Drusilla allowed it to go on for a time longer, then rolled her eyes and did it for me; evidently I’d been thinking about it so much, she’d learned the way of it for herself.
Clever girl.
In the end, I needn’t have worried. The compass worked as well as it ever had before I set foot aboard the Narwhal. Better, in fact, for it deposited us in the main street of Hollowvale, right where I had jokingly hoped to appear. To this day I have not lived down the fact I was forced to walk home in naught but my shirt, accompanied by an exotic woman clad only in seashells and sand. When the cog I received on my return was added to the tattoo on my neck, it was all the sweeter for the fact it came with Drusilla as an even greater reward.
They inked her tattoo the same day—only one cog to begin with, although I’d no doubt she’d add more as she learned our ways. Her first was identical to my own, and I loved it, sitting so tidily on her tiny ankle. By far the best part, however, was the look on her face when they gave her a compass of her own, a sight surpassed only by the looks on the faces of my friends when I first introduced her to them.
The world was clearer upon my return than it ever had been before. I looked at Cecelie and wondered how I had ever thought to love her. She never forgave me, although more out of spite than genuine hurt, I believe.
Either way, I found it difficult to care.
Contents
MAP
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
About the author
About the author text
Acknowledgements
First and foremost I would like to thank the indelible works of Jules Verne, which have, quite evidently, influenced this piece.
My thanks also to Sammy HK Smith, for inviting me to participate in the anthology for which this was originally written. Her support and friendship mean the world to me, as do her opinions on my writing and the stories I send her way. The story rather got away from me and proved far too long to be included, however I am grateful to all those who enabled it to be published elsewhere, and who continue to support me in my future writing endeavours.
I would also like to thank Zoë Harris, for her exceptional editorial and proofreading assistance.
www.aadenianink.com
Table of Contents
MAP
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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