“Who is coming?” Alice’s grip tightened on Zee’s shoulder. Zee just stared back at her, her green eyes wide with a slight crazed look in them.
Dylan put down his cloth and walked over to the women. The floorboards groaned under his shifting weight. He looked from Zee to Alice. The tension in the air was so thick, he could taste it. Zee seemed like such an innocent person. For her to be so frightened, it broke his heart. He wanted to protect her, but he couldn’t until he knew what he was protecting her from.
Zee sighed and let her shoulders sag. Alice kept her hands on them, though Dylan doubted that it offered any comfort to Zee. They both waited in silence for what felt like forever, hoping that Zee would be able to stitch together part of her hidden past.
Dylan wondered what it must be like to wake up one day and not even be able to remember who you were or where you came from. But maybe Zee’s experience was so painful that her mind had locked it up until she was ready to process it. The desert that she was wandering in must have been hell, but Dylan realized that her trek through it was probably less terrifying than what happened before she ended up there. When Dylan first found Zee, he thought she was dead. He was out searching for prickly pear fruit about a half a mile from his homestead when he thought he saw a burlap sack nestled in the sand. Hoping that it contained something useful, he inched closer. To Dylan’s horror, he observed that the sack clothed a young woman.
Dylan’s instincts warned him that the woman could be trouble, and Alice frequently told him to be weary of sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. The discarded woman’s pulse beat weak beneath his fingers, but she didn’t move at his touch. He weighed his options as the sun hammered down on him, but he knew that he would never forgive himself if he left the poor woman there to die. As gently as he could, Dylan scooped her up and carried her home. The sun was unforgiving, but he pushed through his discomfort in the hopes that Alice could nurse the stranger back to health. The woman was in such bad shape that Alice didn’t even give Dylan the dirty look that she normally would have if he created a potentially dangerous situation.
Dylan’s parents hammered into their heads that strangers were innocent until proven guilty, and this poor woman lost and dying in the desert had done nothing to prove to Dylan that she had done anything wrong to deserve that type of death. Odds were, she pissed off the wrong steam wagon master who decided that her life wasn’t worth the food to take care of her, so he probably discarded her in the desert, hoping the sun and the sand would claim her. Dylan and Alice unanimously decided to nurse the stranger back to health and worry about the consequences, and possible dangers, later.
A distant bell pealed in the distance, ripping through his chest like a sword piercing through his heart and bringing him out of his reverie. He held his breath. “It’s an inspection.” Zee gazed up at him, breathing slowly, as if there was something soothing in his eyes. At that moment, they all feared that the unexpected inspection probably had something to do with Zee.
“Take her downstairs,” Alice whispered, looking around as if she was afraid to be overheard. She finally let go of Zee’s shoulders, as Dylan took her hand, careful not to press too hard on her pink skin. He could feel her vibrating with some sort of energy, like she was harnessing some forgotten magic within herself.
Zee is a secret that someone wants the world to forget. The thought reminded Dylan of something that his father had told him and Alice long ago…
Without a word he led Zee across the creaking floorboards to behind the bar. He leaned over and tossed up a small throw rug that his mother made. He reached for a long knife from under the bar and used it to pry up floorboards that were attached together like a make-shift trapdoor revealing a set of stairs that led into a dark basement.
“I can’t give you a light or they might see you. Try to be as quiet as you can. Will you be okay?” Dylan asked, noting the terrified expression on Zee’s face.
“Is it small?” Zee stared into the dark, a look of apprehension etched across her delicate features. “I don’t like small, dark places.” A shiver crept up her spine.
“No,” Dylan said with a smile. “It’s quite large. As soon as I can, I will show you what it looks like with a light on.” He gave her a hand to help guide her down the stairs and into the awaiting darkness.
Zee held onto herself, hugging her warm skin. She couldn’t see the walls around her; the blackness was suffocating. Zee knew this feeling. Being locked in the dark in a tiny space was all too familiar to her. She just hoped that she could remain calm. It’s quite large. She held onto Dylan’s words like a lifeline.
