A Quill Ladder (59 page)

The rooftop door opened. Abbey hurled the axe toward the door as hard as she could. Jake grabbed her hand, and they stepped onto the docks. The magic of the docks seemed to steady him a bit, and he looked at her with a bit more focus as the library roof vanished.
“
Picture where we
’
re going,
”
she repeated.
“
Please.
”

The drive through the tunnels was long and silent. (Or rather, Sandy talked incessantly about Ian
’
s shortcomings, and Ms. Beckham ignored her and so did Mark, which made the drive sort of silent.) Caleb leaned heavily against Mark in the back, and Mark was almost tempted to put his arm around Caleb to hold him in the trolley, but that would be too weird so he didn
’
t. Farley galloped along behind them, enjoying his run.

They reached the end of the tunnel, parked the trolley, let themselves out through Ian
’
s old house, and crossed the road to the swamp and the stones.

Sandy went first, but Mark, who was next in line, paused. Why were the stones working? Didn
’
t they need Ian in order to use them?

Ms. Beckham seemed to understand his concern.
“
I
’
m assuming that if you
’
ve used the tunnels and seen Kasey
’
s map, you
’
ve figured out that almost everything is laid out on a pentagram?
”
Mark nodded.
“
You, Ian, and Russell are all the Energy for the pentagram. The energy courses down the arms of the pentagram, kind of like an electrical grid. You each light up a certain quadrant and the center. As long as one of you is still in one of the arms of your quadrant or one of the center arms, the stones are still live. We call it
‘
being in the system.
’
All of the parts are hooked together and influence each other in ways that we don
’
t totally understand, especially when all three of you are in the system. Haven
’
t you noticed that the more of us that are using the stones at any given time, the more that the rest of us seem to be drawn in? It
’
s like the pull of the stones increases with each additional person in the future. Anyway, since these stones are obviously still working, I
’
m guessing Ian is still at the apothecary.
”

Mark nodded again. He did that a lot in response to Ms. Beckham. Then he stepped on the stones, and wondered why Ms. Beckham didn
’
t mention someone being the Energy for the stones in the Circle Mountains, the ones that Sandy had claimed she
’
d used earlier that day.

When they were all back in the burning swamp of the present, Mark started to head back across the ladder, but Ms. Beckham stopped him.

“
Mark, I need you to wait here with Farley for Abbey. I need to get Caleb to the hospital for stitches and x-rays. Take my phone and text me on Caleb
’
s phone as soon as Abbey gets here, and I
’
ll come and pick you up. And please, if you can, remember to put the ladders and quills away when you get back to the boardwalk.
”

Mark somewhat reluctantly handed over the keys to the Jag (which he was glad he had carefully placed in his satchel). Sandy bid him a chirpy goodnight, and he watched the three of them make their way over the ladder to the boardwalk.

Then he sat down to wait. Farley, who had whined and howled when he realized he was being left behind with Mark, plunked himself down next to Mark, and Mark allowed himself (just slightly) to lean against the dog
’
s warm brown body.

*****

Abbey felt the familiar
whoosh
of travel and then had the impression of the dark sky and Madrona of the bubble, and a pregnant woman in a brown dress, looking very much like Abbey, except with a very tanned face like a mask and a strange pattern of freckles on her forehead. The woman reached for Jake, and then a blinding pain seared through Abbey
’
s skull and she passed out.

She awoke under a blanket, being jostled about in one of the bulbous-tired carts of her future, driving across the desert. A man with shaggy, light-colored hair gripped the wheel. Abbey rubbed her eyes.

“
Sam?
”
she said.

A much older Sam flicked a look over his shoulder at her.

“
Oh, good. You
’
re awake. I wasn
’
t sure what I was going to do when I got there and you weren
’
t.
”

“
Where
’
s Jake?
”

“
At the hospital. He
’
ll be okay. He can come home in a few days. But Abbey,
my
Abbey
…”
He paused.
“
I guess you
’
re my Abbey too, but that seems too strange to even think about. Anyway, Abbey insisted that you go home tonight. You passed out because, as you know, you can
’
t be too close to yourself. I
’
m just glad that
’
s all that happened. It was dangerous coming here like this. But I guess, how could you know?
”
He seemed almost annoyed, and Abbey wasn
’
t sure what he meant.

My Abbey
. Did that mean she and Sam were married? Dr. A. Livingstone. It seemed likely. She felt as though maybe she should be elated, but she experienced strange and fleeting thoughts of Jake.
“
Where are you taking me?
”

“
The old swamp stones. Although there isn
’
t much in the way of a swamp these days.
”
He checked the GPS tablet on the dash of the cart.
“
I think we
’
re there.
”

They got out, and sure enough, Abbey saw traces of the stones beneath the constantly blowing sand.

