A Girl Called Ari Read online

  A chill crept across Starla’s heart.

  I might die out here.

  When the thought came, it was sudden. Even when she’d had the gun pointed at her head, she hadn’t really considered the true possibility of her demise.

  How could such a thing ever happen to me? Not here, not now. Not to Starla Corinth, first daughter of the city. Death was something for other people.

  But death stretched out before her on the dusty ground and she knew it wasn’t a monster under her bed or a gun pointed at her head; death was its own horror. Out here, all you had to do was lie down and die; death required nothing more.

  An acidic bile burnt the back of Starla’s throat and she thought she was going to retch.

  She fought the feeling.

  Even face down, the skull seemed to be grimacing at her, or maybe it was laughing, taunting her sudden fear.

  Hey Starla, do you not see I’m your future? This is your fate. Did no one tell you how utterly stupid you were to put all your trust in this person from the outside? This walking disease. And now, she’s dragged you all the way out into the middle of the wasteland. Out here, you will die. At least back in Cooper there were other people; here there is nothing and no one. This place is a graveyard. This is where people go to die. And not just people, you Starla. This bald headed girl, she’s the angel of death.

  “He ain’t gonna bite,” said Ari.

  Starla looked up and saw the contours of Ari’s skull with her shaven scalp, almost bald, the taught cheekbones and sunken eyes, so pale and grey, and her thin lips drawn across her jaw. She was as skeletal as the bone structure lying face down in the dust.

  Starla started to shake.

  “Ya know sister,” said Ari. “We’ll be right.”

  Ari gave Starla a little smile; to Starla she looked like the reaper. The smile was unconvincing, almost a leer. Ari turned and walked on. Eventually Starla followed, half lost in a dream.

  Face down in the dust, the endoskeleton formed a permanent reminder for those that walked the trail. Beside these forgotten tracks lay the everlasting price of failure.

  ∆∆∆

  Finally, in the late afternoon, the landscape began to change. An outline of lumpy shapes formed along the horizon, and soon these became rocks and boulders. Smooth and rusty red, Starla welcomed these new features. In the endless whitewashed world of the dust plains, with little to focus on, her eyes had begun to strain.

  When the sun started to set and the sky began to turn pink, Ari dropped the bag on the ground and started making camp. She spread out the bags, emptying the contents onto the ground, and said, “Ya can let the dog of the cord now.”

  “He’s not going to run?”

  “I don’t think so, it’s gotten used to us now.”

  Starla sat down on her sack and undid the cord. As soon as he was free, the dog trotted off over the rocks out of sight. Starla sank her face into her hands. Her head thumped. In the darkness behind her eyelids, she saw the skull grin at her.

  You’ll die out here Starla. This place is a graveyard.

  The skull licked its lips. Starla smelt the foul stench of its breath.

  No, she told herself, I am my father’s daughter. I can do this. I will not die out here.

  She pressed her palms into the rolling balls of her eyes.

  I’m stronger than this. I’m stronger than this girl I’m shackled to. She’s a means to an end. I will survive this.

  I just wish my head would stop thumping.

  Still the skull grinned at her, its hollow eye sockets so like Ari’s.

  Then Ari said, “I think someone’s followin’ us.”

  Chapter 9

  Ari set out up the rock face. On the smooth surface, her boots slipped and she had to use her hands to steady herself. At the top, she shielded her eyes from the dying sun and followed the tracks south. In the middle distance, a thin column of dark smoke trickled upwards. Ari sighed.

  Dag it.

  There were two options; either someone else was travelling this way, or they were being followed. Neither was good news; in Ari’s experience people were almost always trouble, whether people from Cooper or tribesmen. Whoever it was, at least they were camped for the night. They must be travelling with stuff to burn. Maybe they’ll be slower? But, maybe they had vehicles.

