Spoons pitches the shelter on the land side of the ridge but takes four times longer, and with Reuben’s help. We would have preferred to have faced the sea but no one questioned why he chose that particular spot; we guessed he had his reasons. Once finished, he crouches and actually looks tired.
We eat a half-ration before settling down for a much-needed sleep. But like me, the others toss and turn for several hours before sleep takes us. The sky continues to grow lighter but moves behind the mountains. Rebekah explains this is due to our rotation and we’d have to wait a little longer for the sun we yearn to see, appear. We’ve come so far and no one wants to think this is the end of our journey, but if it doesn’t get warmer soon, we’ll have to accept our fate.
‘Come quick.’ I sit up, only now realizing I’d slept. Amos stands, gasping for breath by the open door. ‘The stars are going out.’
I rub my eyes. ‘What?’
‘The first sun, I think it’s coming. Quick, you have to see this.’ We climb to our feet, ignoring the pain of our empty stomachs, and pull on our boots. Outside, the sky is now a deep blue, for a moment I can’t stop the thought that Mother must be pleased, but this is nothing like her artificial dome.
Amos runs ahead. ‘Hurry, that’s nothing, wait until you see the color of the horizon.’
I follow, like a child, with a lightness in my step I’d not felt since the nursery. I keep my eyes on the sky ahead, and even before we reach the ridge I can see it’s changed. I hold my breath as I cross the top. My mouth drops open; I had no idea so many colors could all exist in the same sky. A red line, the color of the cherry on my birthday cake, separates the sky from the sea. This fades upwards through to pink, as if a finger has smudged the crayon into smears of orange, then yellow, then comes the light blue of the uniforms worn by The Chosen. But the sea is not to be outdone by the sky. The surface mirrors the colors above but adding its own magic, as the water ripples to bring the picture to life.
A few wispy clouds streak the sky as if a roof sits high above, but this is no dome. I tilt my head and almost fall back. But as much as I try, my eyes cannot see it all at once. I look to my awestruck friends.
We stand beside the water’s edge, still and silent, our chests rising and falling, taking in the fresh morning air. But, in the midst of the beauty, the wreckage of the fallen ship reminds us of our plight. My eyes are drawn to the broken wheel; the dark metal in sharp contrast to the soft colors behind. A glint! At the top of the wheel rim, a glimmer of bright light.
Rebekah whispers. ‘It’s coming.’
The deep red slowly fades to pink. Rays fan out across the sky, but not the hard, thick beams of our Metal Sun, these send yellow streaks high onto the pink and blue. Something breaks the flat line of the horizon. All eyes are drawn towards a sliver of dusky pink, peering over the edge of the world, spilling its light across the sea. Slowly it slides along the horizon, glowing brighter to reveal a little more until we can now see the curve. Whether it’s my imagination or for real, but I’m sure I can feel its warmth already, as if the beams reach out and stroke my face.
I blink. A tear runs down my cheek. I can’t touch the sky, but it can touch me.
Rebekah takes my hand and I wish we could stay here until the sun shines its last rays. I feel no hunger; have no fears, only hope for our future. I squeeze her hand as the first sun continues its journey across the top of the sea towards the wheel, now glistening across the whole of the rim. It briefly passes behind the thick edge and my face cools before the bright half-disc emerges from the other side. Still it rises, until it sits directly in between the two angled spokes, passing through the gate to proclaim our first day on New Dawn.
Amos is the first to break the silence. ‘I thought you wouldn’t want to miss that.’
I smile. ‘Thanks, Amos. It would have been a tragedy if we’d slept through it.’ I pat his shoulder. ‘Ha!’
He frowns. ‘What is it?’
‘You’re like the cuckoo from the story Moses told me.’
‘Cuckoo?’
‘The bird that sings to announce the arrival of spring. You woke us this morning when you saw the sun was rising.’
Amos scratches his head. ‘Yeah, but I didn’t sing.’
Reuben laughs. ‘Lucky you didn’t. I might have thrown something at you.’ He turns. ‘Hey look, even Spoons has come to watch.’ Spoons crawls to the water’s edge. He sits as two shiny plates rise from his back and tilt to face the sun. Reuben crouches by his side. ‘I wonder what he’s thinking.’ His metal skin pings. ‘What the—? Is he trying to speak?’
