Read Online City of Time by Eoin McNamee - Free Book Online

when you'd get around to me," the tall woman said.
    "I want you and Wesley--"
    "To guard the Starry and the Raggies, and to poke the moon away with sticks if it gets too close."
    "If you can, yes. And watch out for Johnston."
    "Wait," Pieta said. She took the doctor aside, her face serious. "This is too sudden. Do you know where you are going and what you are going into? The old stories describe Hadima as a dangerous place."
    "It's not like you to be cautious, Pieta."
    "There is a difference between taking a risk and being foolhardy. You have told me nothing of what you intend."
    "I'm sorry, Pieta. Things have happened so fast." And he told her about the Sub-Commandant's message.
    "I see," she said, frowning. "You have to find this tempod and release the time from it. But even if you find it, how will you know what to do?"
    "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," the doctor said.
    "I shouldn't be going. I am the Watcher," Cati suddenly burst out. "I should stay and watch."
    "Your watch here is over for now, Cati," Dr. Diamond said gently, "and you cannot defend the Sleepers as Pieta can. We need you with us. And Owen--"
    "Is the Navigator," Pieta finished his sentence. "But you don't have anyone who can defend you."
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    "I don't think our task will be resolved by fighting," said the doctor softly. "There is no choice. Guard this place for us, Pieta, so that we have somewhere to come back to. I am sure Johnston is up to some mischief."
    Pieta looked at him long and hard. "I don't know if you're right, but I don't know that you're wrong either. If there was more time ..."
    "If there was ..." Dr. Diamond nodded and let the sentence hang in the air.
    Pieta sighed and nodded too. She stepped back and put her strong arm around Wesley's thin shoulders. He looked surprised at the gesture. "Well, fish boy, looks like you and me holding the fort."
    "I wish I knew what they mean when they call me the Navigator like that," Owen whispered to Cati.
    "Why don't you ask?" she whispered back.
    But Owen stayed silent. The title had some connection with his father and he was never sure whether this was a good or bad thing.
    "We must go," Dr. Diamond called softly. "Look!" At first Owen couldn't see what he was pointing at. Then he saw the way the river seemed to be flowing the wrong way in the moonlight.
    "It's the tide!" Wesley exclaimed. "The moon made it do another surge."
    They stared in silence at the gushing threads of water that shone silvery in the moonlight, spilling into the hoofprints where cattle drank at the river.
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    "The surge is dying," Wesley said. "You'd best be off before it comes up again."
    They set off in single file walking downriver, away from the Workhouse and Owen's house, Dr. Diamond burdened under his huge rucksack and attaché case, Owen and Cati carrying the magno torches, although they didn't need them yet.
    Owen turned back and saw Pieta and Wesley silhouetted in the moonlight. Wesley raised a hand in the air, but Pieta stood without moving as if she had been carved there. Then the friends turned a bend in the river and they were gone.
    "The Resisters are in good hands," Dr. Diamond said. "Now, Owen, tell me more about this place you found."
    Owen drew level and started to describe the tunnel opening, the courtyard, and Gobillard's shop. The doctor questioned him closely about the truck that was sitting in the courtyard. Were its tires punctured? Did it look as if it had been used recently? Were there fresh tire tracks?
    Before long they reached the place where the river started to flow through the town. The high walls on either side cut out the light from the moon, but Dr. Diamond wouldn't let them use the magno torches yet.
    "There are too many people about," Dr. Diamond said. "Look."
    A couple leaned over the bridge, looking down at the water. The man said something and the woman
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    laughed softly. Owen found himself thinking of a photo graph of his parents when they were younger.
    Dr. Diamond made