Dust and Shadow by Lindsey Pogue

Author:Lindsey Pogue [Pogue, Lindsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roar Press LLC

SEVENTEEN

JO

Toby stares at me, a pinch of concern on his mostly clean face. “The devil, eh?” He waves a fly away. “I reckon there’s lots of devils in this place.” He looks browbeaten for a moment. I’m about to ask what troubles him when I hear my name.

I turn around to find Ms. Rinehurst coming closer, her hair braided and hanging over her shoulder, a small purse with missing beads clutched in her hands. “Is everything all right, Miss Mason?”

I’m surprised to see she’s dressed for church. I’d completely forgotten about it.

There have been too many surprises this week and my head begins to ache. “Not particularly,” I admit and lean against the side of the building. The stone is already hot from the sun.

“Truly, miss, you are very flushed. Come inside, out of the sun.” I allow her to usher me past a few storefronts and into her bookshop. I’m not sure what else to do. I can’t go back to the wagon, or be with Clayton or see the marshal. They are too closely connected, and I’m not sure what to think about anything anymore.

Toby follows us into the shop and shuts the door behind him. It’s a bit cooler inside with the morning sun behind us and it smells of old books, which I find comforting.

Though it’s dark inside with the drapes drawn to keep the sun out, I take in the small space, the low rafters of the ceiling and the books crowding the tight shelves that line the walls and cases staggered within. Enchanted, I step over to the wall shelves. “I haven’t been here in so long,” I realize.

“Those are the nonfictions,” Dotty says as I brush my fingers over them. There are history books, tomes about machinery and scientific discoveries, books on how to make cotton, and The Art of Beekeeping. The bindings of the books are torn and faded, some of them barely hanging on with dissolving adhesive.

History of Expedition Under the Command of the Captains Lewis and Clark

The Works of Wolfgang Mozart

Common Sense

“All of these men changed the world,” I whisper. “And we are left with a monster.” I stare at the bewitching covers, my mind a bit fuzzy. “They ruined us all.”

“Miss?” Dotty says, stepping closer. “Have a seat. You don’t look well. I must insist . . .”

I shake my head as my dudgeon-induced haze begins to lift. “Ms. Rinehurst,” I say urgently. “Where are your history books?”

I hurry down the rows, skimming the other bindings. “Where are your local histories or newspapers—you know, archived materials from the Shift?”

“What you see in the library is what I have, Miss Mason. It’s all that was left after the great fire that devastated the south end of town. The marshal brings me relics his men find sometimes, but—”

“The answers are here somewhere. I know they are.”

“The answers?”

“What else is out there, in the world?” I ask her, though I don’t expect an answer. “There has to be more beyond the Dead Lands.

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