~4.35~

John left the sweet shop, not sure if he’d reached the end of his path or been diverted from it.

If the former, then his path had presented him with a puzzle, or a puzzling anomaly… though not necessarily a terribly relevant one. If there was a connection between Ginger’s unknown adoption plans and the mysterious attacks that had decimated tribe’s membership, he couldn’t see it.

But it wasn’t as though the candy store had presented itself to him in a dramatic fashion when he stepped off the bus. He’d only gone there because he regarded it as friendly territory and the police officer had made it apparent that he was expected to shop in the shopping center.

What if the police officer had been the next step, though? What if that was the answer, or a clue? A purge by the authorities… there had to be elements within officialdom that suspected the existence of something like tribe, and it wasn’t so unimaginable that those same elements would have resources or contacts in the mystical world.

But then, if the officer had been part of the path, and he’d directed John to go to a shop or leave… maybe he’d been meant to leave?

Or maybe he’d just been fooling himself. He’d gone on a bus ride, not a vision quest. Maybe it was all just a shadow play he’d been performing for himself. Why not? He’d started out by following a path that wasn’t there… what had he expected?

“And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream,” he said, shaking his head. “If we shadows, indeed.”

“John! Hey there, John!”

He knew the voice, and turned to see Mama, not quite supported by a severe, athletic looking woman with bleached blonde hair pulled into a tight knot. The bodyguard was standing so closely that she might have been helping her stand, but that was a clever bit of fiction.

With them was a red-haired, freckled woman in black.