Colton knocked. He strained to hear movement inside the house, annoyed that his senses were so dulled.
He was about to turn and make his way to Big Ben after all when the latch scraped inside. The door opened, and a tall, long-limbed man stood on the threshold. He had green eyes and dark hair, with feathery black eyebrows. Colton briefly wondered if this was what Danny would look like in several years’ time. Not quite, he decided. Danny’s face was sharper, more like his mother’s.
But it was enough to make him pause.
“Hullo? Can I help you?” the man asked. Even their voices were similar.
“I … uh …” How was he going to do this? “Are you Christopher Hart?”
“I am.” He took in Colton’s bag. “If you’re selling something, we aren’t interested, thanks.”
“Oh, no, nothing like that. It’s—It’s about your son. Sort of.”
Christopher blanched, and Colton winced. He’d said the wrong thing already.
“Danny? Is he hurt? What happened?”
“That’s not what I meant!” Colton raised his hands, and realized his mistake too late. Christopher stared at his see-through palms, glowing faintly in the dusk shadows.
For a long moment, neither man nor spirit said a word. Then Christopher moved so he was no longer blocking the doorway.
“Come inside,” he whispered. He looked up and down the street as Colton hurried through the door, then closed and locked it behind him.
He whirled on Colton. “What’s the meaning of this?”
Colton took off his cap and held it between his hands. Christopher’s eyes darted around his face.
“Has there been news about Enfield?” Colton asked.
“Not that I’ve heard. Why?” Judging from his tone, he’d already guessed.
“It’s Stopped.”
Christopher’s paleness was overtaken by an angry flush. All at once, Colton understood his second blunder.
“I didn’t do it on purpose! That is, I didn’t want to Stop Enfield. We were attacked. My tower was hit. It was going to fall and Stop time anyway, so I had to detach my central cog.” He touched Danny’s bag. “We didn’t know what to do. The mayor told me to get help. I was the only one who could leave.”
Christopher swayed. Wordlessly, he walked past Colton into a room that looked to be a kitchen. Colton cautiously followed. He’d only seen Danny’s bedroom on his last visit, and now he took in his surroundings: faded green walls, a telephone in the hall, portraits painted in muted colors.
Danny’s father poured himself some form of alcohol and knocked it back in one gulp. Exhaling loudly, he turned back to face Colton. “You’re the spirit of Enfield. The one my son … You and he …”
If Colton were human, he would have blushed. “Yes.”
“He’s not here. He’s gone to India.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here, talking to you. I thought maybe you could come back to Enfield with me.”
Christopher rubbed his face. “This is too much.”
Maybe coming here had been a mistake after all. Colton felt that sense of disconnection again. More than that, he felt ashamed, and wasn’t sure why. The emotion was new, and it unsettled him. He didn’t like it at all.
“Where’s Mrs. Hart?” he asked in a small voice. Maybe she would understand.
“Work,” Christopher mumbled. “She’ll be here soon enough.” He swallowed hard. “I can’t focus right now. I have to think. I’m sorry, but I have to think.”
Colton nodded, though he didn’t understand. Christopher walked past him, then stopped. It made Colton very uncomfortable, standing so close to Danny’s father.
“That’s his coat, isn’t it?”
Again, Colton nodded, trying to shrink inside its shelter. It smelled of Danny, and that was the only thing that had kept him going today. Christopher swayed again, then left the kitchen.
Colton sat on one of the chairs to wait. He wanted to take off Danny’s coat, but at the same time, he wasn’t eager to shed its comfort. Hugging the satchel bag to his chest, he closed his eyes.
If he were human, he would have cried. He wondered if doing that ever made humans feel better.
Leila screamed when she found a clock spirit in her kitchen half an hour later.
Christopher hurried downstairs as she stood there gasping, one bony hand pressed to her chest.
“Oh my God,” she sputtered. “Colton! What on earth—?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Leila, are you all right?”
“Yes, I—I’m fine. Just a shock. What’s going on?”
“It’s not about Danny,” Colton said at once, not wanting to repeat the same mistake he’d made with Christopher.
“Oh … good.” She still sounded confused. Christopher took her bag and led her to the table before he began to fix some tea. Leila just stared at Colton, who tried not to fidget under her gaze.
“Enfield is Stopped,” Christopher said from the stove. “His tower was attacked.”
“Attacked?” Her head whipped around. “By whom?”
Christopher glanced at Colton. “Do you know?”
“No. I saw an airship above Enfield, and it dropped something onto my tower.” He touched his side. The ache had dulled the farther he’d walked from Enfield, but it was still there, lingering. “The tower would have fallen, but I Stopped the town before it did.”
“Oh, you poor thing.” Leila touched Colton’s shoulder. Finding it tangible enough, she gave him a hug. Colton, startled, returned it. It was different from the hugs Danny gave him; those were comfortable, close, sacred. This was something else, something foreign yet reassuring.
Christopher seemed more relaxed when he handed Leila her tea. “Are you sure you didn’t see a name on the airship?”
“Not that I recall. And I would know. Danny taught me to read.”
Christopher’s eyebrows rose, and Leila hid a shaky smile behind her teacup. Colton wondered why humans had such complex reactions to the things he said.
“Well, news will probably get out tomorrow, or soon after.” Christopher sighed. “And Danny’s in India, on a much bigger assignment. They wouldn’t send him all the way back.”
“You don’t think so?” Leila asked, sounding hopeful at the prospect.
“The Lead will find someone else. Probably me.” Christopher drummed his fingers against the tabletop. “The office is closed now. Maybe we should wait until morning.”
“For what?” Colton asked.
“I’m going to bring you to the Lead. Whomever he assigns can go with you to Enfield and help repair your tower. The authorities need to be alerted as well.”
Leila glanced nervously at the kitchen clock. “Can it wait until morning?”
“It’ll have to. A few hours won’t change anything. Not like that airship can do any more damage, if Enfield’s already Stopped.”
“But what about the other towns?” Colton asked. “Or London?”