Twelve-year-old Carmen has a secret: she can talk to her cat Grim. But the powerful Brotherhood has banned pets, and the penalty is death.
Ward is the most wanted boy in the world. The only thing standing between him and the hangman's noose is maste...
The silence was oppressive. There was no sound of bird or insect, no wind to rustle the leaves. Even their footsteps were oddly muffled. The buildings seemed to lean over the path, as if to listen. Their higher ramparts were craggily red in the sun, and many had fallen long ago, leaving upthrust girders to saw at the sky. Empty doorways yawned. Carmen passed these quickly, imagining things coiled up asleep inside. Limbless statues rose out of the gloom, their features so eroded that it was difficult to tell whether they were humans or monsters. There was a smell of lead and slate and rotten leaves and dripping water and great old age.
They climbed a flight of steps and found themselves in a square. Two buildings that seemed older than the rest stood at its far end. The one on the right was long and low, consisting of colonnades with many narrow arches above which were ranked dark windows; the one on the left was square, four storeys high, with ramparts like those of a castle. The two buildings were connected by a stone arch.
Grim led the way under the arch. On the other side they found themselves in a courtyard surrounded by high walls. Carmen peered up at the windows but saw only blurry shapes beyond the grimy panes. Two paths vanished off into the gloom. A dead tree stump stood in the centre of the courtyard, the paving all around it cracked and raised into ridges.
At first Carmen couldn't see where Grim had gone, but then Slops pointed to a shadowy alcove beside the arch. As she approached, a door materialised out of the shadows, a heavy door with a greenish iron knocker shaped like an archon's head. The archon's eyes were closed.
"Gotta knock," Slops explained.
"You're closer – you do it," she said. She didn't like the door.
"You do it," her voice echoed. She looked around, startled.
"Carmen it's the -"
"Archon," the voice finished. Carmen whipped back around. The archon doorknocker cawed at her.
"Don't do that," she said.
"Sorry," the archon said. "Won't do it again. A thousand apologies." It didn't sound particularly apologetic. Its black eyes shone as if it was holding back laughter, and there was an odd whirring sound as it moved – it made Carmen think of insects swarming on a summer night.
"If you're scared to do it -" Slops began.
"I'm not scared. It's just a bird."
"Just a bird, just a bird," the archon sang. "Just a girl. Ha!"
That was enough for Carmen. She rapped the knocker against the door several times. A hollow booming reverberated through the building. She wondered who (or what) had heard it.
"PASSWORD," the archon said mechanically. The mockery in its voice had vanished.
"Password?" Carmen said.
"INCORRECT. TWO ATTEMPTS REMAINING BEFORE SYSTEM LOCKDOWN."
"Slops?"
"INCORRECT. ONE ATTEMPT REMAINING BEFORE SYSTEM LOCKDOWN."
"Ozenkadnook!" Slops blurted before Carmen could speak again. The archon's eyes lit up like lamps and there was a mechanical beep, followed by a purposeful whicker and clunk.
The door breathed open.
"Ozenkadnook?" Carmen said.
Slops shrugged. "Old Abe gave it to me."
Carmen knew Slops better than anyone, and he had never been a good liar. It seemed strange that he should lie to her about something like this. She went to accuse him, but he'd already vanished through the doorway.
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The archon is just a bird and Carmen is just a girl. It's just a vote, but it will make my day.
