The Sacrifice by Charlie Higson
There was a shout and they returned their attention to what was happening below. Brendan had made it through Middle Tower and was being taken across the wide open space that lay to the immediate west of the castle where several cars were parked and the kids had collected piles of scrap. Ed watched the sad little group of children, the scarred side of his face twitching.
‘Maybe he’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘I mean, you two sprouts made it by yourselves. Brendan’s a pretty big guy, knows how to fight. There haven’t been a lot of sicko sightings lately. Yeah, he’ll be fine.’
‘Do you really think that?’ said Sam.
Ed laughed bitterly. ‘Not really, no. He hasn’t got a hope in hell unless he finds a safe place before night-time.’
Sam shivered despite himself, felt a wash of prickly goosebumps skitter over his skin. Seeing Brendan kicked out was upsetting him. He remembered how Brendan had looked when he knew he wasn’t going to be killed. How happy he’d been and then how he’d changed when he understood what he’d have to do. What exile meant. He’d pulled himself together and shouted at Jordan.
‘I’m not a coward! I’ll show you I’m not.’
But everyone could see just how scared he was.
It had all been really heavy and it had thrown Sam. He’d felt safe here. Something he never thought he’d feel again in the awful hours after being taken from the Waitrose car park. That night had been so extreme, so utterly terrifying, he’d already shut it away in some secret part of his brain. It was a film. It hadn’t really happened. To even touch on those memories would send him crazy.
The Tower had been a magical place. Properly safe. It was a real castle, built to keep out armies of knights. The walls were high and thick, there were always guards patrolling the walls, there was even the moat full of water. Grown-ups didn’t stand a chance of getting in. The thought of living like someone from the Middle Ages had thrilled him at first …
But he’d read enough about the Middle Ages to know that they were a time of violence and uncertainty.
Out there, where Brendan was going, was the real world. The world Sam would have to go back into if he was ever going to see his sister again.
On the other side of the open ground stood the ticket offices. The group of kids stopped and Brendan’s hands were untied. A girl ran up to him and threw her arms round him. Sam remembered what it was like at primary school when all the Year Six kids left, the hugs and tears in the playground, the weeping and wailing.
‘She loves him dearly,’ said The Kid. The girl let go of Brendan and returned to her friends. ‘But she don’t love him enough to go with him. Poor show.’
They watched as Brendan turned to shout something at Jordan. One of the guards levelled his halberd at him. Brendan spat on the ground and strode off past the ticket offices.
‘Not that way, Brendan,’ Ed muttered to himself. ‘Not the no-go zone, you idiot.’
‘Well,’ said The Kid, ‘I guess that’s the last we’ll see of him. Tutty-bye, old fruit.’
Ed shook his head. ‘I still think Jordan’s gone too far. He’s going to make himself some enemies if he carries on like this.’
They were distracted by a shout and laughter from the kids below who were working in the moat. A girl had slipped over and was covered from head to toe in filth, her hair over her face like strands of seaweed. When Sam looked back over towards the ticket offices, Brendan had disappeared. It was as if nothing had happened. Life went on as normal.
If only Ella was here, Sam thought. Instead of halfway across London.
4
‘What are they doing down there playing silly buggers in the moat?’ The Kid asked.
‘Trying to get rid of the water,’ Ed explained. ‘We need to drain it so that we can grow food again. It’s a good wide strip of land and well protected. We used to grow everything we needed there.’
‘Where did all the water come from then?’ Sam asked.
‘The Thames.’ Ed nodded towards the flat grey waters of the river that ran directly alongside the tower. ‘We can’t do anything to stop it rising. There used to be a barrier, well, there still is one, but it’s useless now.’
‘What?’ said Sam. ‘You mean to stop the water getting in the moat?’
‘No. To stop the river flooding everywhere.’
‘That’s the Thames Barrier,’ said Sam. ‘I’ve heard of it, but I never knew what it did.’
