The Evensong by Lindsay Payton Read Free Book Online Page A

convinced him to take it rather than let it be sold to someone else.
    “Now I just have to calm down for a while,” he said, massaging the back of his neck. “I guess it was about time I took a break.”
    “Sounds like it,” I said, laughing a little. In the time we’d talked, I’d gotten used to being around him. I felt more comfortable now, though it was getting colder since the sun was setting behind the thick layer of clouds.
    “Okay, so I know a lot more about you,” I started, holding my arms for warmth. “You’re not really just Stranger anymore.”
    “Stranger? As in a name?” he asked.
    I hesitated, then laughed, suddenly embarrassed. “Yeah, well—you don’t exactly have a real name that I know of, so Stranger just worked.”
    “Makes me sound a little evil,” he laughed.
    “Well you’re not exactly known as a person yet. Sort of an unknown,” I replied. “But really—what is your name?”
    His laughter faded away a little, and I waited, watching his reaction. He seemed to close off again, like before we really got to talking. I felt angry right away, as if it wasn’t fair. Here he knew almost everything normal about me, and I almost knew some things about him, but most importantly, he left out his name.
    “It’s um—it’s Linden, actually,” he finally said, fiddling with his loose belt.
    “Linden?”
    He nodded and glanced up at me, half smiling. “It means lime tree, as much sense as that makes.”
    “It’s nice—I like it,” I admitted. I wished I hadn’t said it, especially by the way he looked at me, like it was something he really wanted to hear. “I mean, it’s better than Riley. At least it fits you.”
    “Hey, I like Riley,” he insisted. “That really fits you.”
    “I beg to differ, but I won’t fight you on it. Not now, at least,” I said, shivering as a brisk wind blew against me.
    “Damn,” Stranger—now Linden—said in reaction to the wind, his hair blowing all around his face. “Let’s go in.”
    I agreed, and pushed myself up on my feet. He let me walk ahead first, and I clambered down into the hall, trying to straighten out my hair before he came in. The window almost slammed shut in the wind, and I heard the distant rumble of thunder. The sound made me panic a little; I hoped he would be wrong about the rain.
    I followed Linden down the dark hall until he flicked on the lights at the stairs.
    “I guess I should let you go,” he said as we walked down. “You’ve been here a while.”
    “Yeah, I guess,” I replied, thinking of the slew of questions waiting for me at home.
    “I hope it wasn’t too boring,” Linden said, walking backwards to talk to me.
    “Hey, I learned your name. It definitely wasn’t,” I replied. He grinned, and I felt a jolt in my chest. I wasn’t sure what it was either.
    Thunder cracked over the house, and I jumped as the lights flickered. At the same time, my head throbbed, and the throbbing increased to a painful shock as rain poured from the sky.
    I couldn’t believe how bad the pain was this time. It had never been so awful before. The sharp pain was right behind my eyes, spreading throughout the rest of my head. It was blinding, and I squeezed my eyes shut as the world tilted and I could smell something metallic.
    A hard surface collided with my shoulder, but I kept my eyes closed, feeling like I was about to throw up. Vaguely, I could hear someone saying something and I felt a hard grip on my arms before my knees gave out.
    “Hey—are you okay?”
    The pain abated enough that I could reply to Linden.
    “No—sorry, this happens sometimes,” I mumbled.
    “What does?”
    “It’s um—they’re migraines.”
    I forced my eyes open as I squeezed my temples. I realized Linden was holding onto my arms, keeping me upright. He stooped a little to look at my face as I pulled back.
    “Can you drive me back? I can’t—”
    “Of course I will, you can’t walk in the rain anyway,” he said, ushering me