Nina Kiriki Hoffman by The Thread That Binds The Bones

Author:The Thread That Binds The Bones
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-03-27T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Tom, Maggie, Laura, and Trixie looked at each other, then back at Jaimie.

“Oh, dear,” she said. “I can manage myself, and one other person, but that’s—and we have to be sure not to leave any tracks.”

“How about we drive as far as we can, and worry about flying from there?” Tom asked.

Jaimie looked dubious, but at last she nodded. They all piled into Old Number Two, and Tom followed Jaimie’s tentative directions: east on the interstate along the gorge for a while; Old Number Two could make fifty-five miles an hour, with a great deal of ratcheting, but cruised more comfortably at fifty.

They turned off at a rest stop ten miles east of Arcadia. Jaimie eyed the full daylight around them and sighed.

“I can do invisible, too, but I’m not sure I can do it enough to cover this whole group. What are we going to do?” she asked.

—Peregrine?

—If you give me leave, I can accomplish everything. You have much power in reserve. I hope you’ll let me do what’s necessary for the infant when we arrive.

—What did she mean, purging the tanganar?

—When a child is flawed ...

—What do you consider a flaw? No way I’m going to let you kill a baby.

—Agreed. If the child is tanganar, I will leave it alone. If the child is of our blood, will you let me treat it as we treat our own?

—Does it harm the baby?

—No.

—All right.

Peregrine spread through him even more completely than before. Tom concentrated, relinquishing control of arms, legs, fingers, toes, torso, neck; difficult and strange to do, after building the strength to hang onto control all these years, to contain the fear and anger without outward sign of its existence, to drive the sight away, to stifle the words that might get him in trouble. At each surrender, Peregrine whispered,—Is all well? Are you prepared for this? Remember that I will listen to your wishes and cede it all back to you in an instant. Is all well?

Conscious of Peregrine’s regard, the warmth the ghost felt for him, Tom let go, and found himself at last inside his head, looking through his eyes, aware that his body acted without his being in charge of it or even being able to anticipate its next move. Peregrine flexed his hands, staring down at the fingers.

“Tom?” Laura asked.

He gave her a distant smile. “No.”

“Peregrine,” she said.

“By your leave.”

“The Presence?” asked Jaimie, her tone uneasy,

“Yes, descendant. You lead. I’ll bring these others.” He held out his hands. Laura took one, Trixie the other.

Maggie, forlorn, stood small before him, glancing up with wide eyes, then away. Peregrine, who considered her a young and probably untrained fetch, frowned a moment, wishing Tom had not cluttered them up with these non-essential people. Then he relented. “Climb on my back, daughter,” he said, stooping. She ducked around Laura and got on his back, winding her legs around his waist and gripping his shoulders with her hands. By far the best solution, he decided; an almost even distribution of weight.

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