The Silent Girl (Chapter 22)

*Disclaimer*: This is a work of fiction. Some events may be based on real life, but some events are made up.

     As I swerved the white/gold helicopters, I kept an eye out for the woven-patterned one. But the helicopters whirred by as a blur, and I couldn’t get a good view of them. Maybe my idea would work? No, I told myself. It’s crazy to even think about it. It was certainly an odd idea, and it was crazy to think about, but I was desperate. June was my sister, my best friend, and my loving companion. I couldn’t lose her, I needed her!

Taking a deep breath to calm my pulsing heart down, I whispered in the woven loudspeaker, “Send a message to June’s helicopter, tell her to meet me above the fountain with the birds on it.” My heart stopped racing, it froze. I held my breath, closing my eyes, hoping against hope June would receive my message. There was a slim chance, almost no chance, but I had to try! 

I waited for a few minutes, then I commanded the helicopter to hover over the fountain with the two little stone birds. SHOW UP JUNE, I thought fiercely. Come on! But June wasn’t there. I waited impatiently. Another helicopter with fancy golden swirls swooped by. “Code red?” A primary-aged woman in the fancy helicopter said. The primary-aged woman in the helicopter had stunningly beautiful, shiny golden hair. She was wearing an equally stunning blue dress, though I could tell that she was wearing armor underneath. And her eyes weren’t very kind. 

I shivered. I didn’t know what “code red” meant, but it was probably something…, something bad. Now that I thought about it, it might have been something good though, to mix up the imposters pretending to be guards. That would make the guard system extra secure, so I went with that. “Yeah, everything is clear, there are no visitors, so no code green.” Before I had said this, I had swept up all my hair upfront so she couldn’t see my face. Luckily, the woman didn’t question me more, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. 

Soon, I saw the woven helicopter, with June, Bratty Bretta, and Coconut piled in. I smiled at them, and June smiled back. “I’m sorry June,” I said in the loudspeaker, hoping the helicopter transmitted messages even when there was no emergency. “I’m sorry I got angry at you.”

There was silence for a moment, but then I heard a voice that was talking through the loudspeaker say, “It’s okay. I’m sorry for bringing down all your ideas, I shouldn’t have done that. Oh, and you’re a great big sister, I look up to you.”

I smiled. “And your best little sister anyone could imagine.” Then my attention turned to Bratty Bretta. Anger flamed inside me, but I was so happy, I just wanted to keep being happy. “Who’s the girl?” I asked June through the loudspeaker. “And are you sure we can trust her?”

A pause. Then, “She’s my friend and her name is Cora. I can trust her, she’s smart, kind, and loyal.” June’s voice was bitter and defensive. I felt a dark feeling rise in me. Was I angry, fearful, frustrated? No, I had just made up with June! Then what was I? Then, out of the blue I suddenly realized I was jealous. Of Bratty Bretta. Or maybe her name was Cora...

I didn’t want to pick another argument though, that would break our friendship again, so I asked as patiently as I could, “Cora, are you from the line?” I knew if she wasn’t from the line of people ready to get their heads chopped off, she was rich. And if she was rich, she was snotty, selfish, cruel, and even sometimes crafty! We couldn’t trust her if she wasn’t one of the penniless. 

To my surprise, I was unsurprised. “I’m not from the line,” Cora responded quietly. “I’m from… I’m from Magnificent manor, a mansion in the-” I was about to interrupt and say, “See! I told you!” When June said something that made me change my mind entirely. “- But she was rescued!” June interrupted. “Cora was the daughter of a wealthy businessman who was actually generous and gave millions of dollars to the poor so they could live. But her parents died and her aunt came to live with her. The horrible aunt treated her like… like a slave! No! Worse than a slave! Like a criminal! She made Cora stay in a dusty, dark room with no lights and a hard floor with no bed, and she only got one meal every week, which was a plate full of rice and chicken and broccoli and sometimes only rice! Cora never got fruit or even desserts!”

