“Glad to have been of service sir. And you have a good day too miss.” With that the old man went back to sorting out forms behind the counter.
Warily they headed back downstairs and out into the street, the cold and brightness again took them a moment to get used to.
“Strange old guy,” Amber remarked “you know what he meant about the information desk?”
“I think so,” Ghost replied “there used to be one in the mall. The questions are how do we get to it and how is it managing to stay open with all those zombies?”
“You want to go find out?” she raised an eyebrow.
He paused. “Well we could explore out here some more, but if there’s actual skilled people set up around here it’d be easier to know where they are. I don’t want to keep pushing our luck; some of them are bound to be more security conscious than he was and that could be rather painful for us if we’re not careful.”
Amber nodded. “So which way in?”
“Same options as last time really. It’s down the same end of the mall, just another few hundred yards further in. We can either cut through that shop,” he gestured across the street “or we can go back in the main entrance like we did last time.”
“What’s the shop like inside?”
“Bigger than that one, maybe twice the size. It was mainly food and clothes so there’s a lot less cover in most of it. It has connecting doors to the inside of the mall that are maybe twenty feet from the desk, assuming it hasn’t been moved.”
“I think I prefer that,” Amber said “after all that shop wasn’t too bad.”
Ghost nodded his agreement and they walked through the snow to the shop. It had big glass display windows seperated by two sets of doors, securely separated by several shutters. He looked closely at them. The ice covered dirt and moss had been there a long time. It looked like no-one was using this at the moment. Amber pressed her ear against the nearest shutter and yelped, the icy cold taking her by surprise. They looked around cautiously to see if anyone had taken any notice. The wind blew in several gusts, sending small spirals of frozen flakes dancing along the snow. But otherwise it remained quiet.
Ghost looked at the lock. Another automatic lock so it would have been securely fastened. But there were a lot of things that the weather could inflict on a lock; and between rusting and freezing it wouldn’t take much for a fragile mechanism to break in just the right way. He concentrated on the lock sifting through the realities and until he found the one where hitting the lock with the butt of his shotgun, just so, caused it to spill open. Together they went to work breaking off the ice that was keeping the shutter jammed shut. They took their time, preferring to do it quietly.
Next
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Friday, 31 December 2010
27
“Glad to have been of service sir. And you have a good day too miss.” With that the old man went back to sorting out forms behind the counter.
Warily they headed back downstairs and out into the street, the cold and brightness again took them a moment to get used to.
“Strange old guy,” Amber remarked “you know what he meant about the information desk?”
“I think so,” Ghost replied “there used to be one in the mall. The questions are how do we get to it and how is it managing to stay open with all those zombies?”
“You want to go find out?” she raised an eyebrow.
He paused. “Well we could explore out here some more, but if there’s actual skilled people set up around here it’d be easier to know where they are. I don’t want to keep pushing our luck; some of them are bound to be more security conscious than he was and that could be rather painful for us if we’re not careful.”
Amber nodded. “So which way in?”
“Same options as last time really. It’s down the same end of the mall, just another few hundred yards further in. We can either cut through that shop,” he gestured across the street “or we can go back in the main entrance like we did last time.”
“What’s the shop like inside?”
“Bigger than that one, maybe twice the size. It was mainly food and clothes so there’s a lot less cover in most of it. It has connecting doors to the inside of the mall that are maybe twenty feet from the desk, assuming it hasn’t been moved.”
“I think I prefer that,” Amber said “after all that shop wasn’t too bad.”
Ghost nodded his agreement and they walked through the snow to the shop. It had big glass display windows seperated by two sets of doors, securely separated by several shutters. He looked closely at them. The ice covered dirt and moss had been there a long time. It looked like no-one was using this at the moment. Amber pressed her ear against the nearest shutter and yelped, the icy cold taking her by surprise. They looked around cautiously to see if anyone had taken any notice. The wind blew in several gusts, sending small spirals of frozen flakes dancing along the snow. But otherwise it remained quiet.
