Patreon or PayPal Me keeps this site and its author alive. Thank you. |
Stories from the Verse
In Version
Chapter 5: Beam 159
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Brown 246
They walked in silence for several minutes while Beam tried to figure out his next move, and to work out what had happened so far.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” he abruptly said to Sophia. She was silent for a moment; he glanced over and saw a stern look on her face. Then she answered tersely.
“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
Warning lights blinking in his brain, he recognized that he was in trouble. Cautiously he ventured, “You’re upset, aren’t you.”
She stopped sharply and turned on him; he also stopped for the moment.
“I’m your wife.”
“Yes, you are,” he said, and began to move forward again. She stood while he walked away, as he added, “and so is she.”
Scampering to catch up, she said, “But I was your wife first.”
He shrugged. “Technically,” he said, “you are my second wife. I was married before I met you.”
“Yes, but she divorced you.”
“Yes, legally,” he said. “But I was raised Catholic, and I don’t think the church recognized our divorce, so some would say I was still married.”
“But she’s dead.”
“I don’t know that. She was alive when I versed out. She probably thinks I’m dead, although knowing her she might think I pulled a very clever disappearing act so I wouldn’t have to pay child support. I actually could wish I was that clever. In any case, you’re my second wife, and Ashleigh is my third. Does it matter?”
“You can’t have two wives.”
“By which reasoning I can’t have married you, and we’re living in sin already. If we’ve agreed to live in sin, I don’t see how it can hurt to compound it by adding more of the same sin. God can only send me to hell once, and it seems that if He strikes me with lightning I’ll just continue living in another world.”
“Dregs. You really are a cretin.”
“I’m not entirely certain what that means, but we can discuss it later. Anyway, so what else can you do that I don’t already know?”
“You’ll find out. Just don’t make me angrier than I already am.”
That seemed good advice. Thinking he should change the subject, he was about to ask loudly whether they were still on course, but Bob already knew what he was going to ask and answered before he said it. The thoughts came into his mind, yes, this way, this way.
He decided he did not want to know either how much farther it was or whether their pursuers were gaining on them, so he quickened his pace slightly.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with eleven other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #476: Versers Deduce. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
