previous, “Might I remind you? It is not what goes into our mouths that sullies us.” Mary sat back down and everyone kept quiet and faced towards Elizabeth. Elizabeth agreed with Mary on the importance of tradition with a caveat, “The future is tradition.” That was the final note and signalled the end of the shouty part of, what Cain had noticed a lack of, dinner. It was alright though mate, dinner was on its way. Cain would get the chance to tuck in and experience the full range of the island’s cuisine.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Vanishing attendants swept through the hall and supplied each person with a bowl of grub. A first come first grab system was the style Cain had been subject to before, this system worked as well though. A bowl containing a pear, cut in half lengthways, and a decent handful of, what Cain recognised as, hawthorn berries sat in front of him. Cain had eaten his fair share of fruit and so he did not start rashly. This, as it goes, served him well as a man opposite, Francis, said a few words and the table, including Cain, closed their eyes. “Bless the lights of the sky. That which houses, that which furnishes, and that which feeds. Allow us wisdom, and allow us to see the snake before the bite.” After this everyone opened their eyes. Cain delayed his consumption until they had all begun to eat. He picked up some berries with his right hand, because he knew that set of good manners at the very least, and, yeah, they were alright. Didn’t really taste of much if he was honest. He gave the pear a go, nibbled on the most bulbous part of it. Not the freshest pear he’d ever munched. Nah, a bit chalky as it goes. He finished his whole bowl, and said, “Thanks.” To one of the attendants who picked it up. Mary, hushed, scolded him on that one. Alright, okay, he wouldn’t do it again.

To Cain’s relief a second course followed. A handful of boiled tubers with some sort of flower on top. No meat still? Fine, whatever. The flower was dainty with yellow petals. Despite his time picking, Cain could not quite place it. There had been so many flowers that he had been told to fetch, they all merged into one big mess. He picked up the flower, to get a closer look, and Mary informed him it was garnish. The table laughed, with the exception of Elizabeth, and Cain’s cheeks flared up. He put the flower back and grinned with his teeth towards Mary. She was a very charming woman, but this incident was the clincher. David could keep her. Cain finished up his serving of starch and waited for a third course.

It was here. What was here? Meat. Ah, I’m sorry, that’s a shame. Look. Cain looked at it. Thinly sliced portions of flesh that, I hate to say, had been boiled till grey. He took one solemn bite and swallowed it down as if it’d come straight from the sea. Quietly Cain asked Mary, “What animal is this from?” Mary told him it came from a sheep. He did not know what that was. Mary opened it up to the table, “What kind of animal is a sheep like?” The whole table debated till one of them made the noises a sheep made. Cain clicked his fingers, “Oh, you mean a goat?” No, a bunch of people shook their heads, it wasn’t from a goat. “But,” Cain let them know, “That’s the noise a goat makes.” Still they held fast that it wasn’t a goat. Cain went back to his meal, it didn’t matter, the meat would stay grey and revolting whichever animal it was carved out from. Cain, like he did with the other courses, committed himself to finishing. He didn’t want to come across as ungrateful even if every bite made him want to go for a night time boat ride. Halfway chomping he spotted a small vase in the middle of the table. He tried to get Mary’s attention but she was occupied. Cain gave her some time to finish talking but she took too long. He asked his question to Edward instead, “What’s that?” Cain gestured to the vase. It was full of salt and Cain knew which animal that came from. Nobody was dipping into it so he asked Edward a second question, “Can anyone just take some?” Edward said he could, “Go for it.” So Can did. Cain gave himself a good helping, a helping which helped the meal go down a treat. By the time Cain had gone for it Mary had finished and was looking at him. Cain, instinctively, asked the table, “Anyone else want some?” Mary held out her bowl and he sprinkled salt on to it. That was it, the final course. Elizabeth stood up, which everyone mimicked, and exited the hall from where she had entered. Everyone then sat down again. Soon after some of the men opposite left too, they excused themselves but nobody stood for their exit. The vibes softened as they left and Mary got things rolling by formally introducing Cain to Edward. Now they could get down to business.

