Messenger - Lois Lowry [25]
The blind man spoke eloquently of the day he had been brought here half dead and been tended for months by the people of Village until, though he was still without sight, it had become his true home. Matty had been wondering whether he, too, would go up and speak. He wanted to, for surely Village had also become his true home, and saved him, but he felt a little shy. Then he heard the blind man begin to speak on his behalf:
"My boy came here six years ago as a child. Many of you remember the Matty he was then. He fought and swore and stole."
Matty liked the sound of the phrase "my boy," which he had never heard the blind man use before. But he was embarrassed to see people turn and look at him.
"Village changed him and made him what he is now," the blind man said. "He will receive his true name soon."
For a moment Matty hoped that Leader, who was still standing on the platform, would hold up his hand to call for silence, would call Matty, place his hand on Matty's forehead, then announce the true name. It happened that way, sometimes.
Messenger. Matty held his breath, hoping for that.
But instead he heard another voice, not Leader's.
"I remember what he was like! If we close the border, we won't have to do that anymore! We won't have to deal with thieves and braggarts and people who have lice in their hair, the way Matty did then, when he came!"
Matty turned to look. It was a woman. He was stunned, as if someone had slapped him. It was his own neighbor, the very woman who had made clothes for him when he came. He remembered standing there in his rags while she measured him and then put on her thimble to stitch the clothing for him. She had a soft voice then, and talked gently to him while she sewed.
Now she had a sewing machine, a very fancy one, and bolts of fabric with which she created fine clothing. Now the blind man stitched the simple things that he and Matty needed.
So she, too, had traded, and was turning not only on him, but on all new ones.
Her voice incited others, and now large numbers of people were calling out, "Close Village! Close the border!"
Matty had never seen Leader look so sad.
***
When it was over, and the vote to close Village had been finalized, Matty trudged home beside the blind man. At first they were silent. There was nothing to be said. Their world had changed now.
After a bit Matty tried to talk, to be cheerful, to make the best of things.
"I suppose he'll send me out now to all the other villages and communities with the message. I'll be doing a lot of traveling. I'm glad it isn't winter yet. It's hard in snow."
"He came in snow," the blind man said. "He knows what it's like."
Matty wondered for a moment what he was talking about. Who? Oh yes, he thought. The little sled.
"Leader knows better than anyone about things," Matty remarked. "And he's still younger than many."
"He sees beyond," Seer said.
"What?"
"He has a special gift. Some people do. Leader sees beyond."
Matty was startled. He had noticed the quality of Leader's pale blue eyes, how they seemed to have a kind of vision most people didn't have. But he had not heard it described that way before.
It made him think of what he had only recently come to know about himself.
"So some people, like Leader, have a special gift?"
"It's true," Seer replied.
"Is it always the same? Is it always—what did you say?—seeing beyond?"
They were nearing the curve in the path where it branched off and led to their homeplace. Matty watched in awe, as he always did, how the blind man felt the coming curve and knew even in his darkness where to turn.
"No. It's different for different people."
"Do you have it? Is that how you know where to walk?"
The blind man laughed. "No. I've learned that. I've been without eyes for many years. At first I stumbled and bumped into things. People had to help me all