Read Online Consequences by Carla Jablonski - Free Book Online Page B

teacup.
    What does it mean? Daniel wondered. Whathad he just witnessed? It means , he realized, that Slaggingham ain’t human! How could that have happened? Of course, it did explain how Slaggingham managed to still be alive and kicking after so many years. Has he always been a machine? Daniel frowned, puzzled. He must have been human once, Daniel figured. After all, he’d seen the old gent tuck into a steaming plate of stew while the rest of them looked on, hungry as could be. Slaggingham had needed food back then, like any other bloke. So when—and how—did this change take place?
    Daniel took another sip of tea, hoping to soothe his rattled nerves. The warmth did make him feel a bit better. After all, being machinery seemed to have brought out the best in Slaggingham. He had served up tea and biscuits and was treating Daniel much more kindly than he ever had in the past.
    Slaggingham removed his fingers from the box and slid his false human skin back over his metal extremities. “So then, we’ve both got reasons for wanting this Timothy Hunter dead,” Slaggingham said. “I say we get right to it.”
    â€œDead?” Daniel repeated. “I’m not so sure about that…”
    â€œAh.” Slaggingham nodded knowingly. “Sothis girl doesn’t mean that much to you, then.”
    â€œI never said that!” Daniel protested. “You take that back.”
    Slaggingham grinned. “Settle down, settle down, lad. I meant no disrespect to you or your young lady. I see I was right about that fire inside you.”
    â€œYou just don’t understand, is all,” Daniel grumbled.
    â€œLet me amend our little misunderstanding,” Slaggingham said. “What can I do to make this up to you? I don’t suppose you carry anything of hers with you, do you?”
    â€œI’ve got a lock of her hair,” Daniel admitted. He felt a slight blush rise in his cheeks. He didn’t truly want to reveal everything to Slaggingham, but he was curious about where Slaggingham was going with this.
    Slaggingham beamed. “Excellent. Would you like to see the angel again? Your Marya? Give me that lock of her hair and you can.”
    Daniel pulled out the locket that he secretly wore on a chain around his neck. He always took care that it stayed inside his shirt; he didn’t want any of the kids in Free Country to razz him. He had found the locket in Marya’s tent after she had left, and he wore it as he waited for her to return. But she never did. Once he realized he mightnever see her again, he had taken all sorts of things from her little tent. He found her hairbrush, and had combed the long stray hairs out of it and tied them together with a ribbon. Marya had once told him her mother had kept a little lock of her baby hair as a keepsake, so why shouldn’t he do the same?
    He opened the locket and held out the red strands tied with a blue satin ribbon.
    Slaggingham took it. “Very good, very good.”
    He pushed a button on the wall. A hidden panel slid up with a whoosh, revealing a small machine. This one had some kind of viewing screen on top and a little box with a slot at the bottom. Slaggingham pressed some buttons, and the machine kicked into life with a low hum. The screen went light gray, as if illuminated from inside, waiting for a picture to appear. Slaggingham popped the lock of Marya’s hair into the slot. “Now we’ll get to see what’s what, won’t we?”
    He stood aside, to allow Daniel to step up to the viewing screen. Daniel’s heart thip-thumped again. What was going to happen?
    An image slowly formed on the screen. A girl, smiling, her arms reaching straight out toward him.
    â€œMarya!” Daniel cried.
    â€œFlutter my valves, but she is an angel, isn’tshe?” Slaggingham said.
    Daniel looked up at Slaggingham, his eyes shining. “Oh, you done it. That’s her, to the life.”