“I’m going to need you to be more specific for me, lad.” Cain got more specific, “I did,” Cain gave it some thought, “I did some foraging, you know what that is?” Edward did. “Hauling, I guess. Caring for sick people. Animals.” Edward asked Cain to elaborate on the work he did with animals, “Feeding and roping them up, general stuff.” Edward pressed Cain on whether he’d ever manually inseminated any animals, “What do you mean?” Edward took that as a no. “I’m not quite sure I have anything for you. I can ask around though.” Mary intervened at this juncture, “What he means to say, and building on what he’s already said, is that he specialised mainly in resource management.” Mary spoke to Cain, “Isn’t that right?” That’s what Cain meant to say, yep. Edward scratched the inside of his left eyebrow, “Bulk harvest management a passion of his?” Mary gave Cain a firm tap on his shin with her foot, she answered for him, “He is, so, so passionate about bulk harvest management. It’s all he talks about.” Mary stared Edward down for a moment and then he relented. Edward agreed to assign Cain a position on a provisional basis. Can was set. Barren, foreign, and, ever slightly, enigmatic. I’m going to knock it on the head now. Give him a chance to yap. See you, hmm, later? Never? Further down? Something like that is how it’s done.

Back on my feet, maybe even a bit higher up. My first proper taste of social status and it was all thanks to, light, fraud. We start as we mean to keep tripping forward I suppose. Basically, not to put too fine of a point on it, they made me responsible for the dole they had going on. Didn’t matter what it was you did. Make tools? You get grain. Play the drums? Grain. Pant like a dog? Scratch your balls all day? You better believe you’re getting some grain. A basic supply of barley was given to the people of the town and they could do what they wanted with it. I’m not about to tell you it’d work in every circumstance, but it seemed to work for them. They had a lot of food, they could have thrown half of it in the sea and nobody would have noticed. I certainly wouldn’t have.

That was my job. Kind of. To notice, but it wasn’t really that I had to notice, it was mainly about being responsible. Not acting responsible, being responsible. Thing is, although I was treated with respect, I didn’t really do anything. Didn’t guard the grain. Dour men with pointy sticks and stone silos did that. Didn’t count the grain. Slender men, sometimes women, with rigid memories checked the comings and the goings, and reported that to me. Didn’t even physically hand over the grain. Women, some men, with grey hair and jiggling biceps did that job. The amount of time I spent on tasks, so meeting with people and validating reports, was miniscule. That meant I had time on my hands. Time to sit and think, mostly about how worthless I was. Any moment someone more senior was going to see how little work I actually did. They’d walk through the door, take me by my collar, and explain to the world how pitiful I was. My only hope was that everyone above me was just as useless. Great. What other defence would I have? I was not needed. Next stop otherwise? The red wilds and loneliness.

Got better with time. Almost got settled mid way honestly. Anxiety lingered, not much to do about that, but it did eventually make its way into the background. You’ll get into weird situations like this, and, initially, you’ll want to fight it, but you will inevitably stop struggling once you exhaust yourself. It will roll over you, seep into your skin, and drown your mind. But once that’s done, what else can it do? Not much. What made things worse was the diet they had me on. Truly dreadful. Same thing, nothing else, day in and day out. Allergic to freshness, just a constant rehashing of some gruel or an unleavened cake. Made me nostalgic for the food the women fed me, not that I wanted to go back. No, no going back.

Went to some more dinners, that helped break up the monotony. Yeah, it wasn’t the grand hall kind of dinner, no, it was pure luck that I stumbled into that one. More tight knit, and they took place at smaller venues around the Sett. Some got busy, if there were more than four we’d play dice games after we ate. Pretty stones and shells up for grabs. Got loaned a few by David to get me going, don’t want to brag but I paid him back pretty quick. Managed to make a tidy little profit too. I was a natural, must have been all that solo practice as a kid. It wasn’t about winning though. It was about, erm, I’m not sure, but it wasn’t about collecting the most stuff. Occasionally people would cancel and it would be just me and David. We’d go for walks together when that happened. Walk around the island, down to the shoreline, to stretch our legs and that. We’d watch the sunset together up on the cliffs. I don’t know where the Sun goes when it dips down below the horizon but it’s a sight to watch it go there.

