Free Brooding City: Brooding City Series Book 1 by Tom Shutt

been? Where’s Dad?”
    “Carrying my little brother’s bags,” Nathaniel grunted as he crossed the threshold of the front door. He heaved a pair of heavy traveling backpacks through the doorway, one strap in each hand. “Because apparently I’m a pack mule. How in the world did you carry those things?”
    Uncle Rick grinned and winked at Jeremy and Ellie. “It’s a secret. Only international men of mystery such as myself can know.”
    “Fine,” Nathaniel grumbled. “My international brother of mystery can carry it the rest of the way to the guest room.”
    “We can help!” Ellie volunteered, rushing over to one of the bags. Her reed-thin body bowed as she heaved at one of the straps, but the bag hardly moved. She settled down on the ground instead and started to unzip one of the larger pockets.
    “Hold on there, little lady,” Uncle Rick said, casually lifting the bag away with one hand. “No presents until after dinner. That’s your mother’s rule.”
    “And you’ll tell us all about where you’ve been?” Jeremy asked.
    Uncle Rick let out his rumbling laugh again. “But of course! There will be jungles with temples, hidden treasure from the bottom of the ocean, bizarre rituals from secluded tribes—”
    “You brought us treasure?!” Ellie bounced up and down, her hair flapping madly with each jump.
    Uncle Rick winked. “You will see. After dinner. ” He slung a bag over each massive shoulder and walked away to the ranch’s guest room.
    “He’s hiding something good in those bags,” Ellie said greedily.
    “After dinner,” Jeremy parroted, and he left her alone in the kitchen as he returned to his room. It was still warm, and red coals smoldered silently in the fireplace. Jeremy felt a sensation of unease that had nothing to do with the heat of the room. He had not expected Uncle Rick’s arrival, but these visits were always a surprise. His father was ordinarily frustrated by them, but he seemed perfectly aware of the arrangement today. Perhaps he had mentioned it in conversation and Jeremy had forgotten about it.
    Jeremy reached up and gingerly touched his bandages. His head ached more strongly now, and the assigned reading would do little in the way of distracting him from his pain. He sighed, left the room again, and walked back to the kitchen. Ellie had disappeared, probably off playing with squirrels.
    His mother entered as he was reaching for the medicine cabinet. She had a bushel of freshly picked pears from the orchard supported under one arm. “Jay, I saw the car out front. Where is your father?”
    “He’s helping Uncle Rick with his bags,” Jeremy said off-hand, reaching for the bottle of painkillers.
    His mother froze in place. She looked between the front door and the hall that led to the guest bedroom before settling back on Jeremy. Her face calmed and her features smoothed over. The change had been less than a second long, but he had seen it all the same.
    “Is there something wrong?” he asked.
    “Not at all,” she replied. “I just wasn’t expecting your uncle, that’s all.”
    Jeremy shrugged. He let the tap fill a glass with water, then threw back two of the white tablets. “My head has been bothering me,” he explained, in response to his mother’s inquisitive stare.
    She nodded and placed the fruit basket on the counter. “All right, well let me know if it gets worse. We might need to take you to the hospital for a scan.”
    “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Jeremy said, forcing as much cheer into his voice as he could. He wasn’t sure what else they might find if they scanned his head. Whatever was going on with the memories freaked him out more than he cared to admit.
    When his father’s hand had brushed against his during his recovery, Jeremy had thought the world was ending. His head had erupted in searing pain, and the memory came unexpectedly—and it was so vivid. He thought back on it and it came as clearly in his head as his own memories of