Free Consequences by Carla Jablonski Page B

imagined.
    â€œWow,” she murmured. Then her eyes widened. “Wow!” she cried.
    â€œYeah, it is pretty exciting,” Tim admitted.
    Molly shoved him aside. “It’s beautiful!”
    Tim turned to see what had distracted Molly, since she was no longer paying any attention to him. His mouth dropped open.
    A white unicorn trotted down the alley toward them.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Tim asked the unicorn. He remembered it from the time he had saved Faerie. Tim and the unicorn had defeated the evil manticore together, and while Tim lay dying the unicorn had kept him company.
    Okay, things are going from weird to weirder.First Marya arrives in my world, now the unicorn? What next? The worlds were all spilling over into each other. Maybe I am some kind of Opener after all.
    Tim blinked behind his glasses. Dark, heavy dust was suddenly swirling along the alley. Marya and Molly began to cough.
    â€œWhere is it all coming from?” Molly asked.
    â€œWhat is it?” Tim wondered.
    â€œIs there a fire nearby?”
    â€œI think it’s soot,” Marya choked out. “You know, like from chimneys.”
    â€œThere’s no wind,” Tim observed. “Why is it blowing around so much?”
    â€œIt’s not blowing around,” Molly cried. “It’s heading straight toward us.”
    In moments, Tim, Marya, and Molly were engulfed in the black cloud. The soot and smoke swirled all around them, blocking out the buildings, making them unable to see past a few inches in front of them.
    â€œLet’s get out of here.” Molly coughed. “I can’t see anything!”
    â€œWhat about the unicorn?” Marya asked.
    â€œIf he’s as smart as I think he is, he’s already gone,” Tim assured them.
    â€œNo, he’s not!” Molly cried. “Look!”
    The wind had shifted, making a small break in the soot so they could see. The unicorn, overcomeby the fumes and choking on the dirt, sank slowly to the ground.
    A harsh voice came out of the black cloud. “I’ll say the freakish horsie is gone, you mongrel. And slag me if you ain’t a going next!”
    Squinting against the nasty air, his eyes tearing, Tim could just make out a figure looming over the fallen unicorn. It was a boy about his age, wearing tattered, old-fashioned clothing and carrying a dingy old broom.
    â€œDaniel?” Marya gasped. “Is that you?”

Chapter Eight
    Underneath London
    G WENDOLYN LED THE BLUE gentleman through a tunnel filled with water up to their ankles. He was so tall—easily seven feet by Gwendolyn’s estimation—that she worried he might scrape those ram’s horns he sported on his head against the ceiling in some of the tighter passageways.
    â€œYou’ll like working for Slaggingham, Lovey-horns,” she explained as they slogged through the muck. “He’ll give you room and board. Just think, after you’ve been on the job awhile, you’ll even find calluses on those dainty blue hands.”
    The gentleman never said a word. They rarely did, once their souls had been sucked away. Gwendolyn saw the value in Slaggingham’ssystem; being soulless certainly kept the workers in line. They never once thought of escape, of fighting back. They never once thought —only did what they were told to do. They followed orders, these captives, and never questioned, not one little bit.
    Sometimes Gwendolyn wondered how Slaggingham had decided which of his merry band to keep and which to discard. She recognized her value—she was bait, pure and simple. But why had Slaggingham dosed her and Brother Salamander with the longevity tonic but not poor old Teddy? Teddy, who had once been known as the Fire King, had become one of the soulless drones, when once he had been among the same rabble-rousing pack of schemers as the luckier ones, like her.
    But are we the lucky ones? The revolution long promised by