The Lamb and the Songbird
The girl was still holding a heavy text with both hands, ready to knock Sarah on the head with it. The gilt on the book cover glinted in the sunlight, picking out the title - The Principles of Quantum Mechanics - and the author’s name - R. Lutece - and Sarah stared at it, again?, then back up at her face. Her eyes were wide and greenish-gold, just like Sarah’s, but she was pale and the skin around her eyes a faint pink colour. The hair was so blonde as to be almost white and tumbled in frizzy curls over her shoulders and down her back. She wore a simple outfit of a blue skirt with a sailor-style shirt, a wide blue bow knotted at the front. But her face…
Sarah shook her head, breaking the spell, and got to her feet again.
“Look…” she said soothingly, holding her hands out placatingly, “I’m not here to hurt you, all right? My name’s Sarah. I’m here to take you home.”
The girl took a step back.
“Are you real” she asked, her voice slightly hoarse as if not used much. “You look...you look just like me?” She dropped one hand to her side, and the book fell with a dull thud . The other drifted towards Sarah’s face. A thimble covered the tip of her pinky finger. Sarah wanted to jerk her head back but was stilled by some vague whispering at the back of her mind, telling her that it was safe. She trailed her fingers down Sarah’s cheek, and Sarah felt - the laughter, the green place, hands holding hers. A finger dabbed at her upper lip and came away bloody.
“You’re bleeding.”
Sarah and touched her own fingers to her nostrils, wiping the blood away.
“No..it’s fine...it just happens sometimes.” She wiped her hand on her vest. A little more blood wouldn’t make a difference. “So, uh...what’s your name, anyway?” She felt lightheaded.
“Oh! I’m Helena. Helena Duncan.”
A puzzle piece moved into place and Sarah was nodding before Helena had finished speaking. Yes, of course, you’re Helena, of course you are. Then she frowned again. Duncan? That’s not...right.
She ran her hand through her hair. The girl - Helena - continued to talk.
“I’m sure I’ve...” Her face lit up. “I dreamed about you. I dreamed that we were friends!”
Sarah shuffled her feet, looking at Helena warily.
“Yeah, well...we’re not friends, are we?” But why do you look just like me?
Helena tilted her head, looking puzzled.
“You said you’ve come to take me home? But this -” she waved her hands around, “ - is my home? It’s always been my home.” Her hands fluttered back to her sides and she tugged at the ends of her sleeves. The words sounded unconvincing, like she was parroting something taught to her.
Sarah hesitated. She hadn’t really thought past ‘get the girl, get out’. And she really wasn’t prepared for this .
“Uh…” she stopped. Tried again. “So…” dammit. The girl didn’t even know she was in a cage.
She sat down on the small flight of stairs that led to the window and tapped her fingers on her knees.
“How far back do you remember?”
Helena frowned delicately, pulling at her bottom lip. Her gaze drifted to Sarah’s hands and her frown deepened. She bent over and poked a finger at the letters.
“What does this mean?”
Sarah looked down. She’d almost forgotten. She looked up again. Helena’s face was openly curious. So she didn’t know about the whole ‘False Shepherd’ deal?
“Oh...I don’t really know.” She shrugged. The letters itched and she rubbed them against her leg. Helena’s mouth curled up at one corner.
“My name begins with ‘H’”, she suggested. Her hands worried at each other. Sarah looked at them and pointed at the thimble.
“What’s with that? Are you sewing something?”
Helena glanced down at her hands, then hid them behind her back. Her lips tightened.
“No. It’s...I have…” she closed her eyes and spoke rapidly. “I have a deformity and need to keep it covered. Sister doesn’t like to see it.” She looked up at the ceiling, avoiding Sarah’s stare.
“Sister? Y’mean Sister Rachel?”
Helena nodded.
“But..she’s not really yer sister though, right? That’s just her...title, isn’t it?” Sarah said, slowly, trying to understand. If that was the girl’s sister, who had paid her to come here?
Helena finally met her eyes again.
“She says sisters look after each other. She...keeps me safe.” Her voice was tremulous.
Sarah gave her an incredulous look.
“By keeping you locked up in here? Don’t you want to go outside?” She waved a hand. “Talk to people?” She hesitated again. Then a thought struck her. “Maybe...go visit London?”
Helena’s face lit up.
