Read Down a Lost Road for Free Online

His
round face shone bright red and glistening with perspiration, but
he beamed a smile at me as I crossed the street.
    “ Mornin’!” he called. As I
joined him he waved a hand toward the shop and said, “Go right on
in if you like, store’s open and all. Just cleaning up a bit out
here.”
    “ Oh,” I stammered. “What
happened?”
    Mr. Dansy waved in exasperation toward the
far side of town. “Oh, some hoodlums from the school threw some
bottles out their car last night. Broke that window there. Got some
people coming out later to fix it, sure ‘nough.”
    “ But I thought they did that,” I said, before I could stop myself.
    Mr. Dansy stopped sweeping. “Who,
darlin’?”
    I stared at him, feeling sick. He talked to
me just as he always did, no hint of what had happened yesterday.
I’d hoped that he at least would know what I was talking about –
that with him I wouldn’t feel like I was going crazy. I just shook
my head and wandered into the shop. It was empty except for me, and
somewhere in the back of the store a bulky radio droned barely
audible oldies.
    When Mr. Dansy finally came in, I had taken
a seat on one of the old-fashioned stools at the counter. I’d
always liked to sit there when I came to the store with my dad, and
Mr. Dansy would slip me a piece of candy while Dad got our
groceries. Now I sat there with a cold emptiness in my heart,
staring at the glass candy jars without seeing them. In my hand I
clasped the medallion, and couldn’t even recall its name.
    “ Mr. Dansy, what
happened?”
    “ Well, like I was telling
you, kids came round last—”
    “ No, I mean…” Finally,
ignoring how strange it would sound, I said, “I thought I went
somewhere, but now I’m wondering if it was just a dream. And I want
to go back more than anything. I know it sounds stupid, but I don’t
think it was a dream. I mean, obviously you can’t go back into a
dream, not like that anyway. Can’t you help me?”
    Mr. Dansy gave me a strange, sad little
smile. “Now hon’, I’m no professor or anything, but I’ll tell you
what I think. I think if you want to get something back bad enough,
you’ll find a way to.”
    I left the shop sullen and depressed and
nearly walked into Damian. I shoved my hands in my pockets and fell
into step beside him.
    “ The library, huh?” he
said, smiling mirthlessly at me.
    “ Were you following me?” I
grumbled.
    “ Mer, is this about
Dad?”
    “ What makes you say
that?”
    Damian shrugged, tossing back his golden
head and hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. “I can tell.”
    Of course he could.
    “ I don’t know what it has
to do with. I wish I could tell you but, really, I just don’t
kn—”
    I stopped abruptly, mid-syllable and
mid-stride. A shadow had fallen over us, but…no. Nothing. The
street was just as bright and ordinary as ever. But that man
standing by the wall across from us. He was watching me. His eyes
bored into me. He saw me…he saw it. I knew without looking at him.
I knew I could not look at him.
    “ Damian,” I
whispered.
    My throat felt like sandpaper. I reached out
and touched his sleeve, and felt his arm around my shoulders,
supporting me.
    “ What’s wrong? Mer, you all
right?”
    I blinked rapidly and risked a glance across
the street. Empty.
    “ He was just there!” I
cried. My lips felt numb, bloodless. “Damian, didn’t you see him?
He wanted it. He saw it and he was trying to take it. He was one of
them! He knows about me, he knows about him, and all of them. He
saw them in me. He’ll find them, and it’s my fault! I left them and
I betrayed them, and they know where they are!”
    I stumbled, felt Damian catch me. It had all
come rushing back, and I felt nauseous. Damian guided me to a stone
bench and sat me down, crouching beside me with his hands gripping
mine. I couldn’t say a word now. My lips trembled and I wondered if
I should have kept my mouth shut. I could tell from the worry in
his eyes that Damian