Visionaries

By C. Y. J. Murray

The vision in the water frightens Amba. Why are her family telling her to run away and who are these Visionaries she is supposed to find?

 

Visionaries are outcast in a kingdom where they are seen as threats and dangerous. If they are caught, they are taken to The Facility to be locked up and studied. Follow Amba as she discovers her gift, and finds that the poeple she trusts are not who they appear to be. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. Y. J. Murray
• Release date: Aug 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201077402

Book preview

GO

Slice, chop, slice, chop.

The sounds of a knife chopping vegetables was forcing Amba to wake. She reluctantly moved from dream state to conscious state. The smell of millet porridge filled the hut. It made her mouth water, she swallowed. Her eyes refused to open but she knew the sun was up as light filtered through her eyelids. The straw mattress was warm. She wanted to stay there for as long as she could. She snuggled down in the skins against her four year old sister Bex. Bex’s back was warm.

As if sensing she was awake, her Mother said.

‘Amba, get up.’ Demanding.

Opening her eyes, she sighed with regret. Perhaps she could pretend she was still asleep.

No. In a few minutes, her mother would pull the curtain back from around the cot, stand by her bed and demand she get up. Her Mother’s scorn would be enough. She resented that Bex was allowed to sleep longer. Her breathing was slow and deep in sleep.

The hut was warming up. The fire had not been lit long but it’s warmth had spread through the one roomed hut. Amba grabbed her dress from the floor where she had dropped it the night before. The rough fabric felt cold. The fawn dress was dirty. She had worn it three days. She would change into her other dress later. Finding the opening she pulled it down over her head and underclothes. The dress had no sleeves but the long sleeves on her under tunic would keep her arms warm. She threw the skins off and pulled on hose up to her thighs. On went short woollen socks her Grandma had made. She stood up, the dress fell to below her knee. Kneeling on the dirt floor, a search under the bed found the cord she used as a belt. The plain dress was shapeless without the belt. She pulled it tight and knotted it twice.

Dressed, Amba moved out from behind the torn curtain. She went straight to the fire in the middle of the room and watched her Mother.

Osha stood at the table chopping potatoes. She was dressed the same as Amba but she wore her shawl as she had got up in the cold. A piece of material was wrapped around Osha’s head to keep her long hair out of her face. Osha had long brown hair. Amba had the same colour hair but hers was wavy and always knotting. Osha made her cut it short, just above her shoulders to keep the knots under control. Osha was in her thirty third year. Her plain face was now lined and dry but her blue eyes were still clear and striking. Her mouth rarely smiled, her teeth clenched firmly together with tension. She always complained that life was hard.

Amba dreaded the time when she would be tending to a husband and children. It seemed like a joyless, hard job.

Their hut was one room. There were four straw mattresses on wooden cots around the two long walls. Makeshift curtains gave some privacy around the cots. Grandma was still on her mattress as was her younger brothers. The straw at the left end of the hut where the animals slept was empty. The animals, two dogs, four chickens and a young cow, had been taken outside by Amba’s Father.

The fire in the hearth in the middle of the hut was growing and warming. Suspended from an iron frame was their only cooking pot. The millet porridge bubbled. Amba’s stomach growled at the sight and smell.

Osha took off her shawl and threw it on the mattress she shared with her husband.

‘Go help your Father with the rabbits.’ She told her daughter without even glancing at her.

Amba kept her face still but clenched her teeth. She hated helping to prepare the meat.

She walked around the large table to the door. The soft leather shoes gave some resistance as she pulled them on. She took her shawl from a wooden hook on the wall and wrapped it around her. Her shawl was many years old and had holes. Grandma was making her a new one but it was taking a long time. The old woman’s eyesight was failing and she had to sit in the sun when knitting. On these cold days, there was little sun and it was cold for the old woman to sit outside for long even with a fire going.

Amba opened the door. The cold was sharp as it whipped in through the open door. She pulled the door shut behind her. Pulling the shawl up over her head she wished it was longer with less holes. The sun was just over the horizon. The chickens chattered around her feet pecking at the ground at the remnants of the previous days scraps.

The outside fire pit was black and cold. A bench made of a thick tree stump sat along the wall.

Vegetables were growing in abundance before her, then the row of fruit trees. Her father would be beyond those trees. She walked slowly to the apple tree which was the largest and stopped before it. She quietly looked around the tree. There was her father a few meters to the left.

