Eadlyn Selects

Never

Hale jerks his thumb at the field to our right.

"Grueling work, but it's got to be done," he says. "Here's the situation. I have to go to a meeting, just a stone's throw away. Jayel is gonna keep an eye on you for me. She and I go way back. If she gets word to me that you're being a baby, I'll give her permission to treat you like every other worker." He gives me a hard look. "That means: don't try to run, don't complain, and get the work done. It'll be a first for you."

I open my mouth but there is so much to say I have no words. A traffic jam of fear and rage and confusion leaves me gaping.

"That's right, princess. By the end of one day doing actual work, you'll be wishing I had put you down."

Put me down? Like a dog? As in killed me?

I scrutinize the field. I can't tell what is growing, but I think it's just dead stalks of maybe corn. Women are scattered about the rows throwing something down on the ground. They all carry large bags on their backs as they scuffle forward inch by inch.

"I don't know how to do that," I say, flapping my hands at the hunched women in the field. I spin in a slow circle and see fields just like it all around us. Only this one has workers in it. All of them are peppered with rotten crops.

"I'll be of no use," I finally say to Hale, who is tightening a bolt on the cart's wheel. He straightens and peers down his nose at me.

"Truer words you've never spoken," he smirks and then actually tweaks my nose. I'm too slow to smack his hand and by the time I realize what he's done, he has stepped back a foot and put his hands on his hips.

"Be good, Eadlyn. Jayel is a serious person and she doesn't like people wasting time."

He turns to go and I panic. "Let me talk to your boss," I plead. "The rebellion has to have a leader, right? I can negotiate for my release. Set some terms. Please, Hale. I will be of more use speaking directly to the person at the top. Take me to him."

Hale scoffs and looks up at the sky, where the orange gold glow of the sun is slowly blooming into full morning. It's going to be hot.

"Stop. Giving. Orders." He bites out.

I try a different tact. "Maybe I can help in your meeting." I mime writing notes. "I can record the minutes," I suggest, trying to look helpful.

"Nice try," he says, and is about to add something when he glances over my shoulder. His face loses all expression.

A woman sidles up next to me.

"Here she is," Hale nods at the woman. I offer her my hand but she ignores it.

Instead, she spreads her lips to reveal a gaping grin with no teeth at all. She has a whip coiled at her waist and a pendulous, pregnant belly. Her skin is bumpy and rough looking; especially her face which is made more prominent by her receding hairline.

I've never met anyone like her. I can't help but blanch at her grotesque, jack-o-lantern visage.

Hale mutters to me, "Behave. I can't have you at my meeting but I'd rather you not die on this field, either." He turns to Jayel and nods.

The woman roughly pushes me forward into the field.

"Careful," Hale says loudly.

Jayel turns and they share another look. I think he's trying to intimidate her. She seems immune to any such efforts.

Hale says slowly, "I might need her later."

"Ye can have me," Jayel says with a leer. Hale approaches her and leans down to say something in a low voice. It makes her laugh so hard she has to bend over and put her hands on her knees.