Ethereal

Shipping Master Eli

One moment, I was searching for my family and eating a rat in the mud.

The next thing I know, I’m racing through mud huts and trampling over tents with people still inside, hand in hand with the same boy I thought I would never talk to again. But here I am.

“Where are we going?” I asked him, my chest burning as I struggled to bring air into my lungs. Jax and I had been running through the Camp for almost a half hour and hadn’t spoken a word to each other since he told me he was getting me out of the Camp.

“Somewhere you’ll be safe, at least until I can come back and get you.” He said, pulling me to a stop behind a hut. I couldn’t see over his board shoulder, but I heard the hurried footsteps of people approaching, and as they passed the spot Jax and I were hiding in, I caught the sight of the official’s white and black uniforms.

“They’re looking for me,” I said once they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Jax didn’t say anything, his hand only tightening around mine. He waited another moment and pulled me back into the street, bringing us to a jog as we continued deeper into the Camp.

“How do they even know what I look like, Jax? No one could have seen it but the little girl,” I said, and a flash of hope went through me. Maybe they were still trying to figure out what happened in the first place, giving Jax and I more time to figure out what I was going to do next.

“Most of the time, when Campers see something, they look the other way.” He said, slowing us down to brisk walk. Wherever we were going must be somewhere ahead. “But with an official dead, they’ll be looking into what happened. Offering people coins or food as a reward for talking. It happened before during the Riot Season a couple of years back. Even if you think the little girl was the only one you saw, there are always eyes watching in the Camp. I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody has already come forward with our descriptions.” He said.

I felt a knot form in my stomach. “Our descriptions?” I said.

Jax gave me a look over his shoulder, his eyes softening around the edges. “Guilty by association.” He said.

I felt my chest tighten as I absorbed his words. If Jax and I were caught, it wouldn’t only be me that would hand for Edwin’s death. Jax would suffer too, just because he was helping me.

My feet slammed into the mud and I pulled my hand out of Jax’s. He turned around and gave me a questioning look, then reached down to grab my hand again.

“No,” I said, stepping away from him, “you have to go – I won’t let you get in trouble because of me.” I pictured the dark-haired little boy. What was Jax thinking? He had more important things in his life that he needed to take care of instead of me.

“Nor,” he said, sounding tired. His eyes moved around the darkness around us, listening and watching for officials. “I’m not a child, and neither are you.” He stepped closer to me, pulling my face into his hands as he tilted my head upwards. “I’m sorry about what I said to you before. But I know what I’m doing. You’re not going to run away from me this time.”

I weaved my fingers through his as he held me, closing my eyes as I breathed in the scent of him. He dipped his head lower until our foreheads rested against each other, neither of us saying a word. If I could stand with his hand in mine for the rest of my life, I would.

A shout echoed close by, making Jax and I spring away from each other. The noises grew closer, and I heard the distinct sound of an official cocking their gun.

“Come on,” Jax said, pulling me back down the path. “it’s just a few more houses.”

I followed blindly behind him, trying my best not to slip through the mud. Jax slowed down as we approached a decently sized mud hut. There was one barrel lit up with flames in front of it, casting pieces of stone and wood into the light. I felt my eyebrows wrinkle at the sight of it – I had never seen a mud hut that was made with anything other than, well, mud.

“Who lives here?” I said. Jax dropped my hand and stepped up to the front door, carved out of bleached wood. He knocked three times, his back turned towards me as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

There was a moment of stillness in the house, and as I began to wonder if this stranger was even home, the door opened, and a figure dressed in blue overalls stood in the doorway.

“Jax,” Eli said, the surprise obvious in his voice. “what brings you here this time of night?”

Jax turned and looked at me, Eli’s eyes following. He didn’t seem too surprised to see me.

“Is she pregnant?” he said.

I felt my face heat as Jax snapped back around to face Eli. “Of course not,” he said, though I could see the back of his neck turning red. “the officials are looking for her. She needs to get out of Camp by tonight. I have a contact at the front gate, but I can’t bring her unless I’m sure I can –“ Eli held up his hand to silence him, and looked over to me.

