Valentine Crow & Mr Death by Jenni Spangler

Author:Jenni Spangler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2023-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

Valentine rose at the first light through the stained-glass windows. Lord and Lady Clench were still asleep – he could tell by the snoring sounds – but Death was nowhere to be seen, so he scooped up his dog and headed out.

They picked their way through the graveyard cautiously, heading back to the mausoleum. Maybe Death was there, depositing a soul or killing time before his next collection. But the mausoleum was dark and empty, the stone slab above the library stairs still firmly in place. Atropos, roosting in a coffin niche, opened her sharp eye at Valentine’s arrival, and followed him back outside.

A fluttery, buzzy movement came from his jacket pocket. The watch, reminding him of his duties. It fell still as he opened the case and gazed at the hands. His collection was approaching quickly now, well into the hour section of the face.

Valentine decided to carry on with his day as if everything was fine. Which it probably was.

‘Stay here, Bones,’ he said. ‘Back soon.’

He tapped impatiently on the other side of the watch. Was it his imagination or had the shimmering liquid inside begun stirring before his finger had even made contact with the glass? As he watched it swirl and form into the star shape, a pleasant, tingly sensation trickled down the back of his neck. It was a feeling he didn’t have a name for. Peace? Purpose? Focus?

The star pulled to the right, and he turned and began moving in that direction. Atropos kept pace with him, flitting from gravestone to statue as they crossed the cemetery. ‘You don’t need to come with me,’ said Valentine. He was sure the prickly, fierce creature had been warming up to him, until the Philomena incident had made her furious. ‘It was a one-time thing. I won’t do it again.’

The watch led him straight to the cemetery gate, and this time Valentine was doubly careful to lock it behind him.

They travelled through the market, further than he had been before, beyond the turning which led to Partridge Street and Philomena. He wondered how she was. He hoped that her soul had settled back into place now, and she could carry on with her life as normal.

Everyone Valentine passed was hard at work or walking with purpose. He was struck by the realization that every single one of these strangers was right in the middle of their own story, a hundred lives, all passing momentarily through the same space before spinning off into different directions.

And every single one of them, he thought, is headed to the same place in the end.

Though no one seemed to notice him, even when they nearly collided, he studied every face he saw. All their souls had been mixed together in the Always. Perhaps many times. And all of them would return to be mixed again eternally.

The watch trembled slightly in his hand. The star was glowing more brightly now – it was getting stronger as he got closer to his destination.

It finally led him down a back alley and into a house.

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