Phoenix

Secret

The wall of clocks was the same as it had been in her dream, but this time none of them were ticking. Their second hands pointed shock skyward like lightning rods to a magnetic heaven, while outside, the whistling wind made an eerie counterpoint to the howling of the hounds.

The hounds were looking for them.

Her father grasped her shoulders. His grip was strong and steady, fingers long and delicate, with the dexterity of a jeweller and strength of a blacksmith. Ash, in turn, reached for her brother's hand and found it, loyal by her side. She squeezed it, felt him squeeze back and at his touch, the dust storm and the howling no longer seemed so scary.

"No matter what happens to me and your mother," Kaleb said, "The pocket watch will find its way back to you." He tucked the golden watch, chain and all, into a fold in his grey travelling robe. "When the time is right, you will remember everything I've told you."

"What will they do to us?" she said.

"They will try to make you forget." Kaleb said. "But as long as you've been sleeping with the watch close to your heart every night like I told you to, your memories will stick. Your brain is a muscle. They may be able to make you forget, but they'll never be able to take away your instinct. One day, you will remember."

"I don't want to forget." Ash didn't realise she was crying until she blinked and a large, hot teardrop fell down her cheek, followed by another, and another.

"You won't, my dear." Kaleb swiped her tears away with his thumbs. "No more crying. I want you to be strong for your brother."

Jai hiccuped beside her. "Where's mum?" he said.

Kaleb looked at him, eyes a cataract haze behind glasses askew on his downturned nose. "She loves you both. So much that she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye."

The howling drew nearer. The boarded windows rattled in their frames.

"When will we see you again?" Ash said.

Kaleb didn't answer, just hitched his travelling sack over his shoulder and strode towards the door, grey cloak swirling.

"Wait!" Ash let go of Jai's hand and rushed after him. "There must be another way."

The door slammed between them and locked from the outside. She pounded the wood with her fists until the skin on her knuckles came away, leaving spears of red on the vanish. She lost herself to her own panic and frustration when she noticed Jai had curled up on the ground beside her, hands covering his face, wracking sobs threatening to break his thin body apart.

She slid to the floor and took him in her arms, held his limbs against his body as though he were made from porcelain and would crack at any moment. She cradled him back and forth, humming, just as their mother would do when they got upset.

Closing her eyes, she forced herself to remember everything her father had ever taught them. From his theories to do with time, space, the forces of nature, and the pocket watch—her father's greatest invention. She must not forget any of it.

You will not forget, she told herself. You will not forget.

Over and over she repeated the mantra until they came in a scurry of rubber boots and padded feet. The hounds and their masters bashed in the door and dragged them away.

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