Clockwork Girl

Chapter Four: Red Mountain

First and foremost, my memories were not wiped. That gave me a little comfort to hear from Ruse as the terrain became more smooth. The only downside to this was the light was quickly fading and whatever horses he had guiding the carriage would need to rest soon. He told me, not long before we came to that stop, that my mother had agreed to remove my memory in order to keep it safe. Whatever I had been sent to do, I had failed to actually do it. Of course, who could blame me? I couldn't even remember the mission or reason why I was thousands of miles away from a home that took no space in my immediate recall.

The waking up, chained? Also mother's idea. She'd had a chronomacer leave me in a predetermined steel cage in the middle of the Woodsvale forest. They'd arranged the pick up, too. The men in the carriage hadn't just been friendly lads, they'd been paid to wait for me and drop me off near the fork. There were supposed to be, on the other side of the fork to Woodsvale, another set of handlers, but for some reason, they never showed and I was delayed.

In hindsight, maybe there should have been a note, something small

"Stay inside the carriage while I set a fire," Ruse instructed, closing the door behind him when the horses finally did make their stop.

More trees surrounded us, but the path was much more grooved, worn. Where we were going was something he'd either failed to mention or had reason to keep me in the dark about. Either way, I watched from the window as he sparked a small fire like a match with his thumb and set a meager pile of wooden branches aflame. He unhooked the horses, sat out little squares that grew into barrels with some words I couldn't hear him say. The horses looked quite happy. Water and food, no doubt.

From the front, he pulled a wide truck from the stack of luggage and flipped it open with a silent grin. He pulled a scroll from it, along with a long purple dress and shoes to match. Next came a small bag that held a lovely red rose print against parchment colored canvas. He pulled the carriage door open and laid the dress, shoes, and bag into the seat next to me.

"You must dress more of your station. You can change into these in the morning before we start off again. We are due to meet the boat at noon, so it will be an early departure."

"Boat? What boat?"

"Not truly a boat," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's more a ship. We are to travel from Port Deleux to Red Mountain before we sail to Easter. It will be quite the layover."

"What happened to my memory? Where is it? It's likely very important that we get that back as soon as we can."

"No can do without your mother," he tisked. "She is the only person that knows where it is, so without her, you're kind of useless."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"Sure, you can doubt it, but it's theorized that without your memory, you also have no ability. Shall I test it and see?"

I shrugged. If I did have an ability, what was it? How would I even know how to use it?

Maybe he was right. Maybe I was completely useless without memories to help guide me.

"How many gold coins do you have," he asked, drawing his voice out as if he were talking to a baby.

"Two," I answered. "Not that it's good for much here."

To this, he clapped his hands in sheer and complete delight. I have no idea why.

"It works! It works! You spoke Old Elven."

"Did I? I had no idea. I didn't hear you say anything in Old Elven or another language."

"But, I did!" Ruse pulled me from the carriage and embraced me. "Poor kid, you don't hear it, though, do you? You can't discern when someone is speaking another language, you just respond. How impossibly delightful...and a bit cruel."

Maybe this is a joke. But I think back to Anchelo, how his speech pattern was a bit different than when I talked to the cat people, and how their inflections were different to the elves. Had they been speaking different languages to me? If Ruse is right, it's certainly likely.

Ruse used a summon scroll to manifest two chairs, one of which he plopped down on right away. He tapped the seat of the other. I sat with him as he handed me a flask.

"Oh, Aisha. Your mother will be so happy to see you and I will get my reward and then I will be happy, too."

"What's your reward?" I couldn't help but be curious.

"Personhood! I will be recognized as a free and sentient person in Easter should I bring you home unharmed," he smiled. "Then you can come visit me. I hope to get a cat."

"A cat? Why a cat?"

"It just seems the thing to do, don't you think? Once you are free and settled, you should take a pet. It will have a glorious collar and dish, all the toys and catnip it could possibly desire."

"I suppose that would be nice," I try to agree though, really, I have seen cats and cat people in the high tree tops. I don't know you could possibly keep one as a pet and expect it to be loyal to you on purpose.

"What about you, Aisha? When you are back home, will you have a pet?"

"No, I don't think so. If I didn't have one before, and if my mother is who you say she is, I don't think she would allow me pets."

"Oh, likely not," Ruse pouted. "That's a shame. Still, you will be home and free and safe. That is something to be grateful for. Rest up, little Aisha. We will be up before dawn to reach the boat...ship! The ship. Don't know why I keep calling it a boat. It's hardly a dinghy."

He laughed and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Sleep," he grinned as a blue haze washed over me, pulling me underneath and into the land of dreams.

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While Ruse unsummoned things from around the carriage and hooked the horses to their bits, I changed into the clothes and shoes he'd given me the night before. I found a barrette in the rose printed bag along with a bottle of lavender perfume oil and a comb. It was nice to wear clothes that didn't once belong to someone else or feel cheaply made.

The drive into Deleux was quiet, as was the walk onto the ship. Lots of passengers, but we had our own quarters with two beds. He let me have the one next to the port window. The crew let us know it would take six days to reach the port at Red Mountain. But, to be fair, it went by quickly. We played all manners of games and he practiced his language skills on me. I may not be able to tell what exactly which he was speaking, but if a word were out of place, I could question it and he would correct the grammar or verbiage.

We made it to the Red Mountain port without must of a struggle.

However, getting from there to Easter..well...that's a different story.