Nobody's Child (complete)

Chapter 8 - Fugitives

Chapter 8 - Fugitives ©2018CarolynAnnAish 

The shouts and cries had faded by the time Boy drew the boat around a second bend. 

Thaddeus had run behind a palace guard to the far end of the terrace where the man jumped in to swim, pulling ahead of the other two. The three wet men returned and were helped from the cold water by their comrades.

Boy became lost in the network of canals and despaired of knowing in which direction he headed. He knew that one of the outlets from the city would lead towards Linberg, which was the second-to-last place on earth he wished to go to right now. The last was to ever be back in The Locker. When a choice presented itself, he allowed the boat to go with the current.

The boat swept under an arch and moved into the stronger current of a river. Boy felt tired, discouraged, and much disillusioned. Blade emitted a groan every now and then and Boy was heartened to hear this evidence that life still existed in his battered body.

The swift current moved the boat so fast that Boy only used the oars to keep the bow facing the direction of the flow. As much as possible, he stayed near the bank, but several times the boat swung across to the other side, at a bend, or in places where the river became stronger and cross-currents caused turbulence.

After an hour, Boy's arms sagged. He was beyond rowing now; all strength had sapped from his muscles. Exhaustion swamped him. Feeling comforted by the increasing calm of the river, Boy dragged the oars in and dropped them cross-wise in the boat. Not caring to lift them from the locks, he crawled to the back of the boat to check on Blade. The man was still unconscious. Having sponged his brow, Boy reached down over the back of the boat and rinsed the rag. He opened Blade's thick lips and squeezed water into his mouth. How much the man swallowed, Boy had no idea. It seemed most of it trickled out; then with a heave of his chest, Blade swallowed without choking. Boy repeated this several times, and scooped up some of the river water for himself.

Pressing his ear on Blade's chest, he heard the haphazard 'thud! ... th-u-d ... thud! ... thud, th-u-d,' of the injured man's heart.

Mentally, physically and emotionally overcome; Boy relaxed himself into a comfortable position. But he could not sleep. The irregular beating of Blade's heart said to him, Your head! ... your head ... it's in your head! ... head, head. He moved away and rested the back of his head upon the plank, staring up into the dark, cloudy sky. His own heart's even beat sounded in his ears, but not as loud as Blade's had been. His own heart beat urged, Your heart, heart, heart, you need it in your heart, heart, heart ...

The lessons Herbert had taught him; laws of Brandenburg, ancient Jewish law; comparing, debating; teaching him the geography of the country; map-reading; the way the man had adamantly stated that the Ten Commandments were God's law, and must be obeyed; remembrances filtered into Boy's conscious mind and he went back to the time, he was six and Herbert had arrived, with him, in Bernberg. How eagerly and happily they had set up their humble home in the wall, yet the few times Boy had been disobedient, Herbert had beaten him cruelly. Boy's mind mulled over his life with Herbert. Later the 'sage' had married Marcie, complicating Boy's life.

Sitting up and staring at the blackness of his moving surroundings, with ever-changing shadows and reflections of the waters, Boy realized that somehow, Herbert had softened and changed. The man had been angry, hateful even, when they had first lived in Bernberg. Boy thought of Marcie and wondered if marriage had changed him. Marcie? No. There must be something else. He remembered the arguments, then the long discussions Herbert had locked into, with Gable, Wilhelm and other sages. Yet Herbert had not truly confided in the sages, Boy knew that. The man had a reticence; a distance that was strictly maintained between him and the sages. One did not truly know 'Seymour the sage' and at times, the man lived in another place; his mind had not been in Bernberg. This was one of the reasons for his accident, Boy thought. Herbert's mind was somewhere in the future ... the time ... when it became time ... Seymour the sage had constantly reminded himself, and Boy, they must not act 'before it was time.' What time? When Boy was sixteen? Yes. But why had Herbert become more and more dissatisfied as time passed? Boy realized that his teacher had been disillusioned and had therefore lived in a fictitious state of mind, not in the real world where there were real people, like Marcie, and himself. But I am not just 'Boy',he thought, but who am I? —One thing I know, I will be my own person, I will never again allow someone to force me to follow what they want! But how can I become my own person, when I'm nobody?