text: Each day became a routine. I would meet Kit in the town, walk with her to the market, and we’d visit a few of the stalls. Then she’d go off to do her own thing, bartering with the various buyers and sellers, before we’d meet up in the evening and walk back. During my alone time, I would walk around the market hoping for some miracle-book to catch my eye, or I would sit down in the nearby fields and keep a journal of my experiences so far. I was walking aimlessly through the market at the end of my seventh day on the island, when I spotted Kit by a small stall, flicking through a pile of disorganized books. “Got anything good?” I asked. Kit glanced up to me. “You got any use for space travel? ‘How humans can colonize other planets, terraforming our solar system’. I mean shit, it takes a week to get between some islands, I think Neptune’s a little out of reach right now.” The market seller let out a grunt of disapproval. “Calm down, Joe. I’ll find someone to buy your crap.” She left the stall and walked over to me. “How are you?” I sighed. “Frustrated.” “Give it time. The books will come.” “Just feel... useless, I guess.” I tried to shrug off the doubt. “Ready for the walk home?” “How about we get a drink here instead?” “You sure?” I asked. “Yeah. Nowhere else to be. A drink with you sounds like a nice evening.” Kit led me to a small cafe perched on the cliffs by the quay. Over the wall to my right, I could see ships resting against the quay; their sails furled and the masts silhouetted in the twilight. I watched the ships sleeping for a few minutes until Kit cleared her throat, turning my attention back to her. “Your books aren’t on those boats you know?” “Sorry.” I turned to face her. “Do you ever feel like the books should be staying here?” “What’ya mean?” “Instead of selling them off. You keep them here. Preserve it.” “Maybe. Sure. But people gotta sell stuff to eat. Besides, you have no idea how big that thing is. They’ll still be bringing stuff out after I’m long gone.” “Just...” I paused trying to extract the nagging feeling at the back of my head. “You have all this knowledge and information, and you’re just breaking it up bit-by-bit. If it stayed, then you know where it is. But, once it’s sold, you can’t replace it.” “You’re just grumpy because we haven’t found *your* books yet.” Kit stuck out her tongue. “That’s probably more true than I like to admit,” I chuckled. A waiter arrived and placed two small glasses. The drink was smaller than I expected, and it looked like it would only take a gulp or two to get rid of it. I picked it up, inspecting the pale liquid. I sniffed it, feeling my nose tingle at the strong alcoholic smell. Kit lifted her glass and smiled. “Have a taste, see what you think.” I complied, letting the drink briefly taste my tongue. I felt my sinuses burn, and my eyes watered. Kit burst out laughing, struggling not to choke on her drink. “They not have alcohol on Kadear?” “We do, but...” I let out a quick cough. “Not as strong as that.” “We’re a tough people on Ringatoy.” “Clearly.” I looked down at the glass, gently swirling the liquid, hoping the aeration might dilute it. “I have a question. Why have you been so helpful to me?” “I don’t know. You see a tall handsome guy spinning in a circle looking lost, what else would you do? Maybe I’m just a sucker for a helpless man in need.” She took another sip, sitting back in her chair. “Helpless? Is that what you think of me?” I said with raised eyebrows. “Maybe. At first I just thought I’d try and help you out and earn a bit of money. But I guess I realized you aren’t like most people here. I know pretty much everyone on Ringatoy; the visitors I usually only know for a day or two. You’re different. And I like that.” I smiled. Kit continued. “Plus, I get to toy with you, and watch you get drunk off alcohol that’s too strong for your delicate Kadear body.” She leant forward, propping her elbows on the table between us. “So why do you trust me?” “Can’t say I know. But you’ve been good to me so far.” “Well dang. I was hoping you were gonna say feminine charm,” she said. She let out a brief twitch as she did before she returned reclining in her chair. “Why d’ya wanna know what happened anyway?” I looked at her in confusion. “Like, why d’ya care about how The Archipelago formed? Ain’t gonna make any difference to our lives now.” I felt a brief shiver as the nighttime air wrapped around me. “Because it wasn’t always like this. A few hundred years ago, something happened, and the whole planet got flipped on its head, and now we’re all living on these tiny little islands. And I want to know how we got here. Don’t you want to know?” “I do,” she said, nodding in thought. “But I also want to be happy, you know. Live a life. Get a home, a job, a family. Don’t you want that?” I winced down another sip of my drink. “I had that, back on Kadear. I had a great job and had this whole life plan ahead of me. However, truth be told - though I’m tired, frightened, frustrated - I’m happier now than I was.” “And that’s it. You just keep searching for your answer?” “Until I find something else that makes me happy.” I smiled. We continued drinking until the cold made the tips of our fingers numb, and the walk back to the town was a jagged stumble through the fields. The strong liquor had no doubt impacted my coordination, and a few times either Kit or I found ourselves leaning onto the other for support. The next morning, I woke with a dry mouth and a small rolling sensation in my stomach. I stumbled out of bed, got dressed, and stepped outside prepared for a slow, studdery walk to the market. The morning sun stung my tired eyes, but as the brightness cleared, I could see Kit walking towards me, as