There is nothing wrong
with putting the best light on a bad situation,” said Lille, who
unbeknownst to Bern was experimenting with the hue of his hair,
altering its color of his hair in streaks and blotches. She held
her finger to her lips for me to keep mum.
She had apparently been working on
more than his hair. He looked years younger. The creases beside his
nose had been greatly reduced and the laugh lines in the corner of
his eyes were much more subtle. She had picked up some flesh
weaving skills during her time in Frelsi.
“ Have you guys seen
Karla?”
“ She was here only a couple
days ago,” said Bern. “Asking pretty much the same thing about
you.”
“ Dang! I wish there was
some way we could coordinate our visits.”
“ Just … set a time,” said
Lille. “Synchronize.”
“ Yeah, but … I don’t have
as much control over transitions as her. She seems to be able to
come over anytime she feels like it. Me, I’ve got to be in the
right mood. If only there was a way I could let her know I was here
right now. She could come meet me.”
“ Lille and I never have to
worry about that,” said Bern. “We’re both here more often than not
these days.”
“ You’re not … free … Lille?
I thought—”
“ My execution was botched.
And then your little raid forced us to evacuate glaciers. So no … I
am not yet a Freesoul. I’m still stuck in that horrible nursing
home.”
“ Sorry to hear. I … I
wasn’t sure.”
“ No worries. I’m stable for
now. But if you ever think you might over to Surrey. Let me know.
I’m still looking for someone to pull my plug.”
“ Not any time soon,” I
said. “I was deported.”
“ Oh?”
“ Working without a
permit.”
“ Oh, well that’s a shame.
I’m still working on getting Bern to join me on a trip to the
mountains. The old sod doesn’t seem to have much of a death wish
for someone who is supposed to be suicidal.”
“ Don’t ruin my illusions
dear, or I just might fade.”
“ You? Fade? You’re as close
to a Freesoul as a living man can be.”
“ Prison … a real prison …
has its charms,” said Bern, whose suddenly thick and lush mop made
his head look top-heavy. Lille had overdone it a mite.
“ Will you stay for dinner?”
said Lille.
“ Um … thanks, but no. I
should get back to the hollow in case Karla shows up.”
“ By all means, bring her by
if she does. I can whip up a nice shepherd’s pie in
moments.”
Bern wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s well
worth it, boy. Even if Karla doesn’t show. Lille has the textures
down to a t. Chewy beef. Crunchy carrots.”
“ Will do. Nice seeing you
all.”
***
I wandered back to the hollow avoiding
the bustle of Luther’s metropolis, though I couldn’t help crossing
some of the spokes. He had actually cobbled some of his avenues
with yellow bricks.
Despite its proximity, few from the
Burg seemed to visit my hollow, and that was perfectly fine with
me. The footpath through the scrub was barely discernible.
Residents of the Burg didn’t seem to share my taste for nature and
solitude.
The hanging valley disgorged only a
trickle compared to the torrent and flood that had filled the gorge
while Karla was still stuck in the Deeps. The rainy season in this
place was mercifully brief.
I found no messages scratched in the
mudflat as Karla was wont to do whenever she came by and found me
absent. I felt oddly jealous of her absence. Was she having too
good a time on the other side?
I knew she was traveling, but she
never shared her location with me until she was ready to leave a
place. Her paranoia over being followed was just then beginning to
intensify. She had been starting to notice the same person or
persons loitering in her vicinity in disparate places.
I walked over to the willow where I
had once buried the version of Karla who had been murdered with
Fellstraw. I wondered if her body remained where I had placed it or
if her return from the Deeps had eradicated it
Jack Heath, John Thompson
Piers Anthony, Jo Anne Taeusch