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Back Stringers Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. FRONT COVER
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. CHAPTER FOUR
  8. CHAPTER FIVE
  9. CHAPTER SIX
  10. CHAPTER SEVEN
  11. CHAPTER EIGHT
  12. CHAPTER NINE
  13. CHAPTER TEN
  14. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  15. CHAPTER TWELVE
  16. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  43. CHAPTER FORTY
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  53. CHAPTER FIFTY
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  63. CHAPTER SIXTY
  64. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“With all due respect, and no offense intended, Aptat,” said Naecia, “I don’t trust you not to sell the location information right back to the Scythin.”

“Guys!” I barked. “Patton is the only one of us whose consciousness has an expiration date. It’s gotta be him.”

“Think about what you’re saying,” said Naecia. “None of us can know where he goes. If we do, then the purpose of having him act alone is defeated. He would have to take the Silent Child himself–”

“Oh, nonononononononononono,” said Aptat, tick-tocking a finger.

“You don’t even own it anymore,” said Izairis.

“Temporarily,” insisted Aptat.

“Listen,” I said. “Naecia’s right. None of us can know where he goes. We’ll have to be in the dark. Aptat, you need to teach him how drive and Naecia has to show him how to use the Switch. Then Patton has to leave by himself and dispose of the Chime – once we have it in hand, of course.”

“Can I be taught how to do all of that?” asked Patton with a sense of wonder.

“Sadly, yes,” sulked Aptat, closing the mask over their face. Then, in metallic robot voice, added, “Unfortunately, it’s all quite simple.”

“We should go to Aszerat,” I said. “Maybe being inside the real place will jog something loose. Even if it doesn’t, we can all try looking.”

Patton winced as he shifted in his seat.

Aptat angled a thumb at the both of us. “Your wounds have not yet healed. Your stomachs and anuses have newly regrown tissues. A rupture of either would be bad. Not to mention your withdrawal from chemical dependence.”

I felt my stomach again and shifted on the hemorrhoid pillow. “I’ll manage it now, so long as Aszerat has toilets.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

THE INSTRUMENT MAKER

On the night of the Procession, all present are rapt. The Instrument Maker ascends to the dais and bows. The children have been fitted to their ukelaklavas and are well rehearsed. All the Instrument Maker needs to do is call for the first notes to be played. And so she does.

The carriage notes of the exposition assert themselves, cut the silence, demand attention.

And then, three hundred and one instruments, held in hands tiny enough to play them, fill the waiting air with sound clear and gentle; the notes so soft they ask permission to be heard. The song is a cycle that follows the spin of their world, with each new segment teasing out a subtle change in the music to reflect the passage of time and permanence of the past. No segment will be repeated once played.