Ghost looked at the lock. Another automatic lock so it would have been securely fastened. But there were a lot of things that the weather could inflict on a lock; and between rusting and freezing it wouldn’t take much for a fragile mechanism to break in just the right way. He concentrated on the lock sifting through the realities and until he found the one where hitting the lock with the butt of his shotgun, just so, caused it to spill open. Together they went to work breaking off the ice that was keeping the shutter jammed shut. They took their time, preferring to do it quietly.
Next
Warily they headed back downstairs and out into the street, the cold and brightness again took them a moment to get used to.
“Strange old guy,” Amber remarked “you know what he meant about the information desk?”
“I think so,” Ghost replied “there used to be one in the mall. The questions are how do we get to it and how is it managing to stay open with all those zombies?”
“You want to go find out?” she raised an eyebrow.
He paused. “Well we could explore out here some more, but if there’s actual skilled people set up around here it’d be easier to know where they are. I don’t want to keep pushing our luck; some of them are bound to be more security conscious than he was and that could be rather painful for us if we’re not careful.”
Amber nodded. “So which way in?”
“Same options as last time really. It’s down the same end of the mall, just another few hundred yards further in. We can either cut through that shop,” he gestured across the street “or we can go back in the main entrance like we did last time.”
“What’s the shop like inside?”
“Bigger than that one, maybe twice the size. It was mainly food and clothes so there’s a lot less cover in most of it. It has connecting doors to the inside of the mall that are maybe twenty feet from the desk, assuming it hasn’t been moved.”
“I think I prefer that,” Amber said “after all that shop wasn’t too bad.”
Ghost nodded his agreement and they walked through the snow to the shop. It had big glass display windows seperated by two sets of doors, securely separated by several shutters. He looked closely at them. The ice covered dirt and moss had been there a long time. It looked like no-one was using this at the moment. Amber pressed her ear against the nearest shutter and yelped, the icy cold taking her by surprise. They looked around cautiously to see if anyone had taken any notice. The wind blew in several gusts, sending small spirals of frozen flakes dancing along the snow. But otherwise it remained quiet.
Ghost looked at the lock. Another automatic lock so it would have been securely fastened. But there were a lot of things that the weather could inflict on a lock; and between rusting and freezing it wouldn’t take much for a fragile mechanism to break in just the right way. He concentrated on the lock sifting through the realities and until he found the one where hitting the lock with the butt of his shotgun, just so, caused it to spill open. Together they went to work breaking off the ice that was keeping the shutter jammed shut. They took their time, preferring to do it quietly.
Next
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
26
They carefully walked up the stairs warily looking around and behind them as they went. At the top of the stairs the floor divided into two. To the right was what was left of the Department store. To the left was the Post Office.
“Ah, new customers. Do please come in,” a scratchy voice said. They walked around the corner and into the Post Office. Behind the counter was an old bespectacled man, with thin chaotic wisps of grey hair a strange counter-part to his otherwise neat appearance of a white shirt and a dark blue tie.
“Now what can I do for you both? I don’t believe I have any deliveries for you today.” There were a number of candles lit on his side of the counter. The bullet-proof glass was still very much intact.
There was a pause.
“Perhaps a leaflet would help?” the old man suggested pointing at a rack of leaflets. Judging by their covers they explained everything from how to apply for a passport, to the benefits of life insurance.
Ghost tensed slightly; it was one of those moments of confusion which made an excellent time to spring an ambush. Nothing happened. Amber wandered over to the leaflets and looked through them. Still nothing happened.
“It’s possible to post things from here?” Ghost asked. Sometimes you just had to go with a situation and see where it took you.
“Yes sir. This is a Post Office after all,” he replied with a note of pride.
“I had no idea they operated outside of the Conclaves,” Ghost mused.
“Oh you’d be surprised at how much goes on outside the Conclaves sir.”
“Such as…” Amber turned back to face the counter again.
“Ah well I’m not really the man to talk to about that miss. You want the information desk,” he replied helpfully.
They looked around but couldn’t see anything resembling a desk.
“And that would be…?” Ghost wondered where this was leading.
“Well in the shopping mall of course sir,” he replied “now is there anything I can get for you?”