“I don’t know what kind of trouble you’ve dragged my finest captain into, girl.” He said. “But at least you two aren’t asking me to officiate your wedding.” He turned back into the house, waving for Jax and I to follow him in.

I watched as the muscles in Jax’s back relaxed, his shoulders dropping from his ears. He took my hand into his and led me inside.

The interior of Eli’s house was much like the exterior – the walls were bare except for the stones backed in between the mud and for the lines of seashells that decorated the arches of each doorway and window. Against the far wall was a fireplace and a metal bowl hanging over it, the contents inside sizzling as the flames licked the bottom of the metal. There was a bed made of hay on the adjacent wall, carefully made with a single blanket and pillow resting on top of it. Besides a few wooden chairs that littered the mud floor and dried herbs that were hung up along the ceiling, that was all that consisted of Eli’s home. For Eli being a Ship Master and gartering the respect of the officials, I had expected his home to be somewhat bigger, and more secluded than right in the center of the Camp.

“Take a seat,” Eli said, motioning to a wooden chair next to the doorway behind me. I looked over to Jax, who gave me a reassuring smile. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear and gave me a swift kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll be back soon.” He said. He gave Eli a parting nod and passed back out through the door, closing it behind him. I watched through the window as he pulled the hood of his cloak up around his head, concealing his face from the night. I waited until he was out of view before I managed to tear myself away from the window, my fingers fidgeting with the hem of my sleeve as fear blossomed in my belly.

“Whatever Jax is planning to do will work out if it’s meant to.” Eli said, his back turned towards me. He lifted the lid to the metal pot and inspected the contents, clicking his tongue. “There’s no use worrying about what will be, only what still is. Grab the chair and sit down, but grab me a handful of parsley leaves before you do. The soup needs a bit of something.” He said.

I glanced out of the window one last time before I did as he said, pulling the parsley from the ceiling and taking it and a chair to Eli. I set the chair down beside him, handing him the herb and watched as he dumped it in its entirety into the pot.

“Hmm.” He said, sniffing the steam that rose from the pot. “Needs more salt. Maybe a dash of pepper. They’re in a pouch on the mantel.” Eli said, pointing above him. I retrieved the items and tried not to feel annoyed with how he bossed me around. He was letting a fugitive of the Camp inside his house, anyway.

Eli opened the bags and sprinkled in a dash of each, dipping his finger into the pot and tasting it. The resulting wrinkle of his nose told me that the soup was still not reaching up to his standards.

“What kind of soup is it?” I asked.

“Leak and potato.”

“Did you use water or milk?”

“Does it look like there’s any cow’s around here, girl?”

“If it’s leak and potato, then you’ll want to add some onion for flavor.” I said, sounding huffy. I was only trying to help.

Eli considered this for a moment, his forehead pinched down in thought. Finally, he nodded, and pointed to a bundle of green onion that was tied to the ceiling directly above him.

I reached up and untied it with my fingers, pulling it down. “You may not have a cow, but somehow you have the entire Garden of Eden strapped to your ceiling.” I said.

Eli gave me a curious look as he pinched the green onion into smaller pieces and threw them into the pot. He stirred the contents with a wooden stick and tasted it – this time giving the soup a small nod to voice his approval.

“You have quite the education for a farmer,” Eli said. There was a hint of something else in his voice, as though he were pushing me to reveal something about myself.

“I worked the fields during the fertile seasons, but once winter came there wasn’t much else to do other than to read.” I said, thinking back to the orphanage. Images of its walls up in flames burned on the inside of my eyelids, making my heart thump heavily in my chest.

“I see,” Eli said, studying me closely. “and if I may ask, what exactly were you and my cargo captain doing this fine evening that ending up with you on my doorstep?” he said.