I grimaced, feeling empathetic for the poor Cora. “Sorry,” I said quietly. “Sometimes I’m quick to… well sometimes I don’t know someone enough to trust them.” “It’s okay,” Cora said brightly. “June already explained a nice man named Samuel was taken prisoner in the castle, and we need to save him. Never heard of him though, maybe because… well maybe because I was cooped up in a… not good place for, uh, a few years.” In the end, Cora’s voice became sad and melancholy. I felt sad for her too, but this was a new day. “It’s okay,” I said gently. “Let’s just move on, we are who we are right now.”

Coconut told me her plan through the loudspeaker. “So I brought these guard uniform disguises for us all including a low cap that you can use to shadow your face. The uniform, which is white with golden button thingamabobs, and it’s really itchy, but we have to save my brother, Samuel. Listen, someone has to stay in these, these helicopters, or guard these helicopters. I’ll take the video transmitter off the helicopter, it’ll become real once separated from the woven piece. The transmitter can help us communicate with the person who stays. I think the person who should stay should be…” I sucked in my breath, hoping I didn’t have to stay at the boring helicopters. “...Cora!” 

I let my breath go, sighing relievedly. I turned my helicopter facing June’s helicopter. Cora looked happy, relieved, excited, and maybe even a little bit proud. I was proud of her. “Good job,” I told her through the loudspeaker. “We, uh, yeah, um, totally trust you too, yeah, basically, take care of, uh, our helicopters made of… Sorcery Straw.”

I knew I sounded like I didn’t trust her, and I knew that was true. At least a little bit. Part of me was telling me to not trust strangers, but Coconut had been a stranger, after all. The other part of me was telling me to trust Cora, she seemed kind and caring, and she might prove to be intelligent, or maybe even useful. Well, of course, I wasn’t going to use her, but as I was saying, Cora might prove herself useful. 

But right now was no time for thinking about Cora. “Come, we must hurry,” Coconut’s crackling voice said, emitting from the loudspeaker. “June, drive the helicopter so it’s hovering next to May’s. May, you hear me?”

I nodded my head, eagerly awaiting the task which I would be assigned. “Okay, good,” Coconut’s voice murmured. “This might be challenging for you, but-” “-But of course I can do it!” I exclaimed excitedly, pressing my mouth against the loudspeaker. “So what should I do?”

I waited for a second. No response. I waited for another moment, trying to push away the tingling fear rising inside me. “Hello? Coconut, June?” I asked, waiting a minute. No response. Another minute passed. Still no response. I looked out the helicopter window. There was no one in there. No one except… “Cora?” 

“Hi,” Cora said brightly. “Did you know the important task assigned to you was to stay with me?” 

I looked at her through the window. I knew I should be careful, but Cora was all I had right now, June and Coconut had seemed to have decidedly abandoned me. I looked at Cora for a moment, with her bright, cheerful, carefree face. “Okay…,” I said, unsure of what to do. Now that Coconut was gone, well now that Coconut was gone, I was feeling lost! But Cora needed me, she was young and ignorant, she had spent most of her life in a room! I sighed, looking out at the young girl who was excitedly looking back at me. I had to do something, be like a leader. But I wasn’t a leader, and I didn’t know the girl enough to, to act for her! “You decide,” I finally said.

Cora looked at me through the window, confused. “Decide what?” she questioned. “We’re just supposed to stay here, right-” “-Why would we stay here?!” I cried through the loudspeaker, throwing up my hands in an exasperated way. When I saw her hurt expression, I quickly added, “It’s okay. Coconut did want us to stay here, I know you’re just trying to do what you were told. But this world isn’t a world of orders. We don’t have to do what others tell us to do. Coconut was just trying to protect us, but we have to help her. We can’t just stay here, waiting for her to get imprisoned.” 

Cora looked at me for a moment. Finally she said, “Okay. But…, what should we, well what should we do?” I sighed, hoping I wouldn’t disappoint her too much. “Well… that's what I wanted to leave to you.”

It was awkward talking to June’s friend. We didn’t have a strong… bond, and she wasn’t my own friend. Besides, she was so much younger then me. But I felt I could trust her, like she was a good person deep down. “I think you, or maybe I should go in your helicopter. That way we can communicate better.”

Cora slowly nodded. She was young, maybe even younger than June, who was seven years old. I hoped she could process all the information, and help me formulate a plan. “Will you help me come up with something?” I asked.

