The Zanna Function by Daniel Wheatley

Author:Daniel Wheatley [Wheatley, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic / Science Fiction / Social Themes / Friendship
ISBN: 9781631631689
Publisher: North Star Editions
Published: 2018-03-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Zanna tried not to pass out. It wasn’t the g-forces, because her kidnapper handled those with ease and made the ride as smooth as a baby in a cradle. It wasn’t the wind either, because the woman handled that, as well. No, it was the height.

They skipped up in a vertical climb, Zanna’s captor deftly parting the shockwave like it was a pair of curtains. No sonic boom announced their ascent. In a silent instant, Zanna’s house had disappeared into the jumble of suburbia. It would have been better with the noise. You could tell which way you were falling by the way the wind howled. Without it, there was only the calm heartbeat of Zanna’s kidnapper and her own frightened one.

“Breathe.”

Zanna smelled something sweet and nitrous-like. It loosened her jaw just a little, though she kept her eyes closed. Brisk, thin air nipped at her nose, but the iron that bound her to her kidnapper warmed slightly, as if she had wrapped her entire body around a freshly poured cup of coffee.

“You really should open your eyes,” her captor said. “It’s such a lovely view.”

Zanna shook her head stubbornly.

“All the Earth laid out beneath us,” her captor continued. “All its storms and sunny days. The cities and forests. The great blue ocean. It’s astounding. You’re not going to get another chance to see it like this.”

But Zanna still refused. “What are you going to do to me?”

The woman clucked her tongue. “Don’t spoil this moment, you dear, silly child. We can have a nice long sit-down back at the house. I’ll make some hot cider. That’s still your favorite, right?”

“How do you know that?”

“Are you going to open your eyes?”

Zanna shook her head. It felt good to do something in rebellion, even if the rest of her body was encased in immovable iron. The woman sighed, and the sweet smell of laughing gas returned, this time much stronger than before. Zanna inhaled deep and drifted into blackness.

When she awoke, the sound of the world was back. Snow crunched under her kidnapper’s shoes. They were in a forest, near a brook that ran and fell over smooth rocks. Everything smelled of cold pine trees.

They stood at the edge of a picturesque wild-grass meadow deep with snow. The night was black and crisp, the stars sharp as silver needles. Zanna twisted her head around, trying to find anything to get her bearings, but it was just wilderness and shadow.

“Now to see if that was worth it,” her kidnapper muttered. Now that they were alone, all the violence in her voice had faded away. She sounded less like a vicious intruder and more like a weary traveler who still had quite a long distance to go. Were it anyone else, Zanna might have felt sorry for the tired, exhausted woman, but the image of Pops in that cage of air pressure was still too fresh in her mind. They hopped over the rushing brook, and the world rippled.

When things realigned, the field was not empty.

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