A Quill Ladder by Jennifer Ellis

’ t seen since the night three weeks ago when they used the docks. She stopped walking, and Mark, busy examining his maps, crashed right into her. She stumbled and Sylvain caught her.
    “ I don ’ t think Caleb would go to the library, ” she announced, scrambling back to her feet.
    “ Okay, well I still think we should go there just to make sure. ”
    “ I want to go to Sinclair Systems. Is it in town? ”
    Sylvain laced his fingers together. “ Yes, it is. It ’ s a few blocks away. But I don ’ t think you ’ ll find much there. It ’ s always locked up tight as a drum. But if you insist, we can go. ” He waved his hand in the direction of the library. “ Let ’ s just pop into the library first. We ’ re right here. ”
    Frustration gathered in Abbey ’ s mind. She should go to the library too and look up dates, like the date of Jake ’ s death — or, she thought, with a slight catch in her heart, her mother ’ s. Or the date of the bomb. But worry for Caleb eclipsed that. “ No. We don ’ t have time. You go to the library. I ’ m going to Sinclair Systems. Tell me where to find it. ”
    “ You can ’ t go alone. It ’ s dark. Your parents —” Sylvain started.
    “ Would flip if they even knew we were here, so I think it ’ s best not to mention any of this. Mark will come with me, ” Abbey declared.
    Mark ’ s face slackened. Then he pulled his map folder tighter against his chest and pulled his teeth into a terrible grimace. “ It is very important that I go to the library. ”
    Abbey ’ s face grew hot. “ Fine. The two of you have a lovely time at the library. Just give me the address for Sinclair Systems and I ’ ll meet you back here in half an hour. ”
    Sylvain still had his hands pressed together, and his eyes had taken on a somewhat hysterical tinge. “ Fine. It ’ s very safe in this future —“ Sylvain paused. “ Well, mostly safe. But don ’ t talk to strangers, stay on the sidewalk, go straight there and look for Caleb, and then come back. The address is 309 Oltree Road. It ’ s two blocks down and then six blocks to the right. ”
    Abbey squinted at him. “ You ’ re kidding, right? ”
    Sylvain shook his head. “ No. That ’ s where it is. ”
    Abbey threw her hands in the air. “ I meant the address. But don ’ t worry. I ’ m beginning to think you ’ re all crazy. ”
    She marched away from Mark and Sylvain. She almost expected them to follow, but they didn ’ t. When she cast a glance over her shoulder, she saw them examining each other.
    Sylvain turned to her. “ Be careful, ” he called.
    Abbey shot him a glare, but he almost sounded like he meant it. “ Look after Mark, ” she yelled back and then turned and walked resolutely down the street.
    The sky hovered black overhead, brilliant with stars and a zany crisscrossing of moving lights kilometers overhead. Satellites and spaceships occupied the heavens like cars once inhabited the earth. Pale white streetlights blinked on and off as people passed beneath them, and she passed many men, women, and children walking dogs, carrying groceries, and clutching briefcases, calling hello to each other and lingering to chat in the pools of light on the broad sidewalks. Abbey wondered if the streets in her time would be equally crowded at seven o ’ clock at night if there were no cars.
    She tried to control the hammering of her heart. Sylvain wouldn ’ t have let her proceed on her own if it was unsafe. She hoped. More than anything, she hoped that the stones would protect her and draw her home if she got into trouble, like they had in the past.
    It didn ’ t take her long to travel the eight blocks to Sinclair Systems. A small sign occupied a closed metal gate set in a heavy adobe fence. Abbey ’ s breath quickened. The Sinclair Systems logo was a tree, or perhaps a shrub, much like the tree on the Livingstone Labs sign, set against a white background, but wilder, with curving intertwining tendrils