I bit my lip, trying to decide if telling him would be a good idea. Jax hadn’t told him everything, but he was also in a hurry to get me out of here. If Eli was willing to house a suspected criminal – which I wasn’t – then he at least deserved to know why. Pushing down my anxiety, I told Eli about my family being sent to the Camp over a decade ago, my illegal joyride in a government vehicle that got me caught and sent to the Camp, running into Edwin and landing on Jax’s ship. Then finally returning back to Camp, asking anyone who would listen if they had ever heard of or seen my parents. But after I lost my only picture of them, no one could help me, until Edwin caught wind of me poking around and asking questions.

“He told me they died in the Riots,” I said, clearing my throat. It suddenly felt tight. “and Jax said something about the Riot Season, but I don’t know what any of that means.” I said, finally looking up at Eli. He kept his eyes trained on the fire, his jaw working as though he were biting on his words, tasting them to see if they needed more salt or pepper.

“I didn’t believe Edwin at first – I mean, the official.” I said, continuing when Eli said nothing. “But then he showed me something I had given my brother before we were separated, and I knew he was telling me the truth.” The blue marble felt hot against my skin, sinking low in my shirt pocket. I pulled it out and rubbed it between my hands, a small smile forming on my lips despite of everything else going wrong around me. “He said something about my family that made me loose my temper. I pushed him into the mud, he threw me off and pulled his gun. I threw a handful of dirt at him, and it stuck to his mask, blinding him. He tried to wipe it off, but I threw myself at him again and knocked both of us to the ground. He tried to get a shot off, but it ended up hitting him instead.” I said.

My eyes stayed locked on the blue marble, not wanting to meet Eli’s eyes. I looked up once I heard him chuckle, the noise sounding odd as it bounced off the walls around us.

“Only a bloody idiot like Edwin would die by accidentally shooting himself. Sounds right on mark for the poor bloke.” Eli said. I stayed silent, unsure of what to say. “As for your family – I was at Camp, waiting for the next trade deal to take my crew and I back out to sea when the Riot Season came to a head.” He looked at me then, his eyes bright in the firelight. “I can tell you anything you want to know, but it’s not a pretty story, girl. You already know what became of your family because of it.”

“I want to know.” I said, and I meant it too. The adrenaline that had carried me away from Edwin’s body and onto Eli’s doorstep was quickly fading, and I knew that my mind would soon be overcome with pain and grief since learning of my family’s death. Maybe knowing how and why they died would bring me some sense of comfort.

“About ten years ago,” said Eli, shifting in his seat, “there was a bad drought. Dried up all the surrounding crops and most of the water wells inside the Camp. Most of the Campers were out of a job since there was no grains to be harvested, and there wasn’t much food or water either.” Eli said, his voice lowering as the memory of it resurfaced in his mind. “I had just gotten back from a six-week trip at sea. Jax was still a boy then, still learning how to tie all of his sailor’s knots and what not.” I smiled at the image of a much younger Jax sailing the seas with Eli, his hands fumbling as he tried to tie off sails.

“The food shortage was bad when we left. I thought that by the time we got back the officials would have figured out something, but they hadn’t. It was their job to make sure we didn’t escape. They couldn’t care less if we all starved to death instead.” Eli said. “The night we returned, I heard about a group of people who were planning on escaping Camp. Getting out before they died. Thought it was just talk, until they started throwing bottles of liquor with strips of cloth, they set on fire tied to it, so when the bottle broke it would catch everything on fire.”

“That’s what the scorch marks on the wall are?” I said. Eli nodded.

“Officials left the marks up as a reminder of the Riot Season. The fires were only meant to be a distraction, a way to force the officials out of their watchtowers and abandon the Camp. All it did was make them lower the gate, trapping everyone inside while the fires raged on. Those who didn’t die in the fire were executed by the officials the next morning, after they bribed other Campers with food to out the Rioters. That, I’m afraid, is all that is to it.” He said.

I felt tears well up behind my eyes, threatening to fall down my cheeks. Maybe I had known deep down that they were gone, but that was always just a feeling. Now there was only truth, and the truth told me that they were all really gone this time, and they weren’t coming back.

“I imagine this must be difficult for you to hear.” Eli said, his words soft.

