A Town Called Dust: The Territory 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

rising sun pin, lengths of colored ribbon above the breast pocket and a red sash across the chest. He wore a sword at his belt. His light beard had been recently trimmed. A single eyebrow lifted above his green eyes as he looked at his suspiciously positioned daughter. Lynn edged slowly toward the bed, squeezing the wooden hilt of the sword behind her back and hoping she could somehow dispose of it without being seen as if she were one of those traveling magicians.
    For a moment there was no sound but the repetitive whomp of the fan turning overhead. It rotated slowly, the grinding of its crankshaft and the clicking of its gears faint through the ceiling. It was doing little but churn the already stuffy air. Colonel Hermannsburg moved over and grasped the chain that hung from the fan, pulling it down with a firm yank. There was a loud click from somewhere above and the mechanical sounds died away. The fan began to slow to a stop.
    “I told you not to waste energy,” he said. “The whole city is on restrictions.” He paused for a moment and then held out his hand. “The sword, Lynn.”
    Lynn, safely on the other side of the bed, collapsed to the ground in an impressive faint. She rose again, the sword hidden from view at her feet, as innocent as a flower. Her father had not moved.
    “The sword, Lynn,” he said again.
    Lynn’s shoulders sank forward and her lips billowed out with a forceful sigh. She bent over, collected the wooden sword, walked to her father and placed it in his hand.
    “This is the third one I’ve taken away this month, kitten,” he said. “Where do you keep getting them?”
    “I make them myself.”
    Colonel Hermannsburg looked at the hilt of the sword; it was engraved with the anvil symbol of a Digger blacksmith.
    “Don’t lie, Lynn, it is unbecoming. Do you have any more?”
    Lynn retrieved another of the wooden swords from beneath her bed and reluctantly handed it to her father.
    “The training yard will run out if you keep taking them,” he said.
    “I usually put them back,” Lynn answered, sitting, deflated, on her bed.
    Lynn felt the mattress sink under his weight as her father sat beside her. She slid toward him, letting herself fall against him, resting her head on his broad chest. He put his arm around her and she inhaled the familiar smell of him, his natural musk mixed with sweat and dust.
    “Ms Apple told me you gave up on your work, and that you’ve been arguing with her again.”
    “The things she makes me do are so boring, Father,” Lynn said.
    “And what would you rather be doing?”
    Lynn looked at the wooden sword in her father’s hand.
    “I’m sorry, kitten,” he said, “but Ms Apple’s right. You know girls aren’t allowed to be Diggers.”
    Lynn lifted her head. “What else am I going to be?” she asked. “I want to be a Digger like you, a colonel.”
    “I don’t doubt you could be, Lynn. You probably have the will to be the general.” Colonel Hermannsburg eyed his daughter with stern affection. “But I’m afraid I don’t dictate the law.”
    “I’m nearly sixteen,” Lynn said. “I’m going to have to choose soon.”
    “I know,” Colonel Hermannsburg said, squeezing his daughter in close to him. “You’re growing up too fast for my liking too.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “I had a visit from the High Priestess yesterday, kitten. She thinks you would do well in the Sisters. She’d like to meet you herself.”
    Lynn pulled away and looked at her father coolly. “No,” she said, verging on tears. “Don’t you make me join the Sisters. I won’t.”
    “I’m sorry you’re not a boy, Lynn, but if you were then you wouldn’t be you. Besides, I’m glad I have both a son and a daughter.”
    “You don’t have a son.”
    “Now, Lynn,” Colonel Hermannsburg said. “We’ve been through this. I’ve adopted Melbourne as my son, which makes him your brother. He’s a Hermannsburg now.”
    Lynn said nothing. Colonel