The Disappearances Read Free Page B

a rage. It sometimes felt like Evie had left the City where the System monitored her every move, only to find that Raffy had taken over the job himself, watching her, monitoring her, checking up on who she had spoken to, who might have caught her eye inadvertently.
    But while his jealousy was debilitating, frustrating, restrictive, Evie knew that it wasn’t his fault. It was hers. Because a year ago, on a day when her world had come crumbling down around her feet, on the day that she and Raffy had gone on the run, she’d kissed Lucas, Raffy’s brother. She’d told Raffy about the kiss; had hoped that he might forgive her, perhaps even understand. But he hadn’t. And ever since then, he hadn’t allowed her out of his sight.
    A few minutes later, she came back into the bedroom, determined that today things would be better, today she wouldn’t rile him, wouldn’t bring him out in a jealous rage.
    Their room was one of many in a low one-storey building that housed nearly a hundred people, each given space according to their needs. Their room had space for their bed, a chair, a desk and a bookshelf. Down the corridor was the shower room that they shared with the other couples. Outside was a quadrangle of grass that anyone in the building could use; around it were dedicated allotments where personal food could be grown to supplement the weekly camp provision but some were allocated to the planting of flowers because, as Benjamin always liked to say, feeding the soul was as important as feeding the belly.
    ‘What are you working on today?’ she asked.
    ‘I’m going to help plough one of the far fields,’ Raffy yawned, ‘although my shoulders are killing me.’ Evie turned and appraised Raffy’s shoulders: broad, rippled, so different from how they looked just a year ago. It was as though here, in the Settlement, Raffy had suddenly become a man. He was taller, too, but his sudden broadness was what surprised her the most. He suited it. Suited being here, his face tanned by the sun, framed by his unruly, tousled hair that he refused to keep short. He suited working hard, Evie found herself thinking, suited laughing with the other builders, sharing jokes. He came back every evening with a spring in his step, even as he collapsed on the bed in exhaustion.
    It was what she’d dreamt about when they’d lived in the City, when even talking to each other was a terrible crime. Here, she and Raffy could walk down the road hand in hand with no one to report them, no one to stare at them, no one to tell them how wicked they were.
    And no Lucas.
    Evie caught her breath, as she always did when she thought of Lucas, as the image of his face flooded her mind.
    ‘Right, time to get up,’ Raffy said, putting his tea down then leaning in to kiss her. He framed her face in his hands, kissed her tenderly on the lips, then pushed his fingers into her hair, pulling her towards him. Evie loved his hands, nutmeg brown from the sun, full of strength yet so tender with her.
    She closed her eyes briefly, allowed herself to enjoy the moment, then reluctantly opened them again to look at the clock on her bedside table. Nearly 5 a.m. As work in the Settlement started on the dot at 6 a.m., breakfast would be served shortly in the communal dining areas, one for each Area. And if you got there later than 5.40 a.m., there wasn’t much point, they’d discovered, as all the good food had already gone.
    ‘Today’s going to be a good day,’ Raffy said suddenly, jumping out of bed and grabbing a towel. ‘And not just because of the fitting. Everything’s good, Evie. The new field could produce enough food for a month if we do it well. Simon’s going to show me.’
    Evie smiled. Simon was one of the established farmers; he had taken Raffy under his wing and under his tutelage Raffy had blossomed. He’d told her, a few weeks ago, that for once in his life he felt like he was achieving something, that he was part of something, that his life