The Glass Sentence

32 Flash Flood

1891, July 1: 2-Hour 21

Tell me whether you hear the Lachrima,

That voice of Ages lost.

It has wept beside me once before

When I had no sense of its cost.

I traveled a lifetime seeking to flee

the grief it placed within me.

Now I hear it still, but its voice has changed

And I hear it only dimly.

—“The Lachrima’s Lament,” Verse 1

EVEN THOSE WHO lay far beyond the glaciers’ reach had begun to see signs of their advance: inscrutable signs, never seen since the Great Disruption, of an Age disintegrating at the edges. Howling storms seized the islands of the United Indies; colossal waves crashed upon their shores; weirwinds several miles long rambled like exiled ghosts along the deserts of the northern Baldlands; as far north as New Akan, the streets and farms were paralyzed by the unprecedented arrival of a snowstorm. And the changes were not only above ground; below the visible surface of the earth and all across the central Baldlands, the groundwater rose, pushed by a mighty force that transformed the very rocks and soil.

Theo was the first to notice, soon after Sophia was taken away, when the feathered mask he had tossed into a corner of the pit suddenly floated toward him. With a shout he was on his feet.

Burr rushed over. “What? What is it?”

“There’s water seeping in—fast.” Theo pointed at the growing pool in the corner.

“How fast?” Veressa asked quietly.

Martin put his ear to the dirt floor for several seconds. Then he stood, his face smudged and his eyes wide. “We should call the guards.”

Calixta began shouting at once, and Burr added his voice to hers, hollering up to the distant edge of the pit. After a moment, Theo joined them, putting two fingers in his mouth to emit a piercing whistle.

“How fast is it rising?” Shadrack asked, his voice tight.

“I predict that it will arrive like an underground tidal wave,” Martin said. “Probably it will be over in minutes. The water will recede again, but not before it has flooded the pit.”

“Will the shards come loose?” Veressa asked anxiously, looking at the studded walls.

“The soil is only a few inches thick. It depends on whether the shards are lodged in the soil or in the rock beneath it.”

“You mean the shards might—”

“Burst out from the wall in a torrent of water,” Martin said grimly. “Yes.”

Suddenly the wall nearest to them grumbled, and with a brief clatter a knot of soil and stones and glass shards was spat out onto the ground. The flood rushed into the pit after it, and within seconds they were ankle-deep in cold water. For a moment they all stopped shouting and stared, aghast, at the rising water around them. Then Calixta took a deep breath and released a high-pitched scream that the others echoed, redoubling their efforts to alert the guards.

Martin observed the wall with trepidation. “Better this way. Releases the pressure. Might prevent a greater breach. This is good,” he said over the shouting, trying to make himself heard.

No guard had yet appeared, and the water had reached their knees. Shadrack noticed with alarm that some of the smaller glass shards had come loose from the walls and were swirling—harmlessly, as yet—through the rising water. He began to feel his throat growing hoarse.

“How can they not hear us?” Veressa asked, exasperated, her voice cracking.

“What if I wear the gauntlets to cover my hands,” Theo said raggedly “and climb up on the shards?”

Burr turned to him. “I already thought about that. I doubt you’d get cut, with your boots and the gauntlets. But the problem is the glass—no single piece is thick enough to hold your weight. You would fall before climbing three feet.”

“What if you get on Shadrack’s shoulders and I get on yours? And then I jump out?”

“It won’t work,” Shadrack said. “Think about it—by my estimate that would put your head just at the edge of the pit. Even if we can pull off an extraordinary balancing act, how would you get to the edge without crushing yourself against the shards?”

“Stop planning and shout, will you?” snapped Calixta. “Once the water is high enough—and that will be soon, since it’s already at my waist—then we’ll stick to the center and float to the top. Shark circle.”

“You’re right,” Burr said at once. Seeing Theo’s confusion, he explained: “Something we learned once after a nasty shark ate our rowboat. We make a circle, arms linked, tread water.”

“That’s our best chance,” Shadrack agreed. They all resumed shouting at the top of their lungs, but he knew the water would rise over their heads before anyone arrived.

Minutes later, Veressa, Calixta and Theo were forced to start treading water. “Okay, shark circle now,” Burr said, pulling them in. “Right arm over, left arm under.” He put his right arm under Martin’s shoulder and his left arm over Veressa’s. “Ow. Except for Veressa. Those thorns are very pretty but dashed sharp.” He tucked his left arm under Veressa. With Calixta, Theo, and Shadrack they formed a tight circle. “If we start drifting toward a wall, Calixta and I will kick us in the other direction.”

Martin and then Burr and finally Shadrack, who was tallest, began treading water. There was no more shouting. The pirates managed without difficulty, but the others, who had not spent years on the sea, were soon out of breath and weary.

“Cheer up, crew,” Burr said with a grin. “Could be much worse. There aren’t actually any sharks. And soon we’ll be out of this damn pit.”

“Thanks to the water,” Calixta said, grinning back. “Couldn’t have planned a better escape if we’d tried.”

The others smiled weakly. Minutes passed. Shadrack kept his eye on the wall and estimated the shortening distance to the pit’s edge. The water had risen halfway up the wall when Martin suddenly dropped his head. “I can’t kick any longer—this metal leg,” he gasped. “It’s like carrying an anchor.”

“All right then,” Burr said easily. “Shadrack and I have got you—take a rest. Bend your other knee and rest the metal leg on it.”

Martin did so and sighed with relief. “I’m sorry,” he managed.

Silently, the others went on treading water. “Won’t you sing us something, Calixta?” Burr asked. “It would help us pass the time.”

“If you’d done half as much shouting as I’d done,” Calixta retorted, “you wouldn’t have the breath to ask.”

As Shadrack felt his legs growing numb from the cold water and the repetitive kicking, he realized that they were only a few feet from the top of the pit. He raised his eyes. “They’re here,” he panted.

The three men were looking down into the pit with astonishment.

“Don’t just stand there,” Veressa said wearily. “Get us out.”

“I never thought I’d be so glad to see the Nochtland guard,” croaked Theo.