Had my own room, not the grandest residence, comfortable would be the term. My room was part of a larger, square, wooden complex with a big hole in the middle that was open to the elements, and a place where people would sit and mingle. A widowed man managed the place, he might have had help but I never saw them about. He’d lock the complex up at night but if you let him know you’d be late then he’d wait up and let you back in. He was alright, never had a problem with him. Probably liked me around, I mean he told me as much, to him I was respectable, “All up with them lot.” He’d say. And who could blame him? Who wouldn’t be given job satisfaction serving such a well connected individual? I don’t know. Met other residents there as well. They were mostly men and they mainly were people who travelled the local area selling their wares. Those people lodged there to wait out the cold, they had their contacts in the town, but they didn’t get involved in any of the internal strife. Like me they had nothing much to do, and we’d get to know each other in the open space. One of them was different, a story teller. Don’t remember him telling me any stories but that’s what he said he did to me. I took his word for it because of his voice, it was the kind of voice a story teller should have. Real calming, and deep too. He had a thorough knowledge of the local area the other side of the channel. He would tell me the best places for food, we agreed it wasn’t in town and bonded over that. He’d tell me the most welcoming places, I thought the town was pretty welcoming, he didn’t say much on that front. And, of course, he gave me a decent run down on his romantic, we’ll call it romantic, exploits. He could get quite graphic on that one. We’ll call the bloke Hunter. I liked him, he’s the kind of guy that really enjoyed getting out there and then, you know, inside as well. But he never messed around with the women in town. Said they weren’t to his taste. That could have been the truth, but could have been that he didn’t want to make trouble in his snug little hidey-hole. Can’t blame him for that. Oh, speaking of women.

I had a romance of my own. Did. A real, actual, woman. A woman from the town. We shared moments, and we got engaged. That seemed to mean something to everyone around, there was this ceremony where we held hands and kissed in front of happy onlookers. Didn’t mean much to me though. Bit tedious isn’t it? Bit horrifically mundane. Her charms were a bit stale, her beauty was a bit mucky, but she made me happy for a stint. She was seeing other people, even after we got engaged, she didn’t really see much in the whole monogamy thing either. She wasn’t supposed to, no, but I didn’t mind. I was used to that sort of open relationship. Wide orbits, flames that danced in the night and smouldered with the morning. We buzzed above the hum for a good part of a moon, but we never got it together. Marriage that is. It wasn’t beyond either of us, I reckon I could have put my foot down and demanded from her some sort of faithfulness and she might have settled on it for at least a time. That didn’t happen. When the passion dulled we drifted apart. And before I could get some passion bouncing again other happenings took precedence. Always seems that way, don’t it? I was just circling the nipple of aligned appetite. But it’s not allowed, hey, I am talking to you. Yeah, not allowed, is it?

Through the skin’s where you get your flesh. Down in the pits is where you settle, little man. Decay marches on your real and on your pretend, another comes to take your place in its regurgitation and you completely disappear. Spring is reality breaking from you. It’s the flicker of dark totality mogged by yet another finite gasp of the milk Mother can barely spare. Grace born from madness. Joy at the rolling of your dice. Good throw? Good news? From poverty saved? Data, the same data no person keeps level with their neck, has no judgement. It has not even the slightest semblance of patience for what, small portion, your existence deserves.

Cain’s responsibilities had switched over time from being about stocks to being more about sowing. Cain had to sit and listen to a lot of people report to him about various fields being seeded and their expected yields. He still hadn’t visited one of these fields and that was probably for the best. Loose mentions of an offering coming up made their way into Cain’s ears, yet he’d seen them perform offerings and he didn’t really pay it much heed, so long as he didn’t have to personally make any boat rides again that is. Nothing short of flame engulfing the entire island would have got him into one of those things, even then they’d have to knock him out with a paddle. Just the idea of that wobbling motion made his stomach wobble in turn.

