Voodootown

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Root

Root watched as Sticks pointed out the living room window, an unbroken one.  "That's my usual entrance."  In the front yard was an old oak tree.  Its trunk was scarred, filled with shadows.

"A hollow tree.  That's old school," Flow said.  He held out a hand for Sticks to slap, but she left it waiting.  Root had left her ability on.  Without direct attention, it was something that rested in the back of everything she saw.  It showed her that the connection between Flow and Sticks was weak.  She looked deeper and was surprised at how there were few strong lines of energy that reached out from him.  The only strong one was to his human, Curtis, who also had few connections.  There was a steadiness to their energy, though, nothing chaotic or angry in it or in their connections with others.  It was rare that she observed anyone that was so comfortably introverted.  Compared to the other dolls she knew, it would probably feel good to spend time with Flow.  She smiled at him.

But for Sticks, Root had to keep her reaction from showing.  Even the doll's connection to her human, Bambi, was tenuous.  Her growing bond with Blink would be obvious, even without the ability to see the energy; she stood close to him and sometimes, when she turned, her hand would brush his.  But other than that, the doll didn't even have strands of energy out searching for new connections, the way almost everyone did.  She was cut off by choice.

Root looked deeper at Sticks, saw Bambi's one strong link.  It was with her brother.  The energy running between them was stretched, tight and desperate, almost as if the two humans were holding themselves together with wire and fishing hooks.  And that connection was the trouble they were all facing.  Bambi's brother's doll was due to visit Sticks.

"What time does he come through?" Ju Ju asked.

"Soon.  It's usually around this time of night," Sticks said.

Twister frowned down at the tree.  "How is he up?  What time is it in Afghanistan?"

"They're nine and a half hours ahead.  They do a lot of night patrols.  His human sleeps whenever he can," Sticks said.

"Nine and a half hours ahead?" Squat asked.  "What the hell?"

"They're called offset time zones," Flow said.  "Some are even fifteen minutes off."  He stopped when he saw Sticks staring at him.

"Stop it.  Just shut up," she said.  Root watched Flow take a step away and focus his attention on the tree that would be their way to Voodootown.

"Okay," Twister said.  "So does that entrance come out anywhere near the portal?"

"Like I know?  You want to draw a map of Voodootown?  Who knows where anything is down there?  If he gets taken by those things, Bambi is going to lose it," Sticks said.  She stared down at the tree for a moment then nodded her head.  "I'll go down there alone.  Fine."

Blink took her hand and started to speak, but Ju Ju stepped up.  "Whoa.  We're with you.  You're not alone," she said.

Root watched Ju Ju.  The doll rarely reached out to others.  She was as closed in as any doll or person Root had seen.  Each tendril that linked her to another doll had a vulnerable spot and Root knew it was something that was made to be severed quickly.  But her connection to Danica had always been a fascination.  It was more like a funnel than a line.  There was something that Ju Ju took and filtered away before it could reach her human.  Having seen the locks on Danica's door, Root wondered what or who it was that Ju Ju was keeping out.

"We just need to be smart," Blink said.  "We can't protect Bambi's brother if we all get turned into thralls trying to save Bloodhound."  Then, he turned to Twister.  "What's the plan?"