“
There isn
’
t a swamp here at all,
”
she said, starting to shiver uncontrollably in her tank top.

“
No. Our future didn
’
t get much in the way of water. Thank God you invented the bubble material or we
’
d all be dead.
”
Sam shifted about uncomfortably and pulled his wool coat in tighter around himself.

Abbey supposed seeing one
’
s partner as a teenager would be more than a little odd.

“
I
’
ll go then,
”
she said.
“
Thanks for the ride.
”
She walked toward the stones.

“
Be careful,
”
he called after her.
“
I love
—”
he started, but then seemed to realize the inappropriateness of it.
“
We
’
ll take care of Jake.
”

She gave him a little wave and then stepped on the stones, and a few seconds later, she was standing under the Madrona in the swamp, freezing to death, and Farley was leaping all around her, and Mark was awkwardly swaying from foot to foot, looking like he might want to hug her too.

“
Your mother has taken Caleb to the hospital. She says he is going to be okay,
”
he said formally.

She was safe. Caleb was safe. Her mother was safe. Jake was going to be okay.

Her phone barked with a text, and she automatically pulled it out of her pocket. It was from Sam.
Present Sam.

<
Coming to see you. It seems my research is being funded by a Quentin Steinam
>

*****

Mark wanted to get home. He pulled out Ms. Beckham
’
s phone to text her that Abbey was back and was okay. There was already a text on Ms. Beckham
’
s screen, from Peter Sinclair.

<
Don
’
t worry, Marian. I
’
m okay. I have not run off with Selena. I
’
ve gone to try to deal with this once and for all. I
’
m the only one who can do it. I
’
ll be back in a few days, if not sooner. I love you.
>

Mark stared at the text. What on earth did it mean? Then the phone beeped with another incoming text. From Caleb, which was probably Ms. Beckham.

<
Urgent: Mark, my key is missing. Did I drop it somewhere around the tree? Or on the boardwalk. Please look.
>

Mark looked at the ground all around him, and finding nothing, extended his gaze out across the steaming swamp, where the mud still blurped in places from the heat below.

That key could be anywhere.

*****

Abbey rolled over in bed for the twenty-seventh time, unable to sleep.

Caleb had returned from the hospital bruised and stitched and with two broken ribs. She and Mark had not found her mother
’
s key in the swamp. Sylvain, apparently still alive as her mother had predicted, had called Abbey
’
s mother at midnight, and after some debate, it was agreed that Sylvain would call Jake
’
s parents and explain that Jake was helping him on an emergency business trip. However it was evident that they were both concerned that Jake
’
s parents would be unconvinced, and that further cover-up would be required.

Abbey
’
s mother, after some cursing regarding
“
Peter
’
s stupidity,
”
explained that she would be heading off in search of Abbey
’
s father tomorrow, and Sylvain would be taking care of Abbey, Caleb, and Mark.

Abbey counted the slats of light on her ceiling for the third time. She had left her blind half open deliberately so she could see Mrs. Forrester
’
s house. The lights had flicked on at 1:00 a.m. So Ian was back then. Or someone was.

She
should
be sitting at her desk writing a list of all the things that she didn
’
t understand: like 309, the strange hachures on Kasey
’
s map, the murder of Abraham Dunham, the strange document in her closet, altys, and Sylvain
’
s talk of zero declination. But she was too tired.

It seemed that they were now traveling at a very rapid velocity. Momentum was directly related to velocity. Objects with a lot of momentum were difficult to stop.

And she wondered if she had hit someone with an axe.

If you are interested in looking at the maps provided in
A Quill Ladder
at higher resolution, please go to the
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A Pair of Docks

Derivatives of Displacement Book 1

Get it here

Siblings Abbey, Caleb, and Simon discover a set of stones that allow them to go back and forth between their world and what appears to be...the future. Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones who know about the stones, and they soon realize their lives are in danger from a man known only as Mantis. Abbey, Caleb, and Simon must follow a twisting trail of clues that will lead them from their neighbor with Asperger's to a strange professor who claims to know the rules of the stones, and to multiple futures.

A Grave Tree

Derivatives of Displacement Book 3

Read an excerpt at the end of this book

Get it here.

Abbey’s parents are still missing, possibly trapped in a parallel universe, and the adults around her won't give her any answers. So when she and Caleb once again travel to a possible future—one in which Coventry City is very much not as it should be—it’s up to them, and their neighbour Mark, to find her parents and set things right. 

Book Four of The Derivatives of Displacement coming in July 2016