Songreaver by Andrew Hunter Page B

"what
exactly did you and Uncle do differently when you made this
one?"
    Garrett hesitated. He had always assumed that
Uncle Tinjin would have told the other necromancers, at least
Cenick and Max, about the shimmerfleece. "Uncle used a different
ritual on Caleb," Garrett said, "Something he was experimenting
with."
    "And you say it made him smarter?" Max
asked.
    Garrett nodded. "And he has a really good
sense of balance," Garrett said, "Even the tailor noticed it."
    Max gave him a confused look then shook it
off. "This is very interesting," Max said, "I definitely want to
talk with you about it later, but I have to get some things
written down before I lose track of my thoughts."
    "Sorry," Garrett said, "Thanks again!" he
hurried down Max's front steps and waved goodbye. Caleb followed
him stiffly.
    Garrett made a mental note to search through
the crates in the carriage house again for his winter coat when he
got home. He couldn't remember seeing it when he had gone through
the boxes before. After finding no mention of Lampwicke in the
auction house ledger, he had torn through every crate, afraid that
her cage might have been packed away like some knickknack among
Uncle's other belongings.
    After a half hour of walking, he arrived back
at Uncle's manor house. He fumbled at the latch to the carriage
house gate with cold-numbed fingers. The wooden door swung open,
letting in the gray light of dawn, and he set to rummaging through
the stacks of opened crates.
    Digging through a particularly deep box,
Garrett had to lean over with the rough edge digging into his
midsection. He wormed his arm down under a folded stack of Uncle's
old robes, hoping to find any sort of coat at this point. His
fingers closed upon something soft and warm and heavy, and he
tugged hard.
    Bracing himself against the crate's edge,
Garrett pulled with all his strength, and the stacks of old clothes
heaved up like plowed earth. From below, he dragged the sparkling
white shimmerfleece that Uncle had used in the raising of
Caleb.
    Garrett felt its unnatural warmth driving the
chill from his fingers. He pulled the heavy fleece from its crate
and held it against his chest. He sank to his knees and pressed his
cheek against the sparkling, curly wool. He felt his body ache with
the memory of summer warmth. He closed his eyes and tried to
remember what the world was like before everything turned cold and
gray.
    Bright memories slipped away, almost there,
then lost again. The boy he used to be was gone, somebody else that
once lived in his body before it was burned and broken. Was he
really all that different from Caleb after all?
    Garrett's body shook as he wept, silently
into the shimmerfleece.
    "Garrett?" a raspy voice spoke from
behind.
    Garrett opened his eyes and turned to see
Caleb silhouetted in the carriage house entryway, and, beside him,
a gaunt man in dark robes. He carried a long staff, topped with a
horned skull.
    "Uncle?" Garrett whispered.
    "Garrett," the old man said, "can you tell me
why all of my books are on the wrong shelves?"
    Garrett ran to him and gave him a crushing
hug.

Chapter Eleven
    Garrett watched as Uncle Tinjin reached for
his teacup again. The cup clattered against the saucer as he lifted
it from the table in Tinjin's study. The old man's hands were
shaking.
    Tinjin sipped from the steaming cup and set
it down again, his eyes never leaving the ancient atlas that lay,
cracked open on the table before him. Tinjin's eyes were sunken
with dark rings of weariness beneath. He looked old now.
    Garrett had always thought of Tinjin as an
old man, but it was always a young man's eyes that looked back at
him from his Uncle's face. Now...
    "Pellian was a fool and a liar!" Tinjin spat.
He turned his head away from the book, covering his mouth with his
sleeve as another fit of racking coughs took his breath.
    Garrett waited until the old man regained his
composure. "Who's Pellian?" he asked.
    Uncle Tinjin looked up and smiled. "The man
who mapped