Reckoning Read Online Free PDF Page A

menace,’ I correct him, knowing today is a day I will never forget.
    *   *   *
    The experience feels so real that it takes me a few seconds to realise where I am. I start to count in my head, reminding myself that this is the fifteenth annual Reckoning. Many sixteen-year-olds have gone through this before. Now I can understand why no two people have the same story to tell about it – I’m not sure what it is myself, even when I’m in the middle of taking it. Its mystery is the biggest reason why the day is so fearsome for us, that and the fact that our results are pooled together across the country. Our Northern Realm is ranked against the East, South and West to determine who gets the most supplies for the next twelve months. We are taking part not just for ourselves but for everyone around us too. I can feel it skimming through my memories, but it doesn’t seem particularly focused on the exact contents, more on how I respond to things. Am I emotional? Impulsive? Strong?
    I can sense it stretching further, delving deeper, wanting to know more about me. My throat is dry and I am desperate for a drink but before I can even think about doing anything, it has taken me again.

5
    SEVEN YEARS AGO
    It has just begun to rain as I creep around the hedge, peering into the murky distance. I can hear my mother’s voice in my head, telling me not to venture out into the woods, telling me it’s not safe and making up stories about mystery animals she thinks should scare me. I smile as I somehow know she only says these things to try to make me stay close to home. I keep moving, even as the patter of rain increases, bouncing from the plants and hitting the floor.
    I don’t even remember the first time I came to the woods on my own but I must have only been six or seven, walking to the edge of the village and staring towards the trees before dashing home again. My mother was always happy to let me play in the streets as long as I didn’t go too far. Even then, I knew her definition of ‘too far’ would not be the same as mine. Month by month, I would venture further until today, where I promised myself I would keep walking until I found the old lake people around the village talk about. It is officially out of bounds, with people saying Kingsmen used to patrol nearby to make sure no one ever went there. Either that was a myth, or they don’t bother now as I see nothing but scurrying small animals, apparently terrified of me.
    I continue moving through the trees, quicker now as if the accelerating rhythm of the rain is keeping time for me. Soon I am running, giggling to myself as I know how naughty I am being. I cannot stop myself; I know every corner of the streets around Martindale and have a craving that is hard to describe, a need to find somewhere new.
    It isn’t long before I end up sliding across a mossy patch of land, stumbling and covering my trousers in grass and mud. It won’t be the first time I return home looking like this and my failed promise to stay in the village is going to get me into trouble again … if my mother isn’t too busy looking after Colt, of course. He’s so young and she only has time for him at the moment. She lets me get away with things now because her attention has mainly been focused on him since my dad died. At first I pushed because I wanted attention, now I do it because I cannot stop.
    As I pull myself to my feet, I emerge through a final row of trees and stand open-mouthed staring at the sight. I have seen images of lakes on the screen at home and know they should be full of water. In front of me must be the lake people around the village have spoken of but instead of the rain rippling the surface of water, it is clanging off pile after pile of metal and plastic objects. On and on the sea of discarded items goes, as far as I can see.
    Crucially, there are no Kingsmen either.
    I know I should turn and race home