Father said we were about the same age.
Then he wasted no time, the woman with the jar of water muttered. She sounded upset. Where is he now? How far away is your village?
How did you get across No Mans Land? the older boy asked.
How old are you? Rob wanted to know.
The woman snapped her fingers at the two boys, and they seemed to know this meant not to talk. And something occurred to Violet. Youre my second mom, she said. Youre Rose.
The womans cheeks twitched at this. She shook her head and opened her mouth to say somethingViolet thought maybe to say that she wasnt her mombut instead she just wiped at one eye and kept quiet. The two boys seemed to be waiting for Violet to answer all their questions, but she had already forgotten most of them.
I dont come from a village, she said. She rested her head on the pillow and gazed longingly at the jar of water in the womans hands. I came from a camp. It doesnt have a name, just a number, and we arent allowed to leave. There are tents and fences, and we can see the city from the camp. Kids from the city come to the fencetheres two fences, so if you get through one the other will stop youand some of the kids from the city throw candy through the fence and some throw rocksits usually the bigger kids with the rocks, which means the rocks come harder than the candy, but were told to stay away from the fence anyway
What kind of camp is this? Rose asked.
Like camping in a tent? Rob said, but he got snapped at again.
A mining camp, Violet said. Its where they blow up the ground and grab the worthy stuff out with their nets. Thats what the foreman calls them, but Father says they arent really nets. They have magnets in them. He knows all about wires and magic and stuff. They make us work the troughs for the heavier bits that drift to the bottom. We work with water up to our elbows all day, cold water. It makes your hands and fingers shrivel. People in the camp who come from the south call it the pruning flesh
Water up to your elbows, Conner scoffed. And wheres all this water come from?
It was clear he didnt believe
her. Father warned Violet this would happen, that no one would believe. The water comes from the river, she said. But you cant drink it. Some do, and they die. Because of the metals and the mining. The water for drinking comes from way upstream, past all the camps, but they dont give us much of that. Father says they starve our mouths and drown our arms just to drive us mad. But it didnt make me mad. Just thirsty.
Saying this won her another sip from the jar. Violet felt better. It was the sheets and the roof over her head and the jar of water and people to talk to.
Whats the name of this city? Rose asked. Wheres my husband?
The city is called Agyl. The people outside the fence call it that, but they talk funny, and Father says I talk too much like them because I was born in the camp. They say its a small city, but Father says its bigger than where he comes from. I dont know. Its the only city Ive ever seen. Just a mining town. The big cities, they say, are more to the sunrise, all the way to the sea. But thats
Whats a sea? Rob asked.
More snapping.
Tell me about the people in this camp, Rose said. How many are there? Where did they come from?
Violet took a deep breath. She eyed the water. There are hundreds, she said. Five hundreds? More. Most come from the sunset like Father. Some get there by doing something wrong in the cities. A few of these get let out after so long of working, but more are always let in. Our camp had a big number for a name, which Father said must mean there are lots of them. There are people in our camp who came from the north or the south and are already hungry like us. The ones who come from the sunset dont get let go. Not ever. They have fences and towers where they watch for them and nets to put them in.
How is your father? Rose asked. Her voice sounded funny. Violet eyed the jar.
Is it okay to have more water now? Its been a while.
Rose let her take a small sip. It reminded Violet of her father, getting a ration like this, and she started crying. She wiped the tears off her cheek with the back of her wrist and drank them too. Father said youd ask how he was and to say that he was okay, but Father doesnt always tell the truth.
This made Rose laugh, but then she covered her mouth and was crying, too. The boys were quiet without being snapped at. Violet thought of what she wanted to say, some of what she was told to say with some truth mixed in as well.
They dont feed us enough, she said. Thats what the adults say. And so people come in with muscles and then it goes away. Sometimes the people go away all at once. Thats when their sheets are pulled up over their heads. I always tucked my chin down like this She lowered her chin against her chest and pretended to hold sheets tight up against her neck. so it wouldnt happen to me. Father was stronger than most of the men there. Tall. With dark eyes and dark skin like the men from the sunset and dark hair like yours. She nodded to Conner. But I could lay a finger between his ribs while he slept, and his ribs would go out and in, and he gave me too much of his bread.