  Ari looked down towards the camp where Starla sat on her sack, bent over with her head in her hands. She was suffering; this was bad. Starla couldn’t go on, she had to rest. And they didn’t have enough food or water. She’d miscalculated their provisions. They were almost out of water already. Ari knew she’d be fine, but for someone who had never left the city? And already Starla looked bad. She looked pale, she wasn’t walking straight and her eyes were getting that distant look, what people sometimes called the dust blindness. She was dying out here and they’d only been walking two days. They had a long way to go yet. Whoever these people were behind them, Starla would never outrun them.

  Ari slipped down the rock face and walked back over to the camp.

  “Ya know any reason folks would be followin’ us?”

  Starla shook her head, her face still in her hands.

  Ari knelt down. “You said ya were abducted. Ya know who by?”

  Again Starla shook her head.

  Ari sighed. “No idea at all?”

  Starla lifted her head. “My abductors were attacked. There was this argument, something about the big fellow.”

  Ari raised her eyebrows. “The Big Fella?”

  “I think.” Starla dropped her head back into her hands.

  “The Big Fella,” Ari repeated. If he was after them then he meant business. He had resources; guns, animals, maybe even vehicles. And this girl was the mayor’s daughter.

  “I guess ya didn’t think to mention this before?”

  Starla shook her head.

  Dag it, thought Ari. I really thought we had a chance, but with the big fella on our trail?

  This was trouble. Ari had no idea how much trouble but she knew it was trouble. In Cooper she’d known enough about the big fella to avoid ever getting in his way.

  And while they’re about it, she thought, they’ll either kill me or send me to the ore mines.

  Ari wasn’t sure which was worse.

  At least we’re ahead, she thought, for now. But depending on how they’re moving, they could catch up with us pretty quick. We don’t have the time to stop and camp. We need to push on. They might have animals or even a truck.

  Out from the rocks appeared the dog. He trotted over, the tail of a lizard hanging from his mouth.

  Ari studied the rocks.

  If they have vehicles, they won’t get over those. And on the rocks we wouldn’t leave tracks. Can dogs pick up a scent? Don’t they need something to follow? How should I know? Maybe they won’t have dogs? They’ll have weapons and ammo, they won’t need dogs.

  “Alright,” said Ari. “We can’t stay ‘ere long. We rest an’ when the moon’s up we move again.”

  “More walking?”

  Ari shook her head. “Now we climb.”

  Chapter 10

  Once the moon was up, Ari roused Starla.

  “Come on,” she said. “We can rest later. We ‘ave to get away from the tracks.”

  Ari didn’t bother putting the dog back on its lead. It seemed to be sticking with them anyway. Far away, she could hear the dingoes mournful song.

  Just another thing tracking us, she thought. Well, the dog’ll keep them off us.

  Moonlight outlined the dark shapes of the rocks. The dog bounded ahead, but Ari was more cautious as she clambered onto the first ledge. She turned and held out her hand to Starla. Starla’s eyes glinted in the moonlight. Ari hauled her up.

  In the darkness, they worked their way from one outcrop to the next, mindful of the perilous crevices. Ari shivered. It wasn’t the height that worried her, it was the falling. A height was nothing to be scared of, but you’d have to be crazy not to be worried about
falling ten foot down and breaking your neck.

  At some point, Starla fell. She cried out. Looking down, Ari saw a dark shape moving between the rocks.

  “Please,” said Starla.

  Ari felt around the side of the rock until her fingers found Starla’s. She gripped her hand and pulled her up. Her shoulder strained. When Ari straightened, she felt faint.

  “Ya gotta be more careful sister.”

  Starla clung to the smooth surface of the rock. “I’m trying.”

  When dawn broke, Ari found a shaded spot under a rock and they both lay down underneath. Ari refilled their canteens and they both took long gulps, then Starla fell asleep while Ari watched the sun climb higher. If people were following, then they’d see the trail dry up. They’d know they’d taken to the rocks, but they wouldn’t know where. We could be under any rock here. That, she considered, would have to do.

  She was utterly exhausted.

