Free Dark River by John Twelve Hawks

cameras,” Hernandez said. “That’s why I brought a guide.”
    Hernandez raised his hand slightly and the young Latino sauntered to the middle of the room. He was wearing a baseball cap and loose athletic clothing that advertised various sports teams. Although he tried to swagger, he looked nervous and eager to please.
    “This is my nephew, Nazarene Romero. He works in the maintenance division of the New York Transit Authority.”
    Nazarene adjusted his extra-large pants as if that were part of the introduction. “Most people call me Naz.”
    “Good to meet you, Naz. I’m Hollis. So how are you going to get us to Grand Central?”
    “First things first,” Naz said. “I’m not in my uncle’s church. Understand? I’ll get you out of the city, but I wanna be paid. It’s a thousand for me plus another thousand for my friend Devon.”
    “Just to travel to a train station?”
    “You won’t be tracked.” Naz raised his right hand as if he were swearing an oath in court. “I guarantee it.”
    “That’s not possible,” Maya said.
    “We’re going to a station with no cameras and traveling on a train with no passengers. All you gotta do is follow my directions and pay me when it’s done.”
    Hollis stood up and approached Naz. Although he held the shotgun with his left hand, he didn’t need the weapon to be intimidating. “I’m not a church member these days, but I still remember a lot of the sermons. In his Third Letter from Mississippi, Isaac Jones said that anyone who takes the wrong path would cross a dark river to a city of endless night. Doesn’t sound like the kind of place you’d like to spend eternity….”
    “I’m not selling anybody out, man. I’m just gonna be your guide.”
    Everyone looked at Maya and waited for her to make a decision. “We’ll take you and the child up to the farm in Vermont,” she told Sophia. “After that point, you’re on your own.”
    “As you wish.”
    “We leave in five minutes,” Maya said. “Each person can bring a knapsack or one piece of luggage. Vicki, distribute the money so that you’re not carrying all of it.”
    Alice remained on the floor, silent but watching as they quickly sorted through their belongings. Gabriel stuffed two T-shirts and some underwear into a canvas shoulder bag along with his new passport and a packet of hundred-dollar bills. He didn’t know what to do with the Japanese sword that Thorn had given to his father, but Maya took the weapon from him. Carefully, she placed the talisman in the black metal tube she used to carry her Harlequin sword.
    While the others continued to get ready, Gabriel brought a cup of tea over to Sophia Briggs. The Pathfinder was a tough old lady who had spent most of her life alone, but she looked exhausted from the cross-country trip to New York.
    “Thank you.” Sophia reached out and touched his hand. Gabriel felt like they were back in the abandoned missile silo in Arizona and she was teaching him how to free his Light from his body.
    “I’ve thought about you a great deal in the last few months, Gabriel. What’s been going on here in New York?”
    “I’m all right. I guess…” Gabriel lowered his voice. “You taught me how to cross the barriers, but I still don’t know how to be a Traveler. I see the world differently, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to change things.”
    “Have you done any more exploring? Did you reach the other realms?”
    “I met my brother in the Realm of the hungry ghosts.”
    “Was it dangerous?”
    “I’ll tell you about it later, Sophia. Right now, I want to know about my father. He sent a letter to New Harmony.”
    “Yes. Martin showed it to me when I went to his house for dinner. Your father wanted to know how the community was doing.”
    “Was there a return address? How did he expect Martin to contact him?”
    “There was an address on the envelope, but Martin was going to destroy it. All it said was, ‘Tyburn Convent. London.’ ”
    Gabriel