Broken by David H. Burton

Author:David H. Burton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Stonehenge Press
Published: 2011-05-30T05:00:00+00:00

When I woke, Jonathan was still by the window. I got out of bed before Chris’s morning arousal turned into something embarrassing.

We dressed and headed downstairs to find that breakfast was going to be a lead weight in our guts: eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, and mushrooms. I ate it anyway. I would have filled Chris in on what Jonathan and I had discussed, but the place was crammed with locals and other guests. We just ate our food in silence, listening to stories of how the winds had ripped the roof from one barn and how some sheep had gone missing. All seemed in agreement that something unnatural was afoot.

When we stepped out into the wet cobblestone roads, I looked around for signs of the howlers that we’d seen in the night. There were no prints.

“You won’t find anything,” Jonathan said. “They don’t leave tracks.”

“What?” Chris asked, as he approached.

“Howlers,” Jonathan said.

Chris nodded, yet grimaced. “Then we better get moving. Her scent will be obvious.”

“No more than yours,” Jonathan said.

Chris glanced at him with that non-impressed look and moved on. “Which way, tour guide?”

“We’ll cross the Cotswolds Way and then southeast to the Kingley Vale. Her ancestors’ home is near there.”

Chris nodded. “Yew trees. Good.”

“Glad you approve,” Jonathan said, and turned to begin the trek.

I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on between Jonathan and Chris. It was obvious they knew each other, or of each other at least, but they didn’t seem to like each other much. I hoped it wasn’t a jealousy thing, but it was shaping up that way.

I let it go. At the very least, they were being somewhat civil and I really didn’t feel like having an all-out dispute at this point. I needed them working together to help me get where I needed to go.

As we trekked across rolling hills, along centuries-old roads and trails, and through a smattering of trees, I couldn’t help but wonder about this world in which Chris and Jonathan were immersed. Changelings, Nymphs, Howlers, Faeries — what else was I bound to find?

I yanked on my hair. I felt so lost, so out of control.

I knew my world, and what to expect from it. Twenty-fours years of knowing. This other world in which I was being thrown was a mystery. Sure, I’d seen Brokk and some little winged people through the course of my teenage years, but I’d been taught that none of that had been real. Now I realized I could have been learning about this other realm, and that knowledge might have prepared me for what was coming.

I blamed Joan for that.

That made me wonder. What would Geoff do with all this if he could witness what I was seeing? Would he believe it, or would he check himself into an asylum?

Jonathan paused at a small stream that weaved under a bent, old willow. Brokk was there.

He waved at me, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Brokk,” I said. I picked him up. “I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention to you.

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