Michiko Bates Chronicles

Book #1 Demo Snippet

by

Janeil Harricharan & Tanya Rodgers

EBOOK EDITION

Copyright © 2014 Janeil Harricharan

License Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations embodied in critical essay, article or review. These articles and/or review must state the correct title and contributing authors of this book by name.

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Acknowledgements

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Co-Authors: Janeil Harricharan & Tanya Rodgers

Artist: Katarzyna Kruszyńska

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Michiko Bates Chapter Demo

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After about an hour, the dusty road turned to stone tile and a tall stone gate came into view. The entrance into the city was heavily backed up by a crowd and several other carriages. The sharp-nosed woman sighed and fanned herself.

After a moment, a guard approached the carriage. “Sorry ladies, we’re not allowing carriages into the city today. There’s been some damage done to the roads by the recent earthquake, and we can’t have any more horses injuring themselves.”

“Oh, but I’m sure we’ll be fine,” said the other woman, “We have some strong, sturdy horses from the plains.”

“Sorry, ma’am. Official orders. I’d be puttin’ my job on the line if I let you in.”

The two women looked at each other and shrugged. “All right, well I guess that’s that. Doctor Warner’s isn’t too far into the city—we can take the girl there first and be done with that.”

“Lewis,” said Beak-Nose, “find a place to stow the carriage and come meet us at the good doctor’s, won’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and the three of them climbed out of the carriage. Each woman took a side and latched onto one of Michiko’s arms with a childishly flimsy grip. Michiko was bracing herself for the moment when they weren’t surrounded by guards—then she would break away and finally be able to explore on her own. Later, once she’d had her fill, she’d argue her way back into the farmer’s house and make her way back home. Simple.

Michiko became aware of all attention she was drawing because of her clothes.  Some just stared, while others whispered, and still others outright pointed at her and made loud comments.    Even she couldn’t keep a heavy red blush from overtaking her face.  They had gained a huge following.  Shop doors were opening as people peered outside to see just what the commotion was all about.

It’s now or never, she thought.  She broke free of the women, who were too surprised to put up any resistance, and charged through the crowd, creating chaos as she went.  The two women called after her, but were unable to catch her; giving up soon after as they shrugged it off, assuming such a strange girl wouldn’t be let to wander the streets for long.

By this point almost everyone had noticed Michiko, but not one of them knew why she was running so wildly through the city all of a sudden. Mystified, many of them followed, getting caught up in the excitement.

She ran blindly throughout the city. Once, she stopped under a shop awning to catch her breath and found herself crowded by people calling her “foreigner” and asking her questions about her clothes, her hair, her glasses, everything. Some were admiring of her unusual style, others openly mocked it—called it silly and impractical.

She couldn’t help being offended just a little, but she was more concerned with finding respite from the commotion.  Michiko bolted around the street corner, but came to a quick halt when a dusty shop door opened in front of her.  A hand darted out and grabbed onto her sleeve, pulling her in with surprising strength.

Once again Michiko found herself being tugged into a strange new place at the urging of an unknown hand, with no say in the matter.

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Michiko found herself in the middle of a dusty shop, being circled by a stout, lizard-like woman. There was still a clamor outside as people flooded the door trying to get in.

“Go away, now, we’re closed,” the woman shouted, pressing the door shut and latching it. The noise began to die down, as they were not so crazed that they would bust their way into the shop. A few curious faces pressed against the windows, but they quickly found their view obscured by a layer of grime and soon wandered off.

“Like a herd of livestock, the senseless things,” muttered the woman as she came back to Michiko. “All it takes is one to get the rest going, and soon they’ve forgotten what’s gotten them so excited in the first place.”

The lamplight illuminated the shop poorly, hiding any small details about the woman. She was older in age, dressed in a skirt, vest and blouse and most of the village women seemed to wear.

“I’m sorry,” said Michiko, “but who are you? Why did you drag me in here?”

The woman drew a tape-measure from somewhere within her frizzy pile of grey hair and held it against the back of Michiko’s leg.

“Excuse me!” she said, stepping away, but the woman only encircled her hips with the tape measure.

“Shhh, quiet for just a minute more, I’m almost finished. Just wanted to get a quick look at you.” The woman grabbed Michiko by the wrist and lifted her arm, measuring that too. Before replacing the tape measure she reached up and plucked a few hairs from her head.

“Ow! Hey, what the heck!”

The woman reached into Michiko’s pocket before she could react and pulled out her cellphone, holding it pinched between two fingers like it was a creature that might turn on her and start biting.

“You can’t just do that! Give that back.” Michiko made a swipe for it, but only caught empty air; the woman had pulled it out of reach and was holding it up to the light, pecking at every button with her pudgy little fingers. “Who are you, anyway?”

