The City by Stella Gemmell Read Free Book Online

struggled, nothing would shift it.
    Elija cried for a while, then dozed.
    He remembered when he was very young he slept in a warm bed in a room next to a chicken run. A woman with red eyes and rough hands would sing to him, a song with words he did not understand, which made him think of sunlight and warm breezes. The chickens would wake him each morning with their chucking and grumbling.
    He thought of Emly and wondered where she was. He knew she was safe somewhere, hiding until he found her. She was good at hiding. When they were small she would find nooks to hide in where even he could not find her. But she hated to be alone, and would always give herself away. ‘Here I am!’ she’d cry, and come running out to show Elija the clever place she’d found. Later she learned to stay quiet and not give them away. Later still she stayed quiet all the time, and she had not spoken to Elija for more than a year. Although he had thought and thought about it, he could not remember the last words she said to him.
    He wondered where Rubin was. In his mind’s eye he imagined Rubin finding him, rescuing him as he had before, giving him food and fresh water, telling him of all his adventures since they last met.
    They had first met in the Pedlar’s Hall, a wide crowded place where the two small children had wandered in their early days in the hope of finding food. It was a dangerous place, Elija later discovered, where children were bought and sold, or often just snatched away.
    A stout man with fat arms and only one eye had approached the children in the semi-dark. ‘You want food, children?’ he asked, and the dead weight of his voice made Elija clutch Emly close and move away, not speaking, not looking at the man.
    ‘They are taken, good sir,’ said a new voice. Elija looked round and saw an older boy walking quickly towards them, his bushy hair flaming red in the torchlight.
    The stout man scowled. ‘You’ve got their papers?’
    ‘Certainly, sir. See.’ The lad thrust a fat wad of paper at the man, and whispered to Elija, ‘Do not go with him, friend. He is an evil man. Come with me.’
    Before Elija could decide, the red-haired boy picked Em up and ran with her across the Hall, dodging and weaving through the crowds.Elija ran after them. Too late, the man threw down the useless paper and yelled. He started to chase them, but they were quick and he was too fat.
    Rubin took them through a maze of tunnels to a smaller well-lit Hall where there was food laid out on tables. No one sought payment, or shouted if they helped themselves, and they could eat as much as they liked. After Rubin disappeared Elija was never able to find the Hall again, and when he told other Dwellers of it they laughed at him, or called him mad.
    Rubin watched with patient amusement as they ate their fill. Finally, when the youngsters had had enough, he said, ‘I am called Rubin and I come from Paradise.’
    Elija munched and swallowed, reluctant to let the taste of the food leave his mouth, although he had eaten all he could manage and more.
    The red-haired boy grinned. ‘And now, you see, you tell me your names and we can be friends.’
    ‘I am Elija, and this is Em. Emly.’ Feeling this was inadequate, Elija added, ‘I do not know where we come from.’ When Rubin nodded sympathetically, he asked, ‘Where is Paradise?’
    ‘In the far east of the City,’ Rubin told him. ‘It is a place of great beauty. All the men are tall and the women kind, and they live in high golden towers. The sun always shines there, even at night, and every boy owns a dog. It is the law.’
    Elija looked at him suspiciously, fearing he was being laughed at. ‘Then why are you here?’ he asked.
    ‘To save you from the man.’
    Elija frowned. The food filling his belly was making his brain weary.
    The older boy said, ‘I see what you are thinking, Elija, and you are clearly a person of intelligence. You are asking yourself why you should trust me. You do not know