Rebekah looks up. ‘No. It’s rain!’ She tips back her head and holds out her arms. ‘Feel it. It’s pure water, water from the sky.’ I do the same. For weeks, we’ve had snow or cold, hard hail driven in to our faces, but this feels refreshing, washing our skin and hair. I open my mouth and try to drink but there’s only enough to wet my tongue.
I look to Rebekah. A drop of rain runs down her chin and onto her neck as her wide eyes scan the sky. But I can’t take mine from her face, as the pale sun rises in the happy sky of her blue eyes. My chest swells until it feels ready to burst. I want the sun to stop. I want this moment to last forever, for us to be alone. I want to know her as I had Naomi. But this would be different. No prying eyes would witness our private moment, an act of love no other could share, only us, just us, free to explore and express ourselves without a care in the world.
Rebekah sighs. ‘Are we the first?’ She turns. ‘Do you think…?’ she seems taken aback by what must be written across my face. She smiles, reading my thoughts and making hers know to me.
‘What?’ Amos steps between. I groan but he doesn’t notice. He frowns at Rebekah. ‘You were saying... do you think what?’
Rebekah’s tight lips answer Amos. ‘Do you think anyone else has seen a sunrise from here?’
I move to her and wrap my arm around her waist. ‘Who knows? We don’t know if any of those from the plain crossed the mountains, or if there were survivors from that ship, or even if—’
‘If people have lived here before us?’ Rebekah’s eyes trace the line of the horizon. ‘Did they have to leave their home like us?’
Reuben kicks off his boots. ‘I know one thing, I’m going for a walk in the water on this fine morning.’ He grins and wades in up to his knees, gasping before gaining his breath. ‘I can’t think why anyone would want to live here in this cold, but what about over there?’ He turns and points to the sun, ‘across the sea where it’s warmer.’
‘I wonder if we’ll ever find out.’ Beth bends to remove her boots.
I look to the wreckage. ‘How far do you think it is to that wheel? Amos? You seem to have the best eyesight, any idea?’
Both Reuben and Amos peer at the wheel with the now glistening rim and edges of the spokes catching the sunlight. Amos shrugs. ‘It’s difficult to tell, if it’s as tall as some of those mountains it might…’ his eyes widen, ‘you’re not thinking of trying to reach it, are you?’
I look to Reuben, then Rebekah. ‘If Spoons could build some sort of vessel,’ I click my fingers, ‘yes, like a raft from my book, then we could maybe climb up it, and see how far it is to the other side.’
Rebekah pulls at my hand. ‘But that could be dangerous, what if—?’
‘What if we can’t grow the seeds here?’ I look to my feet. ‘If the soil isn’t suitable, or if it doesn’t get warm enough, we’re in more danger staying here doing nothing.’
‘And…’ I turn to Jared, not realizing he’d joined us. He stares at the ship. ‘There might be supplies we could get from the wreck.’
I feel Rebekah’s grip on my hand tighten. I try to smile. ‘It has to be worth a go. The sea looks calm, and I’m sure Spoons could easily make something that will float, oh, and we’ll need something to push it over the water.’
‘An oar.’ Reuben sighs. ‘I used to listen to Abraham reading to Caleb. The hero in his story tried to leave the island using a raft… and an oar.’
Reuben glares at Jared. ‘If only we had the big man here. His strength would have been useful.’
Jared turns away to pick up a stone. He flicks his arm and skims it across the water. ‘I’ll volunteer if it makes you feel better. I’ll go with Noah.’ He looks to me. ‘It would be better if two of us went.’
‘Three.’ Reuben doesn’t take his eyes off Jared. ‘I’ll come as well.’
‘But why…?’ Jared looks to me, then Reuben, narrowing his eye. ‘Why take the risk when you don’t have to?’
‘Because,’ Reuben appears to be thinking of his reason as he speaks, ‘if there’s something on that ship, we’ll get it off quicker.’
Jared shrugs. ‘Okay, three it is then.’
Rebekah releases my hand. ‘And perhaps the sooner you get going, the better.’ She turns and starts to walk back towards the shelter. ‘The rest of us can make a start at finding suitable ground to plant the seeds. I noticed a stream back there we could use for water, and the higher the sun climbs, the warmer it will get.’ She stops and turns back to me. ‘But promise you won’t take any unnecessary risks.’