Enemy within

The day was bound for parties everywhere in town. It was St. Peter's Day and the last of the June parties before July took over bringing the dead of the winter to town. Renan told me (the little voice still a bit slow) that he used to love the vacations in July, the perspective of freedom it implied to him. The same boy who'd never have formal school classes again and therefore had no more vacation. I felt sorry for that tiny little round thing, in full enjoyment of his freedom inside the cage Taurinos was and kissed his ever-confused little head.

"You know, Miss Grisam, it's been three, four days since we last patrolled town, Anderson and me", he was still recovering from the kiss on his head, something unusual for him.

"And what am I supposed to do?"

He was silent, looking at the breakfast table not really willing to eat; to think it was him, that little bottomless bag.

"See if you eat a bit, there's corn bread, cheese bread, all you like is on the table. Doing without food won't be of much help, you know."

I was thinking about whether or not I should talk to him about the bell. Why not? Since the day I used the name "Obscure Police" when talking to him I've been wary of talking to him about these things. No wonder, he spent a night torturing me and Adriano for that until he "naturally" got used to the codename.

"Can you hear the tinnitus?"

"I was counting the seconds until you started talking about this, Miss Grisam."

"You could have taken the lead and brought up the subject yourself, no?"

"Why? What could you do to bring the bell back to its normal speed?"

Renan and master Danilo were so alike sometimes in what they said, seemed to echo each other. I could even delve into the subject, but it'd be paranoia in the current course of events. I told him there was really nothing I could do. Asked him who could. He told me Anderson was the one.

"Well, it was him who built that hellish thing, no?"

"Does it work?"

"When it's tolling normally, yes, it scares away most of the outsiders. Still we have to eliminate some "manually" jus' to play on the safe side."

"So we need to sit down with Anderson and talk."

"No way! If it's us talking he won't lend us an ear…"

"So what does he have in store for the town? Sitting there and waiting for the bell to come to a full stop and wait till the entrants catch you two completely out of energy?"

Knocks on the door. I went to see who it was and it happened to be master Danilo and Anderson. The latter came in serious, walking like he had been wounded, helped by the countryman. He didn't want to be there for the world, it showed clearly from his expression. Anderson sat down on the sofa beside master Danilo (the only one in his room he didn't see as an enemy). Renan sat down at my side and we were in silence for some moments until Anderson broke that silence.

"I do regret creating that crappy bell", he said, "it's just some more shit to fix right now", I had lost count of how many times he used the verb "to regret" in his everyday life.

"Yup, "sêo" Anderson, sooner or later it'll come to a stop", said the old countryman.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Anderson glanced at me with a cold look in his eyes and the hostile face enemies always tend to show us. He didn't reply to my request, what I took as an "yes".

"What's wrong with the bell?"

"What's wrong is that the bell lost its perpetual motion it had to have and is beginning to stop."

"Why?"

"Come on, if it's lost its movement it has to…"

"Make the burden lighter, Anderson. You know I'm asking you why it lost its motion, not why it is coming to a stop."

He let air out of his lungs, stared at me infuriated and said he had no idea why. That I could put it to his face he was a failure as an inventor.

"See the impaling machine you created worked miracles. I have had nightmares with it to this date."

"That serves you right! I'm happy, because that's what you deserve!", he montioned to stand up from the sofa and get at me, but was stopped by Renan and master Danilo from the very cradle of his action, "try to attack her again and I'll beat the shit out of you, chum", Renan showed him his fangs, while the countryman tried at once to hold Anderson and Renan apart from me and from each other, like a juggler would. I asked master Danilo to let go of Anderson's arm and asked Renan to calm down.

"You told Renan you were going to cast the bell?"

"Yup."

"Were you with Renan when you cast the bell?"

"Nope, he was here in your house."

Here comes the buzz again. More perceptible indeed. Still didn't bother us, but I still didn't know what was in the womb of time for us. Anderson added he had no idea how to bring the bell back to its normal tolling speed.

"How did you set that bell tolling for ever, "sêo" Anderson?", master Danilo wanted to know.

"I can't say, master Danilo", he said glancing at the countryman, "this is an issue for the Inner Chamber to handle. You belong to the Outer Chamber in the Obscure Police, are not entitled to any access to this knowledge."

"Do we belong to the Obscure Police?", I was appalled. Master Danilo explained that the Obscure Police, being a division of Taurinos' Ancient Society had us nine as its members two, only within the Outer Chamber. Only the two kids belonged in the Inner Chamber.

"You ought to have seen two circles on the ground during Anderson's initiation, didn't you? So the outer circle stood for the Outer Chamber and the inner one for the Inner Chamber, where only "sêo" Anderson and "sêo" Renan could stay."

The two lads were silent, a clear sign they approved of master Danilo's explanation. I had never seen myself (let alone master Danilo) as a member of the Obscure Police. The very thought made me cringe. Anderson broke the silence and declared, "what I can say is that I used the power of that lying eight (the symbol of infinity) we have on the helmet of our armor. We have a method to apply that power to an object and make it move for ever. Now about how it's made is something I cannot tell you, I have already said too much."

Seven o'clock p.m.. St. Peter's Night: beautiful, but under the shadow of a threat as everything else here. The kermess was really fun on the farm Taurinos. Master Danilo and I discussed the police kids and the afternoon talk about the bell. Its buzz grew more and more perceptible all the time. It wouldn't take it long to occupy more space than we'd want it to.

We went down to the bonfire where the countryman had left some yams resting on hot coals. We took a nearby table where he buttered the delicious pieces of the root and filled two mugs of coffee. Andrés joined the picnic bringing cheese bread, corn cake and Coca-Cola.

"What were we talking about? No, no, let me guess, it's about music… Musical notes… Bells… That's it, bells!"

I glanced at master Danilo and he smiled back to me. Andrés was fond of poking fun at things that worried me even knowing these things worried me because they were crucial for the town. I told them I sometimes thought that the boy knew nothing was going to happen and played the smart ass. If I found out it was the case one day, I'd find a way to abolish immortality here in Taurinos only to be able to kill him. And I'd do it slowly, pleasurably, savoring each moment of it.

"My goodness, Miss Grisam!", Andrés crossed himself. Master Danilo only grinned to avoid laughing out loud, "what about our engineer, how did you fare with him?"

"Tried to attack me again today", and master Danilo nodded, confirming my words.

"Then let's take him to the Council for insubordination, Miss Grisam! We can't let him get away with it!"

I talked him out of it, "no, we won't do anything, things are already harsh if they're half what you have told me. Now if he insists in that attitude, we'll have to talk and see what we can do."

"We arranged to go there during the night and get there in the morning. We'll have to take supplies, all this. The bell is on a tiny island in the middle of a lake up there. It's windy, very windy there at this time of the year."

"I'll come along", said the little Great Vizir, decided. A moderate vibration of the bell was heard around us, then it receded as any sound dies away.

"Heavens, then it's five of us, you, me, "sá" Stella, Anderson and Renan", added the countryman.

We wouldn't linger at the party. More complicated things waited for us. I tried to enjoy the moment at the party because I foresaw trouble ahead of us. I knew I'd miss the comfort and warmth of my house during the time in the bell's region, but didn't know much yet.