“London? Is that where you’re from?” Her fingers crept to a lock of hair and started to twist it around as she talked. “I don’t know why but I’ve always wanted to go there! It looks so...I mean. In books…” she trailed off. Sarah desperately wanted to ask her about what she had seen Helena do, the way the air had opened up. She shuffled her boots against the carpeted stairs, and thought. Then she grinned crookedly.
“Why don’t we -” She stopped as a odd little tune started playing, like some kind of piping whistle. Sarah looked around wildly. Where the hell was that coming from? It stopped, then a whining siren started to blare. Helena had gone even paler, both hands at her mouth.
“He’s coming.” She darted forward and grabbed Sarah’s hands in hers, pulling her to her feet. For a moment they were face to face, blinking at each other and almost smiling, then Helena frowned and tugged.
“You have to go!”
Sarah was pulled along behind her like a kite string as she dashed from one end of the library to the other, almost crashing into her as she come to a sudden standstill.
“There’s no way out. He’ll find you.” she hissed.
Sarah shook her head, bewildered.
“Who’s ‘he’? Who’s coming? Guards?”
Helena pressed her lips between her teeth, eyes flitting around the ceiling and the gaping hole left by Sarah’s fall.
“Wait!” she called out. “Um...I’m getting dressed!” She shifted from foot to foot. Sarah pointed.
“What about that door?” It was similar to the ones out in the metal corridors, but bigger, and with a massive lock in it instead of a handle.
Helena gave her a look.
“No key,” she said in the tone of someone explaining something perfectly obvious. She fixed the lock with the same look she had given Sarah. “Haven’t been able to pick it.”
Sarah’s eyes widened and she slapped herself in the forehead, detaching her other hand from Helena’s to pull at her satchel and dig through it, fingers finding the box and scrabbling for the -
“A-ha!” she said triumphantly, brandishing the large key in front of Helena’s face.
There was a loud chirping noise - like a bird but somehow metallic. Sarah looked up.
“What is that?” she asked, but Helena had snatched the key and was spinning it in her fingers. Then she held it up to the light. Sarah realised there was a pattern cut into it, the engraving so delicate that she hadn’t noticed it before. On one side was a simple birdcage. On the other, a silhouette of a flying bird. Helena tilted her head and then nodded. There was another chirping sound, louder and closer.
“Uh, are you gonna tell me what the hell that is?” muttered Sarah, suddenly missing the comforting feeling of the other girl's hand in hers. As if she’d read her mind, Helena grabbed her again and pulled her over to the door, standing on tiptoes to slide the key into the lock.
It turned with a loud click and the door swung open. The two girls looked at each other with matching crooked grins. There was a loud crash from above them and they both looked up, then back at each other, then they were running, Helena towing Sarah after her.
“What is that? What the bloody hell…” Sarah panted.
“Songbird...looks after me.” Helena called over her shoulder. “Keeps me safe. Doesn’t like strangers.”
But what is he? Sarah thought, blinking as she watched the blonde hair bounce up and down in front of her, slightly mesmerised by the strange familiarity of the sight.
They’d run down a corridor and through another door, which led back into the wooden walkway that Sarah had used earlier. The siren was louder out here and there was dust being shaken from the ceilings. She began running faster, and started leading the way, Helena looking around distractedly at her new surroundings.
“C’mon! There’s an elevator through here!” she threw over her shoulder.
“A what?” Helena asked.
“A bloody elevator!” They dashed down the narrow corridors, passing the now-exposed rooms, and she felt Helena slow down, pulling backwards. A loud shriek rent the air, but she stopped dead, staring through the window into the dining room. Sarah yanked at her hand but she wouldn’t budge.
“What is this?’ Helena moved to the window and put her palm flat against it. “That’s...that’s my room. This...this is a mirror.” Her face was confused and wounded, her voice small. “They’ve been...watching me? This whole time?” Her hand slapped the glass, making Sarah jump. “Why?” Her face turned to Sarah’s, the pain in her eyes too bright to look at. Sarah shrugged, shuffling her feet.
“I don’t know. But maybe we should -” There was a scraping sound, like claws scrabbling on metal and Helena blinked. Her jaw shifted and she took another look at the empty room and then walked away, fast, holding Sarah’s hand so tightly it hurt.
“Helena? Hey!” Sarah reached out with her other hand and grasped her shoulder, and Helena flinched. Sarah took her hand away. “Look. I think we need to get out of here and then we’ll...figure all this out, yeah?”
