Skip: An Epic Science Fiction Fantasy Adventure Series (Book 3)

by Perrin Briar

  “All clear,” he said with a broad grin.

  He suddenly felt weak, like his legs were going to give way. He looked at his backside and saw a needle sticking out of his underwear. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he hit the floor. His leg jittered, spasming. Froth erupted from his mouth.

  Gregory walked along the cleared path. He came to the empty cabinet with a crude hole in the top. He peered around at the concrete pedestals but found no sign of Stump. Then he noticed the flowers leading from the empty cabinet to the opposite side of the room. The Mooneys had been torn out, root and stem. Gregory gritted his teeth. He turned to Captain Philmore.

  “Lock down the city,” he said. “Don’t let anyone in or out.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Elian ran down a corridor toward the north exit with Puca in his arms. Puca was in his goat form, happily chomping on the last of the Mooney flowers he’d torn free from the floor. Finished, he maaed for more. Elian ruffled the hair on Puca’s head.

  “You’re all right, kid,” he said.

  Elian pushed the exit doors open. They opened onto a quiet street that served as delivery access for the shops. Blake stood with the reins of two horses in one hand. At his feet were two white-uniformed bodies.

  “Run into a little trouble?” Elian said.

  “A little.”

  Puca changed into his original form. Elian tucked him into his pocket.

  “Did you get it?” Blake said.

  Elian tapped his pocket.

  “Well done,” Blake said. “You actually stuck to the plan for once.”

  Elian grinned.

  “Hopefully this will make it up to you,” he said.

  “Not yet. But you will.”

  Elian’s smile faded as Blake pointed his pistol at him.

  “I’m afraid I’m going to be the one to break the first rule this time,” Blake said.

  “Blake, don’t do this.”

  “I’m already doing it.”

  “If they catch us you’ll be caught too.”

  “Me? But I’m just an innocent citizen apprehending a thief trying to steal one of our nation’s treasures. They’ll call me a hero. I’ll be showered with gifts. And they’ll give me your ransom. It’ll all help repay what you took from me. You might have had everyone else fooled, but not me. You were never going to give us back what we lost, were you?”

  “No,” Elian said.

  “Ha! I knew it!”

  “I was going to run away with the three pieces back to Time and stop all these time skips from happening.”

  Blake’s grin contorted into an ugly caricature.

  “The mark of a good thief,” he said. “Even you believe your own lies.”

  Blake pulled back the hammer. The click it made was almost loud enough to disguise a low whoomp and thud. Blake dropped his gun. He reached back and felt the back of his head. There was no blood, but he did feel a lump beginning to rise. Another thud, and this time he went down, revealing Jera standing behind him with a thick piece of wood in her hands.

  “My hero,” Elian said.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Jera said, handing him the reins to Blake’s horse.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I saw the Force arrive and thought you’d need help,” Jera said. “I didn’t know it would be from our own!”

  “Where’s Mac?” Elian said.

  “At the gate.”

  “Felix?”

  “Standing by.”

  They galloped through the streets. Their horses had leather wrapped around their hooves and made a soft thumping sound. Tavern lights and music spilled across the streets, but all other businesses were shut for the day. Residential houses had a single room with a light on, unable to afford more.

  They raced through the streets with the Force’s men and horses in tow. Crossbow bolts flew through the air and bounced off the cobbled street. People in the streets ran for cover.

  The horse’s mane flicked up and slapped Elian across the face. He could feel the horse’s powerful muscles tensing and relaxing with each stride. The cold wind beat at his face.

  They turned a corner. Force constables on foot with unsheathed swords ran at them. Elian pulled on the reins and turned his horse down a narrow back alley. A woman pouring a tub of dirty water out onto the street heard them and leapt back at the last moment, lucky not to have gotten knocked aside. She shook her fist at Elian and Jera as they flew past.

  The gate reared up ahead of them, its mouth mawing wide open. Mac sat on his horse beside it. The horse stamped its hooves as if impatient to be away. Elian and Jera pushed their horses hard, their breath billowing before their faces. Elian eyed the gate with a sense of doom. He didn’t take his eyes off it until they passed through it crossed the bridge. Their horses’ hooves kicked up dirt as they pushed on across the plains.

  “Where’s Blake?” Mac said, pulling up alongside them.

  “He double-crossed us,” Elian said. “He tried to steal the cog from me.”

  Just then, Jera grunted like the air had been knocked from her lungs. She jolted forward in her saddle and let out a gasped scream, almost falling from her horse. Her horse slowed down. Jera’s body lay limp over the horse’s neck.

  “Jera!” Elian said.

  Jera’s face was knotted with pain, her eyebrows drawn down, a thin layer of sweat dimpled her forehead. Jutting out of her back was the fletching of an arrow. Two more arrows fell at the horses’ hooves, coming from the walls’ ramparts. Elian and Mac squeezed Jera’s horse between their own, driving the horse onward. Elian kept a hand on Jera to keep her from falling.

