The Good Die Young by J.S. Morin
Author:J.S. Morin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643551289
Publisher: Magical Scrivener Press
The seating arrangement had become fluid. Restless hostages switched places, stretched their legs, patrolled the aisle like caged animals. Quiet conversations had sprung up as a defense mechanism against the terror of captivity.
Becky had joined those taking up extra space along the pews by lying down to slumber.
Mort didnât know how she did it. They werenât even his kids, and he couldnât sleep knowing that Mike, Rhiannon, and Brad were out there, captive and alone, bereft of whatever comfort Chuck and Becky might offer, given the circumstances.
Someone slid into the spot beside Mort. âSo, where you from originally?â
âMotherâs womb,â he replied without looking to see who it was whoâd addressed him.
âI mean, whereâd you grow up?â
Still refusing to turn and face the pesky newcomer, Mort answered, âFully formed adult. Been sixty years old since the day I was born.â
âSixty, you donât lookââ
Finally, Mort relented and met the manâs incredulous stare. His verbal assailant was perhaps forty years of age himself, pasty and pudgy and full of nervous self-assurance that his presence would be welcome wherever it graced the universe.
Catching hold of his next words, he swallowed and nodded. âRight. Nice meeting you.â
Mort relaxed back onto the uncomfortably hard wood with his arms crossed. Had he chosen to, he could have extended an arm to either side without touching anyone. Wizards stood apart, whether or not anyone knew who or what they were. Even in his shabby sports-team sweatshirt and unlaundered dungarees, his presence stood out.
Except to the idiot wizard-hunter the pirates brought along. Shout in the Voice of God, and heâd perk up one of those shaggy, floppy ears. Quietly stew in a pew, and he was blind as a mole.
A flash of cloth in his peripheral vision warned Mort an instance before a thud and a groan of protesting wood announced the presence of another visitor. This time, he knew Father Laszlo by voice, âPlease join me in prayer.â
âPass,â Mort grumbled.
In a surprise twist, the priest switched to an ancient language. âBut they donât understand Latin. I tested them.â
Mort offered a glance from the corner of his eye. The priestâs face was splotchy with half-ripened bruises. Gleaming steel zits studded his jawline, testament to some horrible technomedical process that looked worse than the injury. Theoretically, Father Laszlo had taken that beating in Mortâs place.
Both of them knew better, though. Mort wasnât planning on getting hit, and it wasnât Mort that the priest had been protecting.
Still, a whiff of obligation hung over their relationship. And if a little yapping could blow it away, Mort was willing to speak with the priest.
âFine,â Mort replied, allowing that to be his last word from the third millennium for the time being.
Rather than launch into a long-winded explanationâas any conversation in the unwieldy tongue turned out to beâFather Laszlo rose. Mort got up and followed as they headed for the front of the cathedral. The priest knelt on a long, carpeted railing intended for supplication.
Grumbling internally, Mort joined him, bowing his head in imitation of prayer.
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