“I should be asking you the same thing, traveler,” the woman replied, pushing on a pair of round spectacles, each lens larger than Michiko’s fist. The small amount of light siphoning into the room reflected on them, making it difficult for Michiko to see her eyes. “Just where do you come from?  I’ve never seen such clothes. And such devices, either.  And such a thin little thing, too.  It’s rare to see such proportions.  Just what is the diet of your people like?

“I—”

“Your hair is so dark, too . . . And your facial features, so unusual.  Just where are your people located?  Or are you nomads?  What is your origin?   Come, you must tell me.”

“But I—”

The woman waved a hand at her.  “Never mind.  Where you’re from isn’t important to me.  Just tell me about this noise-making device.  It’s for sending signals through some sort of sound code?”

“It’s a—ow!” Somehow, the woman had gotten close enough to prick Michiko with some sort of needle. She held it up to the light and examined the drop of blood that coated the tip. “What the heck was that for?”

The woman ignored the question and set the needle inside a glass beaker. “What other devices do your people make? Surely you must have some other interesting technology. Do you share it with outsiders?” She was almost crazed at her questioning, eyes wide and lips trembling.

Michiko coddled the finger that had been pricked and looked at her incredulously.

“Well go on!  I already know your people aren’t mute, so don’t clam up on me now.”

Michiko saw her chance and darted forward to snatch her phone out of the surprised woman’s hands.  She held it to her chest and backed a few steps away. I don’t want to spend one more minute with this woman.  She’s freaking me out!  “I-I’m going now, okay?  Actually, I don’t care if its okay, I have to leave.”

“Does every one of your citizens carry one? Is it some form of identification?” the woman asked, not at all deterred. She leaned in as close to the phone as Michiko would let her. She buried it deep in her pocket, keeping one hand clutched tight around it. That familiar weight was the only thing keeping her calm right then.

“I’m sorry, but I need to be going now, really. Maybe we can talk some other time.” She began to stumble through the darkness back to where she thought the door was. Or at least she tried to—the woman’s hand darted forward and caught her by the sleeve.

“You can’t just leave! At least tell me where I can find more of your people. Do at least that much for me.”

Michiko shook the woman off, her heart starting to pound. “Why does it matter so much?”  She tried again to leave, but this time the woman yanked her back by the collar.

“Why does it matter, she asks!” The woman cried and turned to look over her shoulder. For the first time Michiko became aware of a blonde-haired boy about her age standing in the corner with a dull expression on his face that was difficult to read. “If you possess this sort of technology in the palm of your hand, traveler, than I’m sure you have access to even greater things. The very things I need, perhaps.”

I’m done exploring.  I just want to go home.  I just want what’s familiar.  Maybe I’ll come back later, but for now I just need to get out of here.  I need normal.  She felt like a little kid again, crying out for Mommy and Daddy in her nightmares.

“Soren,” the woman croaked at the young man.  “Go fetch us some tea.”  ‘Soren’ gave a small nod of acknowledgement and backed out of the room.

“No, that’s not necessary,” Michiko said.

“Listen, dear, I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.”

“Seriously, I need to go.”

“I think all those people outside have riled you up.  We’ve never seen one like you around before.  But I’m nothing to be afraid of—look at me, I’m an old woman.”  Yes, but you’ve got me beaten in the girth department, Michiko thought, not dropping her guard.  “I’m sorry if I’ve scared you, but you must understand that the things you have could be very useful here. They could save lives, even.”

Michiko gazed warily around the room, hoping to make some sense of the woman.  In the shadows she could see an assortment of odd devices piled on top of each other so that it was impossible to tell where each one began or ended. She became aware of several with long, arched blades. Was it rust or . . . something else that coated their blades? Her whole body began to feel cold and feverish.

“It’s incredibly important that I get these things soon,” the woman urged. “Please, you don’t understand how dire this is.”

It was still too much, even if the woman was acting sensible now.  How am I even here? How is any of this possible?

Michiko placed a hand on one of the odd devices lining the tables, one that looked like a scale of some sort. “I’m sorry, lady, but I can’t help you.” She tipped it over and let it clatter to the floor in front of her. As the woman scrambled to pick it up, she bolted out the door, thankful that it was just where she thought it was.

This time Michiko didn’t mind the calamity she caused outside.  She was just glad to see the evening sky again.  The door didn’t slam shut behind her as expected, however.  The woman held it open and stared after her.

As Michiko wound her way through the crowd she heard the woman shout back at her:  “But you can help!”

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We hope you enjoyed this snippet into our story! It’s been a long year coming, but we’re in the finishing stretch and approaching the finish line. An eBook release is slated for this fall/winter. Thank you for taking the time to read and show your support.

-Janeil Harricharan

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http://michikobatesbooks.tumblr.com/

Feel free to drop Janeil a line at janeil@janeilh.com. You may also visit his personal website at http://janeilh.com.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Michiko Bates Chapter Demo