The Prophecy Machine

knee.

Anyone who saw the pair would likely be appalled, for they were truly a spectacle to see. A limping monster clad in cooking ware. An ogre with a kettle for a top, and, mounted on that, firmly tied in place, a red-eyed lizard head.

Finn had recovered all of Julia's errant parts-torso, legs, a tail bent out of shape, all stuffed into pockets now, for a better time and place.

“You know what I dreamed,” Julia said, “while I was there alone in disarray? I dreamed about the sea, about lives I've never lived, about things I've never seen.”

“You didn't dream, you imagined that you did.”

“Nevertheless, I felt I'd lived a thousand lives, passed a thousand doors, and I'm sure I know why-though the answer's as amazing as the story is itself.

“I am made of precious gems from the corners of the world. Gems, copper, silver, iron and gold, elements of the earth. It is not just humans and Newlies who remember things, Finn. Everything does, though I doubt you'd credit that.

“Every garnet, every onyx, every flake of gold, each has a tale, what they've done and where they've been. Now, all their stories, all their ventures, come together in me. All has been revealed in my dreams. Is that not a marvel, Finn, is it not a wondrous thing?”

“No, but if it makes you happy, believe what you will.”

“Why do I bother, why do I expose myself to your abuse? Why do I speak to you at all?”

“Because we are friends, Julia, companions of a sort. And because my pockets are full of all your parts.”

“I'll buy the second half,” said Julia Jessica Slagg. “I'm unsure about the rest, the part about companions and friends …”

“Hush, be silent,” Finn said, pressing his back against the wall, standing perfectly still. “I'll give you something to be sure of, down the hallway there.”

Julia saw them at once, their forms distorted shadows from the fiery torches they waved about.

“Foxers,” Finn said, and added an oath after that. “Damn fools, that's no way to light a place like this, they'll burn the thing down!”

“What on earth are they doing in here, I'd like to know that.”

“I know what they're doing,” Finn said. “They've come to settle with the Nuccis. I can only guess why.”

A flimsy guess at best, and that from a shade who isn't sure if tomorrow is today …

Indeed, Foxers had vanished at a time, though the Coldie named Klunn wasn't sure exactly when. Were the odds good or bad that the Nuccis had a hand in that?

“They're gone,” Julia said. “My uncanny senses tell me they're heading down.”

“Of course they are. Everyone's headed down, that's where this horrid device would have us be.”

“They wore no pots or pans. I'm sure you noticed that.”

“I did, indeed. They're not affected, then. I couldn't say why, except they're not the same as me …”

He staggered, then, with a shudder, a shiver, a chill at the back of his neck. A moan, a cry, from somewhere near, so faint he could scarcely hear.

“There,” Julia said at once, “I see her, Finn. Right there!”

Finn was already on his knees, all his pains forgotten as he drew Letitia up into his arms. So light she was, barely there at all. He knew there would never come a day when he'd not see her lying there, hands clasped tight against her ears, dark eyes glazed with fear.

“Letitia. Letitia Louise …”

He knew, though, she was hardly aware, stupefied by the dread emanations that had caught and held her there.

What if it's too late now, what if her mind is empty, drained of all she's been …?

He cast the thought aside, refused to let it in. Instead, he loosed an iron pot from his armor, one without a great dent, and fit it carefully on her head, tying it with wire beneath her chin. It couldn't hurt, and might very well help.

He had her now, had them both again, and wouldn't let them go. One was in pieces, one was scarcely whole, but anything broken, Finn believed, could be fixed, patched up, made to work again …

“Finn, wait, you don't want to go there,” Julia said.

“No, and why is that?”

“That's the way the Foxers went. We'd best not run into them again.”

“You weren't listening, were you?” Finn said. “You really ought to try. There's only one way-that foul device has made certain of that …”

48

“I dreamed, Finn. I've never had such a wonderful, frightful dream. I thought I was only me, then I saw I was everything that was, everything that could possibly ever be.

“I looked through a million eyes, saw a million lives. I almost saw the poor thing I'd been before. That's when the dream wasn't good anymore, it got awful after that. I didn't want to know, I didn't want to be that again …”

“Everyone's having dreams, it seems. I never cared for them myself. They were either so good I didn't want to wake up, or so bad I thought I never would.”

“Thank you for finding me, love. I think I was gone an awfully long time.”

“Much too long, Letitia. Any time at all is too long for me.”

“I think I'll try and sleep some more.”

“I think that's a bad idea. I'd rather you'd stay awake, dear.”

It was too late, though, she was gone once again.

Finn was relieved that she'd come to her senses, but not at all sure she was wholly herself, that something wasn't missing somewhere. Time, he was certain, would chase any frights from her head. He vowed he would hold onto that.

The way was most confusing now. Either that, or the howl and the clatter of the horrid device had loosened every nerve in his head. Right seemed left, and left seemed right. Letitia had been light at the start, but she was quite heavy now. That, and his foot, and the kettles and skillets that constantly weighed him down …

Sometimes he was certain he'd gone to sleep himself, but Julia seemed to squawk if he tried to nod off. How could she manage such a feat? he asked himself. She couldn't see him from her perch, and her senses weren't as fine as that …

“Damn it all, Finn, watch where you're about. You're as loud as that miserable device.”

Finn jerked awake at once. “Sab-Sabatino! What are you doing here?”

“Please, craftsman, not the obvious. What is any one doing here? Ah, you found the lady, I see. I'm so glad, I was most distressed. Heavens, what happened to your lizard?”

“What I'm doing, dear fellow, since you feel you have to ask, is trying to get down to that thing. These pesky Foxers keep getting in the way. They're thick as flies, you see.

“Ah, watch your step here,” he said, brandishing his blade. “I've caught one or two, possibly three.”

“I'd say three's correct,” Finn said, holding his lantern up high. Three dark figures slumped in untidy lumps against the wall.

“Clearly, the Foxers know you're here. If they're as many as you say …”

“Doesn't matter, I have to go. Father's down there, I'm sure. He and I have to settle things, once and for all.”

Finn didn't like the sound of that.

Then, down the narrow hallway, past some forgotten wall, the thunder and the rumble, the howl and the shiver of the awful device shook the ancient house. Finn felt that if he didn't hold on, he'd be quickly swept