‘It was lowered whenever there was a tidal surge from the North Sea, otherwise London would have always been flooding. It’s not far downstream of here. There’s no one to operate it now, of course, and no power even if there was. Every now and then we get a really high tide and the water overflows the banks. The last one flooded the moat. It had been dry for two hundred years before that. The level drops a little every day and we’re working to bail it out. It’s only a matter of time before it happens again, though. And with the moat flooded we can’t grow so much food so the scavenging parties have to go out more often and they have to go further each time. It’s getting dangerous. The Pathfinders are really busy.’
‘What’s Pathfinders?’ Sam asked.
‘When we got here, Jordan Hordern arranged everyone into military units.’
‘Was there no one here before you came then?’ said Sam.
‘There were some kids, but they weren’t very well organized. Jordan took over from their guy – the one at the trial yesterday, half-Japanese guy? Tomoki?’
‘Oh yeah, I remember him.’
‘It was Jordan who really got this place together,’ Ed went on. ‘He figured there was loads to be done, but that most kids wouldn’t want to do the crappy jobs like cooking and cleaning and washing-up.’
‘Too true,’ said The Kid. ‘I would not want to join the royal washer-uppers. Not in any way, shape or form. No siree. That would not suit The Kid, thank you, madam.’
‘Exactly,’ Ed laughed. ‘But Jordan figured that if he made everything like in the army people wouldn’t mind so much. He put everybody into regiments. The idea was that each regiment would be proud of what they did and no regiment would be any more important than another. It works pretty well. Boys and girls are mixed up so that nothing’s seen as being either girls’ work or boys’ work, either.’
‘Have you got officers and everything then?’ Sam asked.
‘Sure. Each regiment has its own captain and each captain is equal.’
‘Are you a captain?’ asked Sam.
‘Yeah, I’m Captain of the Tower Guard.’ Ed said this casually, but Sam could tell he liked being an officer.
‘I want to be in your regiment,’ said The Kid. ‘Don’t want to be in the kitchen rattling them pots and pans, thanks all the same, don’t mind if I don’t. Not one time, for the money, not two times, not three times, not any time. The Kid is not for cleaning.’
Ed shook his head and chuckled. ‘Yeah, well, Jordan carefully chose the names of the regiments to sound more exciting than cooking or cleaning or, I don’t know, maintenance. The kids down there –’ he nodded towards the moat – ‘they’re Sappers. Anything that needs to be built or demolished or repaired is down to them. Anything inside the buildings – furniture, weapons, clothes, books, tools, firewood, whatever – is the responsibility of the Armourers. The Engineers look after anything mechanical and the Service Corps deal with all the food. Finding it, cooking it and growing it. The only other non-fighting unit is the Medical Corps, who you’ve already met.
‘Then we’ve got three combat regiments, each with its own captain. The Tower Watch, the Tower Guard and the Pathfinders. The Tower Watch are a sort of police force; they deal with any problems inside the castle. That’s Tomoki’s regiment. As I say, I’m Captain of the Tower Guard. Our job is to defend the castle and patrol the nearby streets.’ Ed pointed out a boy and girl standing on the walls below, scanning the area with binoculars.
‘We’ve got troops on look-out duty on the walls, the towers and the gatehouses all day and night.’ As
‘We also organize all the training,’ he said. ‘So you’ll be seeing quite a bit of me. Everyone has to do at least an hour of military training and exercise every day.’
‘Cool.’ Sam was excited. Maybe he’d get his own sword and armour. ‘So what do the Pathfinders do then?’ he asked.
‘They go out on the streets, guarding the forage parties and exploring.’ Ed rattled this off quickly, like he wanted to be done with it. Something was annoying him and Sam wondered if it was his fault, if he was asking too many questions. Ed glanced back to the two look-outs, who were still looking up in their direction and discussing something, like two bystanders at the scene of a car crash.
‘Keep your eyes looking outwards!’ Ed suddenly shouted, and they guiltily went back to what they were supposed to be doing. Ed muttered something under his breath.
