Isidor

I remember seeing Melody Rose as I made my way through the town of Lake Lure. The town was a crisscross of narrow streets, and each one was lined with tired-looking shops and houses. People passed along the streets and between the narrow alleyways that separated the buildings. At first I feared that everyone would stare at me, that they would know I was different to them somehow. I was paranoid that they would stop and point at me because of those scars that ran down the length of my arms. But no one paid any attention to me at all. All of them seemed too busy and preoccupied with their own lives and daily business to even look at me.

As I crossed the main street, which seemed to cut the town in two, I heard someone shout, "Leave me alone!"

The voice was female and she sounded more frustrated than scared. I stopped on the pavement and waited to see if the girl's voice came again. It did.

"Don't touch me!" and this time, the owner of the voice sounded upset.

I followed the sound into a narrow alley that ran between a restaurant and clothes shop. Down one side of the alley stood several large rubbish bins. Each of them was spilling over with rotten food, which I guessed had come from the restaurant. The stench made me want to puke, so I covered my nose with my hands. It was then, as I passed the bins, that I saw Melody for the first time. There were others gathered around her, but it was Melody I saw first.

Her hair was mousey coloured and pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. On her head she wore a dark bonnet which was secured beneath her chin with a length of black cord. Her skin was pale and there was no colour to her cheeks. She wore a plain grey dress with long sleeves, and the hem hung just above a pair of uncomfortable-looking boots. Over her dress she looked to be wearing some kind of off-white coloured apron, which had a big pocket across the front, like a kangaroo pouch. From where I hid behind the rubbish bins, the girl looked to be about fourteen, the same as me.

I could see three other teenagers with her. Two of them were boys, and the other a girl. Unlike Melody, the others wore denim jeans, trainers, and T-shirts. One of the boys seemed to be keeping lookout, as he was glancing up and down the alleyway. His front teeth jutted over his bottom lip and a stream of drool swung from his chin. His hair was short and black, and had been combed into spikes on top of his head.

I watched as this boy turned to the others and said, "Hurry up!" He sounded excited and nervous all at the same time as he glanced back down the alley towards the main road.

"You don't say much," the other boy said to Melody as he stuck his hands into the pocket that covered Melody's apron.

"Leave me alone," Melody said softly, trying to pull the boy's hand from her dress.

From my hiding place crouched behind the bins, I watched as the girl, who had blonde hair, step forward and hold Melody's hands against the alley wall as the boy riffled through her pocket.

"I said, you don't say much," he said again. "Dumb, are ya?"

Melody just stared at him with a pair of pale blue eyes.

"Got nuffin' to say for yourself?" the girl smirked, and I could see she was taking pleasure at tormenting Melody.

"'Hurry up!" the boy keeping watch said again, looking back over his shoulder to make sure that they were still alone.

Then, as if finding the winning lottery ticket, the boy pulled something from the huge pocket on Melody's apron and yelped, "What do we 'ave here then?"

I peered through a gap in the bins and saw what looked like some kind of chain hanging from the boy's fist. He taunted Melody with it by swinging it back and forth in front of her face. It was long and black and seemed to be made of beads. Attached to it was a cross.

"What's this then?" the boy sneered, and for the first time, I could see that his forehead and cheeks were covered in sore-looking pimples.

"Oh, isn't it pretty!" the girl mocked, releasing Melody's hands so she could take a better look.

"It's a necklace," the kid with the buckteeth sniggered, spraying a stream of spit from his lips.

Holding it in front of Melody's face, the kid with the zits snapped, "Is it worth anything?"

Melody remained silent, never taking her eyes off her tormentors. Her face was paper white and however much she tried to hide it, I could see she was scared and I could smell her fear. I'd put up with my own fair amount of shit from bullies in the past because they thought I was thick, but I had learnt not be scared of them.

"It's one of those religious thingies!" the girl chirped up. "I think it's some sorta good luck charm or something."

"Oooh!" the boy with the spots smirked. "Magic, is it?" and he swung the rosary beads like a pendulum in front of Melody's face.

Melody just stared back at him.

"Do you want it back?" he asked.

Melody nodded.

"Go on, take them," he taunted.

I watched Melody look at the chain as it was waved before her.

"Go on, take it!" the girl urged with excitement.

Melody slowly raised her hand and reached for the chain, but spotty snatched them away. This sent the girl and the kid with the teeth rolling about in a fit of hysterics.

"You weren't quick enough, holy-girl," spotty teased. Then, bringing the chain within Melody's reach again, he said, "Go on, take it."

