Beyond the Station Lies the Sea by Jutta Richter Read Free Book Online

cryin’ at all! Not a bit. And not ’cause of you, that’s for sure!”
    Then Niner pounds Cosmos’s chest with his fists, hard little blows that really hurt. And Cosmos doesn’t defend himself.
    Serves me right, he thinks. Really serves me right.
    â€œYou ran off with all the . . . money,” gasps Niner. “You were gonna . . . leave me hanging! You were gonna . . . go it alone. Admit it!”
    â€œYou’re crazy,” says Comsos. “I just went to get some bread!”

    Then Niner lets his arms sink to his sides. He looks Cosmos directly in the eyes and Cosmos looks away.
    â€œYou see,” says Niner softly. “You can’t even look me in the eye. And that’s the kind of friend I wanted to go to the sea with . . . that’s the kind of friend I sold my guardian angel for!”
    â€œI’m sorry,” whispers Cosmos.
    â€œForget it,” replies Niner. “I might as well just stay here. I’m not gonna make it to the sea anyway. Without my guardian angel, I’m not gonna make it anywhere.”
    Cosmos has nothing more to say. He tries to give Niner a roll, but he won’t take it.
    Cosmos eats his breakfast alone, while Niner lies on the mattress and stares at the ceiling.
    Time passes in drips and drops.
    Very slowly, it turns noon, and then afternoon.
    The pigeons have come back long ago, and they resume their cooing and prancing up in the attic.
    â€œBut we were going to go to the sea,” says Cosmos finally. “Just picture it, the two of us with our stand on the beach:
    NINER’S NEWS
AND COSMOS’S COLD DRINKS

    â€œIn great big red letters on a white sign! We can do that now! We’re rich!”
    â€œJust go, then! Go open up your stand!”
    â€œBut you have to come with me! I can’t do it without you! It’s your guardian angel money. We’re partners, after all, Niner!”
    â€œBut I can’t. I . . . I’m scared,” Niner whispers.
    â€œOkay,” says Cosmos. “One more night. One more night here. But then, then you’re coming with me. Then we’re going to the sea!”
    Â 
    THE PIGEONS AREN’T COOING anymore. It is quiet in the condemned house. Quiet and dark. The night is completely black. Occasionally, there’s a rustling behind the torn wallpaper, and a very soft whistling noise. Those are the rats.
    Cosmos is asleep.
    Niner had been asleep too. But then he woke up in the middle of the night. He’s thirsty and freezing, and everything hurts. His head, his arms, his legs. It all hurts.
    And there is a lump in his throat that he can’t swallow. And the lump hurts too.
    â€œMama,” whispers Niner. “Mama, say something!”
    But Mama doesn’t answer.

    She doesn’t answer, just like she hadn’t answered that night. The night the window was open for the last time.
    Niner had waited below, by the front door of the building. From there, he could see both the windows, behind which were Mama and the new guy. He could see the shadow the new guy cast whenever he stood up to go to the fridge and get another can of beer. He could see Mama’s shadow, too.
    And that night, he could see the other, horrible things.
    Mama was a fairy shadow, much smaller than the new guy’s.
    At first, everything was just as it had been every other evening. Niner waited for the light to finally go out. That’s when he could climb up, Mama told him. First up the fire-escape ladder, then over to the balcony, and from there in through the open kitchen window.
    From time to time, the new guy went to the fridge.
    Mama’s shadow was no longer visible.
    Niner stood there, hoping that at some point the supply of beer would run out and the new guy would finally turn out the light.
    It was so boring down there by the front door, and cold besides.
    But then, suddenly, everything changed. Niner saw what looked to be a violent movement, a quick flash of