Helena nodded, staring at the floor. They reached the elevator and Sarah jabbed the button several times in quick succession.
“C’mon, c’mon,” she muttered, shifting from one foot to the other.
They both jumped back as an ear-splitting shriek of tearing metal filled the air and three huge curved spikes thrust through the wall beside them. Sarah shouted,
“BLOODY HELL!”
She yanked Helena’s hand, putting herself between the girl and the gaping holes in the wall. There was a kind of jerking, fluttering movement and suddenly a giant glowing eye appeared in the torn metal. It was golden in colour, then, as it zeroed in on Sarah, darkened to red.
“What the hell is that thing!” she hissed back over her shoulder. Another piercing skreeek split the air, and the eye disappeared. There were more scratching sounds and the whining of more metal being ripped apart.
The elevator doors exploded in in bits of wood and steel as a huge bird head smashed them outwards. Both of the girls jumped backwards, crying out in unison. Sarah gazed in disbelief as the head turned from side to side, the shining red eyes fixing her to the spot. What the… it looked like a bird but one made out of metal and leather. It banged against the doorframe, trying to force it’s head through.
There was another whirring noise, just audible over the screeches and the siren, and suddenly the elevator arrived, smashing into the top of the bird's head and pushing it downwards a little. The huge beak opened and screamed, the sound somehow both robotic and desperate. It tried to move upwards again, but the elevator merely jolted a little and came down again, this time knocking the bird down the elevator shaft. The elevator went screaming down after it, sparks flying from torn cables.
It had all happened so fast that Sarah and Helena still stood grasping each other in shock. Sarah slowly let go and edged forwards, ready to jump back if the giant bird reappeared. She peered over into the shaft. All she could see was flashing lights and hanging cables and twisted metal…and a way out. I hope.
“C’mon, we can jump across, use those stairs!” She called out to Helena, holding her hand out behind her instinctively. She felt a hand slip into hers and she gripped it, briefly wondering why it felt so...natural. She raked her hair back out of her eyes, and eyed the gap.
Helena jumped across first, making the distance with ease, then Sarah, her coat flying out behind her. They joined hands again without thinking and ran up the stairs. These were metal, and their boots clanged. It seemed to be some kind of maintenance stairwell. The siren hadn’t stopped, and now it rejoined by the screeching of the metal bird, echoing up behind them at first, then moving higher, and closer.
“He’ll tear the building apart,” panted Helena, as they passed more flashing lights and rusty walls, adding “I don’t think he likes you,” with a slightly hysterical giggle.
“You think ?” scoffed Sarah, smiling a little despite herself. They reached the top of the stairwell and came up against another door, this one with a wheel in the centre.
Helena grabbed it, pulling to no avail. Sarah squeezed next to her and yanked, her arm and shoulder muscles screaming at her, and the wheel moved jerkily. The door swung open and they both tumbled through, Sarah grabbing Helena’s arm before she went over the edge of the walkway into the clouds. They were outside the statue, the moving skyline of Columbia just visible through wisps of clouds. Sarah saw a huge dark shape fly past, and down, partly obscured by mist, but she could make out the shape of wings. They looked more like bat wings than bird wings, and the wingspan must have been, jesus bloody christ, fifty feet, at least.
The sound of grinding metal and stone, and the birds screeches filled the air. The statue was swaying, and the two of them stayed low as they moved further up the walkway. Sarah realised they were on the very top now, right above the wings, and they were out of places to run. Songbird swooped by again, snapping its beak at Sarah, and she pressed herself back against the stone curve of the angel wing behind her.
Helena looked up from where she crouched just below Sarah, biting her lips, and then her eyes widened as the statue swayed and tipped sharply, and she slowly teetered backwards, falling into thin air. Sarah yelled and leapt forward, just managing to grab a hand, but her other hand flailed wildly, grabbing at the walkway rope only to find that was falling too. The two of them toppled through the air, Helena screaming Sarah’s name, Sarah desperately grabbing at the Sky-Hook at her waist, trying to force her hand into it before -
The Sky-Line rose out of the clouds, gleaming, and Sarah swung the hook around, trying to get a lock, Helena's hands still clasped around hers. She felt a moment's relief as the hook attached and they sped downwards towards the closest buildings. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the great dark shape of the bird speeding alongside them, then dart up and over and down, four sets of claws out, straight into a gunship. The bird and ship rolled and started to fall out of sight as the Sky-Line curved past a building, then back towards the statue. Sarah watched in horror as the giant head of the angel tumbled off, and fell towards them, passing by close enough to buffet their swinging bodies back and forth.