Irin was a strong man. His black thick hair dripped with sweat. Blue eyes, a small nose and large lips made him the best looking man in their community. Amba had heard the other women talking about him. She wished she had been given her pa’s black hair and blue eyes. She may have found a husband by now if she had his strong looks. Irin was not tall which made him look stocky. He worked hard but not for himself. He worked the fields of Lord Mayos with the rest of the men and boys from their small group of huts. The fields were on the other side of the group of ten huts. Irin’s hut was near the woods that began at the base of the hills. Irin would spend all his day working for Lord Mayos only returning home for the midday meal and then again at nightfall. Osha and her Mother were left to tend the hut, the vegetable garden, the cooking, cleaning, knitting and weaving. Amba at seventeen helped around the hut but mostly she just got in the way. Her brother Wick at ten worked with his Father. He was allowed shorter hours. He would go later and return earlier. Lord Mayos was a good Landlord. They often heard stories of other Landlords whipping or starving their workers. Irin’s father had worked for the previous Lord Mayos. Irin often thanked his dead Father for the work he now had.

Irin had secured the dead rabbits back legs with twine. He hung them from a small branch stub on a tree. Swiftly and quickly, he took the skin off one rabbit and then the other, placing the skin carefully on the tree stump he used as his work bench. He then slit the rabbits down the middle and immediately the guts spilled out onto the ground. The guts were steaming in the cold morning air.

Amba felt her stomach lurch and nausea rose as the smell hit her nostrils. She turned away as the dogs muzzled the guts on the ground. She had tried to tell her Ma that killing and preparing the meat made her feel ill. Osha had scolded her. Irin had told her she had to learn how to catch and prepare the wildlife they ate. Amba had argued that Wick could do it. They told her that she was the oldest and at seventeen, she had to learn. Grandma called her useless and good for nothing. Ma agreed and Amba believed it.

Until a few months ago, Grandpa had helped Irin with the wildlife. Grandpa was gone. One morning he was just gone. Amba did not know where he had gone, no one in the house talked about it. Grandma and Grandpa used to argue most days. She hoped Grandpa had just left and Grandma had not killed him. A family had lived in the community a few years back. The man had beaten and yelled at his wife most days. She killed him in his sleep one night and pretended it were a bandit. She was taken away. Amba had not heard her fate.

Nor had she heard the fate of the other people in their community who had been taken or just disappeared for no apparent reason. No one discussed it.

The rabbits were ready. Amba took a deep breath and stepped out from behind her hiding place.

‘Good morn Pa.’ She called.

Irin turned sharply.

‘You need ta get up earlier to catch rabbits. I just finished.’ He stated. ‘Take these to your Ma. I must get off to the fields.’

Irin pulled the rabbits off the branch and handed them to Amba. His hands were rough and dirty. Amba didn’t want hands like that.

The rabbits were still warm and the dogs wanted them.

‘Shoo.’ Amba said as she pushed the dogs away with her foot.

Irin grabbed the two dogs by the scruff of the neck and Amba headed back to the hut.

Grandma Coral was up. She was dishing out millet porridge into a wooden bowl. Amba’s stomach growled with hunger as she dumped the rabbits on the table. Osha turned from her vegetable chopping and looked at Amba.

‘Wash those rabbits.’ She demanded.

‘Can I eat first?’

‘No.’

Amba put the rabbits onto the chopping block. It wasn’t fair that Grandma was allowed to eat while she worked. Her brothers and sister would be allowed to eat when they got up but she had to work first. It wasn’t fair. Amba felt that her mother was resentful that she had not yet found a husband. Osha was resentful that Amba had to be told when to do chores.

The bowl for washing the rabbits was by the water barrel. Amba grabbed it angrily and picked up the lid on the barrel. She held the lid in her right hand, she was about to put the bowl into the water but as Amba looked at the water, she felt a sudden sense of awareness of the surface of the water. It was still. Feeling like the water was pulling her in to it. She could see her face looking back at her. Her ears shut out any sounds around her as her focus was drawn to the water.

A different image appeared on the water’s surface. It was Amba. She was running, there were trees and the ground was rocky.

Amba sucked in air, her eyes became wide in panic. She dropped the water barrel lid and the bowl and jumped back from the barrel.

Osha grabbed Amba by the arms and shook her.

‘What happened?’ She said anxiously.

‘I saw myself running.’ Amba said in confusion. ‘A....a picture....on the water!’

‘Quick.’ Coral called. ‘I’ll pack her some clothes, Osha, get her some food. She has to go!’

Osha pulled Amba into her in a fierce hug. Irin was standing in the open doorway. Horror showed in his face. Osha looked at him and fought back tears. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she pulled away from Amba and held her arms again.

‘Look at me!’ She demanded.

‘What just happened?’ Amba asked with confusion.

‘You had a vision. You have to go.’

