Under Cover of Darkness by Julie E. Czerneda

Author:Julie E. Czerneda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DAW

THE GOOD SAMARITAN

Amanda Bloss Maloney

I AM SEVEN years old again. The earth spins beneath me as I lie on the grass and watch dark clouds race through the sky, like an armada struggling to reach a critical battle. It’s hot, but some of the humidity has lifted as if a valve has been opened to ease the pressure.

It is twilight, and dinner is late because we lost power in the afternoon. Between the storm and the rolling blackouts, electricity is erratic throughout the city. Some lights still shine at the core to the east, a beacon of civilization. It almost hurts to look at them, like staring at the sun. They cast an eerie glow on the clouds skimming just above the tallest buildings. Everywhere else is gray; the sunset is a distant haze, not really trying to pierce the clouds. It’s too much effort and the day is coming to a close, so why not rest?

Mrs. Hudson is with me. Her flashlight is off now, but I think she still sees me by the final burn of the day. She climbed the small hill where the hydro towers march in the field behind our neighborhood, said she’d seen me leave through the gate and didn’t want me to get lost. We sit for a while, watching the storm clouds and pointing out interesting shapes that remind us of familiar things. She braids my hair, her warm, wrinkled face smiling down at me.

She lives alone on our street and sometimes has dinner with us. She tells wonderful stories with so much detail they almost seem real to me; of beings who share our world but cannot be seen. There are tales of the Seelie Court—the benevolent Faeries—who sometimes entertain mortals. I listen to her stories about the Faerie folk and dream of visiting the Court. I would wear a dress woven from moss and drink dew from the heads of flowers. Mrs. Hudson says I’d have other human children to play with: there are no Faerie children at Court. She always says a blessing for them at every meal. “Must make the Daine Side feel welcome,” she says. Mum has explained in hushed tones that Mrs. Hudson is talking about beings that don’t exist. She thinks they are real and Mum doesn’t want to upset her with the truth.

I am alone now. Mrs. Hudson has gone just down the hill to pick some flowers to decorate my braids. We’ll have to go home soon as dinner will be ready. I close my eyes so I can’t see the hydro tower looming above me and picture myself in a forest instead, full of colorful flowers and sweet-faced faeries dancing in a glade.

The crickets are suddenly silent and the wind has stilled. Something is very wrong. I open my eyes and stare up at four figures. They are pale phantoms of men in long, black coats. Their skin has a luminous quality and their hair is long and silver. The faces are poor imitations of being human.

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