Anne Bishop - Bridge of Dreams

Glorianna smiled. “Yes, you are. Ephemera, hear me.”

The wind blew over her skin, under her skin. The ground felt soft, fluid. The world faded and became a white sheet where images flashed by almost too fast for them to see. A dark lake and two huge black stones rising out of the water. A desert of rust-colored sand. A harbor town that made them uneasy. Another harbor town that looked bright and happy. A valley full of fog. Bobbing lights and music.

Images pulled at one or the other of them, but not all of them. And then…

Zhahar felt something snag her as the ground became so fluid it disappeared. She screamed—and heard Sholeh and Zeela scream too.

She stumbled and almost stepped on a dead, bloated cat, scattering the rats that had come for a meal.

Zeela came into view, steadying them as they walked out of the alley and looked around.

=Late afternoon, if I can trust the position of the sun and the feel of the day,= she said.

*Then we’re nowhere near Aurora,* Zhahar said. *But it has the cool feel of autumn here too. Sholeh? Are you all right?*

::Yes.::

Zeela wasn’t sure of that, but being the one in view, she had to pay attention to where they were and leave Sholeh to Zhahar.

A dark place. She could feel it. It looked like a poorer section of town, but that wouldn’t have made it dark. Sometimes the fanciest parts of a town were also the darkest. This felt more like a shadow street that had gone septic.

*Shadow street?* Zhahar asked.

=Couldn’t be.= But it feels like one. Blowing out a breath, Zeela headed for a group of men working around an empty lot in the middle of the block, then veered toward the women who were watching the workers from across the street.

“What happened?” she asked a middle-aged woman.

“Strangers took over a house a while back,” the woman replied. “Nasty pieces of work, every one of them. Then one night they disappeared—and the house with them. Pipes were ripped open and we had water and sewage filling up the house’s cellar and pouring out into the street. Was worth a demon’s ransom to get the city workers to come out here and begin fixing things. Had to petition a Shaman before we got any help, and had to hire the Knife Guild to protect the workers, because some bad things had happened on this street. Wasn’t like that before the strangers arrived, even if it was a shadow street.”

Zeela swayed and wished she’d taken time for a sip of water and a bite of food. Not that she would have taken either in that stinking alley, but…

Shaman. Knife. Shadow street.

“What is this place?” she asked. When the woman, who had sounded friendly enough, gave her a less-than-friendly look, she added hurriedly, “I just arrived. Was left here, actually, and wasn’t told the name of the town.”

The woman bobbed her head once. After a minute during which they both watched the workers, she said, “This is part of the city of Vision. You’ve heard of Vision?”

Zeela nodded, not sure if her heart was pounding so hard because of her feelings or because of her sisters. “In the city of Vision, you can find only what you can see.”

“That’s right.” The woman looked her over. “There’s lodgings at the end of the street. Not the cleanest place, but it won’t cost you much to stay there.”

“Appreciate the information. I’ll go down and see if they have any rooms available.” She narrowed her eyes and studied the man who didn’t look like he was doing anything useful, but his eyes never stopped scanning the street. He wasn’t the Knife who had helped them get out of Vision, but having that much of an introduction couldn’t hurt. “But first I need to talk to a man about a job.”

Lee settled the island a few steps away from the cottage he now called home, picked up the cloth-covered bundle that contained his new roommate, hurried off the island, and rushed to get inside.

But he still wasn’t quick enough.

“Lee?” Danyal called from the large screened patio that connected their cottages.

Sighing, Lee changed directions and joined Danyal on the patio. It was too chilly to sit outside for pleasure, so Danyal must have been waiting for him to return.

“We’re going to have to get a hook for that door.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the patio door and tried to ignore Danyal’s palpable curiosity. Then he sighed again, set the bundle on the table, and removed the cloth covering partway.

The lavender and white keet began a muttering scold—the same sound he’d been making since Nadia put the traveling cage on the island and left.

“Watch him, will you?” Lee said. “I have to get the other cage.”

“There’s more than one keet?” Danyal asked.

“No, but Jeb made him a big cage to live in. That one is a traveling cage so that, in warmer weather, he can come with me when I’m spending the day at the playground station. That will give him a chance to socialize.” He rolled his eyes—a wasted movement, since he was wearing the dark glasses and no one would see it.

He went back to the island, gathered up his pack and the big cage, and took those into his cottage. Then he returned to the patio. Since Danyal seemed interested in the bird, it was tempting to say the keet had been intended for the Shaman, but he could picture sitting down to dinner at his mother’s and having that little tidbit slip out during a conversation. And now that a stationary bridge linked their school to Aurora, Danyal was a frequent guest at Nadia’s home—and Sebastian’s—so it was bound to come up.

“I have his food, his dishes, his toys, and things for him to chew,” Lee said, knowing he sounded a little more sour than he felt. “And once he settles in to his new home, he’ll be able to play with his favorite toy.”

“What is that?” Danyal asked.

“People.”

Danyal laughed. “What is his name?”

“Haven’t come up with one. My mother doesn’t name the babies that are going to be given away, because she says the names should be chosen by the new families.”

“That makes sense. So you have no thoughts?”

“One.” Lee leaned close to the cage and said, “Featherhead.”

He regretted it as soon as his eardrums started vibrating. How could something that small be so loud?

When the keet went to the back of the cage and resumed muttering, Danyal said with a straight face, “I don’t think he likes that name.” He gave Lee a puzzled look. “If you didn’t want him, why did you take him?”

“My mother presented me with the cage and the keet and told me it was time for me to have one. My sister, along with Caitlin and Lynnea, agreed.” And a man who had lived with Landscapers his whole life didn’t argue when three of them said it was time. Especially when one of those Landscapers was a Guide of the Heart.

“Perhaps I can help you with the name,” Danyal said. “Maybe something more traditional to this part of the world?”

Lee studied the Shaman, who was also a Guide. “Thanks.”

“I was waiting for you because the Apothecary dropped these off.” Danyal picked up a small case from the woven table beside his chair.

Lee took the case and opened it.

“Try them,” Danyal said.

Slipping the dark glasses into his shirt pocket, he carefully removed the other glasses and put them on. Then he took the book Danyal held out and opened it to a random page.

“They work,” he said after a moment. “I can read again.”

“Good,” Danyal said, smiling.

Over the past few weeks, his eyesight had continued to improve, thanks to the more potent eyedrops the Apothecary had made. His eyes weren’t as good as they used to be, but he could see again. And now, after a visit to the eyeglass maker’s booth at the bazaar to have a special pair of glasses made, he could read again.