The Sky-Line sloped down to meet the suspension bridge below, Sarah throwing out various curse words as they were bumped and shaken, her arm almost numb from Helena’s weight. They raced perpendicular across the bridge and out the other side, gently lifting upwards. Songbird swooped by gracefully, red eyes glowing. The Sky-Line looped back to the bridge and now the entire top half of the statue was falling, giant pieces sliding off and down, a wing slamming into the bridge below them and breaking it into jagged sections. She could hear Helena screaming beneath her, and yelled her name in a vain attempt at comfort. Then, suddenly the Sky-Line twisted and snapped, sending them both plunging through the sky.
“Sarah!” Helena cried as her hands slipped away, her face white, and then gone.
In one bewildered second, Sarah thought I’ve lost her again, and then she was falling, falling, with nothing to grab onto.
The sunlight reflected off water, and there was time for Sarah to think oh there’s an ocean up here too, before she hit the surface with a splash, instinctively curling into a ball and holding her breath. Her eyes opened - the water was remarkably clear and she could see girders, and steel cables as thick as her leaving trails of bubbles as they sank. There was a muffled shrieking and Sarah kicked backwards as a huge dark shape dove into the water and swam towards her, head turning this way and that. It got close enough for Sarah to stare right into one large red eye. It was covered with a thin metal grill, and it twanged at some memory but Sarah was too terrified to think. As she struggled not to breathe, Songbird suddenly jerked backwards, the eye’s surface seeming to splinter and crack. A thin, echoing wail spread through the water, and the bird spasmed, grabbing it’s own head with its claws, backing away in distress and disappearing into the murky distance.
Sarah pushed upwards but couldn’t hold her breathe any longer and a stream of bubbles escaped her mouth. It was the last thing she saw before everything went black.
She was back in her office, but it was lit by a strange green luminescence that rippled across the walls. She looked around and saw a little girl with blonde plaits and strange golden eyes sitting on her desk, one leg swinging. Her heel hit the desk in time with the knocking on the door. The banging got louder and she ran to the door, flinging it open. Water poured in around the feet of Sister Rachel, who stood before her, leaning forward slightly with both hands on her cane, silver eye shining like a star.
“Bring me the girl and wipe away the debt,” she intoned. The words were echoed by the child behind her in a flat, emotionless voice.
Sarah slammed the door shut and turned to find the office empty except for a few gasping, flopping fish on the floor, before everything went black again.
✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜
There was nothing and then there was a burning sensation in her chest.
Sarah woke up like she was climbing out of a sinkhole, coughing and spluttering, feeling pressure on her chest. Her eyes blinked open to see Helena, her damp hair hanging in straw-coloured ringlets as she bent over Sarah, hands pumping downwards. Her eyes seemed to glint gold in the sunlight. Gulls wheeled overhead.
“Sarah? Sarah?” A hand patted her cheek a few times, pap-pap and Sarah opened her eyes again.
“Whu,” she mumbled. “Where,”
Helena looked relieved, and sat back.
“A beach. I think.” Her nose wrinkled up. “There’s sand?”
A beach? In the sky? Sarah tried to raise herself up on her elbows, and managed it for about ten seconds before she fell back down. She decided to stay prone for a while. It seemed...nice down here. A hand tugged at hers.
“Sarah?”
She flapped her other hand dismissively in the general direction of Helena, keeping her eyes mostly shut. She could just see the blue of the sky through her eyelashes, and the movement of Helena’s head as she looked around with frank interest.
“m’fine. Just gonna lie here. A bit.” The hand stopped tugging, and she felt it let go, after a gentle squeeze. There was distant music playing. She heard Helena whisper,
“Do you hear that?” Sarah could practically feel the girl vibrating with excitement, and she flapped her hand again.
“G’ have some fun,’ she said, “Dance.” She dug the back of her head into the warm sand and threw an arm over her face.
Helena clambered to her feet.
“I won’t be long,’ Sarah heard her say, then the sound of sand crunching under running feet, the sound of the distant gulls, the far-off music.
She drifted off to sleep.