Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [124]
Maudi?
Grayson watched Rosette fly into the clouds, his spine prickling. He never had got used to her ability to shape-shift and seeing her do it only reminded him of how different they were. ‘See you in Dumarka, Rosette,’ he whispered as he shouldered his pack.
She didn’t look back but her high-pitched falcon cry whistled across the wind. He exhaled and headed towards the portal at a slower pace. He wanted to use the time it took to cross the heat-soaked plain to meditate on his destination. The clearer his mind was, the more likely the Entity would take him exactly where he wanted to go. If he could capture the moment perfectly, he would land himself back in the Borderlands the moment Everett returned from Sector Six. He didn’t know how receptive the man would be, especially if he had taken more than DNA samples from Rosette, but there was only one way to find out—confront him. Grayson hoped Everett’s shifting psychological state was up for it.
He stretched his arms over his head and let them fall, allowing the concerns and fears, the building battles and missing pieces, to drop as well. His whole attention zeroed in on the instant he wanted to be, and the reason why. When he entered the portal, he bowed to the Entity, and relaxed. ‘To Everett. In the Borderlands, please.’
When he stepped out of the corridors, he knew he had got part of it right. The air was warm and moist, carrying the fragrance of ginger blossoms and banana sap. Whip birds called with their lash and snap voices, their bodies invisible in the dense forest behind him. The sun baked down from above. It wasn’t the penetrating dry heat of the Temple Los Loma plains, heat that cooked to the bone, but a thick, wet warmth that made it feel like he was breathing steam from a bubbling jam kettle.
He headed for the abandoned Flight Centre, a horde of crows taking off as he emerged from the bush. They shot skyward, squawking and flapping until they resettled in the treetops a bit further away. He found a spot in the shade of a tall palm grove and took off his pack. Nesting it behind his head, he stretched out on the grass and waited.
Grayson watched the comings and goings of the crows, black against the blue sky, and the pecking guinea fowl in their herringbone suits, scratching up dust, searching for seeds near the shed. A lone eagle winged into the valley, riding the thermals high above, scattering the crows and the ground birds. Without realising it, his lids grew heavy, the warmth of the day and the lack of sleep catching up. Of their own accord, his eyes closed and when he popped them open again, Regina stood above him, tapping his foot with her walking stick.
‘Grayson?’
He scrambled to his feet.
‘I thought that was you,’ she said. ‘Gave me a fright. You looked dead.’
‘Live and well and…’
‘Looking for Everett?’
He nodded.
‘Me too. Perhaps we’ll find him together.’
Regina embraced him, giving him a strong thump on his back and a kiss on both cheeks.
He relaxed, glad to have found her so soon. ‘Has Everett been missing long?’
‘You mean this time?’ she asked. ‘A day. A little more. He’s like a sheep caught in a maze: one moment browsing contentedly on the shrubs, the next bleating and racing into the barriers, desperate to find his way out.’
‘No improvement then,’ Grayson said, giving her hand a squeeze. ‘His memory?’
‘It comes and goes, along with the paranoia and angst. After he saw you last, he seemed to recall more. I think you’re good for him.’ She led him down the path. ‘Come. It will rain soon.’
The clouds, as if on command, raced towards the mountains, covering the sun and billowing into giant thunderheads.
‘Hike it back to the village?’ he asked.
She closed her eyes for a moment, lifting her palms to the wind. A downy feather escaped from her sleeve and disappeared with the breeze. ‘We might as well. That is where he will return to, when he regains