“Chose someone for the rebirth, in’t they?” Cain had asked the people surrounding him what was going on. He asked what a rebirth was and he was met with a snort and nothing else. An elderly man behind him continued the conversation, but didn’t answer his question, “Chosen someone special.” The elderly man spoke to a likewise elderly woman beside him, presumably his wife, “Someone very special.” She didn’t hear him, “Eh?” He said, “Never mind.” His wife still couldn’t hear him, the man ignored her and spoke to Cain again, “Just watch, you’ll see.” The town clapped as, out in the open air, a hooded man motioned to his side before them. Cain could barely make her out, but yes, that was Mary who came out on to the stage flanked by two other hooded men. From the little he could see she didn’t look overly enthused to have been chosen. She didn’t even make a speech before they rushed her off. Must have been one of those things that’s a time sink and a pain to do, however when you’ve been chosen for it you have to get on and do it. Like being the server back at the settlement. The town clapped Mary’s exit, with some of them hollering. A hooded man spoke but Cain couldn’t hear him. His mind drifted on to how he’d preoccupy himself at work that day. Staring out the door at people walking by? Might do that. Chatting to an underling about their ramshackle life? An option, if he’s desperate. Sitting and watching the wall? Oh, perhaps a spider will scuttle by? Cain left before everyone was finished. He pushed his way through the town, back to where he was most, desperately, needed.

Toward the latter part of that day Edward, an unusual guest, came to where Cain took temporary residency. The pair greeted one another and Edward asked Cain, “You must know why I’m here?” Cain took a reading of Edward’s facial expression, it sure didn’t appear as if Cain would be getting an invitation to a celebratory dinner. Cain checked his response, “I’m not sure I know.” Edward came out with another question, “You’ve heard the news?” Oh yeah, of course, “She got chosen to do the offering for that rebirth thing.” Edward tugged on the side of his grey beard, “No, my lad, she is not performing the offering.” Cain gave Edward another scan, he seemed glum, “Why’d they hitch her up on stage then?” Edward let Cain know the terrible news, Mary was the offering herself. The ground let go of everything except Cain’s guts. “What did she even do?” Edward sighed and studied the ceiling until he gathered enough strength to speak to Cain again, “Right now, my lad, we need every single person we can get to fight with us on this.” Cain didn’t need to be persuaded, “Whatever you need.” Edward apologised for disturbing Cain where he lived and wished him pleasant dreams before leaving.

The next few days were spent attempting to find distraction to cushion the blow. Cain went so far as to contemplate visiting one of those fields he had heard so much about, but the rain never really broke long enough and he didn’t fancy getting his clothes muddy. Perhaps they’d forgotten him, perhaps he should go to the Sett himself, he’d never gone there on his ownsome. However he wasn’t quite brave enough for knocking on random doors, yet. Thankfully, on the third day, Edward came to Cain’s work and excused him from his responsibilities. Edward took him to Mary and David’s house where David sat alone, “Whole thing pongs like dead crab.” David stood up, but kept his gaze low, “They’re hiding behind procedure. Talking up a game of chance. Just so happens that they chose her according to them.” David cracked his eyes to Cain’s, “I feel like they ripped out my heart.” Edward responded to David past Cain’s blank expression, “Didn’t want to believe it was true at first, but the way they have, in unison, turned their backs on us.” Edward spoke to Cain, “They have had this planned for a long time. The treachery, it’s beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed.” Cain asked where Mary was, David answered, “Don’t worry, she’s safe for now.” David addressed Cain’s toes, “I understand, you’re relatively new here, nobody would blame you if you wanted to keep to yourself over this. We’re asking you to stick your neck out with us. We need to know if you will risk it and join us?” Cain said to David, “I don’t want to keep to myself.” David held him by both wrists, “Thank you.” David sat back down and Edward took Cain by the shoulders and they left the house together. They walked back to where Cain worked, making small talk along the way. “Everything going good?” Everything was going good. “Good.”