  ∆∆∆

  When Starla awoke, the sun was high and both Ari and the dog were sleeping soundly in the shade. It was hot, but bearable. Lying here was almost comfortable.

  Starla’s head felt clearer. She took a long gulp from her canteen.

  I’m pathetic, she thought, back there I was going crazy.

  She pressed the points on the inside of her arm. Still nothing. She examined the skin. The red welts had gone. Perhaps she wasn’t sick.

  She leaned forward, carefully undid her boots, and pulled them from her feet. Where the blisters had burst, dark blood had dried around her toes. Angry pink sores formed around the places where her boots rubbed. She stretched out the toes, peeling them apart. Through her shirt, she scratched at the side of her abdomen.

  She felt filthy. She wanted to wash. She wanted to eat properly. She hated the bread, it hurt her stomach, and she wasn’t touching the jerky. She took another long sip from her canteen.

  Ari stirred. She looked over at Starla.

  Starla finished the water in her canteen and screwed the lid back on.

  “Empty?” asked Ari.

  Starla nodded.

  Ari looked away. “Well, that’s that then.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, all we got left is what’s in my canteen. We’re almost out.”

  Starla raised her eyebrows. “What?”

  “No more water,” said Ari.

  “Where can we get more?”

  Ari smiled. “The sky.” She looked at Starla. “But does it look like it ever rains ‘ere?”

  “What do we do?”

  “Well, we’re probably gonna die ‘ere. Ya drank the water quicker than ya shoulda’.”

  Starla looked intently at the empty canteen in her hands. Where once it was heavy, it was now almost weightless. Water was life. A cage without a bird, like the broken ribcage discarded by the tracks; without life all you had was an empty shell. The difference between full and empty is the weight of existence. Starla looked at her scrawny arm; she’d not eaten properly in days. Soon she’d be as scrawny as Ari, and for the first time, she realised how much her face stung. Gingerly, she felt the dry, stiff skin.

  I must be sunburnt, she thought. Just one more indignity. Well, don’t just feel sorry for yourself, if you die out here it’ll be because you let it happen. You, Starla Corinth. You are your father’s daughter. You can do better than this.

  She looked at Ari. “We’re not going to die out here.”

  “What makes ya say that sister? No water, an’ the big fella on our tail. I’d say we’re pretty close to bein’ outa options.”

  “But you don’t know that. Maybe no one’s following us. Maybe they’ll carry on down the tracks.”

  Ari sucked at the corner of her lip. “Maybe.”

  But I’m my father’s daughter. Corinths don’t give in and die under a rock. Ari’s losing faith but I won’t. That skeleton on the tracks, that’s not me. “We need a plan.”

  “Ya got one?”

  Starla studied her canteen again. “We need water, we need supplies. If we walk now, in the open sun, without water we’ll die. If people are following us, then it stands to reason they have water. So, why don’t we take theirs? Why don’t we fight?”

  Ari grinned. “Because that’d be crazy. Ya not thinkin’ straight. Best thing we can do is push on an’ hope we find water.”

  “And where are we going to find water out here?”

  “Ya forgettin’ sister, I don’t even need water. I still have some left in my canteen, that’d do me two or three days at least. I can go this alone. But you, ya dyin’ out ‘ere. Ya only gonna slow me down.”

  “You’re forgetting our deal. You want in to the city then you get me there, and I can’t spend another day walking right now. I’m out of water, my feet are blistered, I have to stay.”

  “I ain’t forgettin’ nothin’. But right now, what’s the use of keepin’ to our deal if I’m just gonna die out ‘ere? Livin’s livin’ but dyin’s dyin’.”

  “Fine, go then. But, the way I see it, out here living’s not so different to dying. The way I see it, you’ve given yourself a choice.”

  “Yeah,” said Ari, sitting up. “Well maybe I ‘ave an’ I think I just made it.” She stood and, slipping her canteen over her shoulder, she stepped into the open sun. “Ya comin’ Dog?”

  The dog whined and rolled up next to Starla. She reached over and stroked its belly. “Looks like he’s made his choice.”

