Flux BETH GOOBIE ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

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1 Flux BETH GOOBIE ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

2 Text copyright 2004 Beth Goobie All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data: Goobie, Beth, 1959 Flux / Beth Goobie. ISBN I. Title. PS8563.O8326F jc C Library of Congress Control Number: Summary: Deep in another reality, while using her ability to travel to parallel worlds, Nellie uncovers a conspiracy to abduct children for an experimental laboratory. Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support of its publishing program provided by the following agencies: the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council. The author very gratefully acknowledges the Canada Council for the Arts grant that funded the writing of this book. Design by Lynn O Rourke Cover Images: Printed and bound in Canada Orca Book Publishers 1030 North Park Street Victoria, BC Canada V8T 1C6 Orca Book Publishers PO Box 468 Custer, WA USA Quote from LUH, Man's Cosmic Game, published by Edizioni Noesis, Giuliana Conforto. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

3 Chapter 1 IT WAS DUSK, the stars beginning to show, a low song along the horizon. The first moon had appeared and among the doogden trees the breeze was growing sleepy, a wickawoo bird giving out its last cry of the day. Shadows dreamed themselves across the landscape, taking it deep into sepia and pewter gray. In the still heavy air only the doogden leaves seemed awake, like those parts of the mind that wait on the edge of things, whispering as the body slides toward sleep. Suddenly a snapping of twigs erupted along the treeline, followed by a loud grunt as a twelve-year-old girl came careening down the steep slope of a nearby hill and landed in a withered dengleberry bush, her body clenched, absorbing the shock of impact. Slowly Nellie uncurled, each movement a stifled groan. Thin electric lines pierced her lungs, she d been running for over an hour since she was spotted coming out of a corner store on Borovan Avenue. Nothing had distracted her pursuers, not even a pack of cigarettes dropped early in the chase the Skulls had merely scooped them up and come after her, their bodies streamlined for tracking as they ducked through the late afternoon crowd. Now she was in the warehouse district, a haphazard collection of concrete

4 2 Beth Goobie buildings that had sprung up on the northern edge of the city. In the two years since she d fled the Interior with her mother, Nellie had learned that everything about the Outbacks was haphazard, a scornfully discarded handful of chaos for which the Interior had no use. At least, not officially. During the time she d lived in the city of Dorniver, she d seen the slick gray vehicles that identified the Interior Police less than ten times. The first had directly preceded her mother s disappearance, the rest had clustered in the following weeks, tapering off within two months. A hoot from the hill alerted her. Starting to her feet Nellie watched a boy peak the crest, followed by three more. Huddled briefly, their dark outlines conferred, then took a simultaneous slide down the steep slope, braced for the five-foot drop at the bottom. Whirling, Nellie took off along the outside of the nearest warehouse. Beyond it lay a network of dirt-packed roads and warehouses that had closed down for the night, but perhaps she could find a place to hide, or a door someone had been stupid enough to leave unlocked. Heading home wasn t an option, not until the Skulls left off tracking her. No way was she leading them to the only place that held the quiet beating of her heart, her one true sanctuary. Grunts punctured the air as the Skulls hit ground. Increasing her pace, Nellie veered around the end of the warehouse and collided with a chain-link fence that enclosed a large loading area. Beyond this she could see the next warehouse, completely fenced in, and beyond that a dirt road and an open field. Wherever she looked, the evening sky poured down a long brown-gray emptiness. With nowhere to hide, the Skulls would tackle her before she was halfway across the field. There was nothing to do but climb or turn back. Quickly she swung herself up the fence, the moonlit mesh clattering against the metal posts, a heart gone wild, tearing at itself. Perched on the top rail, she was about to start down the other side when a low snarl rushed across the yard and a sleek black dog launched itself toward her, its legs swimming air. At the same

