Riddled Worlds by Phil Coleman

Author:Phil Coleman [Coleman, Phil]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: In Otherworlds Books
Published: 2022-06-20T23:00:00+00:00

Cinderwood

The muscle car thundered over the mountain pass, careening down the valley and to the gates of Cinderwood. Walter gripped the wheel in both fear and exhilaration. He was tripling—no, quadrupling—the top speed of the pickup he’d once driven back home. And though David had driven this fast before, now he was in control. He was the one guiding the beast. And Holes be damned, he was lord of the machine.

Beside him, Ezra maintained her calm passivity. Feelingless wench. Walter wished she’d occasionally show something other than an ache for a chimera’s tooth. That hadn’t been a human emotion, anyway. Just animal need. Even her arm—the arm whose bone he’d heard crack—even that didn’t bother her. She picked at the splint from time to time, but never once complained.

“Here we go.” Walter stamped on the accelerator, the pedal smacking hard against the floorboard. The muscle car lurched forward. And now, they could be seen.

Past the farms, past the outlying areas, past the vegetable stands dotting the sides of the road. Pedestrians and livestock leaped to avoid the raging automobile. Walter saw people scrambling, heard the clang of a warning gong. He knew the guards were aiming their weapons, waiting only to see what he’d do next.

As they neared the gates of Cinderwood, Walter knew they were with range of gunshot. Now was the gambit. As Walter jerked the wheel to the left, the muscle car careened off the road. The wheels rumbled against the rough ground. The car’s suspension lurched and banged as they plowed through a newly planted tobacco field. But they weren’t slowing down. The muscle car charged through irrigation ditches with impunity. Faster, faster, the far end of the field was in sight. And on the other side? The road led past the city and into the west. Walter eased the wheel right, preparing to angle back onto the highway. But the steering did not respond as he’d hoped. They hit the embankment too fast, and they were airborne.

One, two, three, the seconds stretched by. And then they landed. The shocks bottomed out with a clang of metal on metal. But the race wasn’t over yet. Walter wrenched the wheel left, and they went into a skid. The wheels caught, and the car lunged forward once more. Up, over the embankment, and there! They were back on the highway and headed in the right direction. Cinderwood shrank behind them.

* * *

Two miles back, crouched behind a juniper bush, David watched the spectacle. The guards of Cinderwood had not been prepared for their return. They gave a brief chase, turning around once it was clear the car would not double back. David had no doubt these people thought what they were meant to think. The sleek black car with its impossibly polished chrome and roaring engine was gone for good.

One hour later, blending into a gaggle of children, David was inside the city walls.

* * *

The city of Cinderwood was the closest thing to development David had seen since Greenwater’s End.

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