At first Melody didn't react and stood staring at the boy. Without warning, Melody suddenly clawed for her chain again. But, the boy was too quick and had snatched them out of her reach. Again the girl and the idiot-looking kid fell about laughing. It was then I realised that not only did he look like a donkey with his buckteeth, but he also sounded like one as he sprayed laughter down the alley.

"You've got to be quicker than that!" spotty sneered, his eyes looking wild and excited.

I wanted to spring from my hiding place and tell them to leave the girl alone, but I'd only been above ground an hour or so. What did I really know about these humans? I didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to myself.

Melody grabbed for the chain and again spotty pulled them out of her reach.

"Give it 'ere," donkey-boy said, reaching for the chain. "Let me put it on!"

"Get the fuck outta here!" spotty snapped. "What's wrong with you, Barry? Are you some sorta fag?"

So donkey-boy's name was Barry, huh?

But it was too late, Barry had taken hold of the rosary just as the other boy pulled away. The alleyway came alive with the sound of clinking as the chain broke and the tiny beads scattered all over the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," spotty smiled, looking back at Melody, who stood and watched the beads bounce and roll away down the alleyway. Her face looked ashen. Melody made a gulping sound in the back of her throat and I wasn't sure if this was an attempt to hold back tears or to try and mask her anger.

"Look what's happened to the pretty necklace," the girl scoffed and again Barry began to bellow like a donkey.

Gripping hold of Melody's hand, spotty stuffed what was left of the broken necklace into it. "You'll forgive me, won't you, holy-girl?" he laughed, and then slapped Melody's cheek hard with the back of his right hand. Looking at his friends, he said, "C'mon, you two."

I watched the three of them skulk away down the alley, making whooping noises and slapping one another across the back. All the while, Melody just stared ahead, her back flat against the wall, her hands knotted by her sides.

When they had gone, Melody bent down onto the knees of her dress and started to gather up the beads. I watched her for a moment or two, not knowing whether I should leave my hiding place or not. Would it bother her if she thought I had seen everything that had happened? Would she be embarrassed? But watching Melody silently crawl along the ground in search of the beads made me feel weird. I felt sad for her. Why? I didn't even know her. She meant nothing to me.

Just watching the plain-looking girl in the plain-looking dress crawling around on all fours wasn't right, and what they had done to her wasn't right, either. So, creeping from behind the rubbish bins, I bent down on all fours and started to gather the beads. They were black in colour and about the same size as peas. Each of them was shiny and had a hole through the middle where they had been attached to the chain. I picked up all that I could find and took them to Melody, who was still on her hands and knees some way down the alleyway.

"Here you go," I said, holding my hand out.

Melody didn't say anything back to me. She didn't even stop searching for the remainder of the beads.

"I've got some of your beads," I told her, and again she said nothing. So placing the beads in a neat pile on the ground, I said, "Suit yourself."

I turned my back on her and walked away.

I made my way back through the town, wondering what else I might see. Not wanting to go too far on my very first day above ground, just in case I couldn't find my way back to the grate in the woods, it wasn't long before I was heading back down the road and out of town. I couldn't be sure of the exact place that I had stepped from in the woods and onto the road, so finding a narrow path on my right, I followed it. Trees stretched up on either side of me, and I wandered slowly, taking in the sounds and the smells that were all new to me. After walking for some time, the trees thinned out and I found myself standing on the shore of a giant lake.

There was a short stretch of sand with an outcrop of rocks that jutted out into the water like a giant finger. I didn't know exactly where I was, but I guessed this was Lake Lure. As I stood on the brown coloured sand, I looked out across the flat, dark surface of the lake and towards a jagged row of mountains in the distance, their peaks flecked with snow.

It was quiet there; I could have been the only person alive. I decided to stay for a while, and sat down on the stretch of sand. As I sat and stared out across the lake, I felt bad for Melody and what had happened to her. Taking a handful of stones, I picked out the smoothest ones and skimmed them across the surface of the lake. And as I watched the last of them bounce across the water, I heard a noise in the trees behind me. Turning, I saw Melody looking back at me from just inside the tree line. At first she startled me, and I wondered what she was doing there. I stood up, brushed the sand from the seat of my trousers, and started to walk away in the opposite direction.

I'd only taken a few steps when I heard her call after me.

"Wait! Don't go," she said.

I stopped, and turning, I looked at her.

She stepped clear of the tree line and into the light of the fading sun and made her way up the shore towards me. When she was just a few feet away, Melody put her hands into the deep pocket on the front of her apron. She looked uncomfortable, and a few stringy wisps of hair that had escaped from her bun tossed back and forth in the breeze. She didn't look at me, but idly kicked at the pebbles on the sand.