‘Come on,’ he said, walking across to the stairs. ‘I want to show you something.’
He led the way down to ground level and they emerged at the bottom of the tower.
‘As you can see, we’ve got an inner wall and an outer wall.’ Ed seemed more comfortable down here. ‘And they both have sort of houses built into them. This road runs between them, all the way round.’
Sam and The Kid looked down the cobbled road that curved between high walls on either side.
‘It’s called Mint Street,’ Ed explained. ‘The buildings in the outer wall used to be where they had the Royal Mint. You know, where they made all our money in the olden days? Afterwards they were converted into homes called Casemates for the people who worked here. You’ve been staying in the sick-bay, but now we’re sure you’re OK you can move into one of the Casemates. Most of us live there. Except Jordan, who lives in the Queen’s House on Tower Green where the governor used to live. You’ll be OK here. If it was safe enough for the Royal Mint it’ll be safe enough for you two shrimps.’
‘Look after the pennies and The Kid will look after himself,’ said The Kid.
Ed didn’t take them down Mint Street, however; instead he started walking along the road that joined it, Water Lane, which took them past the riverside wall of the castle.
‘That’s the Bloody Tower to your left and Traitor’s Gate to your right,’ he said. ‘But we’re going to the old pub.’
They soon arrived at one of the buildings set into the outer wall where a petrol-driven generator was set up outside a window.
Ed gave it a friendly slap. ‘When we found this, it was the Engineers’ job to get it up and running. They scrounge petrol from abandoned cars. They’re also collecting any usable cars they find and we’re starting to clear the nearby roads. The plan is that we might one day be able to drive around here.’
Ed unlocked a large wooden door using a key from the ring that hung at his belt. He pushed the door open and the kids followed him inside.
On all the walls there were old regimental badges, flags and photographs of previous occupants of the Tower. At one end was a bar, still well stocked with drinks.
‘This used to be for all the people who lived and worked here,’ Ed explained. ‘We use it as our social centre now. Once a week they fire up the generator and we get to chill out with electric lights, music and DVDs. What do you think of that?’
There was a big flat-screen TV on one side of the room, with chairs lined up in front of it. Sam and The Kid grinned like greedy idiots in a sweet shop. They’d thought they’d never get to watch movies again.
‘Sit down.’
Ed got a couple of cans of Coke from behind the bar and gave them to the little kids. Even though the Coke was warm they drank greedily. It tasted unbelievably sweet.
Ed sat next to them. He looked serious.
‘There’s something I need to talk to you about,’ he said.
‘What?’ Sam’s heart was racing, whether it was because of the Coke or because Ed was making him nervous, he couldn’t tell.
‘I wasn’t sure whether to say anything about it.’ Ed’s voice was quiet and calm, like an adult giving bad news. ‘But, well, people are talking, word’s got around and I’d rather you heard it from me than someone else.’
5
Ed stared at his trainers. ‘I used to go to a boarding school down in Kent called Rowhurst,’ he said. ‘When it all kicked off, we were stuck there. One of us, a boy called Matt, was hiding out in the school chapel and got carbon-monoxide poisoning from burning a load of stuff to keep warm. He went weird. Started seeing visions and got God in a big way, a big weird way. He made up his own sort of crazy religion. Got obsessed by this kind of god he invented called the Lamb, said the Lamb was going to save us all, and he made this ridiculous banner, with two boys on it. The Lamb and the Goat, he called them. One was fair-haired, the other kinda dark. It was some sort of yin and yang thing, if you know what I mean, which you probably don’t. Good and evil. Something like that. I never could make much sense of it. Nobody could except Mad Matt. And the thing is, when you two first appeared here, strolling down the road in the rain, the thing is … well, you looked exactly like the picture on Matt’s banner. And people have been joking that you’re the Lamb and the Goat.’
‘Baaaaa,’ said Sam, copying Kyle.
‘Yeah. Baa is right. I mean, you must have noticed kids talking, like those two up on the wall?’
