Set This House in Order Read Online Free PDF

her.
    â€œSouls only age when they’re in control of the body?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI don’t know. That’s just the way it works.”
    â€œWhat does Adam say about it?”
    â€œAdam says…Adam says it’s the same reason you don’t get better at poker unless you play for real money. I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means.”
    â€œThat’s OK,” said Julie. “I think I do.”
    She picked up the pitcher to pour herself some more beer, and noticed that my glass was still full. “What’s wrong?” she said. “You don’t like stout?”
    â€œI don’t drink, actually,” I confessed, feeling caught out. “House rule.”
    â€œYou sure?” She held up the pitcher, which still had more than half the gallon in it. “If I finish this myself, you may have to carry me out of here.”
    â€œI’m sorry. I should have said something.”
    â€œNo, it’s all right. I should have asked.” Julie gestured in the direction of the bar. “Do you want something else?”
    â€œNo, really, I’m fine.”
    â€œSuit yourself…” She refilled her own glass, then said: “So tell me something about your soul.”
    â€œWhat do you want to know?”
    â€œWell, what do you really look like? If I could see your soul and compare it to what I see now, what would be different?”
    â€œOh,” I said. “Not that much, actually. I look a lot like my father, and my father looks more like Andy Gage than any other soul except…well, it’s a very close resemblance.”
    â€œBut there are differences?”
    â€œA few. My hair’s darker, and my face is thinner—it’s put together a little differently, too.”
    â€œWhat else?”
    â€œWell, scars.” I pointed to a jagged line above Andy Gage’s right eye. “Jake—he’s another one of my cousins—Jake did this one time when he had the body. He tripped and fell against the edge of a glass table. Jake’s soul has the same scar, but mine doesn’t, because—”
    â€œBecause it didn’t happen to you.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œWhat about this one?” Julie touched a spot on the body’s left palm, just above the ball of the thumb. Her fingers were cool and damp from the beer glass, and felt good in a way I hadn’t experienced before. But when I realized what she was talking about, I pulled the hand away from her.
    â€œThat’s just something my father did once,” I said. “He stuck himself on a bill spike.” I think Julie could tell there was more to the story than that, but she didn’t press me on it.
    â€œAny other differences?” she asked.
    â€œJust some little things. Nothing major.”
    In the pulpit, Adam let out a snort. “Sure, nothing major. Nothing except—”
    â€œAdam!” I warned.
    â€œWhat?” said Julie.
    â€œIt’s nothing,” I told her. “Adam just said something very rude, is all.”
    She leaned forward, curious. “What did he say?”
    â€œIt’s nothing, really. Just Adam being a pest.”
    â€œHas he been listening to us this whole time?”
    I nodded. “Listening and commenting. It’s what he does.”
    â€œCan I talk to him?”
    It was an innocent request, and, as I eventually learned, a common one. Like a lot of Julie’s other questions, though, it caught me by surprise; instead of recognizing that she was simply curious about Adam, my first thought was that she didn’t want to talk to me anymore.
    â€œWhat did I do wrong?” I asked Adam.
    â€œYou didn’t do anything wrong. She’s not mad—she just wants to see a trick.”
    â€œA trick?”
    â€œA magic trick.”
    â€œYou want to see a magic trick?” I asked Julie, confused again.
    â€œWhat?” said