Arcadia Read Online Free

he’d never see them. He’s the last boy in the world.
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    They’ve lit the fire and a lot of candles as well, more than he’s ever seen before. No one’s saying it’s a terrible waste. In fact, no one’s really saying anything. They’re all gathered in the big room, everyone except Ali, who’s sick, and Doreen, who’s too old to sit up in the night. They’re all quiet except for Molly, who’s crying in little squeaky snuffles. Rory’s mother runs over when he and Viola come in and hugs him without a word. Laurel gives him a bleak red-eyed look and then turns away. There’s more light in the room than he’s ever seen at night before but it still gives out halfway to the high ceiling, so it’s like there’s a cloud of brown shadow floating over them all, drizzling unhappiness. The women take it in turns to sit by Molly, curling up around her, holding her hands, but no one seems to know what to say to her for long.
    He’s seen this scene before. Many times. Probably they’re all thinking how many times it’s been, except Pink, who’s managed to go to sleep in the seat under the tall window, wrapped in a (pink) blanket. After What Happened it was like this over and over again, women crying and holding each other, Rory never knowing where to look or what to say.
    For some reason his mother did it differently. She does her crying by herself, at Parson’s. He’s seen her get the album out and look at pictures of Jake and Scarlet, but it’s only when she doesn’t know he’s there. When they’re talking at bedtime she almost never cries. She likes to pretend instead that Dad and Jake and Scarlet are somewhere else, all fine, that they made it to the Mainland. Rory goes along with it. He used to believe it was true because his mother said it so often, but when he told Pink she laughed at him, how stupid are you, and she’s right, of course. Boats used to come and go all the time in The Old Days (and planes, and the helicopter). Now there’s nothing. Nothing survives the sea.
    Missus Grouse stands up. She’s an old lady and her skin’s blotchy. She’s always cold, even in summer, so tonight she’s wearing so many layers it makes her look as wide as she is tall.
    â€œWe ought to catch one of Them.”
    It’s the first loud thing anyone’s said since Rory arrived. Everyone looks startled.
    â€œWe really ought to. Why do we sit here and let Them do this to us? We ought to get one of Them and hang them from the gibbet where They can see.”
    Kate stands up and goes over to Missus Grouse.
    â€œI mean it,” Missus Grouse says, crossly. “They need to be taught a lesson. We’ve got to fight back.”
    Kate’s a grown-up but quite young. There’s a big picture of her on the wall of this very room, a painting. The Abbey used to be her house, if you can even call it a house when it’s more like a mansion. In the painting she’s wearing a black dress with sparkles and her hair is long and she looks sort of creamy, like a petal. The real Kate has almost no hair at all and wears trousers and sweaters like everyone else. Ol says she looks like a boy. (Said.) She leans close to Missus Grouse and says something too quietly for Rory to hear.
    â€œIt is exactly the time to talk about it,” Missus Grouse protests. “What’s going to happen to us if we don’t try to stop Them?”
    When she says that, half the people in the room turn to look at Rory. Molly’s one of them. In the candlelight her face is dead white and veined like the bowl of an old sink.
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    His mother wakes him up with a shh . It’s first light. Grey misery’s seeping in through the big window and spreading around a roomful of sleeping women and their various snores. Everyone must have slept in the big room