Read Online The Vanished by Sarah Dalton - Free Book Online Page A

fight against.” He slipped his fingers in between mine. We were entwined. Heat tickled at my stomach.
    “Is that a bad thing?”
    He chuckled. “No. It’s just a you thing.”
    It was another sunny day with a cool breeze, in Scotland it was never warm, and in the distance I heard the sounds of children playing. There was a school set up in the castle, but it always seemed to be suspended when the sun was out. Behind us the leaves rustled on the old Chestnut tree. Ahead of us the sweet sounds of the Children of the People swelled and rose. It was beautiful.
    “I’ve never heard anything like that,” Daniel said with a lowered voice. “It’s almost like the hymns that my mum used to sing, but with more… I dunno what… layers I think.”
    We approached with quiet steps; two outsiders observing from afar. I held Daniel back so that they wouldn’t notice us.
    “Ali said they don’t like to be watched,” I explained.
    The people swayed and danced, flinging their hands to the sky. Another young girl received her garlands and I explained to Daniel about the purpose of the ceremony. After she took her flowers, the rest of the group held hands while the children danced in the centre. At the end of the song the men broke the circle and lifted the young girl above her heads where she stretched out her body and contorted so that her head was thrown back. The men carried the girl around their paddock before putting her back on the ground. Then the ceremony was over.
    “That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Daniel said.
    “Yep,” I agreed. “I don’t know what to make of it either.”
    “Maybe they’re harmless,” Daniel suggested.
    Or maybe they weren’t. Despite the bliss of my first few weeks in the Compound I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. Perhaps I was just suspicious from Area 14, but I didn’t like the attitudes towards girls. They either seemed to be young mothers, heralded as some sort of sacred brood mare or carrying out domestic tasks. At the end of the day when the men came back from the fields or from fixing the barns or tending to water pumps they would collapse next to a campfire and drink beer. They never spent much time with the women. I’d come from a place where girls and boys were segregated. Now it seemed that adults segregated themselves.
    “Hey.” He yanked on my hand to bring me back to reality. “This is my first time out of hospital and you’re spending it worrying about everyone else.” His lop-sided grin was back and that warm feeling spread from my stomach to my heart.
    “I’m sorry,” I said.
    We moved closer and my heart quickened. I reached for his free hand so that all of our fingers were entwined and we pressed our foreheads together so that I could see nothing but his sea coloured eyes – those eyes which could so easily turn into thunderstorms and become endless pools of trouble. I was lost in them. Helpless at sea. Our noses touched and my face and neck burned. Our lips touched and his hands were clutching me to his body. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He tasted salty and sweet and something that was just Daniel. My kiss with Sebastian had been pleasant. This was everything else. It was desperate and essential and everything I wanted and more. Heat travelled up and down my body, so hot that I thought we were going to combust. My hands were in his hair, his golden hair, so unruly, so him.
    When we broke I had to catch my breath. I was cold without his body next to mine. My fingers drifted to my sore lips, and I looked down at my shoes. Daniel leaned forward and brushed my hair away from my eyes.
    “That’s better,” he said. His eyes changed into thunderstorms. “You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
    I felt the smile spread across my face before I even realised I was smiling. “I think I have some idea.”
    Daniel put his arm across my shoulder like I’d seen GEM boys do to GEM girls