A Time and a Place

by Joe Mahoney

  Afterward, I took her hand and slipped the ring on her little finger. It adjusted its size to fit. I would have liked to give her a different kind of ring, but I had been in her mind and knew the truth: that no man could.

  The back door of my house burst open. Doctor Humphrey charged out, leading a medical team carrying stretchers and first aid kits. They passed Jerry Doucette staring open-mouthed at his son, four years older than the last time he’d seen him mere days before. Jerry and Ridley greeted one another awkwardly, seemed like they might hug, finally settled on shaking hands.

  Take care of my boy. Barnabus, don’t you dare let me down.

  I hadn’t quite got to Ridley in time. One day he would have to deal with what he had been through. What he had done. Still, it was good to see him with his father again. I took some satisfaction in that.

  Sarah produced a little green pill from her pocket. “Take it,” she said. “You’ll feel better.”

  I stared at the pill as if she were suggesting I eat a bug. She was right though. If I wanted to feel better, I had no choice but to take that pill.

  But I didn’t have to. Not if I didn’t want to.

  It may not have been a real choice. But it felt like one, and that would have to do.

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to the following animals, people, and institutions for their help and encouragement during the absurdly long process of writing this book. Der Brotkorb, the European Bakery Café in the Whitby Mall, for their delicious coffee and danishes. Edmond Hamilton for his fine work. Frank Faulk for the conversation that inspired Chapter Twenty-Four. Nicky Borland, Kathy and Ian Gillis, Phyllis Gotlieb, Jennifer Grant, Fergus Heywood, Erin Mahoney, Keira Mahoney, Lynda Mahoney, John McCarthy, Angela Misri, Arleane Ralph (for the truth about the infamous cat chapter), Susan Rodgers, Robert J. Sawyer, Kathryn Shalley (for believing in this novel), Hugh Spencer, Lorina Stephens, Alex Taylor, Anjuli Tchalikian, and Shawna and Brian Wyvill for their support. GO Transit for providing the time to write. John Miller for respecting that time. Tom and Rosaleen Mahoney for their superlative parenting. The Saturday Night Scribes for listening. Paul and Carol White for being such great friends.

  Special thanks to Dr. Robert Runté for taking on this project, and for his keen eyes and penetrating insights.

  Finally, extra-special thanks to Barbara Bain of Parkside Elementary and Percy McGougan of Summerside Intermediate for fanning the flames, way back when.

  About the Author

  Joe Mahoney works full time for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where he’s helped make many radio shows over the years. His short fiction has been published in Canada, Australia, and Greece. Joe lives in Whitby with his wife and two daughters, and their golden retriever and siberian forest cat. A Time and a Place is his first novel.

  Books by Five Rivers

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  Big Buttes Book: Annotated Dyets Dry Dinner, (1599), by Henry Buttes, with Elizabethan Recipes, by Michelle Enzinas

  Al Capone: Chicago’s King of Crime, by Nate Hendley

  Crystal Death: North America’s Most Dangerous Drug, by Nate Hendley

  Dutch Schultz: Brazen Beer Baron of New York, by Nate Hendley

  John Lennon: Music, Myth and Madness, by Nate Hendley

  Motivate to Create: a guide for writers, by Nate Hendley

  Steven Truscott, Decades of Injustice by Nate Hendley

  King Kwong: Larry Kwong, the China Clipper Who Broke the NHL Colour Barrier, by Paula Johanson

  Shakespeare for Slackers: by Aaron Kite, et al

  Romeo and Juliet

  Hamlet

  Macbeth

  The Organic Home Gardener, by Patrick Lima and John Scanlan

  Shakespeare for Readers’ Theatre: Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, by John Poulson

  Shakespeare for Reader’s Theatre, Book 2: Shakespeare’s Greatest Villains, The Merry Wives of Windsor; Othello, the Moor of Venice; Richard III; King Lear, by John Poulsen