  Mac slowed on the top of the hill and watched as half a dozen horses with white riders barrelled out of the city gate.

  Elian and Jera crested a short bluff hill and met Felix, who stood with four spare horses on the other side. He saw Jera’s crumpled figure.

  “What’s happened?” Felix said. “What’s wrong?”

  “Jera’s been shot,” Elian said.

  “Is it bad?”

  “Is being shot ever good?”

  “The Force is chasing us,” Mac said. “They’ll come over the hill any minute.”

  They changed to the fresh horses. Elian took care to lay Jera down gently on her horse.

  “I’ll give myself up,” he said. “I’m what they really want.”

  “But you’re not what they should be after,” Mac said. “They should be after these clock pieces. For whatever reason, you were chosen to find these pieces and get them to the clocktower. It must be you who completes the mission. We’ll lead the Force away in a different direction. You take Jera somewhere safe.”

  Elian shook his head.

  “I can’t let anyone else get hurt for me,” he said.

  Mac placed his hand on Elian’s shoulder.

  “She chose to do this with you,” he said. “It’s not your fault. Do you know a safe place?”

  “There is one place,” Elian said. “It’s not far from here.”

  “Where?” Mac said. “In case we need to find you.”

  “Home,” Elian said.

  Mac and Felix turned their horses to run parallel to the hill.

  “Mac, Felix,” Elian said. “Thank you.”

  Mac and Felix spurred their horses into a gallop, cresting the hill and heading north. Elian led his and Jera’s horses at a sedate pace south, down a road he hadn’t travelled in over five years.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Constables stood in a long row with their arms behind their backs, eyes facing forward. They all wore worn archery gloves. Richard paced in front of them

  “Who fired the bolt that struck the thieves?” he said.

  A constable stepped forward, the hint of a proud grin across his face.

  “I did, my lord,” he said.

  Richard, quick as a flash, spun and struck the man across the face. Then Richard seized him by the collar and threw him to the ground. He kicked him in the ribs three
times, gasping coughs escaping the man’s throat.

  “You were told not to use your weapons,” Richard said, “and yet you did anyway? A man such as you, who cannot follow even the most basic of orders, is of no use to the Force. Take him to the dungeons and have his skin stripped from his body.”

  “But my lord,” the constable on the floor hacked.

  Other constables picked him up and dragged him away. Captain Philmore approached Richard.

  “What would you like us to do now, sir?” he said.

  “Send scouts out north and west. With Jera injured they won’t be able to move fast. If they locate Stump they are not to attack. They will send a messenger with details of their location. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Captain Philmore turned on his heel and barked at the assembled constables. Richard shook his head in agitation and then lashed out at a wooden table, snapping one of its legs and sending the papers spilling across the floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Ralph and his father Goliath sat on the bench outside their house. A candle on the centre of their table cast a haunted glow. Fireflies floated like snowflakes around them. They were halfway through dinner.

  “You seem distracted these days,” Goliath said. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. It’s just… The other day I skipped forward and saw something, that’s all.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No. I’ll be all right.”

  “I’m sure the things you saw don’t always have to happen the way you saw them, you know.”

  “But it’s the future. There’s no way to change it, is there?”

  “Of course there is. There’s always a way.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. I suppose you’ll just have to figure it out.”

  They ate in silence for the rest of the meal. Goliath slapped his stomach with his hands and leaned back on the bench.

  “I’m stuffed!” he said. “We’ll have to get more of farmer Flint’s new potatoes. They were delicious!”

  They cleared the plates and cutlery, piling them up. They headed into the house and put them in the large basin in the kitchen.

  “Do you think Elian will turn up?” Ralph said.

  “For your uncle’s sake, we’d better hope he does.”

  Goliath put on his coat.

  “I’m going out for a wee walk,” he said. “Want to join me?”

  “No, I’ll stay here and wash the dishes.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Goliath put his big chunky hand on Ralph’s shoulder.

  “I’m very proud of you, son. If there’s anything you want to be in the future, you can be it. Don’t let these silly skips deter you. Become the man you want to be.”

  Ralph smiled.

  “Thanks, Pa,” he said.

  Goliath left. The door slammed closed behind him. Ralph picked up the water jug and filled the basin. He picked up a dish cloth, rubbed it against a bar of soap and began to scrub the dirty plates. Be the man you want to be. Ralph smiled. He liked that.

  He looked out the window at his father strolling toward his beloved forest. He turned to the hat stand. A large brown flat cap lay on the top. Ralph shook his head. His father always managed to forget it, and always had to double back. Ralph concentrated on scrubbing the plates. The door opened.

  “Forget your hat again, Pa?” Ralph said.

  The smile froze on his face, and then his expression turned cold.

  “Elian,” Ralph said.

  Elian stepped into the house with a woman in his arms. Her head was drooped back, her long dark hair hanging almost to the ground.

  “Please,” Elian said. “I need your help.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Elian sat in the living room, staring at his hands in his lap. The bedroom door opened and Ralph came out carrying a bowl of water, pink with Jera’s blood. Elian got to his feet.