“The shopping mall,” Ghost said softly to himself. He did remember there was an information desk that tried to tell you where all the various shops were situated, but generally only succeeded in confusing people. That couldn’t still be working could it; after all there was the rather significant matter of the horde of zombies that currently occupied the mall.
The old man was still smiling serenely so Ghost tried a different tact. “You sell stamps?”
The old man nodded, “There’s a price list among the leaflets sir.”
Amber picked one up and handed it to Ghost. He opened it and wasn’t surprised to see it reflected modern day economics. There were prices given for physical coins and notes, electronic money and a few specific items that were presumably of value to the old man. Ghost closed it and tucked it away in a pocket. He had both “real” money as he thought of it, and several accounts of electronic money under various aliases. And there were one or two of the items that he had too. But right now, he wanted to get out safely.
“That’s very helpful to know. Thank-you. Have a good day,” he nodded to Amber and started to head towards the stairs.
Next
“Ah, new customers. Do please come in,” a scratchy voice said. They walked around the corner and into the Post Office. Behind the counter was an old bespectacled man, with thin chaotic wisps of grey hair a strange counter-part to his otherwise neat appearance of a white shirt and a dark blue tie.
“Now what can I do for you both? I don’t believe I have any deliveries for you today.” There were a number of candles lit on his side of the counter. The bullet-proof glass was still very much intact.
There was a pause.
“Perhaps a leaflet would help?” the old man suggested pointing at a rack of leaflets. Judging by their covers they explained everything from how to apply for a passport, to the benefits of life insurance.
Ghost tensed slightly; it was one of those moments of confusion which made an excellent time to spring an ambush. Nothing happened. Amber wandered over to the leaflets and looked through them. Still nothing happened.
“It’s possible to post things from here?” Ghost asked. Sometimes you just had to go with a situation and see where it took you.
“Yes sir. This is a Post Office after all,” he replied with a note of pride.
“I had no idea they operated outside of the Conclaves,” Ghost mused.
“Oh you’d be surprised at how much goes on outside the Conclaves sir.”
“Such as…” Amber turned back to face the counter again.
“Ah well I’m not really the man to talk to about that miss. You want the information desk,” he replied helpfully.
They looked around but couldn’t see anything resembling a desk.
“And that would be…?” Ghost wondered where this was leading.
“Well in the shopping mall of course sir,” he replied “now is there anything I can get for you?”
“The shopping mall,” Ghost said softly to himself. He did remember there was an information desk that tried to tell you where all the various shops were situated, but generally only succeeded in confusing people. That couldn’t still be working could it; after all there was the rather significant matter of the horde of zombies that currently occupied the mall.
The old man was still smiling serenely so Ghost tried a different tact. “You sell stamps?”
The old man nodded, “There’s a price list among the leaflets sir.”
Amber picked one up and handed it to Ghost. He opened it and wasn’t surprised to see it reflected modern day economics. There were prices given for physical coins and notes, electronic money and a few specific items that were presumably of value to the old man. Ghost closed it and tucked it away in a pocket. He had both “real” money as he thought of it, and several accounts of electronic money under various aliases. And there were one or two of the items that he had too. But right now, he wanted to get out safely.
“That’s very helpful to know. Thank-you. Have a good day,” he nodded to Amber and started to head towards the stairs.
Next
Monday, 27 December 2010
25
Amber paused. They could investigate it now or they could see what the rest of the place looked like first.
At first she’d liked the idea of being outside, but now the cold was getting to her ears. She nodded towards the open shutters and unslung her shotgun. Ghost did the same and looked up at the windows. Nothing. Someone had bricked them up a long time ago. Ghost thought back and remembered what this place had been. It had been the victim of cutbacks. Local post offices had closed because they didn’t make enough profit. Nevermind they were important to the locals. And somehow some genius in the local government had come up with the idea of shutting down the actual Post Office and moving it to the upstairs of a department store.
