“Don’t worry,” she said, “it’s a Chromatic thing. No one troubles themselves with the Greys. And thanks.”
“For what?”
“A great first date. I really enjoyed myself.”
“For our second date I thought we’d dismantle the entire Collective and replace it with a system run on the principles of fair play, equality and truly harmonious coexistence. What do you say?”
“Teaser!” she replied, and gave me a playful slap on my shoulder.
We ran the last half mile into Bleak Point to find the Model T still there. The sun was already hitting the tops of the hills—if we drove really fast, we might make it back to the dams before the light went completely. We’d still be stuck out at night, but at least closer.
“At last!” said Tommo as we ran up. “Do you know the time? It’s eight o’clock!”
“Thanks for waiting.”
“Waiting nothing,” replied Violet. “Plank-head Cinnabar doesn’t know how to drive.”
“Neither do you.”
“I am a Purple,” Violet replied loftily. “I don’t do that sort of thing.”
Jane ordered Tommo to hand-start the engine, and after five minutes of fruitless cranking, the motor finally coughed to life. Wasting no time, Jane reversed the car and tore off back toward East Carmine as fast as she could.
Return to East Carmine
6.6.19.61.247: Vulgar mispronunciations of everyday words will not be tolerated.
We drove in silence for the first ten minutes, Jane concentrating on getting us home as quick as possible, but without mishap. I was sitting on the flatbed with Tommo, and Jane and Violet were up in the cab, silently ignoring each other. When Jane and I arrived, Tommo had been sitting in the Faraday cage at the side of the road, with Violet positioned on the Ford’s running board facing away from him. She looked beside herself with rage and had doubtless been venting her anger on him for most of the day, which can’t have been a huge bundle of laughs, even with someone like Tommo, who deserved it as much as anyone.
It was lucky that it was a clear evening; navigation might still be possible ten or fifteen minutes after sundown. Jane could have driven us all the way home, of course, but she’d told me she would keep her pupils locked tight and suffer the same woeful lack of night sight as the rest of us. We all knew we weren’t going to make it; the question was how far we would get. But the other unasked question could not be ignored forever, and it was Tommo who finally asked it. “Where’s Courtland?”
“He got taken by a yateveo on the walk back.”
“Wow,” said Tommo. “But you’re okay, right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve no idea how good that makes me feel.”
“Well, thanks, Tommo.”
“Oh, it’s nothing personal,” he said, just in case I misconstrued his meaning. “If both of you had been killed, I would have stood to lose a fortune on my sweep. At least this way I get to break even. And listen,” he added, “that really hurt when you kicked me.”
“And you were going to leave me to starve to death in the flak tower. Do you want to make something of this?”
“No.”
“That Tommo is a reptile,” said Violet. “If I find myself alone with him again I will feed him poison, and accept the consequences.”
“And I’d gladly drink it.”
We drove on down the road, on several occasions running dangerously close to the verge as Jane took the sweeping corners recklessly fast. I looked across at the sun, which was just beginning to touch the hilltops. I turned back and Violet caught my eye, smiled, bit her lip and then attempted some repairs.
“Edward, darling,” she said, “I’m so sorry about what happened early this morning. It was theft of the most malicious kind. But we were all just so worried that you might not have returned, and the deMauve lineage has much benefit to offer the village. You do understand how important that is, don’t you?”
I thought carefully. “I’ll forgive you, Violet, as long as you defer the seven hundred merits you should have earned to Jane Grey here.”
She consented easily to this without looking at Jane, and I asked Tommo to be my witness, to which he readily agreed.
“You are a dear!” said Violet. “I declare our marriage firmly back on—Mummy and Daddy will be delighted.”
“I won’t be marrying you, Violet.”
“I’m only pretending you have a choice to be polite,” she said in a more forceful tone. “In fact, there isn’t a choice at all.”
“I could be on a promise.”
She gave out a short gale of laughter. “No one in the village would dare to offer you a promise while I’m the front-runner,” she declaimed haughtily. “That’s the advantage of having so many people eager to be your friend.”
There was a pause in which she stared at me, and I stared back with an unconcerned look. Then she frowned and glanced at Jane, then at me, and then the penny dropped.
“Oh, no. That is so sad. Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not joking, Violet.”
“I withdraw my pledge of seven hundred merits. Cinnabar, you heard nothing.”
“I most certainly did,” he replied, their argument—whatever it was—still firmly in his mind.
“Listen here, Russett,” said Violet. “If you’re after a bit of youknow on the side, I don’t mind. In fact, you could definitely do with the practice. I’ll even give you the two merits it’ll cost you.” She winced, expecting to be punched—no doubt her intention—but Jane ignored her and just continued to negotiate the turns of the road as we thundered on toward East Carmine.
“I aim to lead a blameless life from now on,” Jane remarked evenly, “tending to my Civil Obligation and my husband.”
Violet made a face.
“Even the thought makes me want to vomit. Jane Russett sitting at High Table with the rest of the prefects? Have you any idea how shabby and nouveau couleur that is?”
Even Tommo was beginning to get concerned.
“Listen,” he said to me, “I’m all for this annoying-Violet game. In fact, I wholeheartedly applaud it. But this is some sort of huge scam, right? You’re holding out for more cash because she tricked you into a harvest? If that’s the case, you need to speak to me to renegotiate. We might up it to twelve grand, but even the deMauves will draw the line eventually.”
“Don’t see me as you, Tommo. I don’t want to marry Violet, I want to marry Jane. I think we should marry who we want. It’s as simple as that.”
“And what about my marriage fantasy league?” he asked. “Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked on that?”
“Dangles to your stupid league,” interrupted Violet. “What about our baby? Could you really see it growing up to be Doug’s?”
“You tricked me. And if you go public, the deMauves are finished as head prefects. Your family would have to go to Grey and back before they’d be reinstated.”
She fell silent, deep in thought. There was truth in what I said. Although my father and I would also get it in the neck for our involvement, the deMauves had far more to lose.
The sun dipped below the horizon as we reached the first of the dams, and with only ten minutes or so of navigable light left, we weren’t going to make it home. Or at least, not tonight. It would be a cold and lonely night, huddled in the cab, and not helped by Violet, who would doubtless complain volubly until dawn.
“Hey,” said Violet, suddenly changing tack and addressing Jane directly, “would you like to be my friend? I have lots of friends. Some say, in fact, that I have more friends than anyone else in the village.”
“I think I can live quite happily without your friendship, Miss Violet.”
“Then I’ll buy him off you,” said Violet impatiently. “How much do you want?”
“He’s not for sale. Not at any price.”
“I can get you a cushy job at the linoleum factory.”