TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy) by Amanda May Bell
Authors: Amanda May Bell
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this time, he was telling the truth.
“You like this time segment,” I guessed, and he nodded.
“Education is highly inaccurate, but very simple, there are no hard chores to do, and everything is convenient and fast. The people here don’t have to grow up until they’re all of thirty turns of a marker, and even then it’s optional…….What’s not to like?” he asked me. I smiled.
“I don’t know about any of that, but I like the music here,” I confessed.
“You do?” he said, and from the doubtful look on his face, I could tell I was alone on that one.
“Yes…It’s carefree and irresponsible,” I said, as I realised he’d managed to identify exactly, the elusive quality that had attracted me to the music of this era. I frowned. “You do know all the convenience, chemicals and waste finally caught up with them don’t you?” I asked him mildly, and he shook his head.
“You’d think they would have realised Mother Nature just doesn’t tolerate that many signals in her atmosphere and all those poisons in her land and sea,” he said wryly. “But, we have a long while yet until the Meltdown. You and I could live out our lives here if we chose to. If I’ve been studying my history correctly, the marker in the park will be safe for about the next two hundred years or so,” he added cheerfully.
“Are you taking history at this school?” I asked him. He nodded and rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know why we have to go to school here. Almost everything taught in this era is completely wrong,” he said, and I smiled again.
“Do you notice how every era thinks they’re far superior to those in the past and they all think they have everything right? They look back on eras past and say, how could they have been so stupid? None of them realise, the next era says exactly the same thing about them,” I said. The boy grinned and shook his head.
“The people of the Synthetic Era are stupid. They pay for electricity and water, both of which are all around us and could be had for free,” he said. I smiled.
“We shouldn’t be too quick to judge them. Someone will probably say we were stupid one day in our future,” I said, and the boy looked at me with a very strange expression on his face before he hid it quickly behind another grin.
“It’s Morgan…..my name,” he said. I smiled and stopped walking.
“May the gifts of the River Zahar remain among us through time, Morgan,” I said solemnly, and I spoke in the old language again. Such was the manner of our people.
“And may time never be lost between us, Livia,” said Morgan, as he looked into my eyes. I stared back at him for a moment, transfixed by the expression in his bright, blue eyes.
“Evangeline was driven to school. You don’t have to walk, you know,” I said suddenly, before I began to walk again. It was the first thing that had come into my head and I’d felt compelled to fill the awkward moment of silence between us.
“You don’t have to walk either, so why do you walk?” Morgan asked me, and I shrugged self-consciously.
“I like being outside by myself. That doesn’t happen often for me,” I said awkwardly, and Morgan looked surprised again.
“Just you; all alone with your six guards,” he said dryly. I frowned at him.
“I think six is an exaggeration. I’m sure there’s only……”
“The man behind us on the bicycle, those two men jogging on the other side of the street, the woman just ahead of us pushing the baby carriage, which by the way doesn’t contain an actual baby, and that man in the Synthetic Era business suit; they’re all Aldiris guards,” he said, without pausing to take a breath. I looked at each of the people he’d spoken of and, when I looked closely, I could tell he was right. They were definitely Aldirite guards. I even recognised one or two of them who drove me to classes, and I saw a guard who ran with Mirren and I in the park. I folded my arms.
“That’s only five,” I said
“You like this time segment,” I guessed, and he nodded.
“Education is highly inaccurate, but very simple, there are no hard chores to do, and everything is convenient and fast. The people here don’t have to grow up until they’re all of thirty turns of a marker, and even then it’s optional…….What’s not to like?” he asked me. I smiled.
“I don’t know about any of that, but I like the music here,” I confessed.
“You do?” he said, and from the doubtful look on his face, I could tell I was alone on that one.
“Yes…It’s carefree and irresponsible,” I said, as I realised he’d managed to identify exactly, the elusive quality that had attracted me to the music of this era. I frowned. “You do know all the convenience, chemicals and waste finally caught up with them don’t you?” I asked him mildly, and he shook his head.
“You’d think they would have realised Mother Nature just doesn’t tolerate that many signals in her atmosphere and all those poisons in her land and sea,” he said wryly. “But, we have a long while yet until the Meltdown. You and I could live out our lives here if we chose to. If I’ve been studying my history correctly, the marker in the park will be safe for about the next two hundred years or so,” he added cheerfully.
“Are you taking history at this school?” I asked him. He nodded and rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know why we have to go to school here. Almost everything taught in this era is completely wrong,” he said, and I smiled again.
“Do you notice how every era thinks they’re far superior to those in the past and they all think they have everything right? They look back on eras past and say, how could they have been so stupid? None of them realise, the next era says exactly the same thing about them,” I said. The boy grinned and shook his head.
“The people of the Synthetic Era are stupid. They pay for electricity and water, both of which are all around us and could be had for free,” he said. I smiled.
“We shouldn’t be too quick to judge them. Someone will probably say we were stupid one day in our future,” I said, and the boy looked at me with a very strange expression on his face before he hid it quickly behind another grin.
“It’s Morgan…..my name,” he said. I smiled and stopped walking.
“May the gifts of the River Zahar remain among us through time, Morgan,” I said solemnly, and I spoke in the old language again. Such was the manner of our people.
“And may time never be lost between us, Livia,” said Morgan, as he looked into my eyes. I stared back at him for a moment, transfixed by the expression in his bright, blue eyes.
“Evangeline was driven to school. You don’t have to walk, you know,” I said suddenly, before I began to walk again. It was the first thing that had come into my head and I’d felt compelled to fill the awkward moment of silence between us.
“You don’t have to walk either, so why do you walk?” Morgan asked me, and I shrugged self-consciously.
“I like being outside by myself. That doesn’t happen often for me,” I said awkwardly, and Morgan looked surprised again.
“Just you; all alone with your six guards,” he said dryly. I frowned at him.
“I think six is an exaggeration. I’m sure there’s only……”
“The man behind us on the bicycle, those two men jogging on the other side of the street, the woman just ahead of us pushing the baby carriage, which by the way doesn’t contain an actual baby, and that man in the Synthetic Era business suit; they’re all Aldiris guards,” he said, without pausing to take a breath. I looked at each of the people he’d spoken of and, when I looked closely, I could tell he was right. They were definitely Aldirite guards. I even recognised one or two of them who drove me to classes, and I saw a guard who ran with Mirren and I in the park. I folded my arms.
“That’s only five,” I said
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