They carefully moved over to the doors. They were mainly glass, designed to let shoppers see the books and chocolates in the front of the store. Looking through the doors he could see the shelves still had leftover magazines stacked on them. On the carpet, he could see a set of wet footprints leading inside. He examined the doors carefully looking for traps or alarms but after several minutes couldn’t find anything. He gently pushed against the door and it swung open easily. Too easily, someone was maintaining them. He waited a moment and then stepped in. Amber checked around behind them and then stepped in behind him. The daylight lit up quite a bit of the store. They could see the shelving going back and the now still escalator on the right leading up to the next floor and the Post Office.
Unlike the music shop, the shelves at the back of the store went all the way up to the ceiling, though they were empty.
“That’d make good cover,” Amber whispered.
Ghost nodded. The footprints lead past the escalator and to the stairs. He remembered this bureaucratic idea too. Someone had decided to remove down escalator entirely and add in a flight of stairs. They then tried to enforce that the stairs should only be used for going down. It hadn’t worked terribly well then and apparently still wasn’t working now.
“I can hear someone upstairs,” she kept her voice low “strange sounds too, metal, paper, not quite sure what it means.”
Ghost gestured at the empty shelves and together they moved through them, checking there was no-one hiding back there. Once they were satisfied they moved to the stairs. There was light up there, but it wasn’t the steady glow of electric lighting. It was flickering almost like
“Candles?” Amber looked at him questioningly.
He nodded. Stranger and stranger.
Next
At first she’d liked the idea of being outside, but now the cold was getting to her ears. She nodded towards the open shutters and unslung her shotgun. Ghost did the same and looked up at the windows. Nothing. Someone had bricked them up a long time ago. Ghost thought back and remembered what this place had been. It had been the victim of cutbacks. Local post offices had closed because they didn’t make enough profit. Nevermind they were important to the locals. And somehow some genius in the local government had come up with the idea of shutting down the actual Post Office and moving it to the upstairs of a department store.
They carefully moved over to the doors. They were mainly glass, designed to let shoppers see the books and chocolates in the front of the store. Looking through the doors he could see the shelves still had leftover magazines stacked on them. On the carpet, he could see a set of wet footprints leading inside. He examined the doors carefully looking for traps or alarms but after several minutes couldn’t find anything. He gently pushed against the door and it swung open easily. Too easily, someone was maintaining them. He waited a moment and then stepped in. Amber checked around behind them and then stepped in behind him. The daylight lit up quite a bit of the store. They could see the shelving going back and the now still escalator on the right leading up to the next floor and the Post Office.
Unlike the music shop, the shelves at the back of the store went all the way up to the ceiling, though they were empty.
“That’d make good cover,” Amber whispered.
Ghost nodded. The footprints lead past the escalator and to the stairs. He remembered this bureaucratic idea too. Someone had decided to remove down escalator entirely and add in a flight of stairs. They then tried to enforce that the stairs should only be used for going down. It hadn’t worked terribly well then and apparently still wasn’t working now.
“I can hear someone upstairs,” she kept her voice low “strange sounds too, metal, paper, not quite sure what it means.”
Ghost gestured at the empty shelves and together they moved through them, checking there was no-one hiding back there. Once they were satisfied they moved to the stairs. There was light up there, but it wasn’t the steady glow of electric lighting. It was flickering almost like
“Candles?” Amber looked at him questioningly.
He nodded. Stranger and stranger.
Next
Thursday, 23 December 2010
24
Although the snow was deeper near the buildings, along the main path that lead from the park to what had been the pedestrianised zone, the snow was roughly a foot deep. In some ways this was good. There were no footprints and the top of it still had a frozen untouched crispness to it. No-one was wandering around at the moment. And it was much easier to walk in deeper snow than on ice ground – even if you feel over it wasn’t too bad. On the other hand, Ghost was very much aware that it was going to slow them down a lot and that could lead to all sorts of problems.
He looked at Amber. The tips of elven ears were already beginning to go red from the cold. Still there was a twinkle in her eyes at finally being outside again.
“Why does it always sound quieter after it snows?” Amber asked interrupting his thoughts.
“The snow helps muffle sounds so they seems softer and quieter,” he replied.
