clapped me on the shoulder and laughed. “You missed your calling as a theologian, Jake. May I call you Jake? That question has been argued over since the dawn of time. Let me simply say that I believe the Master was an agent of Darkness and you are one of Light and leave it at that.”
“Let's hope I don't bring that fight into the cathedral on Quarter Day.”
The Bishop looked at me and I saw unexpected resolve in his eyes.
“If the fight comes to the Church we will not shirk our duty, regardless of the outcome. Why do you think the Master killed all our priests?”
I offered the Bishop my hand and he took it and gripped it tightly. Normally I don't have a lot of time for priests, but this one seemed to be something special.
Chapter Seventeen: Sparse
I found an excellent pie shop outside the cathedral. Not that I had any money on me, but they knew who I was and were more than happy to charge it to the Palace. I suppose this shows the advantage of me wearing the wizard costume. I still felt uncomfortable in it though and hopped to my room as soon as I finished eating.
My clothes were waiting for me, pressed and neatly folded on my bed. Jeans with neat creases aren't everybody's cup of tea, but I was more than happy to settle for them. Jenny wasn't in her room when I looked and I didn't fancy trying to find her so I hopped to Urda's door and knocked.
She was dressed in her wizard costume and wearing subtle makeup. She wanted to impress someone when we got there, that was for certain.
“I didn't think I'd need to ask you to help me. I've lived there all my life. You'd think I'd be able to hop back without help.” Urda's enquiring look showed she expected me to explain why she couldn't find her home world.
“I think wizards make a mental note of where they are,” I told her, willing to have a go. “Before I learned to hop my parents took me on holidays to seaside resorts. But I can't hop to them because I don't really know where they are.”
“You hopped to Salice and Barren without having been there.”
“You can hop to random places or you can follow someone. I used to think wizards hopped to boundary places like mountains, shores or rivers because that's where I always ended up. Now I'm not so sure. Bronwyn hopped to the edge of a volcano and then to a desert on your world. The only thing they have in common was that they were dangerous places.”
I felt I was stumbling on the verge of an insight into Bronwyn when Urda interrupted my thoughts.
“The desert was east of Barren?”
I had hopped across the desert following the setting sun so it seemed likely. I nodded.
“That's where we should start. I don't want to go to Barren. I want to go home to Sparse.”
You have to hand it to the people of Urda's world. They picked names for their towns with consummate skill. I was willing to bet they also have towns called Nothing and Despair.
Urda carried on talking, blithely unaware of my insights into her people's minds. “It's a small town, little more than a village really. It might take some time to walk there though.”
“I have other skills at my disposal,” I said in my best enigmatic voice. I took hold of her hand and we hopped.
A moment later we stood in a bleak, almost featureless desert many miles from Barren. It was unpleasantly hot and dry and the temperature change took my breath away. Using the position of the sun as a guide I looked east and spotted a rocky outcrop on the horizon. Urda stood silently beside me, lost in thought. I took her hand and hopped us to the outcrop.
“I didn't know we could do that,” she said delightedly as we dropped a couple of feet through the air to the ground.
“It's not an exact science.” I brushed dust off my jeans, having fallen onto my knees when we landed. Annoyingly, Urda landed lightly and stayed on her feet.
We weren't quite at the top of the hill so we walked east for a while. Gradually a valley came into sight. A small
“Let's hope I don't bring that fight into the cathedral on Quarter Day.”
The Bishop looked at me and I saw unexpected resolve in his eyes.
“If the fight comes to the Church we will not shirk our duty, regardless of the outcome. Why do you think the Master killed all our priests?”
I offered the Bishop my hand and he took it and gripped it tightly. Normally I don't have a lot of time for priests, but this one seemed to be something special.
Chapter Seventeen: Sparse
I found an excellent pie shop outside the cathedral. Not that I had any money on me, but they knew who I was and were more than happy to charge it to the Palace. I suppose this shows the advantage of me wearing the wizard costume. I still felt uncomfortable in it though and hopped to my room as soon as I finished eating.
My clothes were waiting for me, pressed and neatly folded on my bed. Jeans with neat creases aren't everybody's cup of tea, but I was more than happy to settle for them. Jenny wasn't in her room when I looked and I didn't fancy trying to find her so I hopped to Urda's door and knocked.
She was dressed in her wizard costume and wearing subtle makeup. She wanted to impress someone when we got there, that was for certain.
“I didn't think I'd need to ask you to help me. I've lived there all my life. You'd think I'd be able to hop back without help.” Urda's enquiring look showed she expected me to explain why she couldn't find her home world.
“I think wizards make a mental note of where they are,” I told her, willing to have a go. “Before I learned to hop my parents took me on holidays to seaside resorts. But I can't hop to them because I don't really know where they are.”
“You hopped to Salice and Barren without having been there.”
“You can hop to random places or you can follow someone. I used to think wizards hopped to boundary places like mountains, shores or rivers because that's where I always ended up. Now I'm not so sure. Bronwyn hopped to the edge of a volcano and then to a desert on your world. The only thing they have in common was that they were dangerous places.”
I felt I was stumbling on the verge of an insight into Bronwyn when Urda interrupted my thoughts.
“The desert was east of Barren?”
I had hopped across the desert following the setting sun so it seemed likely. I nodded.
“That's where we should start. I don't want to go to Barren. I want to go home to Sparse.”
You have to hand it to the people of Urda's world. They picked names for their towns with consummate skill. I was willing to bet they also have towns called Nothing and Despair.
Urda carried on talking, blithely unaware of my insights into her people's minds. “It's a small town, little more than a village really. It might take some time to walk there though.”
“I have other skills at my disposal,” I said in my best enigmatic voice. I took hold of her hand and we hopped.
A moment later we stood in a bleak, almost featureless desert many miles from Barren. It was unpleasantly hot and dry and the temperature change took my breath away. Using the position of the sun as a guide I looked east and spotted a rocky outcrop on the horizon. Urda stood silently beside me, lost in thought. I took her hand and hopped us to the outcrop.
“I didn't know we could do that,” she said delightedly as we dropped a couple of feet through the air to the ground.
“It's not an exact science.” I brushed dust off my jeans, having fallen onto my knees when we landed. Annoyingly, Urda landed lightly and stayed on her feet.
We weren't quite at the top of the hill so we walked east for a while. Gradually a valley came into sight. A small
Similar Books
