The Pure: Book Three of the Oz Chronicles by R.W. Ridley Read Free Book Online Page B

said. ‘I told you,
he is trouble.’
    “‘What’s a creyshaw?’ I demanded.
    “‘We can handle the Bashir,’ Wes said.
    “Canter shook his head. ‘Even the Délons
fear the Bashir. They are one of the reasons the Délons are so desperate to
find the Source.’
    “‘What’s a creyshaw?’ No one was
listening to me.
    “‘What about, Oz?’ Lou asked, her voice
shrill and panicked. She was on the verge of losing her cool.
    “Canter took a step in between the first
row of trees in the orchard and turned back. ‘They keep him on the move and
away from the collective. The swarm does not know where he is. Only General Roy
and a few others know. I have agents close to the general. We will know soon
enough.’
    “‘You said it yourself, we don’t have
much time,’ she said.
    “‘You don’t,’ Canter said walking away.
‘But if you fail, I will merely find another way to get what I want.’
    “‘Canter!’ Lou screamed.
    “‘Travel east,’ he said. ‘General Roy is
headed toward the coast. I will gather what information I can. Don’t be
surprised if next time we meet, I have news of your Oz’s demise.’
    “‘You bring me back that news,’ Lou said
in a hushed tone. ‘I’ll kill you.’
    “Canter and the other Silencers laughed.
    “In a state of shock, I watched Lou and
Ajax walk away. I caught a glimpse of Wes’s anguished face as he turned and
headed back to the greenhouse. Tank looked at me and shook his head while April
smiled timidly.
    “Valerie whistled, and Kimball bolted
towards her. Tyrone looked at me with sympathetic eyes.
    “‘Anybody going to tell me what a
creyshaw is?’ I asked.”
     
    ***
     
    “‘A creyshaw is a coward,’ Tyrone said.
    “‘Or a warrior,’ Valerie added.
    “Tyrone rolled his eyes and nodded,
reluctantly agreeing with her. ‘Yeah, yeah, sure, but that never has made sense
to me.’
    “April, Tank, Valerie, Tyrone, and I all
sat around a small open pit fire. We were feasting on a meal of canned pears.
    “‘Has to mean one or the other,’ Tank
said with a mouth full of pear.
    “‘Maybe,’ Valerie answered. ‘Have to ask
the Silencers. It’s their word.’
    “April shivered at the thought. ‘I’d
just as soon never see them again. What were those things?’
    “‘I don’t know,’ Tyrone said digging a
juicy pear chunk out of his can with a fork. ‘One of the Storytellers thought
it up.’ “‘What is this Storyteller business?’ I asked.
    “Valerie looked at me surprised. ‘You
don’t know?’ “I shook my head. ‘Should I?’
    “‘It’s why we’re here,’ Tyrone said.
‘Dealing with the monsters and the undead and whatever else is out there. Ain’t
you wondered how we all got here?’
    “Tank looked at Tyrone cockeyed.
‘Wondered? That’s all I pretty much do from the time I wake up ‘til I go to
sleep. Only a crazy man don’t wonder.’
    “Tyrone smiled. ‘Wonder no more, my
friend. For I have all the answers... Well I have most of them.’
    “Valerie shook her head in disapproval.
    “‘All right, all right,’ Tyrone said. ‘I
have some answers. Does that work?’ he asked Valerie.
    “She smiled. ‘Better.’
    “He stuck his tongue out at her in a
show of mock annoyance. Back to me, ‘Check it out,’ he said. ‘There’s these
Storytellers, they were this bunch of retards...’
    “‘Tyrone,’ Valerie protested.
    “‘Sorry, sorry, I mean mentally
challenged kids that went to this shrink guy. He taught them...’ He thought
about where to go from here. ‘I’m not exactly sure what he taught them. It’s
like magic, I guess.’ He turned to Valerie. ‘What do they call that again?’
    “‘HMI,’ she said. ‘Hyper Mental Imaging,
and it’s not magic. It’s science. He taught them a way to visualize and help
them cope with their disability.’
    “‘Right,’ Tyrone nodded. ‘What she said.
This shrink taught them to visualize stuff, like having a good day, or that
they were smarter than