Carefully they walked past the Library. Although he deliberately looked straight ahead Ghost noticed curtains flickering in his peripheral vision. He kept walking. Sometimes you just had to trust that things would turn out ok.
This time things did and they reached the main parade of shops safely.
“We really need to come to some kind of arrangement with them,” Amber said.
Ghost nodded. “Yup, but for now, where do you want to go first?”
Amber looked up at him with a look of surprise. She was used to him planning out the best way forward. Ghost tried his best to look innocent and waited patiently for her answer.
“Left,” she decided.
Ghost nodded. There wasn’t really a wrong answer at this point, especially if they just wanted to scout out the local area. Now he started thinking. This part of was fairly straightforward. Shops on either side and a wide pavement running through them. The shops all had two or three floors and he knew that some of them had floors below street level too. Which meant an awful lot of windows that people could shoot at them from.
Metal shutters had been pulled down over the storefronts. Ghost was confident that he could get past them without too much trouble. For now he was interested in seeing if any of them had been disturbed.
People had left fairly suddenly as the local economy crashed, but most had left with the optimism that it was just a temporary thing and so they’d carefully locked up behind them, expecting to come back. But years passed and still no-one returned.
They carried on trudging through the snow. Ghost held out his hand to pause Amber. One of the shutters had been lifted. Looking at the snow by them, Ghost guessed it had been opened earlier in the day.
He nodded at it and looked questioningly at her.
Next
He looked at Amber. The tips of elven ears were already beginning to go red from the cold. Still there was a twinkle in her eyes at finally being outside again.
“Why does it always sound quieter after it snows?” Amber asked interrupting his thoughts.
“The snow helps muffle sounds so they seems softer and quieter,” he replied.
Carefully they walked past the Library. Although he deliberately looked straight ahead Ghost noticed curtains flickering in his peripheral vision. He kept walking. Sometimes you just had to trust that things would turn out ok.
This time things did and they reached the main parade of shops safely.
“We really need to come to some kind of arrangement with them,” Amber said.
Ghost nodded. “Yup, but for now, where do you want to go first?”
Amber looked up at him with a look of surprise. She was used to him planning out the best way forward. Ghost tried his best to look innocent and waited patiently for her answer.
“Left,” she decided.
Ghost nodded. There wasn’t really a wrong answer at this point, especially if they just wanted to scout out the local area. Now he started thinking. This part of was fairly straightforward. Shops on either side and a wide pavement running through them. The shops all had two or three floors and he knew that some of them had floors below street level too. Which meant an awful lot of windows that people could shoot at them from.
Metal shutters had been pulled down over the storefronts. Ghost was confident that he could get past them without too much trouble. For now he was interested in seeing if any of them had been disturbed.
People had left fairly suddenly as the local economy crashed, but most had left with the optimism that it was just a temporary thing and so they’d carefully locked up behind them, expecting to come back. But years passed and still no-one returned.
They carried on trudging through the snow. Ghost held out his hand to pause Amber. One of the shutters had been lifted. Looking at the snow by them, Ghost guessed it had been opened earlier in the day.
He nodded at it and looked questioningly at her.
Next
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
23
“This is wonderful!” Amber exclaimed.
It occurred to Ghost that having her very own Dressing Room was a dream come true for Amber, not to mention all the dresses and costumes that were scattered around the place. It normally made very little sense to wear fancy dresses; for a start shotguns and whips didn’t accessorize terribly well. But in the safety of the theatre she could wear whatever she wanted. There had been one or two disasters with make-up; it had been in scarce supply for most of Amber’s life and so she wasn’t to sure about the finer points. Some of Harlequins were gradually explaining it to her. In a way she was a reminder of innocence as she wandered around the theatre dressed to the nines and cheerfully cracking her whip, and that was something they all needed in this world.
Silver had been right about the snow. It came in howling winds rapidly piling up several feet high outside the theatre. Thick curtains kept the cold out and somehow the Harlequins had managed to get a supply of electricity that kept the whole place lovely and warm. Silver stayed in her Park. Ghost let her know she was welcome to shelter with them, but for her own reasons she preferred to stay where she was, though she often visited.