‘Yeah,’ said Sam. ‘I thought it was just because we were new.’
‘No. It’s freaking some kids out, some of the ones who knew Matt. We all headed into town together, met up with Jordan Hordern and his crew at the Imperial War Museum. Then a load of us came here.’
‘So you’re saying some people actually think we might be this lamb and goat?’ said Sam.
‘Baby goat,’ said The Kid.
‘What?’ Ed looked confused.
‘I’m The Kid, ain’t I? The baby goat.’
‘Yeah,’ said Sam, ‘but admit it, Kid, we’re not gods, are we?’
‘Speak for yourself, maggot.’
‘Well, I’m not gonna start worshipping you, you worm!’
‘OK, OK.’ Ed held up his hands. ‘I just thought I ought to let you know, all right? Because someone’s bound to say something. Like Kyle did. So come on then, we’ll carry on with the tour.’
They left the bar. Ed locked up and they went through the inner wall and up towards the White Tower. There were kids busy tending to the makeshift raised beds with wooden sides that covered much of the paved areas. The famous Tower of London ravens were pecking about between them. Big and black and mangy.
‘It might be cool to be a god,’ said Sam. ‘But I wouldn’t know where to start. I’ve always wanted magic powers … I don’t have any, though.’
‘I do,’ said The Kid.
‘No, you don’t.’
‘I do.’
‘Oh yeah, like what?’
‘I can talk to animals.’
‘Prove it.’
‘All right.’ The Kid shouted at a raven. ‘Oi, bird, get lost!’
The raven flapped noisily away, unable to fly on its clipped wings.
‘See!’
‘See what?’
‘I talked to it, didn’t I? Never said it would understand me.’
‘Idiot.’
‘Fool.’
‘Moron.’
‘Twitmonger.’
‘What’s a twitmonger?’
‘OK,’ said Ed. ‘I’m glad you’re not taking it too seriously.’
‘So what happened to Matt?’ asked Sam. ‘Is he here?’
‘No. We got split up on the way. Last I saw of him he was floating down the Thames on the wreckage of a boat. God knows what happened to him. I really hope he drowned. He was nuts and he was dangerous.’
‘I’m allergic to dangerous nuts,’ said The
‘I’m not sure about you, Kid,’ Ed laughed. ‘Half of what you say seems pretty switched on; the rest of it just sounds like gibberish.’
‘That’s cos I’m a gibbernaut from the Planet Gibber.’
‘That’s cool with me.’ Ed pointed out the kitchens and café where all the kids ate, the Waterloo Barracks, the Jewel House, which had once housed the Crown jewels, although he explained that he had no idea if they were still in there as it was impossible to get inside.
‘So what do you reckon then, guys?’ he said, sitting on a cannon outside the Jewel House. ‘You gonna like it here, d’you think?’
‘It’s great,’ said Sam. ‘I always dreamt of living somewhere like this, to be a knight and wear armour and carry a sword like you. Will I be allowed a sword?’
‘If you want a sword we’ll find you a sword.’
‘I love it here,’ said Sam. ‘It’s all amazing. But I can’t stay.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I told you I was looking for my sister.’
‘Yeah, but … ’
‘So I have to keep looking.’
‘But, Sam … ’
‘And I’m sticking with him,’ added The Kid. ‘Like chewing gum.’
‘As soon as we’re ready, we’re going to go to Buckingham Palace,’ said Sam.
‘You can’t.’ Ed looked appalled. ‘Don’t be crazy. I mean, you can’t just go wandering off out there.’
‘We did before.’
‘Yes and with a mixture of stupidity and dumb luck, and accidently finding your way here, you’re still alive, but you can’t risk it again.’
‘Come with us then. You could look after us.’
‘What? No. I’m needed here.’
‘It wouldn’t take long. You could bring some guards or something.’
‘I can’t put other kids in danger, Sam. Not even for you. We need to plan and … Don’t you get it, boys? To get to Buckingham Palace you’d have to go right through the no-go zone … Unless … ’