Days Gone By Midlogue One—Uncomfortable Truths
Novel Excerpt by Abram Dress
WANT TO START FROM THE BEGINNING?
Click here to read Prologue—The Bloody Wake
Midlogue One—Uncomfortable Truths
The back door to the tavern slammed shut as the last of Avery’s crew stepped through, closing out the moist summer heat of a 21st century Virginia night. Across the tavern, through the yawning front door, Devin Cole and the small group accompanying him took stock of their new situation on an old dirt road covered in snow, then that door also slammed shut and Avery was left alone in the dark tavern with only the Countess and the barkeep.
Avery sighed a deep rumble, then clomped across the floorboards to stand, towering above the Countess where she sat demurely at her table.
“Keeping secrets,” he said through clenched teeth. The chair screeched across the floorboards as he pulled it out and sat across from her. “Aren’t we, m’lady?”
The Countess smiled. “Had you shown interest in Miss Michaels’ life beyond using her merely as a tool to advance your agenda–”
“Our agenda, m’lady. Not just mine. And don’t pretend that you two were friends. Not to me.”
“Of course. Our agenda. Did I know she was close to Mister Cole? Of course I knew. Because, while I did not like the girl, I listened to her stories.”
“Tell me, then, of her stories.”
For several minutes the Countess spoke, telling a tale of love and woe and failed redemption. Avery listened, finally. When her tale was done Avery squeezed his calloused hands together and closed his eyes.
“How much will this complicate things?” he said, quietly.
The Countess stood and approached the table where Devin Cole had signed on to the crew. She leaned over the open Ship’s Roster and perused the page. Avery joined her, reviewing the same page but seeing different words. All stories are not for all readers.
The Countess spoke softly, so only Avery could hear. “The Roster has never led us astray before.”
Avery looked meaningfully at the bar, where the barkeep stood, mute while he wiped down the counter. “Has it not?”
The Countess glanced at the barkeep and nodded. “Brother’s place in this story may yet have more to be told. The Roster has led us on journeys unexpected, but never astray.”
Avery humphed. “So you say.” He arched his back and squared his shoulders, then placed a gentle arm around the Countess, resting his hand on the hollow of her hip. “I wish you had told me about Miss Michaels, but I will heed your advice. I will listen to their stories. All of them.”
“There is much to learn.” She pushed his hand from her hip and slammed the book shut. Pushing it into his arms she said, “Now go.”
Avery took the Roster and through the tavern’s back door he went.
TO BE CONTINUED… Act II, Repair the Broken coming this summer
Copyright 2024 Abram Dress