Free The Isis Knot by Hanna Martine Page A

mouth and skin tasted like.
    The worst part was, he couldn’t tell if it was the Spectre’s desire seeping into his mind, or if it was all his own.
    On that fifth night, in the convicts’ quarters above the barn, William was lying down, thinking about the woman. When Jem slid silently under his own nearby blanket, William yanked his hand out of his trousers. Jem noticed—he paused slightly in his movements—but made no comment or joke. In the moonlight coming through a high window, William watched crimson seep up Jem’s neck. The lad looked away.
    William lay there, frustrated and unfulfilled. He distracted himself by listening to Jem settle in. The satisfied sounds of someone finally finding their way in the world eased from Jem’s lips. Mrs. Brown had him helping her in the main house, and the work agreed with him. Every day he walked a little straighter, a little more assured. William had even seen him smile once or twice.
    It was exactly what he’d wanted for the lad, and it had been given to him in an entirely unexpected place.
    As Jem recounted his day’s mundane events, William dozed. Then Jem whispered, “I heard Brown talking about some bolters.”
    William opened one eye. “What about them?”
    “Said a large group tried to make a run over the Blue Mountains. They thought there was some kind of ‘heaven’ on the other side. A whole new civilization of men like them.”
    “They didn’t make it, did they?”
    Jem sounded genuinely shocked. “How’d you guess?”
    William chuckled. “You wouldn’t have heard about them if they had.” Jem considered that in silence. “Go on.”
    “Oh. Right. Well, apparently they got lost and took to eating each other. When some tried to make it back to Sydney, they were hanged for stealing sheep.”
    The story, insane and disheartening as it was, only made William more determined to leave, which was insane in of itself. But how? How ?
    The answer came the next day with the rain.
    The farm shut down early as the world darkened, the sky boiling with heavy clouds. The ground was so dry and hard the fat raindrops bounced off it like glass. The other convicts took shelter in their nook above the barn, but William stood outside under the eaves, thumbs hooked on his braces. Staring in the direction where the woman’s wagon had gone.
    Across the yard, a door opened. Jem exited the main house carrying a bucket of slop, which he tossed behind a tree. He straightened and found William hiding in the shadows. Their eyes met briefly, something heavy passing between them. Jem approached slowly, the rain soaking through his clothes, making him look thinner than he already was.
    “I’m leaving,” William told him. For emphasis, thunder rumbled.
    Jem’s shoulders collapsed. The pail sagged in his hands. “Why?”
    William had never mentioned his visions to Jem, even after all their time together. But then, he’d never told anyone. He’d always kept his madness to himself. “I just have to.”
    “But that doesn’t make any sense.” Water streamed down Jem’s face, flattening his greasy hair on either side of his beaked nose.
    “It doesn’t matter. I need to go now . While it’s dark and pouring and there’s lots of storm left. I’m trying to tell you good-bye. To tell you that I’m proud of you. That I’m glad I knew you. I’m not doing a very good job.”
    Jem threw a long, despairing look toward the house, where Mrs. Brown’s pregnant shadow moved behind the curtains. “Can I come with you?”
    William pulled away from the side of the barn, coming out from under the eave, the rain pelting his chest and arms. “What? Why?”
    Jem’s gaze fell to the wet ground. “You know why.”
    William sighed. “I can’t protect you the rest of your life. You’re a young man. And you’re safe here. Happy. The happiest I’ve ever seen you. In seven years you could have your own place like this. You could have a whole new life. Why would you want to jeopardize