After a week of snow and being indoors, Amber was beginning to feel a bit cooped up.
“Please, it’ll be fun,” she looked at Ghost with her best puppy eyes.
“You might be abusing the term ‘fun’ I think,” he replied. He knew at this point it was useless. They were going to go. Still he felt he should at least give the pretense of thinking about it.
She pouted. “You know if we’re going to stay here more it makes sense to explore the surroundings and with all the snow and ice now’s the perfect time as no-one else will be looking around.”
It was, he had to admit, a good argument. “Alright, but in daylight, ok?”
The happy look on her face was answer enough.
“We’re going to need some warmer clothing though,” he reflected.
They spent some time looking through the costumes for warmer clothing, balancing keeping warm with freedom of movement, until finally they were happy with their choices.
The next morning came and went before Ghost woke up. If he was going to go out in the cold and the snow he was going to do it after a good night’s sleep and that preferably meant getting up in the afternoon.
As they walked out of the tunnel connecting back to the Park they were surprised at how bright it was outside. There was a thick layer of snow everywhere, but the clouds had gone for now, causing the sunlight to reflect brightly off everything. They shielded their eyes as they gradually got accustomed to it. Taking their time they trudged through the snow and out of the Park.
Next
It occurred to Ghost that having her very own Dressing Room was a dream come true for Amber, not to mention all the dresses and costumes that were scattered around the place. It normally made very little sense to wear fancy dresses; for a start shotguns and whips didn’t accessorize terribly well. But in the safety of the theatre she could wear whatever she wanted. There had been one or two disasters with make-up; it had been in scarce supply for most of Amber’s life and so she wasn’t to sure about the finer points. Some of Harlequins were gradually explaining it to her. In a way she was a reminder of innocence as she wandered around the theatre dressed to the nines and cheerfully cracking her whip, and that was something they all needed in this world.
Silver had been right about the snow. It came in howling winds rapidly piling up several feet high outside the theatre. Thick curtains kept the cold out and somehow the Harlequins had managed to get a supply of electricity that kept the whole place lovely and warm. Silver stayed in her Park. Ghost let her know she was welcome to shelter with them, but for her own reasons she preferred to stay where she was, though she often visited.
After a week of snow and being indoors, Amber was beginning to feel a bit cooped up.
“Please, it’ll be fun,” she looked at Ghost with her best puppy eyes.
“You might be abusing the term ‘fun’ I think,” he replied. He knew at this point it was useless. They were going to go. Still he felt he should at least give the pretense of thinking about it.
She pouted. “You know if we’re going to stay here more it makes sense to explore the surroundings and with all the snow and ice now’s the perfect time as no-one else will be looking around.”
It was, he had to admit, a good argument. “Alright, but in daylight, ok?”
The happy look on her face was answer enough.
“We’re going to need some warmer clothing though,” he reflected.
They spent some time looking through the costumes for warmer clothing, balancing keeping warm with freedom of movement, until finally they were happy with their choices.
The next morning came and went before Ghost woke up. If he was going to go out in the cold and the snow he was going to do it after a good night’s sleep and that preferably meant getting up in the afternoon.
As they walked out of the tunnel connecting back to the Park they were surprised at how bright it was outside. There was a thick layer of snow everywhere, but the clouds had gone for now, causing the sunlight to reflect brightly off everything. They shielded their eyes as they gradually got accustomed to it. Taking their time they trudged through the snow and out of the Park.
Next
Monday, 20 December 2010
22
There was a rustle as Silver emerged from the nearby tress carrying fresh tea. Ghost recognized she was being polite. Silver only ever made a sound in nature when she chose to.
“Kayta was most impressed,” Silver began as she handed them the cups “you’ve made a lot of progress apparently.”
Amber actually blushed slightly at the praise, much to Ghost surprise. “Well she is, um, awesome”. The blush actually appeared to be travelling up to the tips of her elven ears.
“And I’ve got somewhere for you to practice that’s rather bigger than our spare room,” Ghost smiled. He shivered slightly. “Is it me or is it getting colder?”