"So?" I asked, not knowing what to say.

"So what?" she said back without looking up.

"What do you want?"

Then, tilting her head upwards and looking me straight in my eyes, she said, "I wanted to say I was sorry  -  you know, for what happened back in that alley."

"What have you got to be sorry for?" I asked, confused.

"I was ungrateful," she said. "You helped me pick up the beads from my necklace and I didn't even say thank you."

"Forget it," I shrugged. This was followed by an uneasy silence. Feeling uncomfortable, I added, "I've got to get home." Then turning, I walked away.

I'd only gone a short distance, when I glanced back over my shoulder to see if she was still standing where I'd left her. Holding my hand in front of my eyes to block out the light from the sunset, I could see that she was now sitting inches from where the water lapped against the shore. Her back was arched and she seemed to be concentrating on something which she had in her hands. Not wanting to leave her all alone, I made my way back up the shoreline towards her.

"What are you doing?" I asked, although I could see she was trying to put the beads back onto the chain that donkey-boy had broken.

"Trying to fix this," Melody said without looking up. Although her hands were small and nimble-looking, I could see she was struggling to get the tiny beads back onto the chain. I sat down next to her on the sand and said, "Let me try."

As if handing over something precious, she handed me the chain and the beads.

"Are these like, religious beads or something?" I asked her, threading the chain through the tiny holes.

"They're called rosary beads," Melody told me, and I could sense she was watching me.

"So you're like, religious then?" I asked, having some knowledge of the humans' belief in a God. As a child I had been told stories about a man called Jesus and how he had died on a cross. The chain that I was mending had a cross.

"I guess," she said back, not taking her eyes off me.

Without looking up from the beads, I said, "You don't sound too sure.'"

"It's not me," she said, then added, "It's my mum who believes in all that stuff."

"Why have you got this chain then?" I asked, turning to look at her, and it was then that I was struck at how blue her eyes actually were.

She continued to stare at me, so I looked away, feeling kinda uncomfortable.

"My mum gave them to me," she said, looking away, as if what she had to tell me was embarrassing. "She says the chain will protect me - keep evil away."

"What, like monsters and stuff?" I asked.

"'The devil' is what she says. My mum reckons that if I carry the rosary around with me, then no harm will ever come to me - I'll be protected, that sorta thing," she said.

"Those others  -  the ones who broke your necklace  -  they obviously don't realise the power of the beads then?" I said, half-smiling. Melody just stared back at me, and at first I wondered if I had offended her by what I'd said. Then a smile formed at the corners of her mouth and she laughed. And when she did, she didn't look so plain after all; her face looked kind of pretty.

"Maybe my mum should tell them," she said.

I fixed the last of the beads onto the chain and handed it back to her. Taking it carefully in her hands so as not to break it again, Melody placed it back into her pocket. Then, looking at me she said, "So what are you doing down here? I thought I was the only one that knew about this place."

"I stumbled across it by accident," I told her.

"Are you new in town?" she asked. "I haven't seen you before. You don't go to school in town."

"I haven't been here very long," I replied, knowing that was a massive understatement, but I couldn't tell her the truth. "I moved into a house just outside of town a few months back with my mother."

"Where about?" she asked.

Jerking my thumb casually over my shoulder, I said, "Over in that direction." Then, wanting to change the subject, I stood up and added, "I should be getting home."

"Are you going to be coming to school?" she asked, getting up.

"Erm, I don't think so," I mumbled. "I don't think we're gonna be in town for long."

"How come?" she asked, and I noticed her pat her apron pocket, as if checking that the rosary beads were still there. It was like she was petrified of losing them. Once Melody had satisfied herself that they were there, she looked at me. "You never answered my question," she said.

"What was that?" I asked right back.

"How come you'll be moving on so soon?" she repeated, and again she fixed her eyes on mine. The bloody red light of the sunset spilled over her head and shoulders, hiding her features in a crimson silhouette.

I didn't say anything back at first. I wasn't sure what to say. Perhaps I should've thought up some kind of cover story before coming above ground. So instead of telling Melody the truth, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Like you I guess  -  I do as my mother tells me. If she goes, I follow." Desperate to avoid any more questions, I walked away.

But there was one more question.

"What's your name?" she called out.

"Isidor Smith," I said, glancing back. "And you are?"

"Melody Rose," she said and looked away.

Seizing my chance, I headed up the shore and into the shadows beneath the trees. I wondered if she might follow me, but she didn't. I only looked back once and Melody had gone.