  “How is she?” he said.

  “She’s fine,” Ralph said. “The arrow struck her shoulder blade and didn’t go in deep. I’ve removed the arrow, cleaned the wound and bandaged her shoulder.”

  “Is she going to…?”

  “Live? Yes. With a little rest she’ll be back on her feet in no time.”

  Elian felt weak with relief. He let out a breath of air.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  Ralph walked outside, tipped the water out and came back in.

  “It was an accident,” Elian said, feeling the need to explain. “She wasn’t meant to get hurt.”

  “Sure.”

  Ralph rinsed the bowl with water and again tossed it outside.

  “So, how have things been here?” Elian said.

  “Don’t.”

  “‘Don’t’ what?”

  “Just don’t.”

  Ralph went back to the basin to continue washing the dishes.

  “How’s Dad?” Elian said.

  “Just gone for a walk. He’ll be back soon.”

  Elian looked at the flat cap on the hat stand. He smiled.

  “Forgot his hat again, I see,” he said.

  Ralph didn’t reply.

  “Feels strange to be back,” Elian said.

  Again, no response from Ralph.

  “Well,” Elian said. “It’s been nice talking to you.”

  He put on his jacket and headed toward the door.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Ralph said, tossing the dishcloth aside. “You’re not leaving her behind like you left us.”

  “I have something I need to do.”

  “You always have something you need to do. What you need to do is stay here with her until she gets better.”

  “I can’t.”

  Elian pushed past his brother.

  “How do you think you’re going to get out of here?” Ralph said. “I locked the door.”

  “Oh,” Elian said, “you mean with these?”

  He raised a finger. Curled around it was a hoop with a single key dangling from it. Ralph put a hand to his pocket, and his face curled with rage. He roared and ran toward Elian like a runaway bull. He even lowered his head and flared his nostrils. Elian unlocked the door. He put his hand on it, but someone else opened it.

  “I forgot my hat again,” Goliath said as he ducked inside.

  He was face to face with Elian.

  “Elian?” he said, voice cracking.

  “Father,” Elian said. “I…”

  Goliath stepped inside the house and scooped him up in his massive arms.

  “You’ve come home,” he said. “You’ve finally come home.”

  Elian felt the wire-like hair of his father’s beard against his face. When he pulled back, Elian was looking into the broad features of his father’s face. His eyes shimmered with tears.

  “Look at you!” Goliath said. “You’re so thin! You need fattening up. Ralph, get the belly pork stew on.”

  “I’m really okay,” Elian said. “In fact, I was just about to leave.”

  “You can’t leave now! You only just got here! This is a time for celebration!”

  “A big celebration might not be the best thing for me right now,” Elian said. “I need to lay low. I’ve really got to get back to Time.”

  “That’s no more than a ten-hour ride away! Surely you have time to spend with your family before you leave?”

  “It’s best if I go now.”

  “Stay,” Goliath said. “Just for a little while. I know your mother misses you.”

  “I missed her too.”

  “Come see her,” his father said. “One last time.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Sure you can. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

  “If anyone in town sees me…”

  “We’ll take the scenic route. Come on, what do you say?”

  Goliath’s eyes were big and wide with pride. Dormant emotions he’d long since thought were gone bubbled to the surface, and Elian was
surprised to find he actually did want to spend time with his family.

  “I guess a few minutes won’t hurt,” Elian said.

  “That’s my boy.”

  “He brought someone with him,” Ralph said. “She’s hurt and sleeping in my room.”

  Goliath looked at him, and then shuffled his moustache.

  “Yes, well, we’ll talk about that later,” he said. “Ralph, you keep an eye on our guest.”

  Ralph nodded.

  “Okay,” he said.

  Elian and Goliath, with his hat on this time, crossed the clearing and entered the forest. Elian looked back and saw Ralph’s figure disappear behind the trees.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The forest was sparse. Only every thirty feet or so a giant redwood reached up for the sky and almost seemed to touch it. The forest began to grow thicker with shorter trees. A large number of stumps dotted the area.

  “Lumbering seems to be going well,” Elian said.

  “Times are good. As fast as we chop them down, they spring back up. There’s always an axe for you here, you know.”

  “Lumbering was never for me, Dad. You know that.”

  “Even so, there’s a place for you here if you want it.”

  They walked in silence.

  “A man came looking for you the other day,” Goliath said. “The deputy chief commissioner from the Capital, no less.”

  “Really? He came here?”

  “In person. Asked me if I knew where you were, what you were up to. I didn’t tell him anything, of course. Mainly because I didn’t know anything. You can send me a message now and then, you know. When you have the time.”

  “I know,” Elian said. “I’m sorry. I just get so involved that I forget to contact you.”

  “I understand. But we all miss you.”

  “It doesn’t look like Ralph misses me much. He didn’t really roll out the welcome wagon, not that I’d have expected him to.”