Liminality
comes to claim you, there is nothing to be done. Such are the
vicissitudes of life. Stay below ground. Let the Reapers claim you
… or not … as fate would have it. But the surface is no place for
an unfinished soul. It is not your place. The surface belongs to
Penult. Understood?”
Karla and I just stared back at him
blankly.
“ Well then. That is all I
have to say for now. Have a good day … and a good life … if I don’t
see you again.” He slid his chair back, rose and strode briskly
away through the crowd, without as much as a second glance at
us.
“ From now on we pay cash
for everything,” said Karla.
“ We don’t have much
left.”
“ We just need to stay at
cheaper hotels.”
“ Karla. Even then … there’s
not enough. Not if we want to eat, too.”
She set her chin. Her eyes flitted
back and forth.
“ Just this once. Go ahead.
Use that ATM. But this is the last time. This man already knows we
are here. But after this, we become invisible. Understand? Cash
only.”
Chapter 10:
Brynmawr
Problem was, the daily withdrawal
limit on my new ivory card was only five hundred pounds. That was
more than the average credit card allowed, but it was still a
leash. Even if we booked ordinary hotels and ate on the cheap, we
would have to withdraw some cash every few days, more often if we
traveled. These Penult folks knew how to keep tabs on us, even
without avatars.
“ Destroy it now,” said
Karla.
“ What if we need it … like
in an emergency or something?”
“ What if it is watching us,
listening, just like the other one?”
“ He said it
wasn’t.”
“ And you believe
him?”
“ How about we hang onto it
… just a little longer?”
Karla was not pleased. “Then put it
away. Keep it zipped. Understood? After the funeral, once we decide
where we go next, you burn it. Understood? Any fool can figure out
we are going to Brynmawr this weekend.”
“ Yeah. Sure.”
What can I say? I was the addicted to
the cash flow. Understandable, I guess, once you’ve been homeless
for a while like I was after mom died. I just wasn’t quite ready to
start worrying about money again. I suppose I could always get a
job like normal people.
“ Do you think they’ll let
us stay with them on the farm? Maybe we should call
ahead?”
“ Are you kidding?” Karla’s
eyebrows collided in the center of her brow. “Renfrew thinks of you
like you are his own son. Of course, he will be happy to have
us.”
I had thought a lot about those guys
while I was in prison, more nights than not. Thoughts of my life on
their farm often provided the calm, soothing kernel of the daydream
I used to help me fall asleep. It worked like a charm, driving
worries and fears like so many harried foxes into the corners of my
brain where they could do no harm.
We took a train five hours south to
Ebbw Vale Parkway. It was still overcast as we headed out of the
station into the car park, which was fine with me. I liked clouds
when they weren’t spitting rain.
“ Why don’t we take a cab?”
I said.
“ No taxi. We walk.
Remember? From now on, we must save money.”
I didn’t argue, though, in retrospect
maybe I should have. It didn’t look that far on the map. Down one
valley, into Brynmawr town, and then up another to the farm. But it
took us a good hour to walk to town and another half hour or so to
reach the lower gate of Cwm Gyrdd farm.
Across the main road, a bunch of goats
with Cwm Gyrdd ear tags stood munching alfalfa in someone else’s
pasture.
“ Damned fences must be
broken again,” I said.
“ Look,” said Karla,
pointing at the entrance to the farm. The bottom gate was torn off
its hinges, as if a large truck had plowed through in
haste.
Her eyes sought an explanation, but I
could only shrug. Without a word, we took off running up the
driveway. As we rounded the mound of slag that stood between us and
the first outbuildings, we stopped in our tracks all flushed and
gasping.
There
comes to claim you, there is nothing to be done. Such are the
vicissitudes of life. Stay below ground. Let the Reapers claim you
… or not … as fate would have it. But the surface is no place for
an unfinished soul. It is not your place. The surface belongs to
Penult. Understood?”
Karla and I just stared back at him
blankly.
“ Well then. That is all I
have to say for now. Have a good day … and a good life … if I don’t
see you again.” He slid his chair back, rose and strode briskly
away through the crowd, without as much as a second glance at
us.
“ From now on we pay cash
for everything,” said Karla.
“ We don’t have much
left.”
“ We just need to stay at
cheaper hotels.”
“ Karla. Even then … there’s
not enough. Not if we want to eat, too.”
She set her chin. Her eyes flitted
back and forth.
“ Just this once. Go ahead.
Use that ATM. But this is the last time. This man already knows we
are here. But after this, we become invisible. Understand? Cash
only.”
Chapter 10:
Brynmawr
Problem was, the daily withdrawal
limit on my new ivory card was only five hundred pounds. That was
more than the average credit card allowed, but it was still a
leash. Even if we booked ordinary hotels and ate on the cheap, we
would have to withdraw some cash every few days, more often if we
traveled. These Penult folks knew how to keep tabs on us, even
without avatars.
“ Destroy it now,” said
Karla.
“ What if we need it … like
in an emergency or something?”
“ What if it is watching us,
listening, just like the other one?”
“ He said it
wasn’t.”
“ And you believe
him?”
“ How about we hang onto it
… just a little longer?”
Karla was not pleased. “Then put it
away. Keep it zipped. Understood? After the funeral, once we decide
where we go next, you burn it. Understood? Any fool can figure out
we are going to Brynmawr this weekend.”
“ Yeah. Sure.”
What can I say? I was the addicted to
the cash flow. Understandable, I guess, once you’ve been homeless
for a while like I was after mom died. I just wasn’t quite ready to
start worrying about money again. I suppose I could always get a
job like normal people.
“ Do you think they’ll let
us stay with them on the farm? Maybe we should call
ahead?”
“ Are you kidding?” Karla’s
eyebrows collided in the center of her brow. “Renfrew thinks of you
like you are his own son. Of course, he will be happy to have
us.”
I had thought a lot about those guys
while I was in prison, more nights than not. Thoughts of my life on
their farm often provided the calm, soothing kernel of the daydream
I used to help me fall asleep. It worked like a charm, driving
worries and fears like so many harried foxes into the corners of my
brain where they could do no harm.
We took a train five hours south to
Ebbw Vale Parkway. It was still overcast as we headed out of the
station into the car park, which was fine with me. I liked clouds
when they weren’t spitting rain.
“ Why don’t we take a cab?”
I said.
“ No taxi. We walk.
Remember? From now on, we must save money.”
I didn’t argue, though, in retrospect
maybe I should have. It didn’t look that far on the map. Down one
valley, into Brynmawr town, and then up another to the farm. But it
took us a good hour to walk to town and another half hour or so to
reach the lower gate of Cwm Gyrdd farm.
Across the main road, a bunch of goats
with Cwm Gyrdd ear tags stood munching alfalfa in someone else’s
pasture.
“ Damned fences must be
broken again,” I said.
“ Look,” said Karla,
pointing at the entrance to the farm. The bottom gate was torn off
its hinges, as if a large truck had plowed through in
haste.
Her eyes sought an explanation, but I
could only shrug. Without a word, we took off running up the
driveway. As we rounded the mound of slag that stood between us and
the first outbuildings, we stopped in our tracks all flushed and
gasping.
There
Similar Books
