Page 160 of Skalterra By Nightmare
However, Thursday morning, I carried my overnight bag down to the curbside, fully intending to finally meet my father later that day.
It was hard to know which was twisting my gut more—the thought of being face-to-face with the man who had become a sort of forbidden mythology, or that my admissions fate with Von Leer sat with an interview the next morning.
Liam waved at me from Gams’s sedan where he was loading his backpack in the backseat. It was another beautiful summer morning in Keel Watch Harbor. The heat of the sun was cut but the sea breeze, and the smell of fresh bagels wafted down the street from Teddy’s shop. The library glinted on the hill like a bit of glass nestled among the trees and bushes, and children’s feet thundered across the wooden boards of the decks behind the shops.
It was almost a shame to leave it behind.
“Alright, let’s get on with it! I open in thirty minutes.” Gams bustled out of the shop behind me and shooed us into the car.
“We could walk to the station if you’re worried about opening in time,” Liam offered, sliding into the passenger seat behind me.
“Up that hill?” She took the driver’s seat and jammed her hand into the bag of bagels Liam had left on the center console. “You can if you like, but I have a perfectly capable car.”
I clutched my backpack against my chest and leaned my head against the window as we drove up the hill. Leaving Keel Watch Harbor felt a little bit like leaving my shelter. Nothing changed here, save the occasional disappearance. Every day was like the one before. It was simple and predictable, and the trip to the train station felt like inviting danger.
The train station was across the street from the library, and even though she was just dropping us off at the curb, Gams jumped out of the car and let it idle. She came around the car’s front as I closed the passenger door, and she extended her hands to reveal a blue chicken in each one.
She gave Liam his chicken first before wrapping him in a hug, and then she turned to me.
“For luck,” she said, pressing the other chicken into my hands. “I look forward to using a new paint color next week.”
She pulled me in and held me there. I was always so struck by how someone her age could hug so tightly.
“Wren Warrender,” she pulled away to cup my face in her hands, “whatever ever happens tomorrow morning, I am so very proud of you.”
“I know.” I nodded into her hands, and her wrinkled face melted into a soft smile.
“And remember,” she said coyly, “the best revenge is to live your best life. Now go make Linsey weep.”
37. Locomotive Operations
If I closed my eyes, it was like being back in Skalterra. The train shook the same way the steamcart had, and I pretended the soft murmur of voices of the other passengers were those of Orla, Fana, and Tiernan.
Maybe if I imagined it vividly enough, I’d be able to pass through the Rift myself and find my friends. If Liam weren’t sitting next to me, I might’ve whispered Ciarán’s name, just to see if he could hear me.
“Falling asleep?”
I pried my eyes open to deadpan at the seat back in front of me.
“Not if you wake me up.”
“You weren’t asleep yet. Trust me. When it comes to you, I’m an expert in the subject.”
I rolled my head to the side to look at him. He sat with one leg stretched out into the aisle, and his smile fought against the bags that weighed heavy under his eyes. Guilt nagged me at the periphery of my worries.
“Haveyoubeen sleeping?” I asked.
“Not well,” he admitted, and the smile slipped. “Any advice?”
I shook my head and settled back to face forward again. Blue sky and ocean blurred with the green of passing forests outside my window as we hurtled along the coast.
“Not really. I haven’t been sleeping well either.”
“Nightmares again?” The sudden edge in his voice made me turn my palm downwards. The scratches I’d put there had fused back together, and I no longer needed bandages, but the angry red marks were still sore.
“I haven’t really been sleeping enough to have nightmares at all.” I spent most nights whispering for Ciarán in the dark, begging him to pull me back to Skalterra. He never responded, and I wasn’t sure he could hear me, but I refused to stop. Until I could talk to my father and figure out what he knew, it was my only way to try to get back. “But my narcolepsy issue, it’s all better.”
“Really?”