‘What? What are you talking about?’ Amba pulled away from her.

‘We don’t have time to explain.’ Coral turned Amba to her while Osha went to pack food. ‘Look at me and listen.’ Amba looked at her and saw eyes that were watery and skin that was wrinkled and pale. ‘You’ve had a vision. It’s forbidden. The soldiers will be here soon to take away the person who has had a vision. Don’t ask how they know, they just know. You must leave here. Go out the door and head toward the hills. You have to hide. There are Visionaries hiding in those hills. Don’t tell anyone you’ve had a vision unless they’re a Visionary. Your father has taught you to hunt. You’ll survive and you’ll find the other Visionaries.’

Amba looked at her and thought she was mad. She did not understand anything her grandma had just spoken.

Coral had rolled Amba’s clothes up in a skin. She fastened it onto Amba’s back. Irin had sprung into action, he was fastening a belt around her waist. It was his knife belt, which held the cleaned knife that had so skilfully skinned and gutted the rabbits.

‘You can ‘ave this to kill you’re food.’ Irin was saying.

Amba’s head spun. Now her mother was shoving a bag in her hand.

‘Don’t eat all this at once.’ She said.

Once they had done fitting her out, Coral grabbed her arms.

‘Now you must go.’ She hugged Amba fiercely and quickly let her go.

‘I haven’t had my morning food.’ Amba said weakly but no one was listening.

Osha grabbed her daughter into another hug. She let her go and turned away to hide her tears. Amba was surprised to see her ma upset for her. Tears came to her own eyes.

Irin grabbed her next in a hug. He loosened his hug and led her to the door. Out the door, Irin walked her to the edge of the woods without saying a word. They stopped, Irin hugged her again. He pulled away and looked into her face.

‘Go. Run for as long as you can, up into them hills. There’s a group of Visionaries hidin’ up in them hills. Hide from anyone you see. Don’t trust anyone unless you’re sure they’re Visionaries. You might have to wander around up there for a bit but they’ll find you. I’d take you up there meself but we ‘ave to act normal here and I’m supposed ta be over workin’. You’ll be grand. Jus’ run. Up there.’

He was pointing up into the hills. Amba was confused. She looked at her father in disbelief.

‘What’s a Visionary?’

‘Go!’ he said sharply pushing her away like a dog he has no need for anymore.

Her pa’s actions gave her a fear she had never felt. Amba turned towards the woods then looked back at Irin.

‘I don’t want......’ She began to protest taking a step back towards the hut.

Irin pushed her. ‘Get out of ‘ere or they’ll kill us all!’

The voice was angry but not loud.

It made her angry. Screwing up her face in defiance, she turned and walked towards the trees.

‘Run.’ Irin said urgently.

She ran.

CONFUSION

Running through the trees, trying to dodge branches, Amba tripped over a tree root. Tears were streaming down her face. Getting up, she ran again as fast as she was able through the thickening wood.

The morning was sunny and mild. The wood was alive with bird song. The winter had created thick, lush growth in the forest. Amba saw none of this through her tear blinded eyes. Confusion clouded her mind as she tripped and fell again. She sprang up immediately ignoring the pain in her knees and hands and ran.

She ran until she found the base of the hill. It looked steep and her running slowed as she picked her way up. Her breathing became hard. She gulped the air. Her mind began to clear. She felt foolish running like this when she was not sure what had happened. Her tears were drying up. She felt exhilarated from the running.

Was this a ploy to make her become more independent? Was the vision a trick? She had never heard anything about Visionaries or visions before. Who were these people she had to find? How would she know them? Her parents had made this up. Perhaps they wanted her gone. Her Ma was always complaining there was not enough food. Maybe they expected her to become lost up here and starve to death.

Her running slowed until she was walking. Fast at first, then slower until she stopped. Looking around she thought she must have come a long way.

Amba hid behind a thick bush. She sobbed as she tried to catch her breath. She untied the skin from her back and took her shawl off. While she was running, she had not realised how hot she had become. Her underarms were wet. Her face felt red and hot. Her chest hurt, her knees were throbbing and bleeding. How far had she run? She had no idea.

Calming now. Grief over. Anger kicked in. Her parents were trying to frighten her. It was a game. Her Ma was always scolding her for being lazy. She had fallen for their game.

She could play as well. They would expect her to come running back but she would take her time and cause them to worry.

She opened the bag of food. There was cured meat, bread, apples, carrots and a skin of water. She took a long drink of water. Her stomach growled and her hands trembled from the exertion of running and lack of food. The meat and bread smelt strong and inviting. As she ate hungrily, she watched a beetle going about it’s business. She had eaten half the bread and meat. Looking into the bag, she was surprised at how much her Mother had given her. Food was scarce. It would teach them a lesson if she returned with none left. She ate an apple, then a carrot. She wanted to eat it all but her stomach declined.