He was in the middle of a group that had squeezed into the tight alleys of the Sett. A wide selection of the town had gathered there, David, Edward, and other fancy dressers that Cain had met at various dinners, combined with people in sheep leathers with cropped hair. He remembered that cropped hair life. The privilege of anonymity. Work that did something with sparse responsibility. The dalliance of fancy held a tedium that spat out tendrils of stress. Long hair needs to be combed after all. Saying that though it was the fancy people that were invited down into the cave hall. The workers had to wait outside.

The group, the fancy lads, stood around the space that the table had left for them. Francis and William came out to meet them. Cain’s position didn’t give him a great vantage to parse what they spoke about, but it sounded like they were rattling off metrics on mutton production to the group. They kept going till someone from the group shouted at them about wanting an audience with Elizabeth. Someone else followed that up with the same complaint regarding Elizabeth’s whereabouts and then the whole group started shouting and grumbling things Cain couldn’t pick out. Francis waited for the group to settle, then he replied to their sentiments, “Unfortunately the sovereign is not party to any of your concerns.” The group went off again with a few pointed fingers aimed at William and Francis this time round. Cain waited for an opportune moment to shout out his own concern, “What crime did she commit against you?” He caught the eye of Francis but nothing beyond that, “As for the rebirth,” Francis raised his voice above the din, “Everyone is being well cared for and things are going as planned according to our shared values and beliefs.” Francis, with William, exited from where they had entered and the group ceased their wailing. Edward and David took their place in front of the group. Edward said something Cain couldn’t hear and then motioned to David. David picked someone out of the crowd, George, who came up front and whose voice carried much better than Edward’s, “What good’s their tales of magical inspiration when it isn’t grounded? At what point will their speculation be satisfied?” A refreshing gust entered the room as he continued to speak, “They tell us of shared values, their values are a poison. They tell us of shared beliefs, they believe in one thing, violence. Violence, however, is not just some aphrodisiac for the manically powerful and corrupt. Violence is also the sword that pierces the monster’s skull.” Several of the group left the hall at this statement, taking with them some of the zest. “To clarify, I don’t speak of their violence, the spark that smothers. I speak of the persistent violence that the tide swings. What? What good is there otherwise?” Edward spoke once again and Cain, once again, could not pick out what he was saying.

Cain was limping through one of his shifts when a couple of armed guards entered where he worked. They required him to come with them, Cain did as he was ordered. They took him to a place in the Sett where he’d never been before. Another hall, this one without a table, that was lined with wooden seats and coronated with a big one at the rear. In the middle members of the group stood. The armed guards watched Cain stand with them and, when satisfied with his position, they left. Cain picked David out of the bodies, but before he could ask him what was up Elizabeth, Francis, William, and a hooded man, Richard, entered. The group knelt for their sovereign. They stayed in that position as Elizabeth spoke, “We are tolerant of many things. We love all that would love us, cherish those that give to us good word. Perhaps, on occasion, we have not spoken clearly as to our intentions, and what we intend has been mixed up with innuendo and loose manners.” Elizabeth looked a little ways towards William and Francis, “But we only ever wanted this community to be strong, to be capable of defending itself and fulfilling its own rational ends. And what am I greeted with this morning? Tales of insurrection. Disruption. Insubordination. Let the light of the sky judge my tears, let it note what is my fault and what is thine.” Richard spat out a line, “You’re a singular digit where we are forty-nine.” Elizabeth brushed past Richard’s outburst and let the group stand to their feet if they agreed with what she had said. The group stood up. She asked the group, “What has brought us to this splinter? What is it that’s on your mind?” Nobody answered. “Speak up before I take you for dullards.” David spoke up. He spoke about the bond that he shared with his wife. “This saddens me more than you can imagine. My cousin is a very dear person to me, and I hope she is with us for as long as it takes. However the decision is out of my control. These things are sought by a higher power.” David made himself heard again, he never wanted things to get this out of hand. He only wanted an audience with Elizabeth to discuss seeing his wife one last time. Richard whispered into Elizabeth’s ear. Elizabeth made David swear allegiance to her, his sovereign, and to reaffirm his commitment to the town’s safety. David complied. “It goes against the normal way this plays out. It goes against reason and it goes against the lack of trust we have been shown. But we find only compassion and love within your plea. And if I were to die a compassionate woman, and nothing else, I would not have lived a vain life.” Elizabeth, Francis, William, and Richard conferred together at a hush while Cain felt an instinctual need to scream which he did not obey. Elizabeth spoke to David, “We suppose that the bond between partners outranks procedure on this one occasion. You are granted your plea.” Elizabeth addressed the group as a whole, “Have any of you got anything else to complain about? Better to say it now, to my face, than be caught saying it otherwise.” Not a soul made a peep. Elizabeth exited leaving William, Francis, and Richard with the group.

