Chapter 25: City

They only stopped three times on the journey, twice for fuel, once at the side of the road to answer the calls of nature, since without footwear, Brady wisely prohibited Sarah from using the facilities in a rural gas station; Sarah’s feet thanked him. Sarah simply sat quietly between Brady and Ivan, watching the scenery roll by and listening to whatever rock station Brady discovered on the radio before it faded back into static. It was an easy silence as the kilometres passed. She was grateful that Ivan only stared out the window and avoided conversation. Brady seemed to be brooding, whispering quietly to himself, almost chanting. Sarah couldn’t understand his words. Occasionally, he would hold her left hand while he drove and she found some comfort in that, but his fingers seeped a deep cold into her palm.

They passed farms with horses and cows, sometimes sheep, even one raising ostrich. Sarah wondered about the purpose of raising ostrich, but the small farm had passed before she came to any conclusions. They rolled through sleepy towns, some not much more than a liquor store and a gas station, their van catching the attention of waving dirty children and stoic rustic adults as they passed.

After a few hours, about midday, the farms yielded to wider highways, suburban homes, big box plazas and winding interchanges. Traffic increased steadily around them. Brady matched the general traffic speed and drove carefully in the right lane, eyes nervously watching both the road ahead and the rear view mirrors. Sarah had somewhat forgotten the bustle of the city during her stay at Blessed Shelter; a muted excitement gripped her as the van wound deeper into the city she’d previously called home. Part of her rejoiced in seeing the city again, part of her longed for the simplicity of Blessed Shelter and the clean scent of the pines.

It was early afternoon when Brady patiently passed through the ever-present gridlock in the city core. Taxis, Ubers, delivery vans, couriers, cyclists, commuters, and careless pedestrians combined to create a frenetic chaos so familiar to Sarah’s recent memory. She idly wondered if her street friends missed her, or if even Louis, Hans or Fedora would remember her; to them, she was likely a common casualty of street life. Street urchins came and disappeared with an alarming frequency.

The van crawled by her former transient home, the train station rising up like a cathedral to her left, commuters and tourists scurrying about it like gathering parishioners. She wondered if her spot, the small square where she sat and sketched, still existed, or if another lost soul had claimed it. To her right, the former tallest building in the British Empire rested elegantly and sedate amongst the bustle. Two limousines, their windows tinted and glaring, idled at the entrance, probably to collect the latest movie star or royalty visiting the city. To her left, her journey began, meeting the man currently driving the van; his curiosity driven by a guardian willow. To her right, the hotel where a hot shower, a number of memories ensconced in graphite, and caring touches changed her path for the better, or so she thought. She clutched her sketchbook in her lap. Full circle.

Ivan scowled at the chaos surrounding them, visibly uncomfortable away from nature. Brady, concentrating on avoiding collisions with the taxis, didn’t seem to notice the specific buildings or Sarah’s wistful looks at them. After a few minutes, the van crawled past, and Brady swung north towards the financial district.

Brady backed into the parking spot beside a significant concrete pillar hidden far below the surface in an expensive garage. The garage lay beneath a tall skyscraper glinting copper in the early afternoon sunlight. To Sarah, it always appeared as if the buildings were reaching for the stars, concrete and steel stairways to the heavens. Sarah had previously wandered the entire downtown core, familiar with every skyscraper in the core, even slept on the sidewalks in front of all the towers. She had rarely ventured inside. It was not her world inside; she didn’t belong there.

Brady switched off the ignition and pocketed the van keys. Both Ivan and Brady exited the van on opposite sides, Ivan squeezing out due to the proximity of the pillar. Sarah glanced at her bare feet, shrugged and slid across the seat, pushing open the driver’s door where there was more room. She dropped to the dirty floor, grimacing at the feel of concrete against her skin instead of soft pine needles. The air hinted of exhaust fumes and dust.

Brady and Ivan stood talking quietly at the back of the van, the rear doors ajar. They didn’t notice her approach until she cleared her throat. Brady looked up, amused. Ivan looked concerned, but he didn’t immediately say anything.

Sarah glanced inside the back of the van through the open doors. Within, cylindrical objects, similar to barrels, stood upright, tightly laced together with wide straps. A small box with LED numbers sat atop them blinking nonsense. Some wires emerged from the box to disappear amongst the barrels. Disquiet gripped her heart. She shifted her gaze towards Brady.

“What happens now?” she enquired.