She leant back against a rock. It was hard and uncomfortable. She grabbed the skin that held her clothes and put it behind her. It provided comfortable padding for her back. She stretched out her tired legs. She could sit there for most of the day and get out of doing jobs at the hut. The weather was warming up after a harsh winter. Amba took her shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she dosed, listening to the bird noises around her.

She was dreaming that she was being watched, a noise snapped her eyes open. A feral cat was watching her through the bush. It was a big cat with bits of missing fur on it’s face and half an ear gone. The smell of meat had brought it hunting. Amba threw a rock at it and it scampered off.

Looking up at the position of the sun, Amba calculated that she had probably been gone for a few hours. It was time to head back. Standing up, she saw the way she had come and headed off.

It was easier going down hill than running up hill and she made good time. There was no running this time, walking and admiring the view of the woods would help her delay her return. The day could be appreciated. She was not entirely sure she was going the right way but she would soon come to the flat land and would know where she was.

She had been hunting in here with her Father. He knew this wood well. He had been a boy in this area. Born and raised in the hut where they lived. Osha was from Wolsted village a few miles down the road. Her and Irin had known each other since they were children.

‘He had the pick of all the girls in the village.’ Osha would often tell Amba proudly. ‘His pleasing look could catch any girl. He chose me.’

Irin had been seventeen when he decided to wed Osha who was fifteen. Osha’s parents Coral and Alber were pleased with the match. Osha could have made a worse match, she would not have made a better one, plain as she was. Irin says it was Osha’s eyes that won him over and her desire to say what she thought boldly. Amba was like her Mother in looks and personality. Her parents were yet to find a husband for her. One that would take her. Most men preferred their bride to be quietly spoken. She was too well known in the village and on Lord Mayos land as the girl who spoke out and was lazy.

Osha and Irin had been forced to wait until Osha was nearly seventeen to be wed. Irin’s Father had cut his leg while cutting corn. The cut had become infected. It had been a painful death. Irin’s Mother had died soon after from grief. Irin and his sister Mive had been left in the hut. Within the year Mive had found herself a husband at the age of fifteen. Irin took Osha as his wife and she brought her parents to live with them. Osha was the youngest and only girl of Coral and Alber’s family of five. Coral and Osha were very close.

Amba knew that her parents had been looking to other villages to find her a husband. She was destined to marry a man she did not know or love. She had to accept that.

Her directions were spot on. She could see her family’s hut through the trees. She decided to play this a bit longer and hid behind the trees to sneak closer. No doubt her Grandma would be sitting on the log outside the hut waiting for her. She would be laughing at Amba for being so stupid. Pa and Wick would still be working in the fields. Ma may be in the vegetable garden. Bale would be trying to help her. Bex would be crying for Amba by now.

As she neared the edge of the wood, she could see the hut clearly. Goosebumps erupted over her skin. It was not her Grandma that was sitting on the log, but soldiers. Two sat on the log, their brown leather tunic with long black leather boots, helms and swords were unmistakable. Another two stood by the door. A sound alerted her to the fact that more soldiers were among the vegetables and fruit trees. How many, she could not see.

This was no game. She remembered now that she had heard stories about the soldiers taking people away, but she had never bothered to learn why it happened.

She stood behind a tree. Fear made her still. Where were her family? Were they safe? What would happen if she walked out and declared her presence? She thought hard about the stories she had heard from the boys in the huts in their community. There was no talk of families being killed, just that some people were taken away by the soldiers. She could not remember if they said where they were taken. She had not been interested. Wick would know. He was always with those boys. She had no hope of getting near Wick. He would be in the fields with Pa.

A noise nearby bought her to her senses. They were coming her way.

Adrenaline suddenly made a presence and she knew she had to get away.

They had come for her!

VISIONARIES

Slowly she turned and as deftly and quietly as she could, she crept back through the woods using the trees to hide.

It had been stupid of her to come back. She had been a good distance away.

Sweat gathered under her arms and on her forehead. She concentrated all her efforts on not making any noise. When she could no longer see the hut, she ran quietly on her toes. Her father had taught her to be noiseless for hunting. She lost all sense of worry and moved as fast and as quietly as she could. She came to the rise of the hill and continued on along it’s base for a while getting as far away from the hut as quickly as she could.

Moving up the hill was harder but there was more to hide behind. She tried climbing a tree at one stage thinking she would sit on a high branch until the soldiers went away. It proved too hard