Josh had met every senior member of the High Council — including the haughty Madame Bullmedrin of the Antiquarians, Paelor Batrass of the Scriptorians and the larger than life character of Master Aqueous of the Draconians. Each of them had taken great pains to explain how they were privileged to make his acquaintance and that they would be truly grateful if he would join their guild — he accepted their offers of dinner and thoroughly enjoyed the extravagant banquets they threw in his honour, but never committed to any of them. He was finding it hard not to enjoy his new celebrity status.
Caitlin and Sim had stayed beside him throughout all of the investigations. Cat was always ready to bring him back down to earth whenever he began to believe his own hype and Sim was on standby when she had one of her moods and stormed off.
They spent many nights in The Flask, talking about their adventures and especially the look on Dalton’s face when Kelly had revealed the truth about Josh in the court. No one had seen or heard from the Eckharts since that day — the rumour was that they’d gone back to their family castle back in the Eleventh and that Dalton was at some kind of special seer rehab in Bedlam.
Josh didn’t care — he was having far too much fun. As he sat watching Sim re-enacting the court scene for the others, pulling ridiculous faces for their great amusement, he wondered what his life would have been like if he had never broken into the colonel’s house that day. There’d been a part of him that wanted to go into his timeline and look at the paths not travelled, but Caitlin had told him that only led to depression, or madness in some extreme cases. She reminded him of the cries they’d heard in Bedlam — the sound of people grieving for lives that they never had.
He thought about his old friends — Shags, Benny, Dennis, and Lilz — they would be totally freaked out if they could see him now. There was a rule about leaving your old life behind and that had made him sad for a while. He knew that they’d all be happy for him — they’d always been able to see the potential in him even when he couldn’t.
He spent a lot of time thinking about Gossy, of the life he’d never got to live. The children that never were — it had been a hard choice; if he went back and changed it once more, he wasn’t sure what he would have done differently. Caitlin had explained to him how they’d gone back and altered his timeline, that Gossy had originally died in the car crash when they were twelve.
Josh had no memory of that version of events — one of the drawbacks of editing your own life apparently — but she’d told him how much Lenin had used it against him, like a debt that could never be repaid. He’d given Gossy another ten years, not that much in the scheme of things, but the defect in his heart would always have taken him in the end, and he knew that Gossy had at least lived those years to the full.
As for Lenin, he had totally vanished after the fight in the school. The Ghost Squad fragmented into two rival gangs that went back to hustling cars and other small-time stuff. It seemed that without the ambition of their leader there was no real desire to hit the big time. Josh decided not to go looking for him. As far as he was concerned, Lenin may as well be dead. Whatever had bound the two of them together disappeared when Lenin had shot his mother — that chapter of his life was finally over.
Now Josh had a new gang, one that he had chosen to be part of. He had spent his entire life fighting against a system that didn’t seem to want to include him. He’d been deemed a misfit, a rebel; he was just trying to understand what his role was in this life, and now finally he had some idea of what it might be. Finally he had part of an answer to the one question that had haunted his life — although he had little more than the slimmest of leads. He wasn’t sure how it was going to play out yet, but he knew in his heart that this was the beginning and maybe with the help of the Grand Seer, he would finally be able to find out who his father was.
71
Art of War
[Boju, Chu. Date: 9.494]
The battle was over a mile away, at the bottom of the valley that folded into the hills around them. It was a beautiful spot and would have been an idyllic place for a picnic if it hadn’t been for the carnage that played out across the fields below them.
The war was between two rival kingdoms Wu and Chu, the latter had taken heavy casualties, mainly due to the clever strategies of the Wu Commander in Chief — Sun Tzu the most celebrated Chinese general of the sixth century BC. Caitlin was in her element, taking great pleasure in pointing out every detail of the Wu battle plan while drinking wine and picking at the food he’d laid out.
Josh had spent the last two weeks planning this day. He wanted it to be more than perfect. Sim had helped with the venue — Josh had remembered his very first conversation with Caitlin about The Art of War and how she’d been studying it at university before he’d crashed into her life. Sim had found him the relevant co-ordinates and helped plan out the meal. He was fast becoming one of Josh’s favourite people. He’d never had a brother, but Sim had all the qualities he imagined one should have.
As he sat next to Caitlin in the long grass, he searched for the right words to say how beautiful she looked. Her auburn hair was radiant, and her smooth, perfect skin glowed in the sunlight. He watched her lips move, not hearing a word she said, as she commentated on every manoeuvre of the two armies below. She was always so passionate about everything she did; he loved the way she cared so deeply about everything. There’d been so many boring days during the months that followed his investiture, so many questions, so many tests. She had stayed by him throughout every single one, always the first to greet him when he was released, always the last to leave him when he went to bed — leaving that awkward silence where he couldn’t find the right way to ask her to stay.