Richard drew back the hood that had coppered his face. This act revealed a rubbery and oily countenance crowned by sharp stubs of black hair. He spoke, “Assemblies of more than four persons must be authorised by the sovereign.” The group grumbled, threatening to elevate to a squall, “Be still, your tongues.” Richard squeezed his fists like talons, “Or you’ll excite my frenzy.” Richard tested the group, holding steady to see if anyone wanted some. “These things are as undeniable as existence. The light of the sky reigns above all other substances. Any suggestion otherwise will result in expulsion. The rebirth will go as planned. Any attempt to scupper our rite will be met with equal force. Is this clear?” Nobody from the group answered, “Good.” Richard’s hood re-enveloped his visage so fiercely that Cain could have sworn a jut of its air fell on to his skin. Richard left the hall. William stayed as Francis went to the door and got his guards. Under their supervision the group left one at a time with a gap between each exit. None of them said a word. A both-sides compromise had been reached.

Cain was strolling to his workplace. That morning was a chilly one apart from the brief spells when the Sun shone past the clouds. On his trip he met David walking in the opposite direction. When David saw Cain he aligned his path to Cain’s and changed direction. “How’s everything?” Everything was good. “Sleeping okay?” Cain was sleeping like a newborn kid. “Yeah?” Cain reaffirmed his original answer. “Cause I haven’t been sleeping right since-” Both made a few more steps before Cain asked if David had seen Mary, “Oh, oh yeah. No. No I haven’t.” In his least accusatory tone Cain asked why he hadn’t seen her, “It’s funny. Because I was making my way over there. To see her. But, again, every time I walk that way I just can’t stop crying. You know?” Cain did not answer David’s question. “I thought, maybe, walking around somewhere else would help, and so-” David raised his index finger and flopped it forward, “Hey, here’s a crazy idea, would you help me out?” Cain was ready to help in any way he could. “Would you come with me to meet her?” Cain gave it some thinking time, trying desperately to come up with a reason not to go with him. He drew a blank. “You want me to do that?” David nodded and made a little murmur sound, “You sure?” David told Cain he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to, “Nah, of course I want to.” The two of them walked in silence up the hill and into the Sett.

A stern woman, Bess, let David and Cain into her house where Mary had been secured. Mary and David embraced, Mary upright with David flopping over her. Husband and wife chatted away about things Cain did not have the patience to record. His only concern revolved around how awkward this whole thing was until, that is, he was struck by a very simple idea. Cain took David aside for a slice, out of earshot of the women, and told him to convince Bess that the three of them should go for an outing somewhere. Bess agreed, of course, on the sole condition that Cain stayed there with her. David, not knowing Cain’s plan, capitulated to her demand. Cain piped up at this moment, “No.” Cain tried to get Mary’s attention by rubbing his nose, “No, because I wanted to show Mary something important.” Bess squinted her eyes at Cain, “I don’t give a rat’s knob, pick two of you to leave. As long as one of you stays we’re good.” David played the drums on his knuckles and then let Bess know that was what he had meant all along. So Mary and Cain left together, leaving David as insurance.

