The Complete Series by John Barnes

Author:John Barnes [Barnes John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504047685
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2017-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

-9-

It wasn’t so much knowing how to get to New York that was the problem—after all, I was on Long Island, on the side facing the Sound, with the water a scant few hundred yards off. All I had to do was face the water, turn left, start walking, and keep walking.

My guess was that the John Locke had blown up at about 3:45 in the morning, local time, and since it was due into port at about 5:30 A.M., I was probably thirty miles, as the crow flew, from Manhattan, which was all there was of New York at the time—the whole settled area was what’s just Lower Manhattan today, Greenwich was not only still a village, but it was separated from town by farms, and the other boroughs were pretty much farmland and little villages. According to the information they’d dumped into me, in this timeline Boston was not only still the biggest city in the Thirteen Colonies, but would stay bigger longer. The faster things grow, the more they concentrate near pre-existing sites, and thus it would probably not be until the middle of the next century that New York would become America’s largest city.

All of which meant that there weren’t going to be any buses or trains along soon, and even when I got to Brooklyn I would probably have to wait a while for a ferry.

That put me in mind of another problem, and I checked my coat pocket. I still had the purse of silver and copper coins, and there was enough in there to get me food, lodging, and a ferry if I was careful. It would be nice to afford new boots as well, but maybe Morris would be able to lend me a pair or to extend a loan …

It did seem pretty bizarre that with the resources of almost two million Earths, the ATN was borrowing petty cash from private citizens. Maybe I could do something to get everyone reimbursed. …

If your feet have ever been in shape for barefoot walking, you know there’s still a limit to how much of it you can do. After seven or eight miles, I was getting footsore and, moreover, skirting around villages was getting to be a hassle. I figured I was far enough away, and my clothes were at least dry, so that people wouldn’t immediately wonder if I’d been on the Locke.

I was in luck; the next place along the road, a little tavern called the Dog and Pony, had fresh bread and sausage and decent beer for not too much, and was willing enough to let a traveler sleep in the yard for part of the afternoon. I got fed and rested, borrowed a scissors, and trimmed my nails. For a copper coin I rented a basin and razor and made myself all but presentable; if I had just had shoes and stockings, I might merely look like I needed new clothes.

The owner was a little surly guy who didn’t

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