A Quill Ladder (18 page)

Sylvain stood in the dim pool of the streetlight talking to the two men dressed in black, his head bent low to theirs. Occasionally, he extended his arm to point in a particular direction, but Abbey could make no sense of his movements. First it seemed he pointed northwest, then southwest, then west-northwest, then south-southwest. Abbey only knew the directions because she had been taking compass readings on her phone on the way down on the train and had tried to memorize some of the bearings of the key landmarks so she could see if they were the same as they were at home. They had been once again amazed that their phones worked in the future, but Sylvain had explained that Wi-Fi, and other things, were completely free here. He didn
’
t go into detail about the other things though.

Overall, Sylvain
’
s pantomime gestures seemed random. Apparently the two men thought so too, because their voices became elevated, and Sylvain raised and lowered his arms frantically with his palms downward as if he was trying to calm them.

Was this a business arrangement going through a rough patch? Or a hostage situation? Where were Ian, Frank, and Francis? And whose side were they on? And for that matter, whose side was Sylvain on?

One of the men drew his gun at Sylvain, who froze. So, maybe not a business arrangement. Abbey heard Max
’
s audible gasp next to her.

“
Get down,
”
he whispered urgently, scooting off toward the altercation before she could stop him. She saw him lean in and say something to Caleb, and then Caleb lowered himself to the ground, flicking a glance back at her. Abbey also dropped to a crouch as the voices in the street ahead of her grew in volume and the second guy started waving a gun as well.

“
Hey there, you with the guns,
”
called Max from a behind bush several yards up from Caleb.
“
This is a residential neighborhood. I
’
ve called the police. If you fire those guns, you
’
re going to be in a world of trouble. I suggest you just move on and leave the gentleman be.
”

One of the guys whirled, shifting his gun back and forth over the general range of Max
’
s location.
“
Mind your own business. This has nothing to do with you.
”

“
Not suggesting that it does, mate. Just that things could get uncomfortable for you if you don
’
t move along.
”

“
I don
’
t hear any stinking sirens.
”

Abbey could hear surprise in Max
’
s voice.
“
I don
’
t know where you
’
re from, but the authorities around here haven
’
t used sirens in a long time. They kind of find it more effective if they arrive without warning, if you know what I mean.
”
Abbey wondered if this was in fact true, if Max had in fact called the police, or if he was just bluffing.

But the two men started darting nervous glances at the shadows around them, and Abbey could hear the low tones of them conferring.

One of them called out.
“
All right, we
’
re moving along. You just stay where you are. No need to bother with us anymore.
”
One of them pressed a gun into Sylvain
’
s back and started jostling him toward the edge of the street.

Just go, Abbey thought, praying that neither Caleb nor Max would try to intervene. But the thoughts felt slightly strange, as if they weren
’
t totally her own thinking. It was true that there was nothing they could do to help Sylvain right now; but should they give up so easily? Caleb and Max stayed put, hunched behind their individual hedges, but Abbey felt at war in her own mind.

The men and Sylvain had almost reached the edge of the street when a strong beam of light illuminated their faces.

“
Stop right there. This is the police. You
’
re surrounded. Put down your weapons and let that man go.
”

The two men tensed, dropped to crouches, and bolted farther into the yard of the closest house.
“
We
’
ll be back for you, old man,
”
one of them called over his shoulder. Then they disappeared from sight.

Abbey braced for the sound of gunfire, for the police moving in, but there was nothing. After a couple of interminable minutes, the beam of light flicked off, and Ian and the two Franks, as Abbey now thought of them, sauntered out of the yard next to the one Max occupied and approached Sylvain.

“
Coventry PD. We
’
ll take it from here. Those guns always add a bit of an edge to the situation. Nasty things,
”
Ian called out in Max
’
s general direction. He wore a shiny burgundy dress shirt with a wide collar, trim tan pants, and his customary beret. Frank and Francis closed in on Sylvain, grasped an elbow each, and started to cart him off down the street.

“
Wait!
”
Abbey yelled, emerging from her hiding spot.
“
Where are you taking him?
”

“
Oh, it
’
s you,
”
Ian said.
“
Are you alone?
”

“
No, she
’
s not.
”
Caleb moved out into the dim light of the street.

“
Oh, good,
”
Ian said.
“
I
’
d be more worried about borrowing our friend here if Abbey had to go home alone.
”
The two Franks continued to lug a sputtering Sylvain farther down the street.
“
We just need to have a friendly little chat with Sylvain here.
”

“
Right, well, you seem like such a friendly lot,
”
Caleb muttered.