lively as ever. “How are you this morning?” she said. “Slight headache. Been better, been worse.” I slowly began walking alongside her towards the market. “You know what I was thinking would help with that?” “What’s that?” “I was thinking you could buy my breakfast.” Kit grabbed my arm and leaned into me. “Could I indeed?” I chortled. “There’s an excellent pastry place at the north end of the market. I think you’ll like it.” “I assume you will too?” I tilted my head to her. She looked at me with a smirk. “Oh definitely.” “I see you’ve still got your guest,” came a loud call from behind us. I turned, to see a tall muscular man, with thick bulging arms; his height enough to cast a shadow over me. “Haddee.” Kit gave a wide smile before walking up to the man and hugging him. “How are things going?” “So so.” He rocked his head from side to side. “Ferdinand. This is Haddee, he runs one of the crews going to the library.” “Good to meet you,” I said. “You too. I’ve heard a lot about you, especially with Kit going lunar since you got here.” “Lunar?” I replied. “Shut it Haddee,” Kit interrupted, sending a mock fist his way. Haddee reciprocated with his own dramatized flinch in fright. “Just got back?” Haddee nodded. “You just got back from the library?” I asked, my aching mind suddenly waking up to the conversation. “Well, those two did,” Haddee pointed a thumb to two other crew members behind him, their long hair dripping wet, forming a small trail of water where they walked. I looked at the plastic tubs behind them. A foolish glint of hope crossed my mind, as I imagined some of the answers I sort in the boxes. “Did you find anything useful?” Haddee shrugged. “We’ve got a way in, but we’re mostly getting fiction. The stuff that really sells is way deeper in.” “Unreachable?” “There’s probably a way through all the rubble and things. But - too risky.” He shook his head. It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up. The slow droning ache in my head, replaced with new thoughts and ideas. “Haddee, you know a way into the library, right?” He looked at me condescendingly, and let out a long slow nod. “Take me down there,” I said. Haddee burst out laughing. “No way. Not a chance.” “Why not?” “That entrance is what keeps me and those two guys employed. It keeps us alive. If I let you sell off that secret to someone then I gotta go back to hauling books at the docks hoping for tips.” “I’m not going to sell it...” “Too risky. The three of us know and no one else. Not my mum, my girlfriend, no one.” “You can trust me...” “With all due respect, I don’t know you from shit.” I paused for a moment, rethinking my approach. “Okay. You reckon there’s probably a path through to more valuable books, right?” Haddee furrowed his brow. There was a growing frustration in his voice. “Yeah, but as I said - too dangerous to go fishing through that rubble.” “I’ll go.” I responded. For the first time Haddee didn’t respond immediately, his face frozen while he processed my response. “I’m going to have to go dig deeper to find what I’m after. So I take a crate with me and I grab anything of value, and I record how I got there. When I come back, I’ll tell you how to get to the better stuff, and you can keep everything I find.” Haddee paused, scratching his chin. “You know how dangerous it is down there right?” “Kit reminds me daily,” I replied, trying to force humour into the moment. “Can you swim?” “Yes.” “Like properly. You’ll need to hold your breath for over a minute.” “Fine.” “Wait? You’re not actually considering this are you?” Kit walked between Haddee and I, turning to face him. Haddee ignored her. “You have to return with something I can sell and use. You come back with nothing and I’ll bury you down there.” “Understood,” I nodded. “Haddee, listen. You can’t do this. You can’t let him go down there.” Kit walked up to Haddee, standing at his feet. “He’s offering to go do it,” Haddee retorted. “And you have the sense to stop him.” “We need the money Kit. We need to get something we can sell that will buy us more than scraps.” Haddee looked over Kit’s shoulder towards me. “You’ll have to provide your own supplies. I’ll tell you what you need, but you gotta get it.” “Agreed,” I nodded. Kit turned to face me. “Please, listen. The books will come to the market. You gotta give it time.” “And what? Wait a year? Two years? For books that may have already been sold or may never come? I’ve got to try something.” “You have no idea how stupid an idea this is,” she pleaded, the whites of her eyes glassy. “I’ve done plenty of dangerous things.” I looked back over Kit’s shoulder. “Haddee, when can you take me down?” Haddee rocked his head back and forth for a second. “Three days’ time? At dawn?” “Fine. Just tell me what to get.” Kit walked away from us both shaking her head. I could hear her short, sharp breaths, as her body tensed. Then, with a sudden flinch, she turned to face us. “Fine. You take him, you take me too.” “What?” I replied. “You know nothing about the library. I do. I know what it takes to survive down there. You go without me, you die. I go too, then maybe you live.” Her eyes quivered in fright, while her chin clenched in rage. “Kit. You don’t have to do this...” “I know. I choose to,” she interrupted; her stance firmly planted against the ground. I turned to Haddee. “This okay with you?” He shrugged. “Heck. I trust Kit more than you. You get those books and a route to more...” I looked to Kit. I took a deep breath, trying to slow down the pace of conversation. “You sure about this?” “You go. I go.” “Okay,” I gave a slow, reluctant nod. I walked up to Haddee and offered out a hand. “Three days, at sunrise?” “Done.” He shook my hand. \ Next chapter released 17th May.