Woman King by Evette Davis Read Free Book Online Page B

clear that the less
people know, the worse their fate is. Allowing people to have
access to the same kinds of information for free is important. When
people are uneducated it …well, it creates opportunities for others
to manipulate the situation.”
    Elsa snorted. “Humans want to be controlled;
they appreciate limited choices.”
    I decided to ignore Elsa’s pointed remark for
the moment. “Tell me about the rest of your family.”
    “Everything you know, the story I’ve told
you, is true. My father and mother are retired, but did work as
librarians. They do live in San Jose. My sister really lives in
Seattle and my brother really lives in Portland. He’s a
firefighter, but that’s rare; normally we’re terribly afraid of
fire.”
    “And your powers? What kinds of things can
you do?”
    “I’m not a circus act,” Lily said, again
sounding slightly annoyed. “I don’t do tricks.”
    “I’m sorry, Lily. That came out badly.”
    Elsa placed herself into the conversation and
turned to me. “I think we need to focus our energies on freeing up
your gifts.”
    “And how do you plan to do that?”
    “I have to run an errand,” she said, “but
tomorrow we’re going out on an overnight adventure.”
    “Overnight? Are we camping?” I asked,
wondering what destination she had in mind.
    “You could say that,” she said with a smile.
“I need to leave in a few moments to look for some supplies.
Assuming I’m successful, we will leave here tomorrow night after
sunset.”
    “Where are you going? And how will you get
there?” I asked casually, not expecting the reply I received.
    Elsa looked at Lily when she spoke. “I travel
using a portal in the park.”
    “Can I come tomorrow?” Lily asked.
    Elsa nodded. “Yes, it will be better if there
are two of us.”
    “What’s a portal?” I asked, worried.
    Lily and Elsa exchanged knowing glances. “It
will be better if we show you,” Elsa said.
    “OK,” I said, feeling relieved to avoid, if
temporarily, yet another hidden detail about the world I’d missed.
Lily and Elsa left the house in unison and I watched as they walked
down the street together into the night’s thick fog. One minute I
could see them very clearly, and the next, they were gone.
     
     
    ****
     
     

CHAPTER
8

    For the first time in many days, I woke up
alone in the house. I confess I missed my roommate, or at least I
missed the feeling of having someone nearby. I don’t have a great
track record with men. There have been no great romances in my
life. Instead, I have amassed a collection of single-night
memories. To be sure, there have been a few multi-week excursions,
but they never transformed themselves into repeat engagements.
    It would be nice to feel great passion for
someone, to feel my body long for another with every fiber of my
being. But that has not been a sensation I’ve experienced. Perhaps
watching my mother come unraveled has made me timid. From where I
sit, spilling over with emotion looks messy, and if unreciprocated,
humiliating. As a result, the only male voice heard emanating from
my living room on a regular basis is the baseball radio announcer
Jon Miller.
    Even without Elsa, I followed my normal
schedule, rising early to eat a banana and then heading straight
for the park to work out. I entered at Ninth Avenue and ran west
toward the coast. I managed to reach the graffiti scarred retaining
walls of Ocean Beach in less than an hour.
    To cool down, I decided to walk onto the
broad beach and stretch on the sand. The fog from the night before
had retreated, perching along the edge of the horizon as if it
couldn’t decide what to do next. The sun was coming up into the sky
and the air around me was cool and mild. It felt delicious to be
outside. I decided to prolong the feeling by walking over to Judah
Street for a cup of coffee at a nearby beach café.
    The Java Shack was fairly busy, with other
people apparently also working at extending their morning. I
managed