Read Online This River Awakens by Steven Erikson - Free Book Online Page A

over at him. He was fidgeting, his head turning this way and that.
    ‘What’s it look like?’
    ‘Jennifer and Sandy and Barb could walk up any minute,’ Lynk said. He stared at me, then laughed. ‘I don’t fucking believe it.’
    I finished.
    Lynk swung to Roland. ‘He’s a fucking idiot! Did you see that?’
    Roland frowned at Lynk, then shrugged. ‘So?’
    I was wondering the same thing, though a part of me was quietly satisfied. I’d rattled Lynk, somehow, as if I’d answered a challenge with contempt. Even as I thought that, I knew that it was right, though I had no idea what the challenge had been. ‘Hell, Lynk,’ I said casually, ‘it’s not as if I pissed on your shoes, is it?’
    His face reddened, then he spun and threw the rock hard. It fell short of the candle factory.
    I glanced over at Roland, and was surprised to see his expression animated – more than I’d ever seen it before. There was something in his eyes as he stared at Lynk’s back, and the look he finally turned on me was sharp, intense. He knows what just happened. He understands it completely. How come I don’t?
    VII
    ‘Aren’t you girls a little young to be going into the city all alone?’ the bearded man asked as he pulled his car back on to the highway.
    ‘Not as young as you think,’ Jennifer answered, leaning back in the seat beside him and stretching her legs. Barb and Sandy, sitting in the back, remained silent.
    At her response the man shot her a quick look, then returned his attention to the road. ‘Maybe you got relatives there?’
    ‘Nope. You can drop us off at the McDonald’s across from P. E. High.’
    ‘All right.’
    Jennifer watched the city take shape alongside the highway. The gas stations came first, then the streets with their square houses and small gardens. The movie drive-in went by, and then the cloverleaf bypass. More houses, smaller lots, then under the old railway bridge, and suddenly there was a cemetery on the left, a used car lot on the right. People on the sidewalks, cars and trucks crowding the lanes.
    ‘Next light is fine,’ she said.
    ‘Somebody driving you back?’ the man asked.
    ‘Of course,’ Jennifer replied.
    He pulled into the parking lane in front of the high school. The back door opened and Barb and Sandy hurried out. Jennifer smiled at the man. ‘Thanks. You’ve been sweet.’ She opened the door and stepped out, then leaned back in. ‘Drive carefully.’
    ‘Yeah, sure.’
    ‘That was cool,’ Barb said as the car drove off. Her round face was flushed as she gazed at the restaurant across the street.
    ‘You told him we had a ride back,’ Sandy said, frowning. ‘Do we?’
    ‘Sure. Some guy just like him, heading the other way.’
    The light changed and they crossed the street. The restaurant was crowded, most of the booths filled with high-school students, and a few from Junior High. Voices and smoke filled the air. Jennifer stationed herself in a line. ‘Let’s get some shakes,’ she said. ‘And remember,’ she added in a lower tone, ‘when we meet Dave and his friends, we’re all fourteen, right?’
    ‘Hey, Jenny!’ a boy’s voice called out. She turned to see Dave edge his way through the crowd. He grinned at her. ‘We got a table,’ he said. He was wearing a faded, torn jean jacket with peace symbols drawn on it in black ink, and rust-coloured bell-bottom pants held up by a wide black leather belt with a brass buckle. A pack of Export ‘A’ jutted from the jacket’s breast pocket. Dave stepped up to Jennifer, placed a hand behind her head and then kissed her.
    Jennifer pulled him close, laughing when their lips parted even though she felt a moment’s revulsion at seeing a half-dozen new pimples on his shiny forehead. He must have followed her glance, for he stepped back, ducking his head to bring his long blond hair forward.
    ‘Hi, Dave,’ Jennifer said. ‘These are my two friends I was telling you about. Barb and Sandy.’
    Dave nodded at them.