STRANGER WORLD by Jack Castle

Author:Jack Castle [Castle, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: CASTLE BOOKS Inc.
Published: 2017-08-27T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

“Chasing Hover Barge”

“Stop worrying, we’ll catch them.”

George was driving fast, which was a lot better than him driving since Barnaby didn’t trust his eyes with the sun now directly ahead in their faces. At best, Barnaby figured they had maybe an hour of daylight left, two at the most. The verdant jungle had given way to an endless expanse of rolling hills. The two-lane highway was like a bridge across a landscape of billowing grasses that were a variety of colors--Kentucky blue, radiant green, and savage purple.

George had to shout to be heard over the truck’s un-muffled V-8 engine. “How can you be so sure?” Even with all the noise Barnaby could still hear the twinge of helplessness in the man’s voice.

In turn, he yelled back, “Royal barges are extremely slow. Plus, Lady Wellington’s an opportunist. She’ll stop along the way to pillage every abandoned outpost, region, or kingdom that won’t put up a fight.”

George thought about this for a moment then asked, “Even if we do catch up to them, how are we going to get up there?”

Barnaby had no idea. It had been years since he’d ridden on board Lady Wellington’s hover barge but they were taken up via elevators that were little more than shark cages dangling precariously from steel cables. It had been a terrifying experience going up into the air like that. He doubted Lady Wellington would be so benevolent as to lower one and offer them a ride. So he was being honest when he answered, “Dunno. Probably doesn’t matter anyway.”

George waited for him to finish, and when he didn’t he risked a glance from the road over to him to ask grumpily, “Why not?”

Now it was Barnaby’s turn to smile. “Lady Wellington will probably just kill us anyway. Not the kind of death you come back from neither, we’re talking dead-dead, sever you to pieces, kind of dead.”

George frowned. “That’s comforting.” He then thought about it for a second and asked, “Not the kind you come back from?”

Barnaby sighed. Nodded his head and explained, “Yeah… sometimes when people die they vanish the moment you ain’t looking. Few days later, sometimes hours, other times weeks, they return, but not always.” He coughed and added, “I’m not even sure they’re the same person when they come back, neither.” He flashed George a sideways glance but when George returned his gaze, he quickly looked away.

George opened his mouth to speak, but the words never formed and he kept right on driving.

Barnaby knew what lay at the end of the road, and he also knew that even if they caught up with Lady Wellington’s barge, they’d never get aboard it. Back in the Dinosaur preserve he had contemplated running off and leaving George and Maddie to their fates. He would’ve liked to believe he had come back to help them out, but in the end even he had to admit, if only to himself, he was a coward. This world was a dangerous place, and if George survived, there would be safety in numbers.

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