Minders

CHAPTER 24

WEEK 5

Ford had been out for almost six days, when Sadie went into his subconscious in search of James. If anything could help rouse Ford it would be roiling him from inside, she thought, and there was clearly something to roil with his brother.

The great hall was quiet when she went through, all the images moving slowly and everyone talking in low voices, if at all. She felt like they were in suspended animation, lacking the will or force to spur them to action. She elicited a tiny bit of curiosity from a handful looking for news, but most were absorbed in themselves. She said hello to Plum as she went by but only got an “Oh, brother” in response.

James was by the shore of the pine-fringed lake, looking out at the icehouse, when she found him.

“You again,” he said. “I’m not sure I should talk to you.”

“Why?”

“It’s been strange down here since you came last time. Look around. Things are dying.”

Sadie shivered. “Since when? Because of me?”

“You can’t just come in and poke at things and go. It’s an ecosystem. You kill what you touch.” His tone was reproachful.

“That’s not true. You’re just saying that to make me feel bad. You want me to go away.”

He looked away from her, his mouth petulant. “Maybe.”

She stayed quiet for a moment, listening to him sigh. Finally she said, “What happened that day on the lake? At the icehouse?”

He rolled his eyes, tossing his blond hair back. “God, you ask the worst questions.”

“What was it?” she pushed.

“Ask him,” he sneered, pointing upward.

“I can’t. He’s sick.”

He nodded to himself. “That explains the Geronimo.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a piece of the mind that drops off when there’s been trauma. Like a flyer bailing out of a bomber. Takes the important documents with him and parachutes out before the crash. We had one the other day.”

Sadie looked around. “Where is he?”

“Think I saw him hanging around the weighting room on the plain. Most things start there before getting settled in. Lucky for you he didn’t land in the lake. Lots of times that’s where Geronimos end up. Sink deep, don’t see some of them again for years.”

“Ah.”

“Weighting room’s over there,” he said, pointing behind him.

“Okay.”

He looked angry. “Why aren’t you going?”

“Tell me about the icehouse.”

“You have to ask him, I told you that,” he whined. “But I’ll give you this: He knows what he did and what he didn’t do, he’s just lying about it.”

“Why?”

“Talk to the boss,” he said, pointing up.

“Could you at least tell me about the beer cans? They look like they’re all identical.”

“Multiples,” he corrected. “This place is lousy with them. Repeated patterns, same object showing up in different places, sometimes as a distraction, sometimes to stand in for something else. Like say you have—”

“Pine trees.” Sadie pointed toward the lakeshore.

“Sure. Could be a reminder of a great day you spent at the lake with your brother when you learned to skip rocks, or a symbol of winter, or the feeling of pining for someone. Keeps it efficient, one thing, lots of associations. Shortcut for the imagination.” He yawned. “Never touch them myself.”

“Multiples?”

“No, the beer cans.”

She’d bent to look at them closer, and when she stood up, James had disappeared. She walked toward the plain he’d indicated, where there was a structure with a wide arch entrance and clusters of wood benches inside. It looked like photos she’d seen of the waiting room at Central Station before it was abandoned. A couple of figures she didn’t recognize huddled together like refugees on one bench.

She spotted Ford on the other side of the space. He sat alone, shoulders curled in, repeating, “Howdy?” His eyes were wide and looked panicked.

“Howdy,” Sadie answered.

He looked at her like she was nuts. “Howdy fine?”

“Howdy, I’m fine too,” Sadie answered.

He turned his face away from her, holding the toes of his bare feet and murmuring to himself. Sadie bent closer to hear but just kept getting, “Howdy fine,” “Howdy fine.”

“What are you trying to say?” she asked, desperate to know the important piece of information his brain sent to safekeeping before losing consciousness. “Say it again,” she implored. Howdy fine, how define, how—