Shifting Stars by Gary Stringer (best fiction books of all time txt) 📗

As for the ‘miraculous’ restoration of her home, he said, “I don’t believe miracles really happen.”

“Miracles can happen if people make them happen,” Catriona countered.

Still, from what Jacob had seen Catriona do with druid magic – tending Renjaf’s grounds and getting the plants to restrain him – it didn’t seem an unreasonable extrapolation. He was only sorry that the stubborn old goat in his tower was standing in the way of something so crucial to Cat when co-operating would cost him next to nothing. He promised to help her in any way he could, but for now, Catriona had no further ideas of how she was going to get her hands on that book.

There did not seem to be any other copies of the book. From what Catriona could gather, it had never been what one could call popular, being considered a fringe text at best, and the ravings of a madman at worst. However, given how quick people were to question her own sanity, she wasn’t willing to dismiss the anonymous author of Shifting Stars so easily.

*****

Catriona’s friendship with Jacob grew strong over the following weeks and months, even to the point of moving in together. Although it was never a romantic relationship as such, she was always quite happy to get physical with the right person under the right circumstances. Indeed, there were a few more incidents of her pocket dimension swallowing their clothes, which led them to take full advantage.

Everyday life continued for the best part of a year until Cat came home from college mid-afternoon, one day, and was surprised to find Jacob there.

“What are you doing home?” she asked. “You were going all the way out to old Renjaf’s place, weren’t you? I thought you’d be delivering for an hour or so, yet.”

“Demon attack near Compton,” he told her. “We don’t deliver to outlying areas when there’s a demon attack – it’s company policy to keep us safe.”

Catriona narrowed her eyes as she thought about the implications of this, and the beginnings of an idea took shape in her mind.

“So, how will Renjaf get his stuff?”

“Well, if they catch the demon tonight, I’ll have to go out there tomorrow, instead.”

“What if they don’t catch the demon that quickly?”

“They usually do,” Jacob said, not sure where his friend was going with this.

“Yes, but sometimes it can be days, can’t it?”

“Sometimes,” Jacob agreed.

“So, what would happen to Renjaf’s delivery if you couldn’t get through?”

“Then he’d get a magical message telling him his stuff is being held securely in Compton ready for him to collect at his convenience.”

“Or, I suppose, inconvenience, in his case,” Cat mused.

Jacob laughed, “You’re not wrong! He gave our reception workers a right earful the last time. He hates leaving his tower.”

“Could he authorise someone else to pick up his delivery on his behalf?” she wondered.

“In principle, yes,” Jacob agreed, nodding, “but I don’t think he has anyone to ask. I mean, who’s going to help out that grumpy old miser?”

“I am!” Cat declared. She glanced at her timepiece and did a rough calculation in her head. “His tower isn’t all that far as the falcon flies. If I’m quick, I should have time to fly there, get his permission, fly back and deliver his stuff by nightfall!”

“You’re not serious!”

“Of course I am! Think about it: you said yourself he hates leaving his tower. If I save him the trouble, get him his delivery on time – within a few hours, anyway – he might just be grateful enough to give me Shifting Stars!”

“But how will you carry his stuff from the town centre to his tower?”

“Easy! I’ll just shove it all in my pocket dimension. I’m getting better at that.”

“Cat,” Jacob broached, carefully, “I don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm, but the way our clothes keep popping in and out of your pocket dimension, I’m not sure it's as stable as you’d like to think.”

Catriona smiled, moved over to Jacob and, to his astonishment, kissed him full on the lips. She broke the kiss, shifted her head slightly and whispered in his ear, “It’s so sweet that you still think those were accidents.”

Jacob stepped back and gasped, “They were deliberate?”

Cat nodded.

“All of them?”

“Yes!” she assured him. “Well,” she amended, “most of them. It’ll be fine…probably. As long as I don’t try it too close to any major sources of wizard magic.”

“Such as Renjaf’s tower?”

“Oh, Jacob!” she cried. “Don’t worry so much! I’ll land a short distance away, take his stuff out of my pocket dimension and carry it up the garden path, so to speak. What could possibly go wrong? Look, I’d better go.”

Never one to stand in her way, Jacob simply wished her luck.

*****

In the end, gentle reader, my mother’s dimensional magic was never put to the test that day, because unfortunately, she had underestimated how stubborn old Renjaf really was. She had already returned many times to tend his grounds, grow the flowers, clean his pond and even reshape and repair his stone walls, all with her druid magic, but through it all, the stone wall that was Renjaf himself remained unmoved.

She offered to get his delivery for him. He refused. She offered to make sure his next five, ten, twenty demon-affected deliveries got through. He still refused. She said she was prepared to do it even if it was a Greater Demon from the lower planes, and it meant risking her life just to bring him a few groceries. Still, he refused.

“But that means you’ll have to get it yourself,” she pointed out, “and you hate leaving your tower!”

“Yes,” he agreed, “I do! But I’d rather do that than accept help from you or anyone else! But by all means, keep coming back here with more harebrained ideas on how to win me round.”

“Why not just tell me what you want and then I can do whatever it is?”

“Because what I want is to keep denying you. I want you to keep coming here, trying