She was the only thing that got him through that incessant and relentless inquisition.
When he’d finally proven to them that he had no idea how to jump into the future they’d lost interest in him. It had been something of a disappointment to many of the upper echelons of the Order. The invitations to dinner dried up and died out as various rumours developed about his lack of success. Even Dalton finally reappeared from obscurity to disseminate spurious nonsense about Josh being a false prophet. But no one really took him seriously, and life finally returned to a kind of normal.
So Josh had decided to thank her, to do something special to show her how much he appreciated her.
How much he loved her.
It was an unspoken thing between them, but he was hoping she felt the same. He’d never really had a long-term girlfriend; there’d never been enough time to develop that kind of relationship. Not with a sick mother and a drug dealer busting his ass — or so he told himself. If he were being really honest, he’d never really put himself out there. Most of the girls he’d been with were nothing more than simple one-night stands with no complications. Josh didn’t really want to believe he needed anyone else, it was far easier to keep it simple, but it was also lonely, and no matter how he tried to convince himself he was better off alone, he could imagine his life without her in it.
He touched the wooden box that he’d kept hidden, knowing that she would ask what it was the moment she saw it. This was his surprise.
Caitlin turned back towards him and picked one of the spring rolls from the bowl and ate it whole.
‘These are delicious,’ she said with a mouth full of beansprouts.
‘Best Chinese take-out ever,’ he joked.
She smiled at him with her eyes, and he lost himself in the moment.
‘What’s this all in aid of anyway? Not that I’m not really grateful — I have always been meaning to visit the Battle of Boju. Just doesn’t seem your kind of thing?’
Josh took out the slim wooden box and handed it to her. ‘I wanted to say thank you.’
Caitlin took the box and turned it over to read the Chinese inscriptions along the sides.
‘If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win numerous battles without jeopardy.’ Her eyes widened as she translated aloud.
‘Art of War, chapter fourteen,’ smiled Josh, watching her take out the bamboo book.
‘The lost chapter!’ gasped Caitlin. She held it like it was made of crystal, carefully laying the entire book of jointed bamboo slats out on the picnic blanket.
‘How did you know?’ she asked, without taking her eyes off of the wooden treasure.
‘You told me back in the library — don’t you remember?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t think you were paying attention to what I was saying,’ she answered with a smile.
Josh grinned. ‘I heard every word.’
‘Thank you! This is amazing. Where did you get it?’
‘I had some help. It wasn’t easy.’
She rolled it back up and placed it back in the box.
‘You don’t do anything by halves, do you,’ she murmured, moving a little closer.
‘Neither do you. Remember when we were back in the cave?’
‘When we were freezing to death, you mean?’ she said, flushing a little.
‘So in court you said we ended up together — that we had a family?’
‘Ah, you want me to tell you what happened?’ she asked, moving closer to him so her arm brushed against his.
Josh could smell the sun on her skin as she came nearer — a mixture of exotic scents that set his senses on fire.
‘No,’ he answered, putting his arm around her, ‘I want you to show me.’
Her arms were round his neck.
‘About time, Joshua Jones. I was starting to think you’d never ask,’ she said breathlessly.
Josh closed his eyes as he felt her lips touch his. He could feel her body pressing against him, the electricity between them as they entwined. Time seemed to stand still as they fell back into the grass.
Then there was nothing.
He was holding thin air.
He could still feel the warmth of where Caitlin had lain on the flattened ground seconds before, but she had simply vanished.
Something had gone very wrong. An icy dread formed in the pit of his stomach as Josh frantically searched for any trace of her existence in the blades of grass. His mind caught vague echoes of Caitlin in the natural fractal structures of their timelines, but there was nothing more than a fleeting glimpse, nothing he could use. He pounded the ground with his fists, tearing out clumps of long grass in frustration. He couldn't explain it, but somehow he could sense that the continuum had just been radically altered; the past had been disrupted, and Caitlin had been swept away in the aftermath.
To be continued…
Acknowledgments
Thanks to everyone who continues to support me. You’re all amazing, but most of all to Karen and the girls!
This has been an interesting year. Leaving my full-time job and starting my own company feels like the start of a whole new adventure. I’d like to thank everyone that’s bought my books (and especially those that have left me a review!), without your support I wouldn’t be able to do this…
About the Author
For more information about The Infinity Engines series and other Here Be Dragons books please visit: www.infinityengines.com
Please don’t forget to leave a review!
Thank you!
Andy x
Anachronist Page 35
