Free Penult by A. Sparrow Page A

to more
drastic measures.”
    “ Drastic?”
    “ I cannot stress enough the
urgency of seeing Master Zhang. The alliance awaits you.” Her eyes
narrowed into piggy little orbs. “You need to see him soon, love.
Time is running short.”

Chapter 7:
Scotland
     
    As we pulled out of King’s Cross
Station, I sent Sturgie a text with our arrival time in Inverness.
Almost instantly a torrent of eager and excited messages set my
phone pinging like a pinball machine.
    He was thrilled to hear from us,
couldn’t wait to see us. Yes, he was still going to college up
there, starting up his third year. He wanted to take us out for
seafood at his favorite pub across the River Ness. Afterwards, we
were welcome to crash at his flat, as long as we wanted.
    I grinned at Karla as I showed her the
parade of texts.
    “ He came to see me in
Brynmawr,” she said, smiling.
    “ Oh? How are he and his
uncle Renfrew getting along these days?”
    “ Pretty well. Sturgie is
actually thinking of coming back to the goat farm when he
graduates. He changed his major to business.”
    I was getting spoiled by all the nice
hotels and expensive flats. The thought of sleeping on some college
kid’s floor didn’t thrill me. I could kick myself for not grabbing
more keys from that safe deposit box. Maybe we could sneak off
somewhere cozy after a couple of nights hanging out with Sturgie
and his mates.
    I nodded out with my head propped on
Karla’s shoulder somewhere on the north side of London. No roots
came to visit. I have to admit I was being a bad boy and not
heeding Sophie’s advice to let myself be overtaken by negative
thoughts.
    Why should I? I had worked hard to
achieve my positive frame of mind and I wasn’t quite ready to give
it up.
    But there was something weird about my
dreams. Something fundamentally different. They were tangible. My
senses more completely engaged. I could feel things and smell
things. Even within the dream I was aware of this difference, but
my awareness did nothing to break the spell.
    I did a lot of floating around kind of
like what I experienced through Billy. But also a lot of flitting
around between people’s heads, kind of like the way I experienced
the Singularity.
    For a time, my consciousness clung to
a man walking down a city street. I had no idea what city or what
country. He was no one I recognized, just some random stranger, for
all I knew. He was walking along some waterfront near a church
carrying a thick coil of braided wire. Strange.
    My eyes flicked open. The interior of
the train car was glaringly bright. Karla’s face was inches from
mine, her eyes pegged wide.
    I squirmed up out of my slouch and
looked out the window at some rolling meadows, rocky hills,
boulders and sheep. “Where are we?”
    “ Somewhere north of York,”
she said. “You slept a lot. Did you go? Did you see Master
Zhang?”
    “ No. Did you?”
    “ No.” She pouted. “What are
we going to do?”
    “ We do what we can, when we
can, if we can. When was the last time you went back?”
    “ When you were still in
jail. Around Easter.”
    “ And? How was
everything?”
    “ Fine,” she shrugged. “They
were worried about the newcomers arriving on the shore, but there
was no fighting. There were dragonflies everywhere.”
    “ Whatever happened, must
have happened fast.”
    “ I went down below … to the
tunnels. Looking for Izzie. There were so few pods, compared to how
it used to be. So many souls are coming to the surface. But … no
Izzie.”
    “ Well, that’s good,
right?”
    Karla’s face flushed. Her eyes
glistened. “I don’t know why she had to leave the farm. They would
have taken such good care of her. She should have waited for me. I
would have come for her.”
    “ But she thought you were
dead.”
    “ I was dead. But no matter. She should
have just stayed on the farm. Or in Brynmawr with those ladies. All
would have been fine.”
    “ Maybe she found a
boyfriend.”
    “ Please. She is