Blackfin Sky (28 page)

In the time it took her to blink at the split-second flash of light, Sky was leaning against the cabinet next to him. Everyone, including Bo, jumped.

Well, that was tangible enough that even Bo couldn’t shrug it off as just another case of Blackfinite weirdness.

‘So … it seems like I have some explaining to do.’

Both girls listened in silence as Sky explained all that had been happening to her over the last few weeks: the first visit to the circus which Jared had engineered, the shifts which had shown her alternate versions of now and the past, everything that had led her to the circus, to Gage, and to Severin – the ringmaster who claimed she was like him.

A Pathfinder.

‘So, you really
didn’t
mean to just disappear for three months?’ Bo squinted at her uncertainly.

Sky shook her head. ‘Of course not.’

‘And you’re saying a Pathfinder is someone who’s been displaced from their own reality-timeline-thing at the point where they were meant to die, and after that they can just travel to alternate dimensions and different times and shit?’

‘Pretty much,’ Sky said. ‘Except I think we can always
see
the alternate stuff, even before we’re able to travel there. It’s just that after we’re … well,
displaced
was actually a pretty good word for it – then we can just move through the barriers that normally keep everything separate and go wherever, whenever we want.’

‘As long as it’s within your own life, though, right?’ Cam chirped, then looked bashful when everyone turned to stare at her. ‘I mean, there are so many points in history you could have travelled to, so many places you could have gone, but you’ve pretty much stayed in Blackfin. You’ve never travelled to any place or time where you didn’t already exist.’

It was like a curtain had been lifted. ‘So
that’s
the connection! That’s why I’m zipping around like I’m on some giant bungee cord – because I basically
am.
’

‘But what’s the cord tied to?’ Sean asked, his arm around her waist. ‘And who’s this Gage guy who keeps making an appearance?’

Sky considered. ‘Well, I can answer the first one. Madame Curio told me that a Pathfinder always has an anchor, and that’s something that’s tied to the decision I made which led me to where I should have died.’

‘What’s your anchor, then? The pier?’

‘It’s you, moron.’ Bo dropped her feet from the bed and stood up. ‘Man, this is going to get awkward when you two break up. I need to go and have a smoke so I can process.’ She left without waiting for any response. Cam looked from Bo’s retreating figure to Sean and Sky and back again.

‘We won’t be long!’

The door swung shut with a clatter after she ran through it. Sky nudged Sean with her shoulder.

‘Are you freaking out?’

He dipped his head to one side. ‘Well, I don’t like not knowing what’s going on with this Gage guy, but I wouldn’t say I’m freaking out, no.’

Sky laughed. ‘I meant about the whole anchor thing.’

He grinned back at her. ‘I know you did. And no, I’m not. I like the idea that wherever – whenever – you go, you can always find your way back here, to me.’

Sky studied her nails.

‘My mum can relive people’s memories, you know. She showed me what happened at my house before my dad inherited it. I didn’t see all of it, but I know that what happened was pretty grisly. But she can’t see what happened to me on the night I fell from the pier – the first time, I mean – because I can’t remember it myself. I don’t remember anything after I ran from the school down onto the promenade.’

Sean waited in silence for her to make her point.

‘I think I need to go back to that night, to see exactly what happened to me. If it was Gage chasing me, I need to know why. Until I know what he wants from me, I feel like I can’t protect myself.’

He didn’t push her, didn’t question her conclusion. ‘What do you need me to do?’

God, I don’t know what I’d do without him. If I ever lost him…

That was too much, too terrifying to think about now. ‘Could you take me home, and stay with me until I … well, stay there until I get back?’

He leaned over and kissed her, just as she needed him to. ‘Of course I will.’

24

Silas spun dizzyingly fast up above Sky as she watched from the cover of Sean’s jeep. Checking the time on the rusted hands of the clock over the front entrance, she guessed there were a few minutes until Sean and Randy would come barging through the side door of the gymnasium and start fighting in the car park.

She had forgotten that the two boys had not been the first to leave the gymnasium that night.

The side door swung open, exhaling Bo into the balmy night air. She walked to the corner of the building, already shielding the flame of her Zippo with one hand as she lit her roll-up.

Bo paced briskly, never straying out of sight of the door, plumes of smoke wafting after her like an old fashioned locomotive. She finished her cigarette, rolled and lit another.

‘Bo!’

The exaggerated whisper would have been enough to reveal Cam’s identity even without her springing through the door like a jack-in-the-box. Bo stopped pacing.

‘Shouldn’t you be inside?’

‘Can I have a smoke?’

Sky frowned. The only time both Cam and Bo had left her at the party, Cam had said she was going to the bathroom. And Cam didn’t smoke. At least, Sky hadn’t thought so.

‘Here.’ Bo handed over the roll-up she’d just lit. Cam drew in a deep breath like she’d been gasping for it.

‘Thanks. Do you think—?’

At that moment the side door flew open, the metal handle ringing as it struck the crumbling outer wall, knocking some small chunks to the pavement. Quick as a cat, Cam had dropped her cigarette and disappeared around the corner of the school before Sky could look back at her friends. Bo paused long enough to grind the cigarette out with her heel before she vanished, unseen, around the same corner as Cam.

