Kassy Tayler: Remnants of Tomorrow

“Let the wind take him,” Adam says as a benediction. “Take him to a place where there is no fear or pain. Where there is only laughter and love.” He looks up to the heavens. “I will always love you, Peggy. I will always remember you, James. At least in death, you have each other. That gives me comfort.”

I place my hand on Adam’s back, and Alcide steps to his side. And with one last look, we move on, together, back to the enclave, where our friends are waiting.

The evening was full of sadness, but the next day is a cause for celebration. We are determined to make Lucy and David’s wedding full of joy, despite our loss of James. Zan takes on the project wholeheartedly, and Lucy, Jilly, and I, with Jonah the only male allowed, go to Zan’s room on the Quest to prepare for the wedding.

“I can’t believe I am nervous after all the time David and I have spent together,” Lucy confesses as Jilly bushes her hair.

“It isn’t nerves,” I say. “It is excitement. You are starting a new chapter in your life.”

“We all are,” Jilly agrees. “I cannot believe how excited my parents are. About everything. I think they might even try to have another baby,” she says with a grin.

“I know I am,” Zan says. “From now on, no more foolish impetuous decisions. I hate myself for going into the dome when I knew I shouldn’t. If not for me, James would still be alive.”

“Don’t think that, Zan.” I go to her and put my arms around her. “If there is one thing I’ve learned from all this, it is that you cannot live your life by regret.”

“We all have regrets,” Lucy says. “If not for me, Alex would still be alive.”

“But we would still be inside the dome,” I say. “Because Alex proved to us that the outside existed. That it was safe.”

“Isn’t it funny how one thing leads to another and then another and then something bigger,” Jilly remarks. “If not for me being in the kitchen by chance one day, when Harry made a delivery to the cook, I never would have known that there were other people as unhappy with their lot as I was. I never would have met all of you, my true friends.”

“James could have died just as easily fighting the rovers. Or by falling off the cliff like Eddie and his son. We have no way of knowing what fate had in store for him,” I say. “I knew James well,” I continue, thinking about the trouble between us and how, in the end, we were together as friends. “I know that he would rather die fighting and knowing that he saved a life. He died well, and he lived passionately, and he made a difference in his life and his death.”

“Here, here,” Jilly says.

“Remember him always here.” I touch Zan’s breast above her heart. “Keep him there always. But do not live your life with regret, or else he died in vain.”

Zan nods tearfully and smiles. “I will never forget what he did for me. And I will live a life that will make all of you proud. For James.”

We come together, the four of us, with arms around one another and heads together. We share our misty eyes and watery smiles, and then Zan breaks away and turns to her closet.

“The bride shall wear white,” she says, and pulls out a dress for Lucy. She hands me the yellow one I wore before and Jilly a soft pink and selects a blue one for herself. And for the next few hours I put away thoughts of revolution and death and just concentrate on being a girl whose dear friend is getting married.

And I think of Pace.

The ceremony is in the meadow where the ponies grazed. The grass is shorn, but the flowers are tall and a riot of color, more than I ever imagined seeing. An arch built from tree branches and decorated with ribbons and sprays of pink blossoms stands at the top of the gentle slope. The children chatter and frolic barefoot as everyone gathers. We may not possess much, but what we do have in the way of clothing is shared among us all. It is clean and mended and everyone has taken great care to make sure that they look their best. Lyon, Jane, Zan, Dr. Stewart, and Levi are dressed more grandly that everyone else, of course, but I know they would shine just as much without the fancy clothes. Zan does. Levi always will.

Still I only have eyes for Pace, who stands off to the side, wearing his enforcer uniform, without the gold bands and medals. Pip, on his shoulder, is the only gold adorning his uniform.

I gave Freddie and Nancy the chore of getting Ghost ready. They washed him and braided flowers into his mane and tail, and Lucy sits sideways on his back as we wait for David, Harry, and Captain Manning to take their places before the arch.

Captain Manning nods and I step forward, leading Ghost up the slope until we come to the place where they are gathered. David lifts Lucy from Ghost’s back, and I hand the lead to Freddie, who takes Ghost to the side, and then I move to my place beside Lucy.

I listen to Captain Manning as he speaks the words that will join them in marriage, and suddenly the meadow is filled with butterflies. The colors are wondrous and beautiful. Lucy laughs gaily and David picks her up by the waist and they spin around.

It is just like my dream except I am not alone. And I realize that what I set out to do came to fruition because I had these people around me. They gave me strength and they gave me courage. They gave me a purpose. They supported me and they followed me.

Without them I am nothing. With them, I can do anything. I have done everything I set out to do. Yes, I grieve for those we lost. But looking around me today, at this beauty, at this happiness that fills all of us, I can say with all honesty that their deaths were not in vain. Not my grandfather’s, not James’s, not Peggy’s, and most definitely not Alex’s.

Pace grins at me from where he stands, and the butterflies take off, filling the sky with their color. Jonah leaps into the air to try to catch one, and Pip jumps from Pace’s shoulder and swoops over his head to chastise him for his actions.

I laugh. My heart swells with joy beneath the beautiful blue sky. Pace comes to me and takes my hand into his, leans down and very gently kisses me.

The time has finally come to say good-bye to the Hatfields. The Quest has been docked at the catwalk for the past several days to make it easier to load the supplies they will need for the trip back to America. Nearly everyone from the dome has come out to look at it, and Lyon even let the king and queen tour it, along with all the members of parliament so they can go back and report the wonders they’ve seen.

It is strange to see so much activity outside now. The road, which was once covered with thick grass, is now a hard dirt track as people venture farther and farther out of the dome. Fences have been built to keep the animals that once lived inside from trampling the newly planted gardens. What was once wild is turning civilized as the citizens spread out, no longer confined by the glass.

It makes me very happy that we found a place away from the dome to settle where we can be on our own. It makes me even happier that our good-byes are to be said in private, as we have gathered at the catwalk at dawn, before the dome stirs to life.

“Are you sure you want to stay?” Jane asks Dr. Stewart yet again.

“Of course I do,” he replies. “There is so much to study, and helping these people build a brand-new society is such a wonderful opportunity. Just think of the possibilities. Besides, you’ll be back in a few months with my supplies, so it’s not like I will be here forever.”

Jane touches his cheek with her hand and looks to me. “Take good care of him,” she says. “Don’t let him get so engrossed with what he is doing that he walks off a cliff.”