Yesterday Zee would have given anything to remember a shred of her past, but right now she hoped it would stay buried. It didn’t seem like it wanted to. The memories began to float to the surface, and suddenly she could remember spending days locked up in small, dark places. Zee couldn’t remember why, but she had a feeling it was punishment. Punishment that one day she could no longer take. So when she had enough, she found her forgotten strength.
Footsteps clacked overhead on the floor. Holding her breath, Zee peered above, straining to see through the cracks between the boards. The muffled voices above wafted down to the basement. She couldn’t make out everything, but it sounded like Alice and Dylan greeted someone. A man answered. He had a cruel voice. Zee didn’t have to make out what he was saying to know that it was Knox.
She shut her eyes and let her memory of him fill her. Zee envisioned his chiseled jaw and deep-set eyes. Those eyes were an ice blue and sent a shiver down Zee’s spine every time he looked at her. He was a mountain of a man who would pick her up and throw her in seclusion if she didn’t correctly follow their orders. There was some sort of cruel scent that clung to him, like he had an ancient evil residing inside his human form. The dark energy surrounding him was so strong Zee could always feel the change in the atmosphere when he came anywhere close to her.
Pieces were coming back to her, but she wasn’t yet sure how they fit together. Knox was some sort of an enforcer, enacting punishments as he saw fit and keeping people in constant fear of him.
She wondered if Alice and Dylan knew of Knox. He laughed wickedly, loud enough for the gravelly sound to dig into her ears. She wanted him gone—and soon. He was far too close for comfort.
Soon after the laugh, Zee heard footsteps headed towards the door of the bar. She finally let go of herself with a sigh of relief. She didn’t move for the next fifteen minutes, listening as Dylan and Alice carried on upstairs as if nothing was out of place. When the door above popped open, Zee had to stifle a scream, as she jumped from being startled.
“I’m coming down,” Dylan said from above. A yellow glow from a candle accompanied him as he crept down the stairs, sending illumination in all directions. Zee glanced around as her tiny, dark universe expanded. Boxes with cloth strapped to the front of them stood by her like tall guardians. There were stacks and stacks of what looked like cardboard pictures next to them. They ran in tiny columns along the side wall, directly beneath the bar above. Wires ran everywhere, like tiny rivers. Books were piled on shelves along the back wall.
“What is this place?” She whispered, amazed at all the forbidden stuff that surrounded her. I fit right in, she thought, knowing that Knox was here looking for her. If any of this stuff was ever found by Knox…
“Our grandparents started it. They didn’t want the old culture to be lost. My family has been passing down knowledge to our descendants, trying to keep the memories of the past glories of our culture alive. I’ve learned how to make them work.” Dylan scanned the room. “It helps me to get by, knowing that one day things won’t be like this anymore. Alice thinks it is foolish,” he added.
“I don’t think it is foolish,” Zee reassured him, noting the definition of his muscles, which looked more chiseled from the shadows cast from the candle. “What are those?” Zee pointed to the tall boxes with the fabric stretched over the one side.
Dylan smiled. “That’s the pride and joy of the collection. A record player complete with records and speakers. I’ve almost figured out how to get it to work.” Excitedly, Dylan pointed to the small steam engine on the floor that had wires connecting it to the record player. When Zee just stared at him blankly he added, “It can play music.”
Zee clasped a hand to her mouth. She was so delighted. Even though no one aside from Alice knew that this place existed, they were resisting. In their own small way, they were resisting. “Can you read?” She pointed to the bookshelf.
“Yes. Both Alice and I were taught to read.” A steam whistle blew overhead. “I’m sorry, but you have to stay down here. Feel free to touch anything you like. I’ll come back once the steam wagon is unloaded.”
Zee nodded with a smile. “Thank you, Dylan.”
He paused before climbing back up the stairs. “Don’t worry, Zee. We’ll keep you safe.”