Then, cryptically, Speedy added, ‘I know who he is over there, too. Don’t I? Whooo!’
‘The picture in your office . . . not Africa?’
‘Not Africa.’
‘Not a trick?’
‘Not a trick.’
‘And my father went to this place?’ he asked, but his heart already knew the answer – it was an answer that clarified too many things not to be true. But, true or not, Jack wasn’t sure how much of it he wanted to believe . Magic lands? Sick queens? It made him uneasy. It made him uneasy about his mind. Hadn’t his mother told him over and over again when he was small that he shouldn’t confuse his Daydreaming with what was really real? She had been very stern about that, and she had frightened Jack a little. Perhaps, he thought now, she had been frightened herself. Could she have lived with Jack’s father for so long and not known something ? Jack didn’t think so. Maybe , he thought, she didn’t know very much . . . just enough to scare her .
Going nuts . That’s what she was talking about. People who couldn’t tell the difference between real things and make-believe were going nuts.
But his father had known a different truth, hadn’t he? Yes. He and Morgan Sloat.
They have magic like we have physics, right?
‘Your father went often, yes. And this other man, Groat—’
‘Sloat.’
‘Yeah-bob! Him. He went, too. Only your dad, Jacky, he went to see and learn. The other fella, he just went to plunder him out a fortune.’
‘Did Morgan Sloat kill my Uncle Tommy?’ Jack asked.
‘Don’t know nuthin bout that. You just listen to me, Travellin Jack. Because time is short. If you really think this fellow Sloat is gonna turn up here –’
‘He sounded awful mad,’ Jack said. Just thinking about Uncle Morgan showing up in Arcadia Beach made him feel nervous.
‘– then time is shorter than ever. Because maybe he wouldn’t mind so bad if your mother died. And his Twinner is sure hopin that Queen Laura dies.’
‘Twinner?’
‘There’s people in this world have got Twinners in the Territories,’ Speedy said. ‘Not many, because there’s a lot less people over there – maybe only one for every hundred thousand over here. But Twinners can go back and forth the easiest.’
‘This Queen . . . she’s my mother’s . . . her Twinner?’
‘Yeah, seems like she is.’
‘But my mother never—?’
‘No. She never has. No reason.’
‘My father had a . . . a Twinner?’
‘Yes indeed he did. A fine man.’
Jack wet his lips – what a crazy conversation this was! Twinners and Territories! ‘When my father died over here, did his Twinner die over there?’
‘Yeah. Not zackly the same time, but almost.’
‘Speedy?’
‘What?’
‘Have I got a Twinner? In the Territories?’
And Speedy looked at him so seriously that Jack felt a deep chill go up his back. ‘Not you, son. There’s only one of you. You special. And this fella Smoot –’
‘Sloat,’ Jack said, smiling a little.
‘– yeah, whatever, he knows it. That be one of the reasons he be coming up here soon. And one of the reasons you got to get movin.’
‘ Why? ’ Jack burst out. ‘What good can I do if it’s cancer? If it’s cancer and she’s here instead of in some clinic, it’s because there’s no way , if she’s here, see, it means—’ The tears threatened again and he swallowed them back frantically. ‘It means it must be all through her.’
All through her . Yes. That was another truth his heart knew: the truth of her accelerating weight-loss, the truth of the brown shadows under her eyes. All through her , but please God, hey, God, please, man, she’s my mother –
‘I mean,’ he finished in a thick voice, ‘what good is that Daydream place going to do?’
‘I think we had enough jaw-chin for now,’ Speedy said. ‘Just believe this here, Travellin Jack: I’d never tell you you ought to go if you couldn’t do her some good.’
‘But—’
‘Get quiet, travellin Jack. Can’t talk no
‘The picture in your office . . . not Africa?’
‘Not Africa.’
‘Not a trick?’
‘Not a trick.’
‘And my father went to this place?’ he asked, but his heart already knew the answer – it was an answer that clarified too many things not to be true. But, true or not, Jack wasn’t sure how much of it he wanted to believe . Magic lands? Sick queens? It made him uneasy. It made him uneasy about his mind. Hadn’t his mother told him over and over again when he was small that he shouldn’t confuse his Daydreaming with what was really real? She had been very stern about that, and she had frightened Jack a little. Perhaps, he thought now, she had been frightened herself. Could she have lived with Jack’s father for so long and not known something ? Jack didn’t think so. Maybe , he thought, she didn’t know very much . . . just enough to scare her .
Going nuts . That’s what she was talking about. People who couldn’t tell the difference between real things and make-believe were going nuts.
But his father had known a different truth, hadn’t he? Yes. He and Morgan Sloat.
They have magic like we have physics, right?
‘Your father went often, yes. And this other man, Groat—’
‘Sloat.’
‘Yeah-bob! Him. He went, too. Only your dad, Jacky, he went to see and learn. The other fella, he just went to plunder him out a fortune.’
‘Did Morgan Sloat kill my Uncle Tommy?’ Jack asked.
‘Don’t know nuthin bout that. You just listen to me, Travellin Jack. Because time is short. If you really think this fellow Sloat is gonna turn up here –’
‘He sounded awful mad,’ Jack said. Just thinking about Uncle Morgan showing up in Arcadia Beach made him feel nervous.
‘– then time is shorter than ever. Because maybe he wouldn’t mind so bad if your mother died. And his Twinner is sure hopin that Queen Laura dies.’
‘Twinner?’
‘There’s people in this world have got Twinners in the Territories,’ Speedy said. ‘Not many, because there’s a lot less people over there – maybe only one for every hundred thousand over here. But Twinners can go back and forth the easiest.’
‘This Queen . . . she’s my mother’s . . . her Twinner?’
‘Yeah, seems like she is.’
‘But my mother never—?’
‘No. She never has. No reason.’
‘My father had a . . . a Twinner?’
‘Yes indeed he did. A fine man.’
Jack wet his lips – what a crazy conversation this was! Twinners and Territories! ‘When my father died over here, did his Twinner die over there?’
‘Yeah. Not zackly the same time, but almost.’
‘Speedy?’
‘What?’
‘Have I got a Twinner? In the Territories?’
And Speedy looked at him so seriously that Jack felt a deep chill go up his back. ‘Not you, son. There’s only one of you. You special. And this fella Smoot –’
‘Sloat,’ Jack said, smiling a little.
‘– yeah, whatever, he knows it. That be one of the reasons he be coming up here soon. And one of the reasons you got to get movin.’
‘ Why? ’ Jack burst out. ‘What good can I do if it’s cancer? If it’s cancer and she’s here instead of in some clinic, it’s because there’s no way , if she’s here, see, it means—’ The tears threatened again and he swallowed them back frantically. ‘It means it must be all through her.’
All through her . Yes. That was another truth his heart knew: the truth of her accelerating weight-loss, the truth of the brown shadows under her eyes. All through her , but please God, hey, God, please, man, she’s my mother –
‘I mean,’ he finished in a thick voice, ‘what good is that Daydream place going to do?’
‘I think we had enough jaw-chin for now,’ Speedy said. ‘Just believe this here, Travellin Jack: I’d never tell you you ought to go if you couldn’t do her some good.’
‘But—’
‘Get quiet, travellin Jack. Can’t talk no
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