Site Map                                                    Table of Contents                                                    Confused?

'Does the moon look bigger to you tonight?'

The Book of Ataniel

Two Steps Up, and One Step Back



�God damn, Jack,� said Ebreth. �When Coyote Jay said Jack Paris was in the Hotel, I assumed he meant--� He shook his head. �It doesn�t matter. You really don�t remember anything?�

�Not much,� he admitted, �but it�s been starting to, uh, come back.� Jack Yearlate rubbed the toe of one boot awkwardly against the insole of the other, trying to think of a way to approach the subject that wouldn�t make him look like an utter moron, and then just blurted out �Val and I aren�t married, are we?�

�What?� Ebreth said. �No. No, she got pissed at you for running off on your own so she slept with someone else.�

�Oh.� Jack tried to reconcile that with the fragile sorrow of the woman he�d been remembering and couldn�t. �I thought it was something more, uh, tragic,� he said.

�Well, that was the short version,� said Ebreth. �The reason you were running off was to sacrifice yourself to your family�s archenemy to save her, and then we couldn�t undo it.�

�And that... pissed her off?� Jack scrunched his forehead up in confusion.

�It was sort of the way you did it,� Ebreth said. �I was about ready to slug you one myself. ...God damn, Jack, we all thought you were dead. Have you been in the Hotel this entire time?�

�No,� Jack said, �I--I�ve been living in Darwood... Western Nylevia?� Ebreth shook his head in nonrecognition. �It�s a small town. Just off Highway 9. I--have a wife there. Now.�

Ebreth shook his head like he still couldn�t believe all of this was happening. �Well, we�ll get you back to her,� he said, and squared his shoulders in a way Jack dimly remembered from what felt like a very long time ago. �One way or the other. Come on.�

Back to the Hotel Archives

'Does the moon look bigger to you tonight?'

Most common Native American languages * Cherokee * Red Indian * Old Town * Native Indian tattoos