The Wind City
Page 30
The atua were – amoral, was the best word. He thought, as he sometimes did, about that day when he’d met Hinewai on the bus, and whether any of this would even have happened if not for that. Her fault, and his fault, and Noah’s fault, so what did it matter who was what? What did anything matter, really? Saint breathed in smoke thoughtfully, and blew it out again, and thought about wind and breathing and being alive, and the fact that he still was.
He didn’t know how to feel about that. It was worse when he came to high places, of course, because there was always that temptation there, more than a little. Right now, there was no one there to catch him.
But here, now, being alive – he could handle this. One breath at a time, one day at a time. He could do this. He kinda had to. Steff’d be really annoyed at him, otherwise. Also heartbroken.
The wind was strong up here, tugging at him insistently. Not very helpful, really, so he ignored it, till a curl of wind caressed his face and – oh, right, he’d almost forgotten, how could he forget such a dear friend when they’d parted on such bad terms, he’d know him anywhere, that was –
“Noah?” Saint said, disbelieving, and he turned to greet him with a grin, but there was no one there. “Noah. Hey! Noah?”
He waited.
“… Hey, come on, pet, don’t give me the cold shoulder,” he said, grin fading, but there was no reply. He’d have been contented with a whisper of farewell, at the very least, some kind of closure, but there was nothing. So he waited, stubbed out his cigarette and leaned back grimly and watched the city and waited, waited, as the wind whispered but not in words he could ever hope to understand.
The End
About the Author
I’m an upstart young writer initially from Hamilton, who started writing a book about Wellington long before I got around to moving there and have yet to regret it. (Not casting any aspersions on Hamilton, mind. I ain’t got anything against the river city.) This is my first book! I hope you liked it. If just one person reads it and goes wow then I’ll be an extremely happy being, because that moment when you read a book and love it or like it or it awes you or it makes you laugh or makes you cry or both – that moment is the best moment, is the best thing in the world.
So yeah. I like stories, writing and reading them. Slipping into the world as seen through someone else’s eyes for a bit. I like stories, and words, and friends. And other things, of course, I like cities and thunderstorms and fae – but stories, and words, and friends, those are the main things. That’s all of me you really need to know.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to:
My family members, for being sweet and kind or so annoyingly awesome that I felt I had something to live up to or both.
Stephen, whose press was the utterly perfect place for this book, and who is the only person I can imagine publishing it with, really. NZ speculative fiction represent.
Storyfriends new and old – Kath who was first, and Shade who writes as deft and graceful as a cat hunts or a bird flies. Not sure what my writing would be without you, love. And Felix who shared my love for this city and talked characters and was basically perfect for bouncing ideas off of and who – and I’m putting this in writing, mind – is tall. Super tall. The tallest.
As to readerfriends, my thanks to: Lena, for contributions towards the understanding of Steff’s storyline and Whai’s taste in music; Marie, for seeing that Tony needed to talk to her family and Saint needed to be at least slightly less of a massive jerk; Terra and Zy for encouragement and affirmation and late-stage tweaking. Large amounts of less-than-three to you all.
And other friends, all my friends, everyone I’ve known and/or loved and who has known and/or loved me or hated my guts, the strangers in the street who lent me their faces, basically every English teacher I’ve had, everyone, everyone. But especially especially Gemma, Gemma the brave, Gemma my heart-sister.
And Wellington my heart-city.
And Tam last and most, Tam always. I daresay I could’ve done this without you, but it would’ve been very far from fun.
Thank you.
Summer
Other Steam Press books
Steam Press is a New Zealand publisher specialising in speculative fiction. Fantasy, horror, and science fiction; utopias, dystopias, and the coming apocalypse; punks of the cyber, steam, and diesel persuasion – these are our raison d’être.
Steam Press was established in 2011 because we believe that New Zealand’s authors of speculative fiction should not have to send their work offshore to have any hope of seeing it in print. We want to read locally written titles that make us sit up all night with stupid grins on our faces and then forget to get off the train the next morning, and we want to hold books that are as beautiful as they are exciting, books that reflect the quality of their content rather than the demands of an accounts department.
The Prince of Soul and the Lighthouse
Winner: Best youth novel
2013 Sir Julius Vogel Awards
“Very clever, very funny and very enjoyable.”
– Herald on Sunday
“A rollicking adventure – humorous and as exciting as an Indiana Jones escapade.”
– Sunday Star-Times
“Great characters … laugh out loud material … just brilliant.”
– Radio New Zealand
“Awesome. High five!”
– Herald Weekend
Mansfield with Monsters
Winner: Best collected work
2013 Sir Julius Vogel Awards
Named one of the New Zealand Listener’s 100 best books of 2012
“This is Mansfield upcycled as a hybrid steampunk goth … More deft twists than a bag of pretzels… great fun.”
– New Zealand Books
“Stunning and wonderful … Supremely well achieved … Enormous fun to be had.”
– Radio New Zealand
“A book that should adorn the shelf of every lover of fiction”
– SFFANZ Reviews
Tropic of Skorpeo
Shortlisted: Best novel
2013 Sir Julius Vogel Awards
“Vivid and fast-paced … Hilarious, often very sexual, occasionally puerile, undoubtedly clever.”
– New Zealand Listener
“Proudly and unapologetically B-grade in the best tradition of pulp publishing… ”
– Otago Daily Times
“Tropic of Skorpeo is a romp, and a fun one too.” – Landfall
“A work of SF worthy of words like ‘romp’ and ‘bizarre’.”
– New Zealand Books
The Factory World
“Cognitively estranging, richly imagined, and splendidly paranoid.”
– Dr Dougal McNeill, Victoria University of Wellington
“Simultaneously disconcerting and entertaining.”
– Dr Luke Goode, University of Auckland
“Proper science fiction that takes a serious view of the future.”
– SFFANZ Reviews
DownMind
“Belts along with tremendous energy … A considerable imaginative accomplishment.”
– Herald on Sunday
“A unique and skilfully designed world, that will stick in your memory.”
– Novazine
“Weird and intriguing … strange and disturbing … a wonderful antidote to the ubiquitous fat fantasy trilogy.”
– SFFANZ Reviews
First published in 2013 by Steam Press Ltd
© Text: Summer Wigmore, 2013
© Cover art: Alice Brash, 2013
© Internal art: Steam Press, 2013
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing with the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under copyright laws, no part may be reproduced by any process, nor transmitted, nor translated without prior written permission from the copyright owners. Enquiries should be addressed to the publisher. Summer Wigmore has asserted her moral rights.
> National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Wigmore, Summer, 1993-
The wind city / Summer Wigmore.
ISBN 978-0-9922578-8-6 (pbk.)—ISBN 978-0-9922578-1-1 (epub)
—ISBN 978-0-9922578-2-8 (mobi)
[1. Pakiwaitara. reo 2. Ao wairua. reo] I. Title
NZ823.3—dc 23
Stephen Minchin at Steam Press is eternally grateful to Ange Minchin for, well, everything. Thanks also to Marie Hodgkinson for her help in the initial stages of this project, Alice Brash for her kick arse cover, Matariki Williams and Abby Aitcheson for their awesome proofreading, Kawata Teepa for helping us fly true, and Summer, of course, for sending me such a freaking amazing story.
Steam Press has endeavoured to use cultural elements sensitively and appropriately. We would appreciate any feedback you may have.
ebook conversion by Matariki Williams
STEAM PRESS
www.steampress.co.nz stephen@steampress.co.nz
TĀ TE TAMARIKI TĀNA MAHI WĀWĀHI TAHĀ
Table of Contents
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Epilogue
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Other Steam Press books
Copyright