Read Online Council of Peacocks by M Joseph Murphy - Free Book Online Page B

back into the
house.
    ***
    Echo did not reappear until supper. Josh
looked up occasionally from his seven-layer lasagna, unable to
fully concentrate on eating with the tension in the room. Wisdom
kept his eyes averted from everyone and barely touched his meal.
Echo ate slowly, each forkful a statement louder than words.
    Echo turned to Josh. “What are you staring
at?”
    “Umm...” Josh looked away.
    “Echo,” Wisdom said. “This is childish.”
    “Excuse me?” Echo’s eyes flashed bright blue.
Behind her a vase exploded. Her face went red and she placed her
fork back on the plate.
    “Thank you for proving my point.” Wisdom
stared at the space where the vase had been. “I need a favor and I
can’t wait any longer for you to calm down.”
    “I am perfectly calm. If I wasn’t, it
wouldn’t have been a vase that exploded.”
    Wisdom shook his head. “Always the same. Such
a drama queen. You know…”
    Echo jumped up. “You did not just call me a
drama queen!”
    “Sit!”
    Echo flinched as if struck. Tears fell down
her cheek.
    ‘Has he abused her?’ Josh thought. ‘The way
she’s looking at him, she looks terrified.’
    “What do you want?” Echo glared at Wisdom.
Each word she said was measured and overly precise.
    Wisdom sighed and sat down. “You know what I
want, Echo. I want to stop hurting you. It’s why I left years ago
and it’s why I’m leaving right after dinner. But what I need is for you to take this boy to my London offices. The Council has
seen him with me. They may be able to track my movements. Propates
won’t be expecting anything from you. Not so soon after he’s caught
you playing spy. Unless I’m mistaken, they plan to use Josh for
something, some purpose I have yet to work out. Somehow his
existence has been kept a secret from me. That’s a story in itself.
I’m heading to Toronto to meet a new arrival. I know you have
questions. I would in your shoes. But believe me, I can’t tell you.
No good would come from telling you.”
    Echo seemed calmer now. Her eyes were
dry.
    “Is that it?”
    Wisdom shook his head. “One more little
thing. Another delivery I’ll tell you about later.” He looked
around the room. “Just in case the shadows here have ears.”
    After a deep breath, Echo continued eating
her lasagna. “Fine. But when this is over I don’t want to see you
for at least a hundred years.”
    Wisdom flinched and stared at his plate. “I
pray you get the chance to stay angry at me.”
     

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    August 2 nd
     
    David stared out the window of the Greyhound
bus at the streets of Toronto. The view overwhelmed him. There were
piles of garbage and throngs of prostitutes in one neighborhood
followed by mansions hidden behind high walls and security cameras
in another. Restaurants, their names written out in Chinese
characters, cluttered entire neighborhoods.
    ‘So many people,’ he thought. ‘It’s like a
zombie invasion. It was never like this back in Dartmouth.’
    It was also much hotter than anything he had
experienced before. He overheard other people on the bus saying it
was the hottest summer on record in Ontario. The windows kept
fogging over because the bus’ air conditioning was on high. David
cleared the window with the palm of his hand so he could watch the
city slide by him. He tried to do the tourist thing, to keep his
eyes on the busy and well-lit areas, but that was not who he was.
At his core was something else. Again and again, he was drawn to
the dark alleys, the vague hostility in the eyes of the homeless.
In a city like this, it was easy for him to believe the world was
filled with evil.
    That made him feel a little less alone.
    His reflection stared back at him from the
foggy window, like a different person he was trying to ignore. He
had not showered in days. It had been much longer still since he
had slept through the night. His coppery red hair hung limp and
greasy, an inch longer than he would have liked. His right ear