Page 44 of Skalterra By Nightmare
When I woke and realized I hadn’t been to Skalterra, I was surprised at the knot of worry that lumped in my stomach. A few nights ago, I’d been sure they were all imaginary. Now, I hated the thought of the rotsbane hurting them.
Around lunchtime, the day got worse.
The Friday tourists had kept me busy enough that morning to not have a chance to say hello to Liam, but the strained smile he put on for the customers told me there was still no word from Riley.
He’d just clocked out for his lunch break when Sabrina burst into the shop, her strawberry blonde curls wild and her cheeks red with anger.
“They’re gone!” she thundered, drawing the attention of every customer. Liam froze where he was hanging his apron on the hook behind the ice-cream bar.
“What’re gone?” he asked.
“Riley’s posters!” Angry and indignant tears streamed down her cheeks. “I was up in Port Fletcherton, because Mom likes the bakery there, and I wanted to surprise her, so I took the car up north to see if they still had her favorites—”
“You’re rambling.” Liam took her by the shoulders as gently as her wild gesticulating would allow. “What do you mean Riley’s posters are gone?”
Sabrina tried to explain through hiccups.
“The bakery! We put a poster there! But I noticed it wasn’t there anymore, so I checked the marina! And that one was gone! Then I checked the other shops, and all the posters are missing!”
“Okay.” Liam shot me a side-glance, and I hoped he didn’t see the guilt etched across my face. “It’s alright. Someone from City Hall probably took them down because we didn’t get approval. You know, dumb bureaucratic stuff.”
Sabrina pushed him away, shoving him hard against his chest. Gams hurried out of the basement and to Sabrina’s side. Sabrina, despite her agitated state, allowed Gams to pull her into a hug.
“No, Liam,” she hiccuped into Gams hair. “They’reallgone. I drove up north to the other towns and checked. One of the storekeepers said some girl took them down.”
“It’s alright, come upstairs.” Gams took Sabrina by the elbow to lead her behind the register to the apartment stairs. Jonquil chirped her support, bounding up the steps ahead of them. “Tell you what, I’ll send Wren in my car to replace the posters. They’ll be back up before you know it.”
I loved Gams, but I knew there were no new flyers for me to post. I was doing her dirty work again.
Liam looked as if he’d aged another ten years since Sabrina had run in, like gravity and grief alike weighed on his handsome face just a little more than it had before. He waved a hand towards the street.
“I’ve got it covered here,” he said. “You remember where the library is, right? Mr. Lane should have the posters on file still. If he wants to charge you to print more, have him put it on my account.”
I nodded, unsure of what else to say, what I evencouldsay. However, the library wasn’t a bad idea. I’d happily go anywhere where I wouldn’t have to look Liam in the eye.
Mr. Lane was a friendly old man in a plaid newsie hat that hid the bald spot I knew shined bright in the center of his scalp. He was older than Gams, though he walked with the same spritely step. I’d always liked Mr. Lane when Mom and I would visit Gams for holidays, and after dealing with Galahad, it was nice to be reminded that not all old men were ornery grouches.
“Shame about Riley, it really is,” he said as we stood over the library printer. While Gams’s shop had been full of tourists, the library was nearly empty. Wood beams ran across the slanted ceiling, giving way to large windows that looked over main street at the base of the hill the library stood upon. I could see the roof of the shop from here, and beyond that, the harbor.
Mr. Lane beamed as he handed me the new stack of missing flyers. I wasn’t sure if his face or Riley’s, printed in black and white ink, did more to work my stomach into knots of fetid guilt.
The papers were warm, and I slipped them into the backpack I’d brought with me. It was a shame to waste so much ink, paper, and time, but I knew Gams had given me this task to make sure no one saw the new flyers.
“What do I owe you?” I asked, zipping up my backpack. Liam had said to put the printing cost on his library account, but I’d never let him pay when I knew these flyers were destined for the trashcan. I wouldn’t have printed them at all if I didn’t think Sabrina might ask Mr. Lane about it later.
Mr. Lane patted my shoulder, and a gentle grimace flitted across his wrinkled face.
“It’s on the house,” he assured me.
A contemptuous snort echoed from a nearby armchair, and a bespectacled face framed by frizzing white hair popped up from the other side of the seat to glare at us.
“You’ll run the library into the ground like that, Ronald,” the woman croaked.
A new wrinkled face, laden with heavy blush and blue eyeshadow, peeked out from behind the chair back next to the first woman’s.
“Don’t listen to Sarah. You know she’s a harpy.” Gladys, Gams’s friend from the other night, winked at me.
“And you know that boy is dead,” Sarah snapped back. Gladys swatted at Sarah with a magazine, and I clutched the backpack of flyers closer to my chest.
