The Bride Wore Black Leather

“Because it would have given you the wrong impression,” said Julien. “I wanted you to see him as he really was.”

“I have,” I said.

Julien sighed tiredly. “As a demonstration of power, what he did here was pretty impressive.”

“Until the Righteous Sisters turned up and kicked his psychedelic arse.”

We looked around, but they were gone, too. Green Henge stood silent and alone, as before, and the maze was very still.

“They would have let that thing kill us,” I said. “Like it did all the other poor bastards in the maze. I’ve half a mind to burn the bloody thing down before we leave.”

“But you won’t,” said Julien. “Because that’s the kind of thing the Sun King would do.”

“Don’t mess with my head,” I said. “Because that’s the kind of thing the Sun King would do.”

“Touché.”

“Threeché.” I raised my voice. “I know you’re still listening, Sisters! I want all those bodies removed from the maze! And no more hedge things! Or I will come back and find a way to really mess things up around here.”

There was no reply, but I had no doubt they’d heard me. I looked at Julien, and he was smiling again.

“And that . . . is why I wanted you as Walker.”

I shrugged. “There’s some shit I just won’t put up with.”

“Exactly.” And then Julien frowned, considering. “The Sisters only stopped the Sun King because they had the backing of the Stones. And because he didn’t really care. I’m not sure even the Stones could have stood against him if he’d thought they were a real threat. He was having fun, showing off his power. He wiped out the hedge thing with a thought, and he did bring sunlight to the Nightside; for a while. No-one has ever done that before.”

“But as a demonstration of getting his own way . . . not so much,” I said. “If the Very Righteous Sisters could slap him down, even for a moment, I have to wonder what will happen when he goes head to head with something nasty from the Street of the Gods.”

“I saw him work miracles, back in the sixties,” said Julien. “I can’t believe he’s grown weaker since then.”

“Not weaker,” I said. “Not as such. But didn’t he seem to you . . . as though he couldn’t quite get his act together?”

“As though he always had something else on his mind! Yes! He never had any doubts, any second thoughts, back in San Francisco.”

“Okay,” I said. “Where do you think he’s gone now?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t put anything in my head if that’s what you’re thinking. Can’t you find him, with your gift?”

“No,” I said. “I already tried. I can’t even look in his direction. It’s like staring into the sun. The light blinds me.” I felt suddenly tired, so I sat down on the flat stone in the middle of the Circle, taking the weight off my feet. After a moment’s hesitation, Julien joined me.

“I don’t think the Sisters will approve of this casual disrespect,” he said.

“They can blow it out their ears,” I said. “Starting with Sister Dorethea. I don’t approve of them. Look, you know the Sun King best. Where would he go next, in the Nightside?”

Julien shook his head. “He’s beyond me, John. He always was. I only knew to come here because he told me. And if he could get inside my head that easily, he already knows everything I might plan to do against him.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” I said quickly. “Just because he has access to your thoughts doesn’t mean he has access to your mind. Or your soul. Come on, Julien, give it your best guess. Where should we go next?”

“He really wasn’t the man I remembered,” Julien said slowly. “His wisdom is gone, never mind his common sense, and his old easy confidence has been replaced by arrogance. You must have noticed: he was happy to talk, but he didn’t want to listen. That wasn’t like the old him at all. He always had time for everyone, back in Haight- Ashbury. He used to preach; now he boasts. He felt . . . wrong, as though he was acting like he thought the Sun King should. Like a bad copy of his previous self. What did the Entities from Beyond do to him, for all those years? Mental contact with them made Harry Webb into a living god. But years of close communion with the Entities . . .”

“Have made him into a real prick,” I said.

Julien actually winced. “I do wish you’d avoid such vulgar language, John. You are Walker now.”

“Stick to the point,” I said, not unkindly. “I think the Entities spent all those years programming him, impressing their true purpose on him. Whatever that might be. So that when they finally released him back into the world . . . he’d follow their Dream instead of his.”

“I don’t know,” said Julien. “Maybe. Perhaps . . .”

“Should we try the Street of the Gods?” I said. “There’s got to be a whole bunch of Entities and beings on the Street who could give him a good run for his money.”

But Julien was already shaking his head firmly. “The Sun King was always so much more than a living god, even back then. Damned if I know what he is now. Do we really want to start a god war in the Nightside? Particularly when we can’t be sure of the outcome?”

“All right,” I said. “Should we go to the other real place of god power in the Nightside? St. Jude’s?”

“You really want to bring the Lord of Thorns into this? There’d be smiting everywhere and nowhere safe to hide.”

“All right, all right! You think of something! Where would the Sun King want to go next, in the Nightside? Who does he know here, apart from you?”

“Ah . . . There was someone,” Julien said slowly. “Someone he knew, back in our Haight-Ashbury days. A woman . . .”

“Of course!” I said. “There’s always a woman! Who is she?”

“She was the Goldberry to his Tom Bombadil,” said Julien. “His first real love and his first true passion, back in the Summer of Love. She was called Princess Starshine then, when she walked alongside the Sun King. She had power, too, briefly, from being so close to him. But when the time came, the Sun King didn’t take his Princess Starshine into the White Tower with him. He left her outside, with the others. After the Tower vanished, she waited and waited for it to reappear. She was the last to give up hope and the last to leave.”

“And she’s here, now, in the Nightside?”

“Has been for years. She’s a doctor, at the Hospice of the Blessed Saint Margaret. I know that because the Night Times helps raise funds to keep it going. No National Health Service here, unfortunately. If the Sun King knows she’s there, I think he’d go there. For old times’ sake. If . . . there’s anything left of the man I remember.”

“If you want to bring a man down, go through the woman he loves,” I said, rubbing my hands together happily. “Good thinking, Julien.”

“I used to be such a good man, once,” he said sadly.

“So did the Sun King,” I said. “And look where that got him.”

SEVEN All Kinds of Miracles

When we finally stepped out of the alcove in the Garden wall and back into the Land of Down and Outs, I was surprised to see a long black limousine already there, waiting for us. It looked more than a little out of place in the kind of area where the words appalling and disgusting take on whole new and very extreme meanings. I took a quiet look around, but the locals had all disappeared, presumably to sleep off their recent feast. Julien Advent was already opening the back door of the limousine. I stayed right where I was and gave him my very best meaningful cough. Julien looked back and gave me his best urbane smile.

“I called for the car. My stomach has had more than enough of travelling by Portable Timeslip, while many of my nerves are currently on strike for better working conditions. You represent the Authorities now, John, and are