Tremble in the Dark: A Gwen Farris Novel by P. S. Power

the
front being the motivator, with a large crystal pack on the top of that, to
power the whole thing. The back wasn't much different than an old fashioned
carriage though, having room for four people, if they were cozy about it. She
really needed to learn to drive one of them soon, she decided. After all, she
had one at her disposal, and while she didn't want to take James' livelihood
from him by any means, being able to work the thing in a pinch just made sense,
didn't it?
    James
stared at her for a bit and then smiled, his leathery face looking lean still,
even if he was in his forties somewhere.
    "Miss
Farris! Sorry about being late. I... Couldn't help but notice that you're
flying? I didn't know you could do that, properly speaking. I'd seen you sort
of float once, but that's very impressive."
    Or,
she knew, weird. No one else was around though to gawk or think her a show off,
so she dropped in next to him and used the straps to start tying her bags in
place. The driver shook his head, took over from her about halfway through and
did it right, since she, clearly, was making a hash of the thing.
    "Right.
So, I'm racing you back. Best safe speed. No fair throwing things at me
however. Ready?" It was a bit of cheating, but she was still fighting
heavy breathing, and the man seemed game enough.
    The
thing there was that lorries always took a while to get going, and the trip
would be about an eighth of a mile, which she could manage full speed in about
forty seconds. Again though, speed wasn't really the issue. It was her
mind that stopped her from going a lot faster.
    Blinking,
she rolled her eyes and decided that what was really stopping her had been
stupidity. People here didn't fly on their own very often, except for certain
performers. It was hard work and most just didn't have the power for it. There
were other things that gave you a lot more back for your effort too. Healing
for instance. All the magical healers she'd met looked young and were all in
peak health, even if they were over a hundred years old.
    Flying
was cool, but that was worth learning too.
    But,
as she'd just realized, these people, the ones in this new world, just didn't
move very fast at all. They drove in slow lorries, flew in slower airships and
most people never moved faster than about twenty miles an hour in their life,
unless they fell off of something high.
    She,
however, had once owned a car , and knew how to apply the gas pedal. In a
very innate way, she, more than anyone in the entire Western Kingdom, knew what
fast really meant. She just hadn't thought about it before, since that was a
ground vehicle. It still went fast didn't it? That was the real point, she thought.
    "Go!"
She called out to the driver, then waited for him to situate himself, and
release the brake, which was a heavy wooden piece.
    Then
she imagined that pedal and put it all the way down.

Chapter
six
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    It
hurt. A whole lot more than she'd ever felt when trying to make something
magical happen. Normally, if she was really pushing things there was a sense of
burning and aching inside her head, near the back and the very front of her
brain, at the same time. Now however, the whole shebang lit up like a Christmas
tree. One that just happened to be on fire for some reason.
    It
was nearly enough to cause her to drop from the air, blinded as she was by the
tears that were streaming down her face. That wasn't from the pain, since there
hadn't been enough time for a response like that yet. It was the wind against
her eyeballs that did it. Gwen slowly imagined letting up on the pedal, and
pulled the mental control joystick back. There was no way to tell where she was
yet, but it wasn't too far off, since she heard a familiar voice coming from
below her as she allowed herself to slowly drift down. Like a snowflake that knew
a warm and certain death waited for it once it touched down.
    Bethany
seemed to get part of her problem at least.
    "This
way, back