Read Online Sparkers by Eleanor Glewwe - Free Book Online Page B

it seems I haven’t been able to get away from death. First the woman killed at the Ikhad, then Gideon the pancake vendor. Now, death is actually before me, close enough to touch. Somewhere, the flutes play their hypnotic lament.

7
    T wo days after the medsha concert, Aradi Lamech brings us starfish to dissect. Leah will be so envious; much as she loves animals, she has no qualms about slicing open a specimen to study it. Since she’s sick, I partner with Miriam. We claim a spot at one of the long counters at the back of the classroom and cover our work surface with old newspapers from the stack by the sink. Aradi Lamech passes out the starfish on metal trays.
    â€œThis dark eyes illness . . .” Miriam begins after our teacher has moved off.
    â€œWhat about it?” I say brusquely.
    â€œMy father says it’s caused fifty deaths since last Seventhday. Kasiri and halani.”
    â€œSo many!” Each day another school desk is empty, and our mathematics teacher is ill too.
    â€œThere’s talk of plague,” Miriam says.
    Her words frighten me. I stare at the flabby starfish, wishing it didn’t look so lifeless.
    â€œI’m surprised kasiri are dying too,” I say. “Their doctors use healing magic on top of medicines.” I wonder if Sarah’s family has been affected by the illness. Every time I look at her drawing on my bedroom door, I marvel again that she dragged her tutor all the way back to Horiel to see me.
    â€œMy father says healing spells aren’t effective against the dark eyes. They relieve symptoms but don’t cure the disease.”
    I glance up from our specimen. “How does he know that?”
    â€œHe works for the post, remember? He delivered a package to a kasir pharmacy near Firem and overhead a doctor talking to the pharmacist. Apparently the doctor and his colleagues don’t know what to make of the dark eyes, and the Assembly’s just telling everyone to keep calm while they investigate.”
    â€œOf course,” I say bitterly.
    â€œThe strange thing,” Miriam pursues, “is that the grown-ups who’ve gotten sick have died within days of their eyes turning black, but—”
    â€œMiriam, could we please not—”
    â€œâ€”not a single child has died.”
    I pause. If she’s right, there’s hope for Leah.
    â€œMy father . . .” Miriam hesitates. “He’s been talking about leaving Ashara.”
    I look at her in astonishment. “Where would you go?”
    â€œOne of the other city-states, I guess.” Miriam takes up a knife and prods the starfish’s shortest arm. “Atsan, maybe. I don’t know.”
    â€œIt’s not easy,” I say. “Remember when Shaul’s family tried to emigrate? Their passport petition never got approved.” Leaving Ashara requires obtaining the proper documents, and it’s rare for the government to issue them to halani.
    â€œI know,” Miriam says. “You have to know someone, and we don’t.”
    â€œQuiet in the back!” shouts Aradi Lamech. “Are you following your charts?”
    We peer down at ours. The first step is splattered with ink.
    The day trickles by. At half past three, we troop into the history classroom for our last period. To our surprise, Aradi Mattan is hovering near the back row of desks, and a stranger stands on the teacher’s dais. When I take my seat, I realize with a start that it’s the District Hall official who knocked on our apartment door just over a week ago.
    â€œGood afternoon,” the kasir official says once the class has fallen into a wary silence. “I’ve come today from the District Hall to talk about what lies ahead for you as Final students, insofar as it concerns the district.
    â€œAs I am sure you are aware, you will become adults in the eyes of the district when you graduate. I understand approximately half of you