Into the Other (Alitura Realm Book 1) by J.K. Holt

Author:J.K. Holt [Holt, J.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-30T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

They gathered round the large back table at the Spilling Inn, packed tightly, each member vying for elbow room as they leaned forward collectively, creating a tight boundary between themselves and the rest of the world, though it was unnecessary; at this hour of mid-morning the lunch crowd had yet to arrive and they were alone in the large area, though Tess could hear Russ and Rosie’s parents in the back rooms, bickering about something or other. A faint haze of smoke drifted lazily around the room from the newly constructed fire, casting the rest of the room in a spectre-like glow as the light from the flames filtered through it. It made the whole meeting seem all the more surreal.

Russ delivered steaming mugs of catfish soup (lunch special, he’d said, which likely meant he’d pilfered it from the back when his parents were otherwise occupied) and Tess took a sip, grateful for the heat and the fleeting distraction. Now that all eyes were upon her, she’d started to regret her great declarations of yesterday, which seemed entirely too grand in restrospect.

Dray reminded everyone why they were there, and then indicated to Tess that she had the floor.

“Right,” she said. “I’m not quite sure where to start. I guess after Dray and Ashe told me what you all suspect about the Blue Plague, well…I think it’s fair to say that I had some doubts. I mean, the story was more than a bit fantastical, shadow organizations and-” Tess broke off when she saw Dray frown and Rosie roll her eyes. Her own temper flared in response- this was going to take all day if they were going to be against her from the start. “Look,” she said, glaring at them, “you can’t expect people who don’t know the history here to just go around and fall for your hairbrained ideas, hook line and sinker. If other people do, they’re idiots- I’m not. Or they’re just having you on and laughing at you behind your back. Unless you’d rather I do that, you need to just take the attitude down a few notches, alright?”

Rosie had the good sense to blush- she shook her head and looked down, setting her mouth into a firm line. Dray sighed and leveled cool grey eyes at Tess before raising his hands in a ‘truce’ gesture. Tess made a face at him she hoped signaled a current inability to put up with his foul mood before continuing.

“So, I decided to do a little research of my own. First I went to the apothecary and was given some information, really just a few different pamphlets that had been distributed in the beginning, when the Blue Plague had just cropped up-” she pulled them out of the small carry-bag she’d borrowed from Gowan for this exact presentation and deposited them on the table. I submit to the court Exhibit A, she thought wryly.

“-and then I went to the Town Hall. The woman who works there, Ms. Boyner, pulled the death records from the time the plague started several years back.

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