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Back Glimmer Save as PDF
Chapters (47)
  1. Cover
  2. ALSO BY MARJORIE B. KELLOGG AVAILABLE FROM DAW BOOKS
  3. Dedication
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  47. About the Author

I throw my whole weight against the resisting tiller and jam the stick down. Melville coughs and growls but surges forward. Glancing back, I see Daniel roll Julian into the passenger seat and drop himself in front of the wheel. My shout of joy is lost in the gale. After that, I have all I can do to keep my own ship upright.

Which I can do. I must do, on my own. My eyes and muscles know the drill. In the stadium’s mammoth lee, where the pale limestone arches seem to rise out of sight, I fight the swell to line us up on the bigger opening. Waves are crashing against the wall and rebounding in a second, drenching cross-assault. The wind is kicking up the spray, wrapping boats and stadium in a concealing mist. Sea Sprite vanishes behind me. I holler Breakers up from below once we pull in close. I’ll need her ready with the boat hook to guide us past the catchy parts. I can just make out the two boats in line ahead of us, a water taxi full of exhausted Smiths and an Empire patrol boat. The taxi fits tight, and so will we. I toss Breakers Daniel’s rain gear.

Blinking into the driving wind, her eyes flit around the stern. “Where’s the book guy?”

I’m calm now. Laser-focused on my sailing. I’ve granted Daniel’s mad choice because unlike my father, he kept the big picture in mind. He took on the present emergency and left the future in my hands, trusting me to take care of it. I jerk a thumb over my shoulder.

“Fuck! No! He’s . . . ?” Then she spots him through the mist, wave-tossed, angling Sprite up behind us, engine sputtering, spent of fuel, Julian folded over against the dashboard.

“Had a pickup to make.”

She glares at me.

My grin is fierce. I feel it stretch the sides of my mouth till they might rip wide open. Breakers narrows her gaze to a slit. Her hair is a dark, wind-torn swirl around her face and shoulders. She’s worried for my sanity. Then she shakes her head and grins back. She turns away to arm herself with the boat hook.

FORTY-TWO

Melville slipped through the archway, tight as childbirth, the swell rising behind us for an extra push. Breakers hollered and jabbed with her boat hook. I stole a quick look over my shoulder for Sea Sprite, but she was lost behind a wave.

Inside the arch, a tall atrium curved to either side, vibrating with surf boom and wind howl, plus a bellowing scramble of denfolk racing to make everything fast. The inner wall loomed ahead, wave-splashed, maybe forty feet away. A former balcony, now a sort of boat landing, ran across it at water level, crammed with people and off-loaded goods, all of it inches from being swept back into the water.