5 Flux 3 moment the Skulls skidded to a halt outside the fence, their mouths hanging loose as they stared upward. Twisting itself into a frenzy, the dog shifted its attention to the Skulls. Momentarily forgotten, Nellie studied the animal s growling contortions and a slow grin eased her scowl. With those teeth tearing at the mesh the boys wouldn t be able to climb the fence, they couldn t even touch it. Swaying high above the ground each time the dog launched itself, she pondered her options. For one succinct raw-breathing moment, she was safe. Beside her the warehouse wall rose ten feet above her head, but the opposite side of the building appeared to be lower. If she crawled along the top of the fence, she might be able to access the warehouse roof from the other end and wait the dog out there until it was penned at daylight. Straddling the fence she dug her feet into the mesh and began inching forward, the dog keeping pace underneath. Get something, yelled a voice. A long board. It was Deller, leader of the Skulls, and the rest of the gang faded obediently into the sepia dusk. Quieter now, the dog paced and panted, watching the boy who stood silently staring upward. Ahead of Nellie the fence stretched so taut it was like crawling her own panic, but she thought she could make it through anything the Skulls might throw in their attempts to knock her down. What else could they do? No one could get at her directly with the dog so intent on keeping them at bay. If she got out of tonight s mess in one piece, she was going to return sometime soon with a raw steak and fling it over the fence as thanks. The boys reappeared, dragging a large tree branch, and levered it up against the mesh. Not there, hissed Deller. Ahead of her. Where she s going. Clinging to her perch, Nellie absorbed the shock as the heavy branch hit the fence a second time and Deller shimmied its full height, well out of the dog s reach. Crouched and grinning, he faced her. Fourteen, wiry and strong, he was tuned to every pulse of his body. Violence sang in his blood, sky met earth, and he was a lone dark figure dancing at their center point. At the base of the

6 4 Beth Goobie fence the dog went manic, vaulting itself upward, spiraling into a high-pitched whine. Leaning down, Deller teased it with a dangling hand. Gotcha, Bunny, he sneered. They d never trapped her like this before alone, way out nowhere. In back alleys, Dorniver s crowded streets, there had always been some adult not her own mother perhaps, but someone who d come sharp-eyed and yelling to her rescue, providing the few seconds she d needed, the frantic escape-line of heartbeats that had mapped her way home. Just come on down, Deller said softly, and we ll go easy on you. Praying her worn runners wouldn t slip, Nellie brought her right foot to the top rail and sprang, angling her shoulder so it would knock Deller into the enclosed area and deflect her own body outward. But as she leapt so did the dog, and the force of its body against the fence sent both girl and boy tumbling over the opposite side. Grabbing Deller s shoulder, Nellie hung on as his fingers clutched and slid the length of the mesh. They landed, Nellie on top, Deller taking the full force of their fall, the fence belling out as the dog threw itself at them in another savage rush. As she clambered to her feet, Nellie saw Deller s hand still clinging to the fence, the dog s muzzle rushing to meet it. Turning, she exploded through the shocked Skulls as an eerie scream rose behind her, slippery and lonely as moonlight. At the bottom of the hill she glanced back to see the Skulls crowded around Deller s writhing body. Just beyond them the dog continued to throw itself at the fence like a heartbeat, sending the wire mesh into long clattering waves around the yard. Then she was in among the doogden trees where the air breathed differently, a breeze slipped like forgetfulness down the back of her sweating neck, and she could fade between the quiet coppery trunks, their sighing cobweb of leaves so delicate one might have thought their sadness nothing at all.

7 Flux 5 IN THE ONE-ROOM SHACK, Nellie lit a black candle and prepared to remember the dead. Carefully she covered the only window with a gauzy material she d chosen for remembering purposes because she liked the soft wings it formed on a breeze. The material floated, a haze of purples and greens, its lower edge brushing an upended crate that held a margarine container and the black burning candle. Night came early to the shack s interior. Although it had originally been built in an open area, small trees and foliage had grown up around it, so dense the crumbling structure could no longer be seen, even from a few feet. No path led to it and Nellie made sure she never defined a trail, working her way through the surrounding bush by alternate routes. Often she crawled tree to tree, feeling her way along the strongest branches. She d even created a hidden passage to the shack s front door by forcing a crawl space several feet in length that began midway through the dense foliage. Soon after moving in, she d nailed some rusty screening over the window and covered the dirt floor with blankets in a vain attempt to keep back the bugs. Her single other home renovation was a piece of rope which she used to tie shut the ill-fitting door, closing herself into a small private space that tilted in the gusting candlelight, taking greedy leaps into the unknown. Pushing aside several tea towels that were piled in a corner, Nellie lifted a folded gold-brocaded cloth that had been stored underneath. It was a slow, awed gesture, her eyes solemn and tranced, as she let the cloth fall into a loose swinging dress. In the small shadowy room the brocade flickered, veined with light and whispering with angel voices. The dress had instantly been hers the moment she d first seen it floating on a laundry line, shining white and gold, pure as mother love, and she wore it only on those extra special, holy occasions when she sent herself out in search of the minds of the dead. Peeling out of her grimy T-shirt and shorts, Nellie kicked off her runners and stood naked, the dress clasped to her small breasts as she watched the candle flame weave in and out of itself. Sometimes