“What is it that was so important you wanted to show me?” Cain was walking slightly in front of Mary down the hill, he looked backwards and replied, “You’re coming with me back to where I bunk.” Mary laughed, “Do you want to give me one?” Cain tried to muster up a complimentary laugh, “No, that’s not it. I promise.” Cain looked forward, “I’ve got a plan.” Mary went with it, she was just thankful to get some fresh air after being stuck indoors.

He let Mary step through the gate first. Sitting right there, in the communal space, was the exact person he needed. He sat Mary down by some steps whilst he approached Hunter, “How you doing?” Cain didn’t have time to answer. “Look over there,” He pointed to Mary, who was busy studying the architecture. “What am I looking at?” Cain pointed more forcefully, “I need to borrow your boat.” Hunter had been sitting, facing away from Cain, but he swivelled towards him at this request, “You can’t.” Cain enquired, “Why not?” Hunter held his pose, “I need it, don’t I? Look around you, the season of love is almost upon us.” Cain gave it some thought. “What if you ferry someone across for me?” Hunter gave Mary a glance, “Do that and I kiss my knackers fare well.” Cain let Hunter know that if they got caught that would make the two of them. Hunter squeezed his bottom lip in between his thumb and forefinger, “Okay.” Hunter got up off his seat, lifting himself up with his palms on his thighs. “Okay, I’ve got a good thing going here, why should I risk it?” Cain told him about the old heroes, “Yeah?” Cain told him about their exploits and how inspiring they were, “Wake up. That’s just some bollocks people like me make up.” Cain told Hunter that he was going to take his boat whether he agreed to it or not. “That’s more like it.”

The three travelled to the shore. Mary interviewed Hunter the whole way there, drawing from him information that Cain had not even caught a glimpse of. Cain watched them both jaunt through this world without a care, as he stepped unevenly by their side with every care trying to catch his feet. When they arrived at the boat Hunter broke off to ready up for the voyage. Mary quizzed Cain on what he had planned, “What’s it look like?” It looked like Cain was trying to smuggle her off the island, “There you go then.” She told him, flat out, that she wasn’t going. Cain grabbed her by the wrist and tried to pull her towards the boat. “What do you think you’re doing?” Mary slipped her wrist from Cain’s grasp, “I will not be getting on that boat.” Cain twisted on his feet, facing away from her, and let out a scream that he’d been saving up from before. This made Hunter stop what he was doing and look up, Mary spoke to Hunter, “I’m afraid you have been given the wrong impression.” Hunter brushed his hands together and stepped closer to Mary, “My last breath will take place right here on this island.” Cain wasn’t listening, he was fuming at the sky, only Hunter heard, “The world is too wide to notice my absence, this town too small as to not. My blood will turn to water, better for me. My death will birth shadows, their troubles. Not a drop will cede to compromise. There’s not a place I’d rather be, not a beam of light I’d rather feel, than here at home.” Cain chose this moment to rejoin the conversation, he raised his arms above his head, “Am I the only one that doesn’t want you to get murdered?” Mary walked away from the shore with Cain following, “Are you going to try and drag me again?” Cain didn’t reply, he just kept skulking slightly behind. When they got back to Bess’ house David asked them what Cain needed to show Mary, Mary answered, “He wanted to show me something he cares deeply about.” David asked Cain what that was, “Ah, the fields. Green shoots sprouting anew. Would take a fool to let them be cut before they’re ready.”

