The Declaration

glance quickly at Tania, who was staring resolutely ahead.
    ‘Keep our eyes lowered,’ Tania said, her voice quivering slightly, last night’s defiance all but gone from her voice.
    ‘And?’ Mrs Dawson asked.
    ‘Not talk, or offer our opinions,’ Tania continued quietly. ‘Not think or read or do anything that might distract us.’
    ‘That’s right,’ Mrs Dawson said, looking at Tania thoughtfully. ‘What about you, Charlotte? Do you have anything to add?’
    Charlotte, who was sporting a black eye and a defeated expression, bit her lip. ‘To anticipate the requirements of our Legals,’ she said hesitantly. ‘To always be thinking about what they might need or want . . .’
    Mrs Dawson nodded. ‘That’s right, Charlotte. To always be thinking about what Legals might want. And what about the things you might want, Charlotte? What about those?’
    Charlotte looked down at the floor. ‘We’re Surplus,’ she said flatly. ‘We don’t want anything. We don’t have the right to desires. We are here to serve.’
    ‘Good,’ Mrs Dawson said matter-of-factly. ‘Let’s see it in practice, shall we? One after the other, I want you to cross the room in front of me. Silently, so I can’t hear a thing. Anna, you start.’
    The Surpluses gathered at the side of the room, and Anna glided across the floor as quietly as she could, followed by Sheila and Tania, all of them prompting nods of approval from Mrs Dawson. Next Surplus Harry made his way across, picking his feet up and frowning in concentration. Harry was a tall boy, with curly hair, large feet and an almost skeletal frame. He had arrived at Grange Hall in the same year as Anna, but he had more in common with Surpluses who had arrived when they were much older – he was quiet, often distracted, and wasn’t good at anything as far as Anna could tell.
    ‘I hear you,’ Mrs Dawson snapped. ‘Go back and do it again.’
    Reddening slightly, Harry went back to the side of the training room and started again, staring intently at his large feet as he tried to stop them making a sound.
    ‘No!’ Mrs Dawson shouted when he had taken just two steps. ‘You clumsy boy. Do it again.’
    Harry retreated and he wiped beads of sweat off his forehead as he started again, this time forcing himself on to tiptoes and looking nervously at Mrs Dawson. Halfway across, Mrs Dawson opened her mouth as if to speak. Harry’s eyes opened wide in anticipation of another criticism, and as they did so, he lost his balance, grabbing on to a desk as he fell to the ground, and pulling it down with him.
    Mrs Dawson stood up.
    ‘Up!’ she shrieked. ‘Stand up. You useless Surplus.’
    Harry pulled himself to his feet, apologising profusely, but Mrs Dawson was deaf to his words. She pulled his hands in front of him, placed them on a chair and then picked up the cane she always carried with her, smashing it down on Harry’s fingers. ‘Clumsy!’ she shouted. ‘You will learn not to be clumsy. Now, do it again.’
    His face white with pain and shock, Harry made his way back to where his fellow Surpluses were waiting their turn. One of his fingers was bent the wrong way and he seemed disoriented as he started to cross the room for the third time. He made it only a quarter of the way across the room before stumbling again, his entire body clenching with fear as he awaited his inevitable punishment.
    Mrs Dawson looked at him in disgust. ‘You will go without supper tonight and you will practise walking across this room all night,’ she said. ‘And if before breakfast you cannot do it silently, then you will miss all meals tomorrow and practise again the following night until you can do it properly. Do you understand?’
    Harry nodded and staggered over to where Anna, Sheila and Tania were standing. He stared at the floor nursing his bleeding hand, as Surplus Charlie’s turn was called.
    ‘She only picked on you because Surplus Peter isn’t here,’ Charlie hissed at Harry when he’d successfully crossed the room a few moments later. Then he looked meaningfully at Anna. ‘And Peter’s going to pay for it too.’
    Anna stared at him, then looked away. She didn’t care. All she’d ever wanted was to be a Valuable Asset. And she was determined that she wouldn’t care about anything else. If her lip was quivering slightly, if she felt suddenly gripped by fear and uncertainty and a feeling like she was falling, then she was fairly sure it would pass. Things generally did at