Part 6 (2/2)

of town and worked in a descending circle, dipping and tilting her lantern into piles of brush that the War Effort had placed the day before the death of Caldor Clemens. On a parchment it looked like this: [image]

The last home she set fire to before escaping down one of the tunnels was her own. When she ran inside, her chest hurt from breathing so hard and her blue dress was covered with ash. She looked out the window and saw the plains burning and the blacksmith s.h.i.+p sailing away in the distance. She walked around the house, lighting the walls with a growing flame as the children and townsfolk yelled beneath her.

Come on, Bianca, they said. Come now before you burn to death. Their fists pounded the soles of her feet.

She slid a floorboard to the side and saw all their dirty little faces underneath.

In you go now, said one of the smallest children from deep below.

As she climbed down she thought she heard her father scream her name.

Six Reports from the Priests 1. We can see Bianca in the distance. 1. We can see Bianca in the distance. 2. She runs from brush pile to brush pile dipping her lantern and sparking flames that are spreading throughout the town. 2. She runs from brush pile to brush pile dipping her lantern and sparking flames that are spreading throughout the town. 3. She's wearing a blue dress and yellow socks, and drawings of kites on her hands and arms glow in the light of the fire. She is a streak of color with long black hair. 3. She's wearing a blue dress and yellow socks, and drawings of kites on her hands and arms glow in the light of the fire. She is a streak of color with long black hair. 4. There are seven of us here in the woods. We have no place to go without the direction of our Creator and with the fire reaching the first line of birch trees. We fear for our lives. 4. There are seven of us here in the woods. We have no place to go without the direction of our Creator and with the fire reaching the first line of birch trees. We fear for our lives. 5. The snow turns to pools of water around our toes. There's a loud creaking sound that echoes through the woods. 5. The snow turns to pools of water around our toes. There's a loud creaking sound that echoes through the woods. 6. The last thing we see is the blacksmith s.h.i.+p moving through the town. It divides shops in two. Splinters of flaming wood spin through the air. 6. The last thing we see is the blacksmith s.h.i.+p moving through the town. It divides shops in two. Splinters of flaming wood spin through the air.

The Girl Who Smelled of Honey and Smoke I write in huge letters FLIGHT RETURNED FLIGHT RETURNED.

TO TOWN.

and fold it into a little square and go back to bed with February.

When I wake in the middle of the night, I have an idea. I make a drawing of a New Town on parchment, and that, too, I fold into a little square.

In the morning I take the folded squares and place them under the pillow of Thaddeus Lowe. Thaddeus repeats out loud the sentence FLIGHT RETURNED TO TOWN and smiles.

Thaddeus wore the light box

on his head when he ascended in the balloon toward the holes in the sky. Beneath him the town was flames and dark smoke. It filled the sky around him. From a great distance, where the rest of the town was climbing up from the tunnels and into their new homes, they could see the balloon glowing with each pulse of flame and a box of light flickering in the darkness.

What's going to happen to him, said one of the children.

Maybe he's going to die, said another, throwing a large burlap sack of clothing onto the ground.

He's not going to die, said another child. He's going to be with the Creator.

Bianca was in her new home. She watched out the window the old town in the distance burn to the ground. She saw the balloon light and disappear, and she played the ancient game of Prediction. She saw a box of light sitting on the shoulders of her shouting father. The kites on her hands and arms burned. She wanted to throw the kites out from her fingers and into the sky and tie them to the balloon and pull her father back to earth. She saw the balloon ascend to the two holes in the sky. She saw the balloon stop.

The top of the balloon

was stuck. Thaddeus climbed out of the basket and up the side of the balloon. He had draped thick ropes there for this purpose. When he came to the edge of the hole in the sky, he pulled himself up and kicked against the balloon. He crawled on his stomach until he was completely inside a large room that looked just like House Builder's home. It was dark except for a small lamp that sat on a desk. The room smelled like honey and smoke, and Thaddeus walked around a little before hearing footsteps and hiding behind the furniture. It was the girl who smelled of honey and smoke. She carried a steaming cup. She sat down at the desk and began to write. All around the desk were little squares of paper tied with blue ribbon.

h.e.l.lo, whispered Thaddeus, peeking over a piece of furniture.

The girl who smelled of honey and smoke didn't hear him.

It's me, he whispered a little louder.

The girl who smelled of honey and smoke turned around.

You, she said. Go away. What are you doing here. I'm trying to save you from February.

I know what's going on, said Thaddeus. I know that February lives here and he is a mean man who named House Builder and his wife February and the girl who smelled of honey and smoke.

She looked at him. He's not a mean man, she said. He's just confused. He didn't know what to do with your town. But I'm helping now. It's over. February has given up. I'm giving you a New Town and a new life. You really should go.

How big is our town, Thaddeus asked, looking back through the hole in the floor, the sky of the town.

I have no idea, said the girl who smelled of honey and smoke. I mean it when I say you should go back. Everything is going to be fine now.

Is February here.

Yes, but he's sleeping.

Thaddeus said, I want to see February.

No, you can't. There's no point in it.

I want to see February, said Thaddeus.

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