“
What is going on here?
”
Max said, marching out onto the street to stand next to Ian.
“
Is he the tree vandal?
”

“
Who are you?
”
Ian said.

“
Who are
you
?
”
Max looked Ian up and down.
“
I demand to see your badge. That getup is not a police uniform.
”

Ian squinted his eyes a bit at Max and gave Max
’
s jumpsuit a rather dubious glance.
“
I wouldn
’
t talk about getups. We
’
re undercover. And yes, he
’
s the tree vandal. We
’
re taking him in for questioning.
”

“
But where did those other two guys go? They just disappeared. And who are they?
”
Caleb interrupted.

“
Damian and Nathaniel? They
’
re trouble.
”
He flicked a look at Max.
“
Accomplices, I
’
m sure. They probably took one of the tunnels.
”

“
Tunnels?
”
Abbey said.

Ian shrugged.
“
Rat-filled things used by the criminal element. They
’
re all over Coventry. Nasty places. Look, thanks for your help. I suggest all of you go home.
”

Max turned to Abbey.
“
I
’
m sorry. Do you know this man? Is he a police officer?
”

Abbey paused, but saw Ian nodding emphatically behind Max, and found herself saying,
“
Yes, he
’
s part of the investigation,
”
with a bright smile.

“
And what was the street number of your offices again?
”
Ian said.
“
You know, the number I had on the card. I can
’
t remember.
”

“
309,
”
Caleb said uncertainly.

“
Ah, right.
”
Ian reached into his pocket and withdrew a white envelope much like the first.
“
This is for you. I forgot to give it to you earlier.
”

Caleb approached slowly and took the envelope from Ian
’
s hand.

“
Au revoir.
”
And with that, Ian glided away into the night like a cat.

Max turned to them, blinking his eyes like he had been hypnotized.
“
Are those guys really police officers?
”

“
They
’
re a bit unorthodox,
”
Abbey said, feeling her lips pull into a grim line.

“
We better head off,
”
Caleb said.
“
See you around, Max.
”
Caleb turned and started to march back in the direction of the library.

Abbey gave a wave to Max, who still stood in the street with his head tilted to the side, and then turned and followed her brother. Mark would be half-frantic by now, she was sure, and if her parents had already arrived home, they would be worse.

*****

Mark consulted his Garmin Forerunner watch for the fourth time in two minutes. 9:12. He clutched the green file tighter against his chest as the chilly night air crept up under the folds of his shirt. The library had closed twelve minutes ago. He had lingered in the foyer for as long as he could while the other patrons filed out and the librarians started flicking off lights. But finally, when Kasey gave him a bemused look, Mark decided it was time to head outside, where he now stood, the darkened windows of the library behind him. The goats on the rooftop (apparently more nocturnal than he thought) emitted occasional bleats, and he could hear them trodding about in the grass. He hoped none of them got it into their heads to leap off the roof on top of him (but he supposed that whoever ran the library would have had that sort of thing ironed out, as having goats jumping on patrons would likely be frowned upon).

He had been unable to get the photocopy of the library map as he had hoped. Kasey had explained that they had to send large things away for copying, and that it would be ready the next morning and would cost ten GCCs. Mark wasn
’
t sure what GCCs were, or how he was going to pay for the map out of the shifter account that Kasey had referenced. But Kasey had given Mark his address and indicated that Mark could come by and see Kasey
’
s map anytime. All of this would require returning to this future as soon as possible.

He checked his watch again. 10:13. Where were Abbey and Caleb? At this point he might even be relieved to see Sylvain (he still considered Sylvain to be a bad man, but he had now been usurped from his position of very badness by the collection of very bad men whom Mark seemed to be encountering on a regular basis now). The prospect of trying to find his way back to the stones via the train was daunting at best. The library staff had vanished into the back of the library after Kasey had locked the doors behind him, reiterating his thanks for the copies of the maps, and the courtyard in front of the building had cleared of patrons almost immediately, the people dispersing down the dim streets with lights winking on and off in their wake.

Mark was just about to turn around and rattle the glass doors behind him in panic when two men emerged from the yard of one of the houses that sat on the edge of the courtyard and made their way down the street that led back to the train station. The two bad men with guns who had been in the library. The angry tones of their voices carried across the courtyard, but they didn
’
t look back and see Mark, who had tried to wedge himself behind one of the potted junipers that flanked the library doors.

After a few hideous seconds of holding his breath, the men became small black shadows in the distance.

“
Hey, Mark.
”
Abbey
’
s low voice made him yelp in surprise. Prickles from the juniper scratched his skin as he jumped.
“
Good job waiting for us. We
’
re going to head home now.
”