The ferryman, Eve, stood knee-deep in the long grass, the soft breeze pulling tangles of hair out of her sensible braid. She smiled down at the little face before her, the girl’s expression open and trusting even as trepidation widened her eyes.
“Don’t be afraid, Ruby. You’re here now, you’ve made it.”
Ruby’s lower lip trembled and the sun disappeared as a flurry of low-hanging clouds skittered over the mountainous crags to their left. It didn’t matter now, though, the ferryman thought. They were at the line. They’d made it through the wasteland.
“I want to stay here with you,” Ruby lisped. “Can I?”
Ruby moved forward to take Eve’s hand and, though it almost broke her heart, she stepped back out of reach to prevent it. Ruby’s lip wobbled again and Eve knew tears were coming. She steeled herself. Put on the stern face she imagined a teacher might adopt when faced with a stubborn child. That was the role she was playing, after all. Ruby was very fond of her teacher. She hadn’t balked at all about walking away from the piles of shattered tile and splintered wood that was all that remained of the old school gymnasium roof, brought down by a violent gust of wind, and out into the countryside for a nature walk, side by side with Miss Higgins.
“You don’t want to stay with me, Ruby,” she said firmly. “The bad creatures live here, remember? Besides, we came all this way to visit your grandma. Don’t you want to see her?” Ruby looked like she was going to burst into tears and say that no, she didn’t want to see her grandma. That she wanted to stay with Miss Higgins – or worse, that she wanted her mum. Sympathy twisting a knot inside her chest, the ferryman softened her tone. “She’ll be ever so disappointed if she doesn’t get to see you. I bet she’s even made your favourite treat. What did you say it was, fudge?”
“Tablet,” Ruby whispered. “She likes to make tablet.”
“She’s probably got some waiting for you.” Eve forced herself to smile.
Her grandmother was the only person Ruby had lost in her short life. Eve didn’t know what was beyond the line, but she hoped that Ruby’s grandmother would be there to watch over her until her parents could join them.
She tried not to consider that Ruby’s grandmother hadn’t made it, that she was one of the wraiths who had wailed and moaned outside their safe house, frightening Ruby into Eve’s arms. She’d cuddled and rocked the little girl until she’d fallen asleep every night – her child’s mind unable to comprehend what was happening to her, slow to understand it didn’t need things like sleep any more.
Surely the world couldn’t be so cruel as to steal Ruby from life at such a young age and then give her nobody to offer comfort in the afterlife?
Eve held firm to that belief, even though she knew, first hand, just how harsh and cruel life – and death – could be.
“All you have to do is take just a few more steps that way,” she said, her voice tight with emotion, “and your grandma will be there.” Ruby didn’t move. “Go on, now.”
Haltingly, uncertainly, Ruby turned away from Eve and started walking. She took one, two, three steps before looking back over her shoulder as she lifted her foot for the fourth. The last image Eve had of her was the frightened, vulnerable look on her face, a single tear tracking down her cheek, before she vanished across the line.
Though she knew souls never came back through, Eve lingered. Just for a while. She imagined Ruby could still see her and, though she felt foolish, she found herself lifting a hand to wave to the empty air. She hoped there was someone there for the tiny soul; she hoped she found her grandmother somehow.
Knowing she’d done everything she could for the child, the ferryman turned away. Ruby’s wasteland began to fade even before she started walking, as though chastising her for remaining there when there were other souls who needed to be ferried. But there was always another soul, and another. The cycle was never-ending – and few were as innocent and sweet and undeserving of their fate as Ruby. Eve was in no hurry.
As usual, the colour leached away from the ground and the sky, the mountains to her left and plains on the right melting away into nothingness. Eve kept walking, waiting for the next world to form. Would it be a city this time? Or the desert? A war-torn landscape showing the scars of decades of hate and violence? She hoped not.
Step after step. White mist swirled around her feet and the sky seemed to drop down on top of her, as if, should she reach out, she’d be able to touch it. On a whim, Eve lifted her fingers and skimmed what should have been nothing, and instead felt like smoke. Heavy, colourless smoke. It swirled around her fingers playfully.
This was definitely not normal. Something, somewhere, should have appeared by now. What was happening?
“Hello?” Eve called. “Is anyone there?”
No voice answered. No wasteland appeared.
Instead, the smoke thickened, pressing in at her from all sides until she felt she might suffocate. Eve tried to push it out of the way, to force herself through it, but it just slipped and slid round her form, coming closer again as soon as she stopped.
“Hello?” she called again, louder this time. “Hello?”
She turned left, then right, but she’d lost all sense of direction. In a blind panic she started running, relieved when the smoke gave way to let her through. She ran and ran and ran, until sweat poured down her forehead and exhaustion drove her to her knees.
The scenery didn’t change. Nothing but endless, fog-filled white. A sob burst from Eve’s lips, followed by another until she was gasping and crying, tears running down her face.
“Help!” the ferryman screamed. “Somebody please help!”