Kip & Shadow
Page 21
“Better than he deserved perhaps.”
Even now, Kip felt some pity for the old man. He knew what it was like to be insane with desire for something you could never have. That craving could lead you forward to something better, or it could arrest and deform you.
Kip looked down to see Shadow at his side, his paws clinging to the arm of his chair.
“Kip should be doing more than catching wolves at the zoo,” his friend said, his echo-voice filling the room.
Kip nodded. There was nothing else to say.
“I think you’re right.”
Clover rose to her feet.
“There’s one last thing to show you.”
Kip followed Clover.
The sights of London that he had blotted out with numbness came back to life. How vivid it all was. Each footfall possessed weight and sound, each building had texture and color. It was no longer a maze to wander in; it was his home.
Dawn approached. The sky turned a deep blue as the stars hid, whisked away by the coming sunrise.
Clover led the way. They walked in silence, but it was a comfortable silence.
They turned a corner, entering the square that led to Magic House.
Even from a distance, Kip saw the stained-glass ceiling of the dining room, now lighted up again, its colors a collection of gems.
There was something more. He could feel a new energy in the air, a palpable spark.
Then he saw it.
Dark House.
No longer a building made of stars but a real structure. It had returned to London.
It towered over Magic House like a perching raven and seemed just as watchful. The first ray of the rising sun cut across it, only illuminating its edges. It was still impenetrable. The trees that had grown in the lot while it was empty were now gathered around its edges, twisting into new shapes.
Clover spoke softly.
“There’ll be many questions asked about this, but for now…isn’t it marvelous?”
It is, Kip thought. Marvelous and terrible and marvelous again. It was like a battering-ram breaking through the walls of the world.
He got the sense it was looking back at them. There was no malice, just observation.
“What was it like?” Clover asked. “Inside?”
But Kip didn’t know how to answer that. How could he describe it? He knew if they went inside now it would have completely changed again.
“I think it’s unknowable. Maybe we’ll get inside again someday. It’s something you experience, not something you describe. What do you think they’ll do with it?”
Clover paused.
“I think whatever power controls it, it was drawn to you when you opened the well.”
“Who’s its Master?”
“Surely there’ll be inquests and committees, Dark House returning after a ten year absence. London will talk and fret, but I think we both know who it belongs to. You.”
31
The early morning sun streamed into Potter’s Market. It painted the world with its light, gleamed off top hats, caught the silken ribbons of dresses, and the metal spokes of a carriage. All manner of customers were bathed in its glow as they flowed through the streets like water through a riverbed.
Kip and Shadow were in the middle of the crowd, sitting on the edge of the Three Nymphs Fountain. The water cut the sunlight into a thousand pieces as it streamed from the statues and landed in the pool. Kip reached down and ran his fingers over the water, breaking it into rippling circles.
The Pale World seemed like a dream, driven away by the noise and light of the real world. Had there always been this much motion? They picked up snatches of conversations, a torrent of laughter, a hushed debate, a baby’s cries. If this one pin on a map was filled with so much life, imagine what the world could hold.
Endless wonders.
Kip looked down at Shadow.
“Enough is as good as a feast, don’t they say that?”
Shadow nodded, “Yeah.”
“This is more than enough. Maybe…maybe this is the feast and we have more to do and see and try. What do you think?”
“Shadow wants to do and see and try.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Together they found the quietest corner of the market. It was always the place with the most exotic offerings, filled with objects that were more dream than reality. These were treasures that had traveled far to get here, reaching a foreign shore just in time for Kip to look at them. Treasures that deserved the respectful silence of a museum, to be inspected with patience.
Kip spotted it first, the teetering shape of a hundred bird cages. As they approached, they found a young woman working the stand. The Bird Lady was nowhere to be found.
He remembered her kind and worried face in the Pale World, still selling her wares in the afterlife. This was the girl that had assisted her a decade ago, now fully grown. She smiled at Kip and invited him to explore the cart.
The chorus of birdsong was beautiful. They weren’t shy to sing. They didn’t know how to be timid or modest. They should all be free, he thought. But let’s start with one.
Shadow pattered around the cart, peering into cage after cage, making little noises of discovery as he went. Kip joined him, hunting out the perfect specimen.
Tucked away behind the noise and show was a simple blackbird. While the others preened and sang, it stood in its cage, its yellow-black eye looking out at the world. The small card tied to the cage fluttered in the breeze. Kip steadied it between two fingers and read the description and smiled.
He looked down at Shadow and his friend gave a nod. Kip paid the Bird Girl and took a step away from the cart. The sun played in his eyes, casting its warmth. It was a warmth that sank into his bones and stayed there.
Offering the cage to the blue sky, he raised the small wooden gate. The blackbird didn’t immediately fly, but hopped in a circle, surveying its freedom and then turning back to Kip, giving him a final inspection with one piercing eye.
Then it darted out of the cage in a blur of black. It circled the courtyard, flying past the fountain as it picked up speed. With a grace that only birds have, it darted upwards, wings flapping over rooftops. Its dark shape blended with slate tiles and twists of black smoke pouring from chimneys, before hitting the blue sky.
Up and up it went, and after that, Kip didn’t know where.
About the Author
David Pietrandrea writes urban fantasy stories set in worlds of magic and alchemy, exploring the secrets that lie just out of sight and around the corner. David is a writer, illustrator, and game developer living in Jersey City, NJ.
Author website:
http://davidpietrandrea.com
Illustration website:
http://www.roboxstudios.com
Also by David Pietrandrea
Awakening: A Kip and Shadow Adventure
Something is awake in the English countryside. The ghosts of dead warriors have besieged the town of Dorchester, terrorizing the villagers and threatening war.
Kip, and his spirit friend Shadow, are called to investigate these strange occurrences. But they’ve stepped into an unknown world, far from the comforts of Alchemy House and London.
Will they be able to solve the puzzle in time, or will Dorchester, and all of England, be conquered by a spectral army that wants revenge - and blood?
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the following wonderful people:
Editing and sage advice:
Rebecca Hodgkins
Support and coffee:
Oliver Altair
Mike Stop Continues
Nicole Hough
Brian Olsen
Sam and Dorothy Pietrandrea
Devin T. Quin
Josh Siegel
Jeff Somogyi
Michal Stocki
Kip and Shadow
Copyright © 2019 David Pietrandrea
ISBN: 9781096546924
All rights reserved. No part of
this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Editing by Rebecca Hodgkins
Cover design by David Pietrandrea
Contact:
david@davidpietrandrea.com
davidpietrandrea.com