Read Online The Slanted Worlds by Catherine Fisher - Free Book Online Page B

what?” Sarah’s sharp question alarmed them all; turning quickly Wharton saw her standing there in the scruffy jeans she had worn in London, her hair washed and clean, her eyes curious.
    There was a silence so pointed it hurt. Venn’s arctic glare was fixed on Wharton. They were all looking at him. What could he do? His bold words still echoed, but at once and to his own dismay, he knew his first priority had to be Jake’s safety. The mirror must be preserved. He pulled a face. “Well . . .”
    Venn watched him sidelong with the attention of a hawk on a scurrying rat.
    Piers seemed to be holding his breath.
    Sarah said, “Well what?”
    Wharton squirmed. Then he licked his lips and murmured grimly, “Only that there’s been no word. From Gideon. Or from Jake.”

    The police station was deserted. Jake ran down the dusty corridor “We need to find his office. Allenby. The name’s on the door.”
    Gideon shrugged. “Then you’ll have to read it.”
    Jake glanced back, astonished. “You can’t read?”
    â€œLearning wasn’t for the son of a hovel, great magician.”
    The sarcasm was bitter. As Jake found the door and burst through it, he spared one thought on what Gideon’s life might have been in that long-lost far-off century; then he was ransacking the drawers and flinging open the filing cabinets. One was locked. He grabbed a metal ruler, slid it in, and forced the drawer hastily. It swung wide.
    â€œGot it!”
    The suitcase had been propped inside. He had it out and open at once. At the door Gideon watched the grimy corridor. “Listen!”
    The whine was distant and alien, the metallic howl of a strange beast. Gideon had his flint knife out, alert, but Jake said, “It’s just the all-clear. It means the air raid is over.”
    Gideon listened a moment. “I don’t understand what’s happening in this time. This war—is it fought with machines? Do the machines make war against each other, or against the men?”
    â€œYou don’t want to know.” Grim, Jake was rummaging through the contents of the case. He found the birth certificate and stuffed it into his pocket.
    Gideon frowned. “I can hear voices. People coming back.”
    Jake couldn’t hear a thing, but he knew the changeling’s senses were Shee-sharp.
    He tossed aside the photo albums and the letters—fascinating, but no time—and just as a door slammed far down in the buildings his fingers touched the softness of the black velvet bag. He pulled it out.
    â€œReady?” Gideon turned.
    Jake had the bag open. He tipped out the metal film-case. What was on this? Was this what she had wanted him to see?
    â€œJake. Jake, we have to go! Now!” Gideon locked the door and crossed to the window. Even Jake could hear the shouts now, the banging on cells, the sergeant’s furious yell.
    The window was barred; Gideon shivered at the touch of the metal, but climbed up and had slithered lithely through before Jake realized what was happening. “Wait! I’ll never fit.”
    â€œYou have to.”
    Voices in the corridor. The door handle turned, was rattled angrily. Allenby yelled.
    â€œWilde! Open this door.”
    â€œTake this. Get them back to Venn.”
    Jake thrust out the velvet bag and the papers into Gideon’s pale hands. Then he climbed up and gripped the bars and slid his arm, then his left shoulder through. Turning his head sideways he breathed in, sweating, willing himself between the rods of steel.
    The door shuddered.
    Gideon grabbed him.
    â€œDon’t! Don’t pull me! I’m stuck!”
    He was thin and agile, but the bars were too close. They squeezed his head. He was caught in a vise. He would never get free.
    Panic gripped him. There was no way on, no way back. “I can’t do it! I can’t!”
    â€œYou can!” Gideon grabbed him, fierce.