“And what would we say? ‘Hello, do you ship ancient Druidic masters or only shrubberies?’ I’m sure that would go over very well.”
“It’s your only lead.” Bothvar shrugged and stood. “If it were me, that’s what I would do. But I’m sure you ladies can take care of things by yourselves.” The hurt was [...]
“I wonder what this means — ” Edana said, “about that letter — coming from Utah …”
Bothvar’s eyebrows shot up. “What letter?”
Chau explained the anonymous letter they received from Blackthorn. She ignored the murderous look from Edana; if they could not trust Bothvar, they couldn’t trust ANYONE. And throughout Bothvar nodded his head, seemingly serene, [...]
“Why would Greenwood redact the entry?” Edana squeaked. She swallowed hard and tried again. “Besides, I thought they were going to train someone else to take Blackthorn’s place.”
Bothvar snorted. “They talked about it. Nothing came of it. Either they decided they didn’t like the idea of giving someone else that kind of power, or they [...]
“Funny,” he said, “I’m sure you didn’t even know I was coming.”
Chau was slightly unnerved by the bitterness in his voice, but she attributed to what must’ve been a bad case of nerves. Even she was nervous. Singing with it. Nothing was right about Blackthorn, and she felt the familiar pull toward the old Community, [...]
Chau met Edana’s eyes briefly and then looked away. “We know. We hadn’t looked at it in years, either. But today…”
Reluctantly, Edana turned the book around so the viking could see. His brows knit together. “Taken into revision? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I was hoping you might have heard something.” Chau [...]
Bothvar laughed, an alarming sound. Edana looked very uncomfortable.
“So there have been some pathetic milestones for Man. Man can colonize space but can’t take care of his own domain,” he said, “I can’t see the virtue of these advancements.”
“Not even in my hair?” Chau said, and Edana snorted, still rifling through the History.
Bothvar held a [...]
Bothvar shrugged a heavy backpack from his shoulder and gave Edana a polite nod. The mousy woman nodded in kind and fidgeted with the pages of the History. Chau fetched them coffee and they all took seats on the stools behind the counter.
Despite assurances, Bothvar looked around him before beginning. “Do you still have [...]
Standing in the battered front doorway stood all six feet of Bothvar. He seemed almost dwarfed by modern clothing; he wore a wool vest over a plaid shirt, and his blond hair was cropped to his shoulders, offsetting the beard and the ruddiness of his face. He was still extremely solid, having none of the [...]
“I found the History upstairs.” Stiffly, she turned it over to Edana. The other woman paled considerably as she took in the change. “Someone has removed the entry. For editing. Which can only mean that something in the old entry wasn’t true, or it… upset someone.”
The two women looked at each other. There was only [...]
“Blackthorn,” Chau said.
“Yes,” Edana said, “but that’s impossible. Blackthorn’s dead.”
Chau’s silence frightened Edana beyond anything she could remember.
“Blackthorn IS dead.” Edana said, again.
“… that’s what I have to tell YOU,” Chau said, her finger held tight between the pages wiped almost blank from the Revision.
Edana gulped and sat down on the stool next [...]