I looked through the window, hoping, actually willing for a response. I needed her, I could tell she was smart. Yet I didn’t know how or why, she had been cooped up in a tiny room for years, there was just something in her. Something that made me feel happy. Happy towards her. Happy. That was the beautiful, merry, cheerful word. Happy, Happy, “Happy,” I said aloud, smiling as I did. I was truly happy. 

Cora looked at me curiously, but I could tell she wasn’t angry. Just curious. “I’m happy,” I informed her. “Now let's make our plan!”

Cora smiled shyly. “I think I already have a plan,” she said. “I’ll tell you, and maybe we can, wait, what's the word? Is it, is it…” “...I think it's stabilize, or construct,” I said, “I don’t know too many words either, but I know the guards, the horrible guards, at the line, they use the word when they aren’t happy about something, or something needs improvement.” 

“Now,” I said, trying to keep my excited impatience out of my voice. “Can you tell me your plan?” Cora laughed. “Yeah, that was what I was about to do. Can I come into your helicopter first?”

I nodded. “I’ll open the door, but get in real quick. The other helicopter people might see us. Hold it open, so that it guards one side, so that the other helicopter people won’t see one side.”

Cora nodded, and I drove a little closer, grabbing the woven handle. Open, I thought. The door swung open. “Listen,” Cora whispered. “Open my door.” “Okay,” I said. I didn’t know why, but I had the sense that Cora was trying to help. “Open the other door,” I said aloud. Cora smiled, and I drove a meter closer. Cora held out her hand. I grabbed it. “Now jump,” I hissed. Cora jumped. I felt pressure go onto my hand, and I moved back to give her space. Next thing I knew, she was right there in front of me.

“Do whatever my helicopter does and follow it around, which right now is hovering in the air,” I commanded June’s helicopter, which I had just noticed was falling like a feather. Light and steady, but going down. 

Luckily the helicopter did what I asked it to do. “Thanks,” I whispered and quickly turned back to Cora. “Okay, let's do this thing,” I said, trying to sound confident, although really I was depending on Cora much more than I showed. “So what’s the plan?” 

Cora smiled her sweet, shy smile again, and I immediately felt happy. “This will be so fun,” I said lightheartedly, closing my eyes to feel the beautiful, bliss sensation tingle through me. “I feel good about this.”

Cora smiled, clearly trying to appear enthusiastic and failing terribly. “Okay, so let's get onto it,” she said. “As you can see I’m wearing a guard uniform, Coconut lended me one in case something terrible happened. Anyway, there were some more lying on the floor of the helicopter. You can put on this one if you want.” She took the white and gold cloth out of her arms, draping it over the control panel. There were little golden studs on it, making me shiver. I wondered if they were also on the inside, if they would dig into my skin. To my relief, I turned it inside-out to find a canvas-made interior. “Do you want to put it on?” Cora asked. I shrugged, impatient to hear the plan. 

“Fine, I’ll put it on,” I grumbled reluctantly after Cora had giggled, daring me to put it on. It was just that I was so excited and impatient to find out the ultimate plan, I couldn’t think about anything else. 

After I had shrugged the stupid, itchy, horrible guard uniform on, I turned back to Cora. “Can you command the helicopter to, uh, like close the windows?” she asked. 

“They’re already closed.” My voice betrayed impatience. I couldn’t help it, I was exploding to know the plan! Maybe Cora was stalling, maybe she didn’t have a real plan, she was just trying to impress me. But she wouldn’t do that, would she? I sure hoped not, but I sure was very, very impatient. 

Although angry, impatient, and not at all happy with Cora, I agreed. If I could just get this over with, I could learn the plan, barge into the castle, and save Samuel once and for all! I would be the hero of my own tale. After I pulled the cords on the windows. “Can you pull the little string-things on the other side?” I asked Cora, my voice lightened. Doing something, even if it was just simply pulling strings, stopped my explosion of energy. 

