David's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Dawn still had not come when David left the vigil room. The families called him one of them, yet they knew Eliza’s life better than he did. He found Eliza at the graveyard gate, staring at a weathered stone marked with her name. “I need to know why they wait for you,” David said. “I can’t earn a seat by saying words I don’t understand.” Eliza raised one pale hand toward a low stone building beyond the graves. “I slept there when I was ill. They kept me apart. Then they locked the door when I died.” A girl sat on the steps of the building. Her white eyes fixed on David. She wore a torn nightdress, and dried mud clung to her bare feet. David stopped. The girl gripped the frame of a decayed bed beside her. “Lily Graves,” Eliza said. “She was with me that night.” Lily dragged the bed’s torn blanket aside. Under it lay a small wooden box. David opened it. Inside sat a brass locket and a folded page, brown at the edges. Eliza could not touch either item. “Read it.” David unfolded the page. The writing named the families who had shut Eliza inside, fearing her fever would spread. It also named Lily, a sick girl sent to watch the door. The final line made David’s throat tighten: Eliza had begged Lily to open it. Lily had tried. The lock would not move. Lily made a rough sound and pointed at the locket. David opened it. A child’s portrait looked back at him. The face was Lily’s, before death hollowed it. “The families didn’t only lose Eliza,” David said. “They buried what they did.” Eliza nodded. “They made the vigil a prayer. It became easier than telling the truth.” David carried the page and locket back to the civic hall. The families rose when he entered. He set both items on the table beside the candle. “You accepted me because I held Eliza here,” he said. “That is not enough. If I belong with you, you will hear her whole story.” No one spoke. Then one woman took the page. Her hands shook as she read. Another covered her face. The silence in the room changed. It was no longer chosen. David turned to Eliza. “I will speak your name every year. But I will not help them hide you.” Eliza smiled at him. Lily stood in the doorway, holding the open locket. At last, the families began to tell the truth aloud.