The Multitude by J M Fraser

Author:J M Fraser [Fraser, J M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946464064
Publisher: J.M. Fraser
Published: 2019-11-14T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

From agony to ecstasy to fear

The barbarians shimmered, faded, and disappeared. The ground hardened beneath Carla’s knees, and the rays of sun filtering through the forest faded to near darkness, eased by a glow off to the left. She turned toward a streetlamp and choked back a sob. She’d fallen through the wormholes to a different place, a better place, the only place she wanted to be.

Her heart remained two steps behind, pounding with rage, but she knew from experience how to steady herself. She rolled onto her side and took deep breaths, quick at first. Then slower, slower still, until she calmed so completely she could have drifted off. She stared through half-lidded eyes at a neighborhood in its own state of rest. Every window was dark, and not so much as a single porch light joined the streetlamp’s lonely battle against the midnight pall. The ghost-town atmosphere reminded her of the notion she’d had the last time she visited. Did anyone live behind those suburban walls, or was she gazing at the backdrop of a cosmic stage where only Brewster performed?

Perhaps she’d found heaven, and he was the gatekeeper. If she could pull herself up from the pavement, she’d hurry to that doorbell, ring a chord of Beethoven, and, when Brewster came to the door, ask him to keep her safe forever.

No. She couldn’t kid herself. Yins always follow yangs in the true cycle of life. Sooner or later, she’d be whisked back to Sanctimonia and forced to pick up where she left off. In any event, she wasn’t about to lean on anyone, and above all, she’d never ask this special man to help her play the coward. The scuffle with barbarians had momentarily made her weak. She wouldn’t have that.

She needed a weapon, something to keep hidden up her sleeve when she found herself kneeling before her captors again. The good side of her wanted it for defensive purposes, but the corner of her heart smoldering over the audacity of two barbarians to do what they’d done and plan what they planned…that side longed to castrate the bastards.

Carla tried to get up and search for a shard of glass or a stick she could sharpen to a point, but a wave of dizziness took her down. She stared into the sky from flat on her back and looked to the Big Dipper for answers. The organized pattern of stars served as a reminder she had her paths confused. Northbrook didn’t point backward to Sanctimonia. She’d progressed forward to Upstate New York after each of her two previous visits. Whatever weapon she might fashion wouldn’t be needed in Syracuse or her mother’s cabin on Tug Hill. Besides, she didn’t know how to bring anything from one reality to the next. Brewster’s business card had come from his world to hers on its own without providing any clues about its methods. She needed to fit the pieces properly if she wanted to take control of the jigsaw puzzle her world had become.

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