the church. She eyed him up suspiciously as his emotions were in turmoil.
“Did something go wrong?”
“You could’ve given us a name in case they asked.”
“Yes, we should have thought of that. I’m sorry.”
“The trousers were too short, nearly cut mi nadges off.”
Belinda nodded; she was sure Tricky was holding something back. “I can’t change that now.”
Tricky gave Belinda a plaintive look. “Alice… Alice…”
Belinda was instantly alert. “What about Alice? Did someone hurt her?”
He shook his head and Belinda felt his emotions take an unexpected turn.
“She… ’sisted on rubbin’ ’em better. I…” Tricky blushed.
“Ah, well, yes, that would explain a lot,” Belinda said in a kindly way and put a sympathetic arm on his shoulder.
4. Progressions
Aberrant Magic
The number of people showing talents aberrant to those set out in the Newton archives is greater than originally thought. The magically talented find themselves with enough problems when they are discovered to volunteer that their talent does not exactly match the norm. Only children whose talent is far from the norm reveal themselves by their actions.
The work carried out under Lord McBride’s auspices located and investigated a number of children: Emma Franks who could detect mineral deposits as part of her Farseer talent, Alice Short, the world’s only transmitting telepath, David Hart who can see through walls, and of course, Ebenezer Sweeting who constantly sees the world five seconds into the future.
With more of these children being gathered together in a single school, it is hoped that further insights may be gathered into our understanding of magic and how Newton’s laws can be amended to cover these cases.
- Notes of Dr Glyn Thomas – Headmaster of McBride’s Academy, May 1861
Cam strode as quickly as the clothes she was wearing would allow. This was not particularly fast as there was far too much skirt. She was heading for Steffi, as the locals affectionately called their cathedral, but it was essential she lose the man tailing her before she went in.
Stephansplatz was filled with hawkers, shouting out their wares. Cam ducked behind a stall and checked the gentleman’s pocket watch she kept in her purse. She only had five minutes left before her meeting. There was no chance that her tail could follow her through these crowds. The Singers Door was wide open and she slipped through it and into the cathedral. It was cooler inside than out.
A man in laborer’s clothing nodded his head with satisfaction as he saw Cam enter the cathedral. His orders were to follow her wherever she went and make a note of anyone she talked to. It was just a precaution as nobody suspected her of anything, but she was new to the service and it was always best to take precautions.
He reached the side of the cathedral, using the space behind the market stalls to make his way both unseen and unimpeded. As he approached the Singers Door a gentleman bumped into him. The knife penetrated his heart in less than a second and he didn’t even have time to be surprised before he died.
“Sorry, old chap. Bad luck and all that,” Peter Burton said in English. “That’s it; you just sit down with your back against the wall and have a nice rest.”
Leaving the dead spy neatly seated on the ground, Burton made his way into the cathedral, removing his hat as he entered the building.
Cam sat in a pew at the eastern end of the cathedral staring at the closed double triptych of the Wiener Neustädter Altar. On Sunday it would be open, revealing the reliquary beneath it, but today it was unimpressive as its doors showed only a faded painting of saints. Cam had no idea who any of them were.
She glanced to her right as a man slid along the pews behind her to end up directly behind her. Even though she had recognized him as her controller, she hated the feeling his presence created. This was because she didn’t trust the
Doug Beason Kevin J Anderson
Ken Ham, Bodie Hodge, Carl Kerby, Dr. Jason Lisle, Stacia McKeever, Dr. David Menton