When it came around Cain went to it. Anywhere he went inside the walls closed in on him, and anywhere outside on the island he could hear it happening anyway. Maybe something would save her, maybe it’d work out. He stood on his own not seeing anyone he knew there and not really wanting to. There was a tall man in front of him. Cain had to bob one way or the other according to his movements, and he loved to move about. He’d be clapping and shouting the whole way through. Short brown hair to the side and back with a bald top that lurched back towards his nape. Big ears, and every time he turned his face to the woman next to him he had a large grin on his face. What a bastard. She looked half the size with black wavy hair that jumped off the top of her head and then fluttered back down to her shoulders. Cain would have had a better time behind her, but someone had taken that spot already. The guy behind her was a wiry little runt who would simply not stop shouting right next to, and into, Cain’s earhole. He was having fun too. Sans death it might have been fun for Cain as well. Music playing on the temporary stage, dancers arching their legs in a circle to the rhythm. Pretty. To the left of the stage, Cain’s left not stage left, there was a nice old tree. Reminded Cain of the old tree back at the settlement. Big and bushy on top with a load of grooves and bumps snaking through its deep brown trunk. Not many trees on the island all’s told, at least the parts Cain went, and it was unlikely any got as old as this one had got. They must have supplied their wood off island. You go across the channel and inland a tad and there are masses of it. Masses of the stuff. Bet they still don’t go out and get it themselves, probably import it. They build a lot of their buildings from stone, but still, for your average punter, they’re mostly living in wooden buildings. Stone’s a better material, but it’s going to be more difficult to import if you’re short. Less maintenance for stone, less things that can go wrong, oh, and fire resistant. Not that wood is a bad material. Does its job. Open grassy fields, they were rare here too, and that’s where it was taking place. Definitely couldn’t import those. What did they say about open grassy fields back at the settlement? Can’t recall. Probably nothing due to having so many of them. Here, though, it’s strange to see open fields of grass. There she is.

When the reality of Mary, her hands tied in front of her with two men dragging her under each armpit, came to Cain’s view he made for an exit. On all sides a dense layer of people surrounded him. He had to push his way through and even then he barely made a few paces before they all started craning their necks, their attention thoroughly lapsed in the direction of the person desperately trying to remove himself from their spectacle. Cain stopped struggling. He looked up towards the stage. She was laid down on her back in the middle. A man with a bull-horn hat entered to the right holding aloft a stone knife, he caused the people blocking Cain to get even more agitated as they bounced up and down and clapped to his arrival. Cain’s eyes locked on to the news as his heart attempted to claw its way out through his throat. Throat, yeah, that’s the part the bull man went for with his knife. Cut away and collected Mary’s blood in a cup. When his cup spilt over he handed it to one of the hooded men up there on stage with him. They took it to the old tree and dumped it in a circle around the base. Wasn’t the tree’s fault. The town settled down. Cain found a path out of there. He took it.

Cain walked, no direction, anywhere would do. Down roads he’d never been before, new paths, and houses he’d never step inside. He made his way to the shoreline, he didn’t look out to sea and kept his head hung low. Up and round he travelled to a part of the island behind the Sett where he’d sauntered with David previously. High above the sea with the waves crashing on the rocks below. Cain witnessed David, cross-legged, and sat beside him. “We met here.” Cain let David know how sorry he was, “She was the warmest person I ever met. But,” David fiddled with his knee, “She was so fucking stubborn.” David cry laughed in Cain’s direction but not at him. Through tears he told Cain the specifics of the time he’d met Mary ending it by saying, “I’d never felt more comfortable around another human being.” Cain made sure that David knew how obviously the pair were in love, “Love?” David blew out a sharp breath, “We were fused at our roots.” David uncrossed his legs, hitched his knees up to his chest, and buried his head. He pulled his head out, “Didn’t even bother her.” Cain asked what he meant, “Didn’t even bother her, my weakness.” Cain asked him what he meant by weakness. David didn’t reply, instead he gazed into Cain’s eyes, moved towards him and then kissed him full on the lips. David stood up and stretched his bones to the Sun. He took a few paces towards the cliff edge and then off the side. No scream, nothing, just a loud thud and the waves again. Again, the waves. Cain did not check down, he had seen enough dead bodies. He ran off and informed the first person he found that someone had fallen off the edge. Horrible accident, smushed and that. Cain rubbed his face with his own sweat. Down the hill. Ready. Ready to bounce.