It was all unravelling, like a shawl with a loose thread caught on a thistle. The day had started with the Temple suffering an identified failure; it had ended with Harry's death. Eva made a habit of not believing in luck, or coincidence. She sought patterns and built her world on logic and reason and evidence, therefore the link was clear. Even though she might not understand it, there was a causal connection between the two events.
"It was an accident," Tommy was saying, though Eva's mind was already racing off in half a dozen other directions: how would this impact on the hunts? How badly would it affect morale of everyone in Cragside? Could there even be a Cragside without a Harry there to simultaneously invigorate and irritate? How would Robin cope with what had happened - she could see him standing a distance from where everyone else was gathered together, staring into space. What would the dynamic be in the village, now that the awkward balance of Tommy and Harry was no more? Critically, who would lead the expedition, when the assumption had been that Harry would be in charge.
Tommy was still speaking. "In light of what's happened we've no choice but to cancel the expedition. I know, I know - perhaps we can revisit the idea later in the year. But now is not the time. We need to refocus on home, on Cragside and supporting each other here. Nothing like this has ever happened and we're going to have to figure out where we go from here - and we'll do that together."
It was immediately the wrong decision, of course. Eva also knew at that moment that Tommy would delay any kind of useful discussion about the Temple for a day at least - or as long as he could get away with it, until word started to spread and people began to notice as more systems shut down. It was summer and warm so the lack of the sub-surface heating wouldn't be noticed, but faulty irrigation would lead to blocked sewage, malfunctioning ovens and dry taps. If Tommy thought it was a decision he could put at the bottom of his priority list, he would soon discover otherwise.
Then again, Harry was dead. Eva couldn't pinpoint how she felt about it, and was somewhat distressed at her lack of an emotional reaction. Tilda was doubled over, vomiting onto the grass. Others were wailing, or shouting unintelligibly. To her the accident seemed almost expected, given the Temple malfunction and Harry's usual daredevil antics. They'd never made a definite link between the timely assistance they had all received at one time or another and the Temple but it had always been Eva's best guess. The environment's benevolence didn't extend to other animals, which led her to conclude that the Temple - a distinctly human privilege - was somehow connected. The Temple lessons had never acknowledged or denied it, and they had no additional knowledge to compare against. Nobody remembered a time before the Temple. Some, like Robin, though it insulting to even suggest there had been a pre-Temple period.
Again, her mind drifted from the truth of the moment. Harry was dead. He'd been one of the oldest in Cragside. She'd always found him inherently annoying but she could see his appeal nonetheless. Eva wondered why she wasn't more upset. She scowled, as if trying to wring tears from her eyes, but none came. It wasn't that she didn't care, or had disliked him: nevertheless her reaction remained neutral and cool, her attention still on the Temple and the cancelled expedition. Distantly, she knew what had happened was awful; analytically, she recognised that there was nothing to be done about it. Harry was not coming back. Perhaps they could still do something to fix the Temple, if they found answers outside the valley.
Somehow, in a way she couldn't pinpoint, everything felt unnervingly connected.
She could have spent the rest of the day and night trying to convince Tommy to change his mind. To see her point of view. She could have appalled everyone by talking about a jolly adventure rather than mourning Harry. She already knew that would be wasted effort and that nothing she said would change Tommy's mind. Few of the chosen team would want to go against his orders, or without Harry leading the way. They had all been chosen based on Harry's criteria: mostly his daft physical tests and nonsensical survival challenges - so many of which were based on protections which were now evidently, tragically, absent.
A new team, then. And a new leader. For a second or two she tried to think of a likely candidate, then realised that it had to be her. There was no way she could entrust this to anybody else. She'd never felt compelled to leave Cragside and had always found more than enough interest and enjoyment from the village and its immediate surroundings; but now she had a need, one which would affect everyone who lived there if it was not addressed.
Then she noticed Erik, clutching at her leg, leaning against her, one thumb in his mouth. She hadn't seen him do that for years. She patted him on the head. "You OK?"
He shook his head, not looking up. "Why isn't Harry here?"
"He had an accident. He's not going to be coming back."
"What about tomorrow?"
She put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed. "Not tomorrow. We won't see him again."
"Did he go somewhere else?"
"You could say that. He had a bad accident. He died, Erik."
"Like a deer?"
"Not like a deer. Well, yes, like when an animal dies. But it's different, because he was one of us."
"Are we going to eat him?"
"What?"
"If it's like a deer."
"No, Erik." As if the little boy was a conduit to a different part of her mind, Eva felt a stab of sadness and pity. It seemed impossible that they wouldn't see Harry again. He was ever-present, always a step away with a wry jibe or crazy idea. It was somehow illogical that he had simply ceased. "It's difficult to explain."
"Is he in pain?"
"No. He's OK now."
"How do you know?"
She pondered what to say. As usual, she decided on the truth. "I don't know. None of us do. We're all just guessing."
"OK."
They stood in silence, Erik not letting go of her leg, while the gathering turned into an impromptu ceremony of a sort. Nobody knew what to do, other than hug and sing and sit next to each other, giving support through proximity. The community at Cragside had always been its greatest strength. Eva had always been slightly apart from it but couldn't bear the thought of it fragmenting.
Ramin found her, put an arm around her, sandwiching Erik in-between the two of them. "I couldn't see where you were," he said apologetically. "Sorry."
"There are a lot of people here."
"Everyone, I think."
"Ramin," Eva said, turning to face him, "they're not going to go on the expedition."
"I know, I heard what Tommy was saying."
"I have to go. On the expedition. My expedition, I mean."
He smiled ruefully and bowed his head. "Of course you do."
"What I told you earlier, about the Temple. We need to find a way to fix it."
"You think the answer is beyond the valley?"
"If Erik's right about the map he saw."
Ramin nodded. "So when do we leave?"
She hadn't wanted to count on his support. Didn't want to impose expectations, or demand his help. That it was so forthcoming reminded her of why he was her best friend. She kissed him.
"As soon as we can. First light."
"Sounds doable."
"We're going to need more people though. A team."
He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "That's going to be tricky. If Tommy finds out, he'll stop you. It'd be best for us to just go, before he knows what we're doing. Least embarrassing for everyone."
"Then we probably can't ask any of the people who were on the original expedition list. They're all in Harry's camp, or Tommy's camp. They'd blab straight away. We need to think differently."
The noise of scuffing footsteps heralded Robin, who had emerged from his stupor to join them. "Tommy is making a mistake," he said. "So, what are you talking about?"
The new expeditionary team begins to form! You could almost call it a kind of fellowship...Thanks for reading, comments and likes very gratefully received! You can support the book over at patreon.com/simonkjones