“Rent.” I growl at the very thought. “How can someone charge you coins just for being where you are?”
“Greyson built the tent area,” Ava says. “You know that. There’s a price to pay for living in luxury. If it was all about me, I wouldn’t care, but my clients…they expect it, don’t they?”
“I’m sure they do.” I know Ava’s past, and I know there is more to it than catering to clients, but I say nothing. She looks like she’s on the verge of tears, and I don’t want to make her cry. I touch the side of her face gently. “I’ll be here tomorrow night. If he comes, I’ll make sure he does nothing to hurt you.”
Ava sighs and nods, and her shoulders slump in relief.
“Thank you, Talen.” She hugs me tightly. “Sometimes I think you are the only person in this world I can actually trust.”
“I am.” I hug her for a moment before taking a step back. “That said—don’t trust me, either.”
Chapter 3
In the woods behind the merchants’ carts, I find the tracks of the spy.
The man was obviously not trying to hide his movements, and the trail is easy to follow. I carefully navigate up the hill to the plateau above and then head southwest along the wall. I’m not surprised when the trail leads right up to the guarded front gate of the Thaves community.
By the time I reach the entrance, the sun is beginning to set. I press myself against the wall and watch to see if anyone is about, but the gate is closed, and the residents of the community are locked in for the night. In theory, everyone else is locked out.
Hilltop is an Initiation Construct Town, or ICT. Thaves started building them about thirty years ago when a lot of scientists got together and decided the earthquakes couldn’t last forever, and it was time to start rebuilding. ICTs were supposed to be the first stage of the project and were built on the mountain plateaus with road access to monitor seismic activity and ash flow across the western mountaintops. Ultimately, it didn’t work out. Quakes continued to break roads apart, and reliable traffic couldn’t be maintained. Very little ever came of the whole idea. Though dozens of these communities were built, Hilltop is one of the last still standing.
What work actually goes on inside the walls is a mystery even to me, and I get over the walls on a regular basis. Moving past the residential areas near the wall and into the main part of the community is too risky for my taste, so I’ve never ventured far enough to get an idea of what the residents are doing other than living relatively luxurious lives. What I do know is that every few months someone from Hilltop, posing as a Naught, comes down to gather information on the valley dwellers. If any useful information is collected, I have no idea what they do with it. Any guess I might have doesn’t bode well for those Naughts trying to survive in the valley.
I sigh to myself as I head north along the wall where I know I can climb over. I doubt I will be able to pick up the trail of the spy again. It’s too dark, and trying to get close enough to the front gate to find his tracks is virtually suicidal.
Besides, now I know what I wanted to determine—the fake merchant came from Hilltop. If I had been able to track him inside the wall, I might have learned who he is and who told him to pose as a Naught to get information. I’m sure he isn’t working alone, which means others will try where he failed. At some point, I’m going to have to get ahead of them and figure out what they are trying to accomplish, but that won’t be today.
Still, I don’t want to waste the trip, and with the night comes my hunting time.
I run my fingertips over the low edge of the wall to help me maintain both my footing and direction in the dark, smiling as I go along. Maybe I’ll find a place tonight with tools to spare.
As my feet carry me forward, my mind wanders back to my conversation with Ava and the need for her friend Layshell to travel. I wonder if I should consider moving on as well. I’ve spent nearly two years in Plastictown—the longest time I’ve stayed in one place since leaving my childhood home.
I’m not entirely sure why I’ve stayed as long as I have. The people are friendly and grateful for the items I find, and the Thaves community isn’t particularly well-guarded, which is helpful, but there isn’t a significant difference from other places I’ve visited but not remained as long. I usually trade what I can and move along quickly.
“We have enough to share. What does it matter if I give some of it away?”
“You prolong the inevitable. Would you give a man food and water while he bleeds to death?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Ridiculous! I’m tired of this rebellious phase you seem to be in. It stops now.”
“No. As long as I’m living like this, I’m going to give what extra I have to people who don’t have anything.”
“Then maybe you should just go live like them. It’s obvious you will never fit in here, so you might as well just leave.”
“Never went back, either.” I shake my head at myself when I realize I spoke the words aloud. I focus on my footing and ignore the unwanted memories in my head.
About halfway to the tree where I usually enter the Thaves community, my fingers brush up against something on the wall to my left. I pull my hand back reflexively and then reach out again to determine what I touched.
It’s a rope.
I narrow my eyes as I grasp the rope with one hand and give it a quick yank. The rope doesn’t come down, and when I look up at the top of the wall, I realize there is a grappling hook at the end of the rope.
All thoughts of the past, as well as thoughts of what I might steal tonight, leave my head. I grip my hands into fists and roll my shoulders as I understand what the rope means.
Someone has snuck their way into Hilltop. If this person is caught, the Thaves will realize they are vulnerable behind their wall. What they decide to do with this information is unknown but will certainly be bad for Plastictown as well as my livelihood.