‘Semilion’s taking me out of here,’ Priya said to Rosa as she cradled Edith in her arms.
‘We thought you might not stay,’ Rosa said, ‘it didn’t seem like you liked it here very much.’
‘It’s not that,’ Priya said earnestly. ‘I really do like it here. I mean, don’t get me wrong. The kids nearly kill me… Especially this one here.’ She buried her nose into Edith’s neck and made gnashing sounds, much to Edith’s delight. ‘He just needs my help on something else.’
‘Oh?’ Rosa’s eyebrows disappeared beneath her fringe.
‘I don’t think he’d appreciate me talking about it. It’s something I can help with specifically because of my life before coming here. I’ve been working for him at night and working here during the day and it’s really taking its toll.’
‘I see. Well, I don’t. But if it’s a secret then it’s a secret. Do you think you’ll be coming back?’
‘I hope so,’ she said honestly. She had grown to like her role in the crèche. ‘It shouldn’t take long, this thing I’m doing. And when it’s done I’ll come back.’ She wondered if it were true. She had been hoping that the transmission was some kind of obscure joke, or a riddle set by a bored and brilliant man.
Outside a wet mist hung over the village, and parents and siblings emerged from it like miserable ghosts to collect the children.
Priya was growing increasingly confused by her feelings for the village and her place in it. She had warmed to the people, to the crèche and to the pace of life, though her work with Semilion ignited her sense of self-preservation. She spent long hours decoding the message and found herself wondering whether she should simply run. Run away from any threat that might be, either imagined or real, and make it on her own across the border as she had intended all those long months ago when she and Selina had first arrived.
Yet what of Selina? She had grown even more content. Would she go with her? Priya didn’t think she would. Unless, maybe, she told her of the broadcast.