“Roads is never the fastest way to get nowhere,” the woman says. “Don’t ye know that?”
Viola don’t say nothing, just picks up her bag, frowning all over the place. She’s ready to go, ready to head off with the first quiet person she sees, ready to leave me behind at the first sweet beckoning.
And she’s missing the thing I don’t wanna say.
“I can’t go, Viola,” I say, low, thru clenched teeth, hating myself a little as I say it, my face turning hot, which weirdly makes a bandage fall off. “I carry the germ. I’m dangerous.”
She turns to me and there’s a sting in her voice. “Then maybe you shouldn’t come.”
My jaw drops open. “You’d do that? You’d just leave?”
Viola looks away from my eyes but before she can answer, the old woman speaks. “Boy pup,” she says, “if it’s being infeckshus yer worried about, then yer girl mate can come a-walking up ahead with ol’ Hildy while ye stay back a little ways with the puppup to guard ye.”
“Manchee!” Manchee barks.
“Whatever,” Viola says, turning and starting to climb the rocks to where the old woman stands.
“And I told ye,” the woman says, “it’s Hildy, not old woman.”
Viola reaches her and they walk off outta sight without another word. Just like that.
“Hildy,” Manchee says to me.
“Shut up,” I say.
And I don’t got no choice but to climb the rocks after them, do I?
So that’s how we make our way, along a much narrower path thru rocks and scrub, Viola and old Hildy keeping close together when they can, me and Manchee miles back, tripping our way towards who knows what further danger and the whole time I’m looking back over my shoulder, expecting to see the Mayor and Mr Prentiss Jr and Aaron all coming after us.
I don’t know. How can you know? How can Ben and Cillian have expected me to be prepared for this? Sure, the idea of a bed and hot food sounds like something worth getting shot for but maybe it’s a trick and we’re being so stupid we deserve to get caught.
And there’s people after us and we should be running.
But maybe there really ain’t another way over that river.
And Hildy could have forced us and she didn’t. And Viola said she seems okay and maybe one Noise-less person can read another.
You see? How can you know?
And who cares what Viola says?
“Look at ’em up there,” I say to Manchee. “They fell together right quick. Like they’re long-lost family or something.”
“Hildy,” Manchee says again. I swat after his rump but he runs on ahead.
Viola and Hildy are talking together but I can only hear the murmurings of words here and there. I don’t know what they’re saying at all. If they were normal Noisy people, it wouldn’t matter how far back on the trail I was, we could all talk together and nobody’d have no automatic secrets. Everybody’d be jabbering, whether they wanted to or not.
And nobody’d be left out. Nobody’d be left on his own at the first chance you had.
We all walk on.
And I’m starting to think some more.
And I’m starting to let them get a little farther ahead, too.
And I’m thinking more.
Cuz as time passes, it’s all starting to sink in.
Cuz maybe now we found Hildy, maybe she can take care of Viola. They’re clearly peas in a pod, ain’t they? Different from me, anyway. And so maybe Hildy could help her back to wherever she’s from cuz obviously I can’t. Obviously I ain’t got nowhere I can be except Prentisstown, do I? Cuz I’m carrying a germ that’ll kill her, may kill her still, may kill everybody else I meet, a germ that’ll forever keep me outta that settlement, that’ll probably even leave me sleeping in Hildy’s barn with the sheep and the russets.
“That’s it, ain’t it, Manchee?” I stop walking, my chest starting to feel heavy. “There ain’t no Noise out here, less I’m the one who brings it.” I rub some sweat off my forehead. “We got nowhere to go. We can’t go forward. We can’t go back.”
I sit down on a rock, realizing the truth of it all.
“We got nowhere,” I say. “We got nothing.”
“Got Todd,” Manchee says, wagging his tail.
It ain’t fair.
It just ain’t fair.
The only place you belong is the place you can never go back.
And so yer always alone, forever and always.
Why’d you do it, Ben? What did I do that was so bad?
I wipe my eyes with my arm.
I wish Aaron and the Mayor would come and get me.
I wish it would just be over already.
“Todd?” Manchee barks, coming up to my face and trying to sniff it.
“Leave me alone,” I say, pushing him away.
Hildy and Viola are getting still farther away and if I don’t get up, I’ll lose the trail.
I don’t get up.
I can still hear them talking, tho it gets steadily quieter, no one looking back to see if I’m still following.
Hildy, I hear, and girl pup and blasted leaky pipe and Hildy again and burning bridge.
And I lift my head.
Cuz it’s a new voice.
And I ain’t hearing it. Not with my ears.
Hildy and Viola are getting farther away, but there’s someone coming towards them, someone raising a hand in greeting.
Someone whose Noise is saying Hello.
It’s an old man, also carrying a rifle but way down at his side, pointing to the ground. His Noise rises as he approaches Hildy, it stays risen as he puts an arm around her and kisses her in greeting, it buzzes as he turns and is introduced to Viola who stands back a little at being greeted so friendly.
Hildy is married to a man with Noise.
A full grown man, walking around Noisy as you please.
But how–?
“Hey, boy pup!” Hildy shouts back at me. “Ye going to sit there all day picking yer nose or are ye going to join us for supper?”
“Supper, Todd!” Manchee barks and takes off running towards them.
I don’t think nothing. I don’t know what to think.
“Another Noisy fella!” shouts the old man, stepping past Viola and Hildy and coming towards me. He’s got Noise pouring outta him like a bright parade, all full of unwelcome welcome and pushy good feeling. Boy pup and bridges falling and leaky pipe and brother in suffering and Hildy, my Hildy. He’s still carrying his rifle but as he reaches me, his hand’s out for me to shake.