  Beyond Media Literacy: New Paradigms in Media Education, by Colin Scheyen

  Stonehouse Cooks, by Lorina Stephens

  FICTION

  Black Wine, by Candas Jane Dorsey

  Eocene Station, by Dave Duncan

  Immunity to Strange Tales, by Susan J. Forest

  The Legend of Sarah, by Leslie Gadallah

  The Empire of Kaz, by Leslie Gadallah

  Cat’s Pawn

  Cat’s Gambit

  Growing Up Bronx, by H.A. Hargreaves

  North by 2000+, a collection of short, speculative fiction, by H.A. Hargreaves

  A Subtle Thing, by Alicia Hendley

  The Tattooed Witch Trilogy, by Susan MacGregor

  The Tattooed Witch

  The Tattooed Seer

  The Tattooed Queen

  A Time and a Place, by Joe Mahoney

  The Rune Blades of Celi, by Ann Marston

  Kingmaker’s Sword, Book 1

  Western King, Book 2

  Broken Blade, Book 3

  Cloudbearer’s Shadow, Book 4

  King of Shadows, Book 5

  Sword and Shadow, Book 6

  A Still and Bitter Grave, by Ann Marston

  Indigo Time, by Sally McBride

  Wasps at the Speed of Sound, by Derryl Murphy

  A Quiet Place, by J.W. Schnarr

  Things Falling Apart, by J.W. Schnarr

  A Poisoned Prayer, by Michael Skeet

  And the Angels Sang: a collection of short speculative fiction, by Lorina Stephens

  Caliban, by Lorina Stephens

  From Mountains of Ice, by Lorina Stephens

  Memories, Mother and a Christmas Addiction, by Lorina Stephens

  Shadow Song, by Lorina Stephens

  The Mermaid’s Tale, by D. G. Valdron

  YA FICTION

  My Life as a Troll, by Susan Bohnet

  Eye of Strife, by Dave Duncan

  Ivor of Glenbroch, by Dave Duncan

  The Runner and the Wizard

  The Runner and the Saint

  The Runner and the Kelpie

  Avians, by Timothy Gwyn

  Type, by Alicia Hendley

  Type 2, by Alicia Hendley

  Tower in the Crooked Wood, by Paula Johanson

  A Touch of Poison, by Aaron Kite

  The Great Sky, by D.G. Laderoute

  Out of Time, by D.G. Laderoute

  Diamonds in Black Sand, by Ann Marston

  Hawk, by Marie Powell

  YA NON-FICTION

  The Prime Ministers of Canada Series:

  Sir John A. Macdonald

  Alexander Mackenzie

  Sir John Abbott

  Sir John Thompson

  Sir Mackenzie Bowell

  Sir Charles Tupper

  Sir Wilfred Laurier

  Sir Robert Borden

  Arthur Meighen

  William Lyon Mackenzie King

  R. B. Bennett

  Louis St. Laurent

  John Diefenbaker

  Lester B. Pearson

  Pierre Trudeau

  Joe Clark

  John Turner

  Brian Mulroney

  Kim Campbell

  Jean Chretien

  Paul Martin

  Stephen Harper

  www.fiveriverspublishing.com

  The Great Sky

  ISBN 9781927400999

  eISBN 9781988274003

  by D.G. Laderoute

  Trade Paperback 6 x 9

  August 1, 2016

  The first time Piper Preach died he was ten years old. But the Anishnaabe spirits thought otherwise.

  Now, six year later, Piper struggles with the hard realities of life in a big city. T
he ancient ways of his people are a distant memory. But the spirits aren’t done with him.

  Pulled into their bizarre world, the place the Anishnaabe call The Great Sky, he’s plunged into the middle of a brutal war raging just a step away from reality. And this time there may be no escaping death – or even worse.

  A Town Called Forget

  ISBN 97819274034

  eISBN 9781988274041

  by C.P. Hoff

  Trade Paperback 6 x 9

  August 1, 2016

  A tender and often hilarious debut novel from Alberta writer, C.P. Hoff.

  A Town Called Forget is Anne of Green Gables turned on its head. But in this tale it is not an over-imaginative redheaded orphan that takes center stage but the off-beat town itself, full of individuals that should be restrained if not medicated. And the poor heroine of this yarn, banished to live with her Aunt Lily whom her parents have never publicly recognized, has to navigate the delicate balance between her aunt’s sanity and neuroses. Amid adventures and misadventures, she learns about patience, tolerance and even love.

  This humorous Canadian story is completely different. From everything. Maybe it’s Anne of Green Gables with a little Alice Through the Looking Glass thrown in.

  Tim Armstrong

  author of Avians

  Eocene Station

  ISBN 9781988274058

  eISBN 9781988274058

  by Dave Duncan

  Trade Paperback 6 x 9

  October 1, 2016

  A new Dave Duncan novel is always a reason to celebrate, and his trademark blend of high adventure, hard science, and wry humour makes Eocene Station a must read.

  K. N. ‘Cannon’ Ball and his superstar wife, Tempest, are running for their lives. Cannon has exposed a fraud so huge even heads of government are implicated and determined to keep Cannon from ever testifying. Nowhere is safe, so they step out of time to a research station fifty million years in the past. The dinosaurs died out eons ago and there aren’t any people around, so they ought to be safe then, right? Wrong, very wrong!

  Absolutely smashing.

  Goodreads

  …brilliant settings, plot, action and character development…entirely enjoyable.

  LibraryThing