  “Well fine if ya wanna play pets under ya rock.” Ari slung the bag over her shoulder. “But I’ll be seein’ ya.”

  Ari turned and clambered over a nearby rock, leaving behind a stubborn silence.

  Chapter 11

  “Well, what do you want Max?” Starla paced across the room then turned to him.

  With his left hand, Max massaged the back of his neck. Behind him, through the windows, morning light drowned the coloured lights of the city, bathing the spindle like structures in a warm, yellow glow.

  “I came to wish you a happy birthday.”

  Starla almost smiled but caught herself. “Well, thank you.”

  “It’s not every day you turn eighteen.”

  “Well, I don’t feel any different today.”

  “You want to watch it though, too many birthdays can be the death of you.” Max grinned. Starla rolled her eyes. “I take it you’ll be at the party tonight?”

  “It's not like I can miss it.”

  “You don’t want to go?”

  Starla turned to the window. A monorail train, working its way between the buildings, glinted in the sunlight. “Why should I want to go? Why should I want to go anywhere my father wants me to go?”

  “But you’ll be there?”

  Starla’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Max. His busy fingers toyed with the edge of his jacket.

  “What’s it to you?”

  “Nothing,” replied Max. “I was just making conversation.”

  “My father sent you.”

  “No one sent me. Look, I’m just hear to wish you a happy birthday, that’s all.”

  “Well, you’ve wished it me. I’ll see you later at the party.”

  Once Max had left, Starla turned back to the window. It was unusual to see Max at this time. It was unusual to see anyone. There had been something strange about him. He almost seemed nervous. She remembered her fathers words, only two nights ago:

  “It's not about my legacy or yours, the succession of power is vital to our very way of life. With this, we secure all our futures.”

  ∆∆∆

  Ari squatted in a crevice, a short way from where Starla lay under a rock. She studied the ground intently. She no longer had a plan.

  She’d a mostly full canteen, plus food and supplies. She could still make the city, but she’d be stuck on the wrong side of the wall. She could make it back to Cooper, if that’s what she wanted, she didn’t have the dog but she could chance it with the dingoes. Or, she could go back for Starla.

  The big fella, she thought
. Ain’t no crossing the big fella. What was Starla doing, dragging me out here with the big fella on our tail? How could I be so stupid?

  A lump began to form in Ari’s throat.

  I could hand Starla over, but then what good would that do me? I’d be alive, but I’d be back on the salt plains, if they didn’t send me to the ore mines just for getting mixed up in this.

  Or I could go back for Starla…

  If we run, how far would we get? Not far enough I reckon. I shoulda brought more water. That’s my fault, if she dies out here Ari, that’s on you.

  And what if Starla’s right…

  But that’s crazy talk, likely to get us both killed, two of them against men with weapons and Maker knows what else.

  Then again, maybe we’re not being followed? Maybe it’s just us out here, and if so, we don’t have enough water for both of us to make it all the way to the swamp. But, maybe we’ll find water over the next rock?

  And there was the hope, rising up and niggling at Ari’s soul.

  Give up now, and you give up on both Starla and the city.

  Ari sucked at the corner of her lip.

  The mayor’s daughter. What do I owe her anyway? What do I care if she dies out here?

  But Ari, you could make it to the city.

  She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the lashes Starla had given her when they first met; two neat little crescent moons with perfect, bristly hairs.

  What good do these do me? I’ve been starving, digging up salt with my bare hands, barely enough to eat, while people in the city were wearing these? While Starla was wearing these?

  Ari closed her fingers into a fist, ready to crush the lashes.

  All these years, digging in the salt, while people were wearing these.

  Her blunt nails pressed into her palm and she felt the delicate lashes compress.

  Why did I bring these and not the piece of glazed white porcelain with the part of the blue bird?

  She thought of her little cave; the oil lamp, the bits of broken pottery and beads, the sketch on the wall; a little hut with the chimney and the two stick figures.