Silver nodded. “I’ve been hearing jumbled reports of cold weather. People are actually talking about heavy snow.” She looked around at the trees, many of which were still covered in their autumn finery.
Ghost looked worried. In his poem the Waste Land, T S Eliot wrote that April was the cruelest month. It had turned out he was wrong. When you lived in actual Waste Lands, the winter months were far crueler. Snow and ice were silent killers and even if you survived, trying to keep warm when wrapped up in fraying clothes while the chilling wind howled around you was not at all pleasant. Travel quickly became a nightmare too. He was remarkably glad of the theatre. It would be much warmer and sheltered than their place at the graveyard.
“How soon ‘till it gets here?” he asked.
“Hard to say. Could be a few days,” she replied.
Thoughts raced through his head. If they were going to stay here they’d need provisions and that meant going back to the graveyard.
“The theatre comes with a supply of food,” Silver said as if reading his thoughts. “You won’t be able to host banquets, but there’s no need to worry about restocking the cupboards either.”
There was another look of delight on Amber’s face.
“Thank-you,” Ghost replied sincerely. He considered his options. They could simply stay put and ride out the weather. That was a tempting option. They could go back to the school and investigate that further, but if they got caught in heavy snow, things could go badly wrong. There didn’t seem to be any apparent rush, so maybe it was better to wait until after the snow. It occurred to him he should probably discuss this with Amber. It was an old habit though. He liked to gather his thoughts first to the point where he had a clear idea of where to go, but not quite to the point where he’d absolutely made up his mind. Flexibility was definitely a survival trait these days. He looked over at Amber and realised that between the promise of unlimited food, good shelter and a place to practice with her new whip, there was no real need to convince her. “C’mon on then,” he nodded to Amber.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” Silver said. “I need to make some preparations of my own. You know where to find me.” Gathering up the cups she quickly vanished back into the trees.
Next
“Kayta was most impressed,” Silver began as she handed them the cups “you’ve made a lot of progress apparently.”
Amber actually blushed slightly at the praise, much to Ghost surprise. “Well she is, um, awesome”. The blush actually appeared to be travelling up to the tips of her elven ears.
“And I’ve got somewhere for you to practice that’s rather bigger than our spare room,” Ghost smiled. He shivered slightly. “Is it me or is it getting colder?”
Silver nodded. “I’ve been hearing jumbled reports of cold weather. People are actually talking about heavy snow.” She looked around at the trees, many of which were still covered in their autumn finery.
Ghost looked worried. In his poem the Waste Land, T S Eliot wrote that April was the cruelest month. It had turned out he was wrong. When you lived in actual Waste Lands, the winter months were far crueler. Snow and ice were silent killers and even if you survived, trying to keep warm when wrapped up in fraying clothes while the chilling wind howled around you was not at all pleasant. Travel quickly became a nightmare too. He was remarkably glad of the theatre. It would be much warmer and sheltered than their place at the graveyard.
“How soon ‘till it gets here?” he asked.
“Hard to say. Could be a few days,” she replied.
Thoughts raced through his head. If they were going to stay here they’d need provisions and that meant going back to the graveyard.
“The theatre comes with a supply of food,” Silver said as if reading his thoughts. “You won’t be able to host banquets, but there’s no need to worry about restocking the cupboards either.”
There was another look of delight on Amber’s face.
“Thank-you,” Ghost replied sincerely. He considered his options. They could simply stay put and ride out the weather. That was a tempting option. They could go back to the school and investigate that further, but if they got caught in heavy snow, things could go badly wrong. There didn’t seem to be any apparent rush, so maybe it was better to wait until after the snow. It occurred to him he should probably discuss this with Amber. It was an old habit though. He liked to gather his thoughts first to the point where he had a clear idea of where to go, but not quite to the point where he’d absolutely made up his mind. Flexibility was definitely a survival trait these days. He looked over at Amber and realised that between the promise of unlimited food, good shelter and a place to practice with her new whip, there was no real need to convince her. “C’mon on then,” he nodded to Amber.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” Silver said. “I need to make some preparations of my own. You know where to find me.” Gathering up the cups she quickly vanished back into the trees.
Next
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