Free And All Between by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

began to address the crowd.
    “Men and women of Erda,” he shouted in a voice that seemed to be too large and impressive to have issued from his narrow chest, “we are gathered here to extend our sympathy and support to the family of a martyr to our holy cause. Yes, a martyr. A martyr because it was in protest against the deprivations that have been afflicted upon us by our ancient enemy that this child ran away into the tunnels and became one more tragic victim of the unjust persecutions to which all Erdlings are daily subjected.”
    Pausing only long enough to allow his followers’ roar of angry approval to subside, Axon Befal’s voice rose again, louder and more hysterical than before.
    The organization known as the Nekom, of which Axon Befal was the acknowledged leader, was not officially recognized, nor were its beliefs and tenets widely held among the general population of Erda. But because of its forceful and noisy tactics, it constantly received a great deal of attention. The stated purpose of the Nekom was the return to Green-sky and the elimination of the Ol-zhaan. To this end the Nekom held meetings, laid plans, made preparations and practiced strategies, all of which, in the face of the indestructibility of the Root, as well as the great power of the Ol-zhaan, seemed to most Erdlings to be to little purpose. But to those among the Erdlings whose frustration with the privations of their lives had reached an almost unbearable intensity, the lack of realism in the goals of the Nekom seemed unimportant. It was enough for them to find, in the Nekom, the opportunity to express their feelings of hatred and revenge.
    Axon Befal continued his harangue, to the wild enthusiasm of his followers, and the variously interested, indignant, or amused response of the rest of the large audience, until his voice began to falter under the strain. A rasping wheeze became rapidly more severe, and as his voice faded into a hoarse whisper, Axon Begal delivered a final accusation—that the Ol-zhaan, and the Ol-zhaan alone, were responsible for his failing voice—a symptom, no doubt, of a fatal illness brought on by a lifetime of exposure to the fumes of the furnaces of Erda.
    When the leader of the Nekom was finally forced by his failing voice to relinquish the platform, he was almost immediately replaced by another speaker whose voice was often heard throughout Erda. She was called Bruha, and she appeared on the speakers’ platform so suddenly that not only the audience, but also the members of the council were left wondering exactly how her right to be there had been established.
    She was tall for an Erdling and extremely thin. Her deep-set eyes, fixed and fiery with inner certainties, had a strangely mesmerizing effect on her fellow Erdlings, whose convictions tended to be more wavering. Stepping to the very edge of the platform, she raised her hands high above her head and for several minutes stood perfectly still. Only her lips moved, silently, and the reflected fire of the surrounding torches leaped and flickered in her eyes.
    In the huge assembly cavern, conversation trickled away into a silence that grew gradually more complete. At last Bruha spoke into a stillness that was like that of death. Her voice was thin and high and of a piercing intensity.
    “I appear before you, fellow Erdlings, to bring a message from the departed Spirit of the lost child, Teera Eld. The Spirit voice of Teera has spoken to me and has told me that it is only through the powers of the Hax-dok that the Root will be destroyed and the people of Erda will regain their freedom. The Spirit of Teera admonishes the people of Erda to join the Society of the Hax-dok and by taking part in their holy rituals, hasten the day when the withering of the Root will be complete and the Erdling will again be free.”
    For many minutes the voice of Bruha rose and fell in hypnotic rhythms, and her audience listened in entranced silence. They listened intently, although