The Nowhere Emporium by Ross Mackenzie

Author:Ross Mackenzie [Ross MacKenzie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782501909
Publisher: Floris Books
Published: 2014-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

BLOOD AND SNOW

“Are you sure about this?”

Ellie’s nose was pressed against the glass of the Emporium’s front window. She peered out into the wintry Manhattan darkness. Snow had begun to fall. It was now well after midnight, and Mr Silver had been gone an entire day.

“I’m sure,” said Daniel, pulling on his coat and gloves and scarf.

“I wish I could go with you.” To Daniel’s great surprise, Ellie grabbed him and hugged him tight. “Be careful.”

“I will. I’d better go.”

The New York streets were eerily silent that night, every sound smothered by the thick layer of snow coating the city. Mostly, people had chosen not to brave the bitter cold and the ice-coated sidewalks.

Central Park seemed even bigger now that Daniel was alone, and the darkness brought with it the sort of characters who wished to go about their business unnoticed. He tucked his chin to his chest and hurried on, trying hard not to look at anyone. When he walked under a small footbridge, he imagined that someone was following, and began to run. He did not stop until he was past the Plaza. Eight blocks later, he spun into the alley and arrived at Bizarre’s Bazaar.

There was only one other customer inside – a man in a long brown coat browsing row upon row of bottles.

Daniel approached the counter.

“Excuse me.”

The shopkeeper, the one with skin like blue-veined cheese, had been examining a golden locket with a magnifying glass. At the sound of Daniel’s voice, he looked up, one milky eye magnified through the lens.

“No refunds,” he said, and he turned his attention back to the locket on the counter.

“What?”

“I never forget a face,” said the shopkeeper. “Especially a face connected with so much cash. You were in here a few nights back with the rich man. Well, you can tell him from me: sending a kid isn’t going to soften me any, oh no! I don’t do refunds.”

Daniel shook his head. “That’s not why I’m here. I wanted to ask you about what you sold us the other night.”

The shopkeeper looked up and smiled, showing Daniel a crooked row of rotten yellow teeth. “Ah. A very fine item.”

“Was it?”

The shopkeeper leaned over the counter on folded arms. “Very fine. Let’s just say it’s not every day you come into possession of a vial of unicorn blood.”

A crash from nearby; the second customer had dropped a metal box to the floor and was on his hands and knees scooping up the powder that had spilled.

“Hey!” yelled the shopkeeper. “Careful with the merchandise! You break it, you buy it!”

“Unicorn blood?” said Daniel. “Are you pulling my leg?”

“I’m not pulling anything.”

“So you’re telling me there are really unicorns out there?” Daniel had come to accept that the world was a far stranger place than he had ever imagined. Even so, a unicorn seemed a little far-fetched.

“Kid, if you know where to look, everything’s out there.”

“Why would someone want unicorn blood?”

The shopkeeper smiled. “Unicorn blood,” he said, “is sometimes called Liquid Life.

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