Read Online The Hidden Family by Charles Stross - Free Book Online

to a picture that made her acutely nervous. It’s so complex! What did he mean, there’s no Scotland? Until I know what their laws and customs are like it’s going to be too dangerous to go back.
    The miles spun by. After an hour and a half Miriam could feel them in her calf muscles, aching with every push on the pedals—but she was making good speed, and by the time darkness was complete the road dipped down toward the coast, paralleling the Charles River. Eventually she turned a corner, taking her into view of a hunched figure squatting by the roadside.
    Miriam braked hard, jumped off the bike. “Brill?” she asked.
    “Miriam?” Brill’s face was a bright green pool in the twilight displayed by her night goggles. “Is that you?”
    “Yes.” Miriam walked closer, then flicked her goggles up and pulled out a pocket flashlight. “Are you okay?”
    “Frozen half to death.” Brill smiled shakily. “But otherwise unharmed.”
    A vast wave of relief broke over Miriam. “Well, if that’s all… ”
    “This cloak lining is amazing,” Brill added. “The post house is just past the next bend. I’ve only been waiting for an hour. Shall we go?”
    “Sure.” Miriam glanced down. “I’d better change, first.” It was the work of a few minutes to disassemble the bike, pull on her outfit over her trousers, and turn the bike and panniers into a backpack disguised by a canvas cover. “Let’s get some dinner,” Miriam suggested.
    “Your magic goggles, and lantern,” Brill coughed discreetly.
    “Oh. Of course.” Together they fumbled their way through the darkness toward the promise of food and a bed, be it ever so humble.
    * * *
    Almost exactly twenty-four hours later, Paulette’s doorbell chimed. “Who is it?” she called from behind the closed door.
    “It’s us! Let us in!” She opened the door. Brill stumbled in first, followed by Miriam. “Trick or treat?”
    “Trick.” Paulette stood back. “Hey, witchy!”
    “It is, isn’t it.” Miriam closed the door. “It itches, too. I don’t know how to put this discreetly—have you got any flea spray?”
    “Fleas! Away with you!” Paulette held her nose. “How did it go?”
    “I’ll tell you in a few minutes. Over a coffee, once I’ve made it to the bathroom—oh shit.” Miriam stared up the staircase at Brilliana’s vanishing feet. “Well at least that’s sorted.” She dropped her pack onto the carpet; it landed with a dull thump. “’Scuse me, but I am going to strip. It’s an emergency.”
    “Wait right there,” said Paulie, hurrying upstairs.
    By the time she returned, bearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweats from the luggage, Miriam had her boots off and was down to outer garments. “Damn, central heating,” she said wonderingly. “There’s nothing to make you appreciate it like three days in a Massachusetts winter without it. Well, two and a half.”
    “Did you got where you wanted to go?” Paulie asked, pausing.
    “Yeah.” Miriam cracked a wide, tired grin.
    “Give me five, baby!”
    High fives were all very well, but when Miriam winced Paulette got the message. “Use the living room,” she said. “Get the hell out of those rags and then go up to my bedroom, okay? You can use the bedroom shower.”
    “You’re a babe, babe.” Miriam nodded. She pulled a face. “Oh shit. I think I’m coming on.”
    “That’s no fun. Look, go. I’ll sort the mess out later, ’kay?”
    An hour later Miriam—infinitely warmer and cleaner—sat curled at one end of Paulette’s living room sofa with a mug of strong tea. Brill, wrapped in a borrowed bathrobe, sat at the other end. “So tell me, how was your walk in the woods?” Paulette asked Brill. “Meet any bears?”
    “Bears?” Brill looked puzzled. “No, and a good thing—” she caught Miriam’s eye. “Oh. No, it was uneventful.”
    “Well then.” Paulie focused on Miriam. “You had more luck, huh? Not just a walk in the woods?”
    “Well, apart from Brill half