Sean and Randy appeared, shoving at each other until they reached the edge of the car park, close to where Sky crouched next to Sean’s jeep.

‘Why do you have to stick your ugly nose into business that’s not yours, Vega?’

Randy grabbed a handful of Sean’s cardigan and tried to lever him to the ground, but Sean, tugging himself free, managed to elbow Randy in the windpipe.

‘Because you were being a dick,’ Sean side-stepped as Randy tried to kick him. ‘And Sky didn’t look like she wanted you mauling her.’ He threw his fist towards Randy’s face, only connecting with his ear as Randy ducked.

‘But it’s none of your business!’ Randy actually spat, and Sean looked down in disgust at where the spittle glistened in a streak against the leather of his trainer. Randy used the moment to punch the side of Sean’s head, and Sean stumbled backward. ‘Only
I’m
allowed to have her.
He
said so.’

‘
He
? What are you talking—’

Sky saw herself appear behind the two boys, her hair shining golden, even in the silvery light. Her long dress swirled around her ankles like little fish caught in a current, the blue of her eyes glowing the exact same shade as the satin. Even the scuffed boots she’d worn to spite her mother were oddly chic.

Is that really what I look like?

Her other self was so composed, her every movement fluid and graceful. It reminded her of watching Severin perform in the Big Top.

This is why people stare at me all the time.

Had she not been trying to remain hidden, she might have laughed.

Sky watched Randy run off, not onto Shore Road and towards his home as she had supposed, but onto the bluff overlooking the promenade.

Then the most mortifying moment of her life replayed in front of her. With the oddest pang of jealousy, Sky watched her former self move in to kiss Sean, saw him pull away gently. Then she watched herself overreact like an idiot.

Holding her hand to her mouth, the other Sky rose to her feet and fled, her skirts trailing behind her.

‘Sky, wait! I—’

‘Leave me alone!’

Sean stared in silence for a moment, then leaned back onto the grass which edged the car park, raking his hands back through his hair. He groaned, and Sky fought the urge to go and hug him. But she couldn’t do that, knew that if she did anything in this version of her past which differed from the one she had lived, it would diverge into another reality, and she wouldn’t see what had really happened to her on the pier.

Sky watched her other self until she disappeared into the night, then turned to find Sean walking over to where she hid.

Panicking, she dropped soundlessly to the ground and rolled underneath Sean’s jeep, her heart thudding so loudly she was sure he’d feel it through the metal body of the car between them. The sound of his keys jangling as he brought them out of his jacket pocket presented a new problem: had Sean followed her down to the pier in his car? If so, she was about to have an unfortunate encounter with the underside of it.

‘Oh, hi, Bo. What are you doing out here?’

‘Teaching your sister how to blow smoke rings, of course.’

Sean made a sound that wasn’t quite a laugh.

‘Look, I had a bit of a… well, I did something really stupid and upset Sky. I’m going to go and try to sort it out with her…’

‘You mean you finally made a move on her?’

There was a pause. Sky could almost hear the warring thoughts in Sean’s head: should he say yes and protect Sky from any embarrassment, or tell the truth? In the end, he did neither.

‘I got into a fight with Randy and was a bit of a dick to her about it.’

‘Ah.’

‘So, yeah. I’d, uh, better be going.’

So had I.

If Sky waited around to eavesdrop on the rest of the conversation, she would probably miss whatever happened to her at the pier, and would have wasted this trip back into the past. Maybe there was no limit to how many times she could travel back to a particular moment, but right now, she didn’t want to risk finding out.

As quietly as possible, Sky slid out from under the opposite side of the car from where Sean stood talking with Bo. If she stayed low and kept to the shadows behind the line of cars in the lot, there would only be a narrow gap where she would have to run within their line of sight. And even if they happened to see her, they would only see her silhouette at this distance – the silhouette of a girl wearing jeans and a baggy sweater, not the flowing skirts she’d worn to the party.

Sky reached the point where she would have to cross the open space to the school gates, and spared a glance over at Sean’s jeep. From where she crouched she could no longer hear Sean and Bo talking, but his car engine hadn’t started either.

Maybe he went back inside the school?

It didn’t matter. Sky ran for the gates, cleared them in a matter of seconds and was on the path down to the promenade when she saw them.

Randy had taken the sandy footpath which ran parallel to the seafront, and had acquired an additional three Swivellers from somewhere.

Where had the other three been during the party? She only remembered seeing Randy there, but it was possible the others had also been at the school. But what were they doing now, looking down at the pier at night?

This is the last time you’ll see them like this,
she thought. Though it had happened so recently she hadn’t quite processed what it would mean for life in Blackfin, four kids from her school were dead. They were less than five bus-lengths away from her now, but when she returned to her own time, all four of them would be dead. No matter what the Swivellers had done to her, Sky couldn’t feel good about that.

She needed to move. Standing still on the pathway behind them, she knew one of them would be bound to spot her if she didn’t get out of there. But unless she went back to school and took cover, the only other place she could hide was next to the promenade wall.