We both winced as we heard the sudden clatter of aluminium cans bouncing over a stone floor.
“Oh shit!” Button John’s muffled voice came. “Sorry!”
“I guess I need to go clean that up,” I said, and Natty ducked his head again, but not before his mouth quirked in a shy, genuine smile.
“It’s been a mixed bag,” I told the cat late that night, as I drank a dented can of Coke and pretended my office chair was the guests’ couch on a late night talk show and the cat was my host. “To be fair, the few people who haven’t wanted to murder me have been pretty nice, but I really do need to stress that they’re very much in the minority here.”
The cat stared at me, tail flicking.
From next door, I heard a loud burst of laughter, and the sound of someone playing the fiddle. The old church was full of people. I didn’t know what the occasion was, but I sure as shit hadn’t been invited. So I was hiding here instead, the lights turned on at the front of the house to let people know the station was open if, I don’t know, they noticed some flying pigs or something and decided to pop in and introduce themselves.
“But, you know, Brian—” I tilted my head at the cat. “You’re not a Brian, are you? Jerry? Alex? Frank?” I settled back in my chair. “But you know, Frank, life is all about the challenges, isn’t it?”
Frank the cat made a chirpy rasp of agreement.
“Like, when I moved to Dauntless Island, I really wasn’t prepared for the sheer animosity I’d be facing,” I said. “But pretty soon I won everyone over because I’m actually a decent guy, and I’m good at making friends.”
Frank mreeped again and, next door, the fiddler started to play something that sounded like a sea shanty, and everyone began singing.
“Because that’s what it’s really all about in the end, Frank,” I said. “Community. It’s about building connections, and helping each other out, because we’re all in this together, aren’t we? And at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is how we treat one another, with kindness, and dignity, and resp—motherfucker!” A generous and expressive flourish of my arm knocked my can to the floor, but I grabbed it before too much spilled, and set it back on my desk. “And respect. And definitely not ogling your cute yard guy.”
My imaginary studio audience clapped even louder than the sound of the party next door, but Frank the cat had fallen asleep listening to my bullshit.
Chapter 6
NATTY
Nipper Will might have spent every day from dawn to dusk on the Adeline, but it didn’t take long at all to find out I was working for the copper—for Dominic—and he didn’t even have to hear it from anyone else. It took three days for me to spill the beans. I was scrubbing my hands in the laundry sink on Tuesday evening, trying to get the dirt out from under my nails, when Will rounded the corner, unfastening his orange PVC jacket and shrugging it off. He stank of fish and sweat. Mostly fish.
“You done?” he asked, and I stepped back to give him room, even though I wasn’t. “Where’s Mum?”
“Inside,” I said. “She’s fine.”
Will slung his jacket over the edge of the sink and then leaned over to pull his boots off. His bib and brace came next, leaving him standing there in a T-shirt, shorts, and socks. He shoved his jacket and bib and brace in the sink, a long breath escaping him as he reached for the soap.
I tried to slink away inside, but Will’s sharp gaze raked over Dominic’s yard. It was getting dark, but it was obvious the yard wasn’t a jungle anymore. “He’s started knocking that into shape, then.”
I didn’t say anything, just shrugged and watched a cat walk along the top of the sagging fence between our yards. There was a light on upstairs at Dominic’s house, as well as down in the kitchen. I couldn’t see anyone moving around inside though.
“He’s got a lot cleared in a couple of days,” Nipper Will said.
I didn’t know if he knew or not, but if he did, it’d only look worse if I tried to hide it. I lifted my chin. “Me and Button John have been doing it,” I said. “It was my idea.”
Nipper Will narrowed his eyes. “The fuck would you do that for?”
“Because it’s not like I can get any other work, is it?” I squared my shoulders. “It’s not like you’ll take me out on the Adeline.”
Will slammed the bar of soap into the tub, his face twisting up. “We’ve been over this a hundred times. Why the hell can’t you shut up about it?”
“Why the hell should I? It’s unfair!”
“Unfair,” he mocked, and rolled his eyes. “You sound like a little kid.”
Maybe I did, but it was only because he made me feel as powerless as one. Sometimes I thought I should have stayed on the mainland instead of coming back home to Dauntless after school. The worst thing was, I was pretty sure Nipper Will thought exactly the same thing.
“It was my idea to work for the copper,” I said. I’d already told him once, but I wanted him to really fucking hear it this time.
He snorted and shook his head. “I don’t know why I thought you’d know better.”