“It’s weird,” I said, “I haven’t seen them in thirteen years. I was angry for so many years because I didn’t understand why they hadn’t come to get me. I had a feeling that they might be dead, but after what happened at the orphanage there was no where else for me to go. I figured that if there was only a chance that I could find them alive, then I had to take it. Now that I know they’re gone – I don’t know what I’m going to now.”

“You live,” Eli said, his hand wrapping around mine. A tear dropped down onto my arm, dripping downwards until it hit the floor. “sometimes that’s all you can do. Live until it doesn’t feel like a chore anymore. And one day, girl, you’ll wake up and see all the good and the bad that has happened to you, and you will find peace.”

I rubbed the water out of my eyes, glancing up at Eli through the tangled knots in my hair. Somehow his words had brought a sense of comfort to me, calming my racing mind.

“Wise words.” I said. “If only you didn’t have such a heinous wardrobe, Eli, I’m sure you would make a great motivational speaker.” I was only half joking. Eli really did need to get rid of those god-awful blue overalls.

A moment of silence passed where nothing was said as we listened to the crackling of the fire. I passed the blue marble from hand to hand, letting its weight anchor me to the earth. Without it, I felt like I would surely start to float upwards, until I disappeared completely into the night.

“I want to ask you something, girl.” Eli said. I dully wondered if he actually remembered my name, or if he just liked calling me ‘girl’ for fun.

“Hmm,” I said, keeping my attention on the marble in my hands.

“You said that something happened to your orphanage, before you came to the Camp.”

“It burned down.”

“Who burned it down?”

“Not me, if that’s what you’re getting at.” I said, shooting him a look.

“This is important, girl.” Eli said, his voice suddenly turning worried. I pocketed my marble and gave him my full attention, my hands feeling oddly empty.

“They came during the night, right before dawn. I didn’t see them start the fire, but they were still there when I got there, standing around and staring at it. As though they were trying to understand what it was they had just done.” I said, the words tasted bitter in my mouth. I could still see their blank faces now, their eyes glowing in the flames. “Then one of them saw me hiding in the bushes, so I ran. If they willingly burned down an orphanage of women and children then I didn’t want to hang around too long to see what they would do to me.” I said.

Eli considered my words, his brows pulling lower by the second. Something I had said was deeply troubling to him, and he wasn’t saying what it was.

“What’s wrong?” I said, a heavy feeling was building in my chest.

“When you first came to me, you asked about the rebels taking over the Salt Lake and Colorado River Providences.” He said.

I felt a trickle of fear slide down my back like a cold sweat. “Yeah, what about it?” I said, though I already had a feeling that I knew what he was going to say next.

Eli opened his mouth to respond, but just then Jax came crashing through the doorway, breathing heavily as he shut the door behind him and peeked out the window.

“We have to go.” he said, looking over and meeting my eyes. He crossed the length of the house and pulled me to my feet, pushing me behind him as he turned to Eli. “Eli, Charlie –“

“I’ll keep an eye on the boy,” he said. “I’ll find him in the morning and offer his mother a spot close to my home. When he comes of age, he’ll sail just like his father.” He patted Jax on the shoulder and swept him into a hug. I felt guilt eat away at me, hearing Eli tell Jax that he would take care of the boy - Charlie – for him in his absence. I was sure now that Charlie was undoubtably Jax’s child, and he was leaving him. For me.

“Jax,” I said, my voice breaking. He looked over at me, seeing my guilt written across my face. He took my hands into his, leaning his forehead against mine.

“I’ll explain everything to you later, once we’re beyond the wall. But we have to leave now, or my contact will leave without us.” He said.

“You can still stay,” I said, tightening my hold on his hands. “I can survive on my own. I’ve done it before.”

Jax laughed, “I don’t doubt for a second that you could. But what about me? How would you ever get along without seeing this handsome face every day?”

“I have a hoard of men knocking down my door every night, captain. You’re hardly the prettiest face I’ve seen in these parts.” I said jokingly.

“You can both argue about this later,” Eli said, and just as the words left his mouth there was a shout in the distance, followed by a gunshot. I jerked as the echo traveled all throughout Camp, its message clear: someone was dead.