While the old men fell into reminiscing about great desserts of yesteryear, Alex pushed away his plate, too full for more. It chinked against the bowls of sugar and salt on the table. The sugar packets bore a print of a pen-and-ink drawing. He pulled one out to study it: an ancient castle, turrets against a clouded sky. He reached to examine a salt packet, then dropped it, pulling his hand back sharply.

A dim flash of pain had tingled across his fingertips, like a chill electric shock, so faint and brief he wasn’t sure he had felt it at all. He glanced quickly at his grandad and Harry. Neither seemed to have noticed.

Alex sat looking uncertainly at his hand on the table, feeling shadows crawling on his spine.

•  •  •

THE CAR ARRIVED. While Alex’s grandfather and Harry were busy with the delivery drivers, Alex slipped outside and around the side of the hotel. When he was sure he was unobserved, he allowed his weary body to sag and called his flier down.

He was exhausted, both from the effort of controlling the thing, and from the strain of not letting it show. As soon as the little robot landed on his palm, he let life fall away from the machine. He removed his hair from inside and tucked it into the watch pocket of his jeans, then blew into the panel, taking care not a single hair remained.

He was by now uncertain whether he had really felt a sting when he’d touched the salt, or just imagined it, a phantom pain brought on by his overworked nerves and mind. But he was deeply unsure that using the flier had been wise. He tied a sock around its head like a blindfold as he’d seen his grandfather do, then hid it away in his rucksack.

He found Harry inspecting the rental car. A 4x4 in a gleaming metallic flame color, it looked expensive and brand-new, the latest model. Harry kicked a wheel disapprovingly as Alex’s grandfather emerged from the hotel.

“Look at the state of this.”

“Well, yes.” The old man gave a sympathetic smile. “But needs must, Harry.”

“It’s embarrassin’. I wouldn’t be seen dead in the likes of this. It’s like a blummin’ clown car.”

Rain rattled the roof as they climbed inside. Harry turned the key and grumbled as he listened to the engine.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” Alex’s grandfather asked. “I mean, what with . . .”

Harry turned and raised an eyebrow.

“Forget I said anything,” the old man said.