"That's what journalists do. How else would I be able to know? I can't write an article without a shred of proof, other than a list of names. Most of them did show signs of life after coming here, but no one has seen them face to face. Some claim to have become ill and ended up in a hospital with no visitors and no cell service. Yet no one mentions the name of that hospital. Some claim to have been arrested, especially those who have previous convictions. Others have different stories, but the common denominator is that they were all here, then no one saw them again. Yet no one seems to see the connection but me."
Audrey should have been surprised to hear this, but she wasn't. These people knew what they were doing, and she suspected they chose carefully who they took, except the few who broke the rules.
"Well, as the Lady said, you'll get all your answers now. But I doubt there will ever be an article about it."
"What is her name?"
"Who?"
"The woman you call the Lady. What is her real name?"
"I don't know. And it doesn't matter. We must call her by her proper title, even when she is not nearby."
"Proper title? She isn't a real lady. There is no nobility anymore and there never was in the United States."
"You still don't understand. This is reality now. Whatever is true in the world outside doesn't matter. We'll all be here until we die."
"Have many died?"
"Only one that I've seen. She also refused to accept her new reality and died of exhaustion. We buried her a few days ago." The burial hadn't been very thorough, but it did hide every trace of the body, once they covered the hole again. Even now, Audrey wouldn't have been able to say which of the small mounds around them held the dead body.
"And they did nothing to help her?"
"Of course they did. But she refused to eat half the time and continued wasting energy on shouting profanities or attacking the churls. It was honestly a relief when she was gone, her constant shouting gave me a headache."
"You don't feel sorry for her?"
"No more than I do for all of us. Besides, from what the Lady said about her, she deserved it. She was rude to everyone and even on the outside, she had no friends and her husband had just left her."
"And because of that she deserved to die?"
"She died because she was stupid. I would advise you not to do the same."
"Why do you accept their words so easily? Why don't you try to fight back?"
Audrey was a little angry now. This woman still did not understand!
"Do not judge me before you've experienced this for yourself. Do you think any of us chose this? We don't have a choice. We got trapped here and our only choices are to resist and be abused and eventually killed, if we don't die of exhaustion first, or can accept that this is how it's going to be and hope things get easier with time. I for one choose to not fight a battle I can't win. I don't wish to become another head on the wall."
"You mean the heads are real?"
"Of course they are real. They are there to remind us of what will happen if we try to run or betray our Lady. The latest one is only a few months old I think."
"This is even worse than I thought."
"You are stupid. You claim you knew what goes on here, yet you came anyway? You're never getting away from here now!"
"Not with that mindset, certainly. You have only just got here, how have they cowed you so easily?"
"There you are again with the attitude. I don't have to explain myself to you. You will see soon enough."
And with that, they were both quiet. The other visitors got to bed, about half of them had chosen to have a theow in the bedroom this time. None of them seemed to ask about their missing member.
"Did you come with someone? Will someone miss you at home?" Audrey asked. She felt a little more sympathetic now, after several hours in the stupid stretch-neck. But only a little. She also wanted to keep talking to distract herself from her current position. Several of the other theows had already seen her like this and it hurt more than when they ignored her the first time. Because now she knew them all. Last time they had been strangers, and she hadn't understood. But she also knew she would do the same. They were told to ignore anyone in a stretch-neck, whoever it was.
"No, I came alone. My family will miss me, but they don't know where I went."
"You came here even though you have a family?"
"It's my job. It's not the first time I risk my life for a story."
"Did you at least tell anyone where you were going?"
"No. No one at the newspaper believes there is a story here. And they are prone to stealing my ideas if I write it down."
"So, in short, no one will miss you, or at least no one who would miss you would have the first idea of where you are? Don't you see that that is exactly what the rest of us did? No one misses me either. I doubt I am even on your list."
"You don't have a family?"
"Not anymore. They all died about 6 months before I came here. I paid for this adventure with what was left of their savings, after selling the house."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"I suspect you'll hear similar stories from most of the theows, those that can even remember their previous life. The Lady knows who she can take with no one noticing."
"You think they've never been noticed? Where do you think my list of names comes from?"
"And yet you seem to be the only one who's connected the dots. And you're not going to be able to tell anyone, if you haven't already."
For some reason, this night didn't feel as long as the first one where she was stuck in the stretch-neck. Maybe it was because she knew what was happening now, and that she would be here for a long time. Maybe it mattered that someone else was stuck here with her. Maybe it was because the alternative was to lie in the uncomfortable bed in the cage. Now, she was able to see some of the beauty in the landscape around her. If she looked past the journalist woman, she could see the night sky. It was a clear night and she had never seen so many stars. It was a beautiful, quiet night. It would have been better if she could straighten her back, but at least she was outside. She noticed that her collar was inside the stretch-neck, so it wasn't hanging on the exposed part of the neck. That made it easier to bear as well.
"Why are you smiling?" the woman suddenly asked. Audrey had almost forgotten she was here.
"It's a beautiful night. Can't you see all the stars? I don't think I've ever seen so many stars."
"I can only see the wall to the burh or whatever they called it."
Right. She was facing the other way.
"Well, they are beautiful. And it isn't cold either. If I had to be outside for another night, I'm glad it was a night like this. Though it would be better if I could stand up properly."
"You're inside most nights then?"
"Yes. The new theows like me have secure beds in one of the crew rooms, once we are done with the initial learning time. We have to stay there until they let us out for the day. I haven't been outside at night since I was in the same position you are now."
"And now you're happy that you have to do it again?'' It seemed the woman was still confused. Audrey remembered being confused as well, why the theows looked so happy, but she thought she understood now. It was about seeing the beauty where they could, to find something to be happy about despite all the negative. Maybe that was the key to surviving.