Cora nodded. There were only three windows on each side, and I only had to pull six cords, so I was soon done. Cora for her part was having trouble reaching them. “Here,” I said, kneeling down. “Crawl onto my back, and I’ll hitch you up.” Cora nodded, smiling and poking her finger into her mouth. I felt happy again, and goofy, proposing to a small child to climb onto my back. But it was the good kind of goofy, and it made me feel happy, happy, happy, happy, “Happy”, I said. There, I did it again. Why did I keep wondering aloud.

After Cora had finished pulling the cords, I set her down again, and summoned two woven chairs. “Do you want to sit down?” I asked Cora. Cora stuck her thumb into her mouth again, a lock of her straight caramel-brown hair going in with the thumb. Her crystal-blue eyes twinkled at me innocently. She was just so cute, I wanted to pick her up and hug her till she smushed! But that could hurt her, I dared myself to resist. 

“Do you want to sit down?” I repeated. She nodded. I hefted the chair across the woven white floor. She sat. I sat on the other chair. “Can you tell me the plan?” she nodded again. I smiled, satisfied. “Okay,” she said. “Since we’re both wearing uniforms now I think we should drive in. Can you turn both helicopters into something that blends into the scene and is smaller? You know, something that can fit into a window?” “Okay,” I said. Then something occurred to me. “Why don’t you try?”

Cora looked at me, startled. “I, uh, well what if… what if it doesn’t work?” A single tear fell out of her eye, landing on her fleece plaid pants. I looked at the poor girl, a girl doubting her own plan, a girl who doubted her own making. My heart went out to her. “It’s alright,” I said softly. “You will be able to do it, you laid out this whole plan!”

Cora nodded, smiling weakly. “I’ll try,” she said. Then, as if she was talking to herself, she whispered, “But I don’t know if it’s possible.”

I ignored the last comment. It was probably private, and I would seem rude to respond to it. “Repeat after me,” I told her, staring right into her twinkling blue eyes. “I pledge-,” “-I pledge,” Cora repeated, giggling nonstop. “I’ve never pledged anything before,” she said as if it were the best thing in the world.

I narrowed my eyes, giving her the no-nonsense look. “Repeat after me.” I gritted my teeth. “And not while I’m talking.” Cora looked down. “Okay,” she muttered. I could tell she was embarrassed, but I was angry at her, and I couldn’t help smiling down at her shame. 

Then another tear fell out of her eye, and I had the immediate urge to comfort her. “C’mere,” I said. She ran over to me. “Sit on my lap.” Cora nodded, climbing onto my lap. She looked up at me again. I felt the urge to comfort her, to tell her everything was fine. And it wasn't Coconut and June had abandoned me, but I felt comforting, the little girl staring up at me with her wide, blue eyes, the blue beauties meeting my own chocolatey-brown ones. Cora put her finger through my cocoa-colored hair, twisting it around. I gently pulled my hair out of reach, and Cora laughed in delight. “Fun,” she said. “This is fun, but I do want to explain my plan.”

I smiled at her. “But first let’s continue the pledge,” I said. “Now be quiet, and repeat after me after I say everything. Can you do that?” She eagerly nodded. “Okay.” I was feeling a little doubtful if Cora could actually stay quiet for the whole oath, but I wouldn’t tell her that, it would break her little, but strong, heart. “So, repeat after I say the whole oath. Here we go. I pledge to have every bit of faith in myself and my companions as possible. I promise to be confident, be careful to, and keep my eyes alert. I promise I will not betray my companions, and keep safe. One more thing, I promise to make this journey as enjoyable, and fun, and exciting as possible.”

Cora smiled. “Okay.” She repeated what I had said. When she had finished, I told her to go into the other helicopter and try to turn it to camouflage into the air and to make it smaller. Once she was off in the other helicopter, I started panicking. 

I wasn’t faking my happiness or calmness, or anything, it was just that since Cora had left, I could really think. Think about how hard this was. Think about how horrible my ideas were. To really think.

I sighed, knowing I had to push away my fears, and just move on. I. Had. To. Do. IT!!! For Cora. Cora the young, kind, loving, innocent, little girl, who believed in me with all her heart. I had to do it. For Cora, for Samuel, for Coconut, for June! I HAD TO do it. I had to push away my fears, my fears of losing Cora, of losing everyone, of being alone, being alone in a dark, dark cell, waiting for death, oh I had to do it!