Read Online The Lowest Heaven by Alastair Reynolds, Adam Roberts, Sophia McDougall, Kaaron Warren, E.J. Swift, Kameron Hurley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alastair Reynolds, Adam Roberts, Sophia McDougall, Kaaron Warren, E.J. Swift, Kameron Hurley
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but to no avail. She tried calling both Jen and Hershel, but both times got only their voicemail. Although the Keck children were dependable, it was not entirely unreasonable to suppose that something unexpected had happened – perhaps Shelly Keck’s elderly mother had taken sick in the night, and the family had left without thinking to let the Goyas know. Or perhaps there had simply been a prior engagement – they’d had to leave unusually early, say – and they’d neglected to mention their plans to her. Alia got back into the car and drove to school with her mother.
Both Jen and Hershel were absent from school that day without an excuse. When the school’s secretary called their mother, the phone went straight to voicemail. The secretary made a note to call again on Monday.
No one saw Shelly Keck in Hartmann all day Friday, but that was not, in and of itself, notable. Keck’s visits to town were regular but not so frequent that she was missed. And her husband rarely ventured off the Keck property; no one remarked his absence.
It wasn’t until Monday the twelfth of November that anyone became concerned. The Goyas called before driving to Blackacre, and again got only voicemail. Both mother and daughter left concerned messages, but did not drop by the farm on their way to school. The Keck children were, again, absent without excuse or explanation; the school secretary called every phone number she had for the Keck family, and received no answer. Most alarmingly, perhaps, was when Shelly Keck missed a council meeting on Monday evening. Shelly, who had never missed a single appointment for anything, as far as anyone could remember, was a no–show.
Friday the ninth of November found Sloane and Griffith disembarking from an all–night transport to the AT. Caps from the transport hall’s CCTV show the pair red–eyed and slouching, staggering as though very tired. Neither carries much baggage.
They landed at the major transport hall in Eos, Griffith’s hometown, and made their way to his family’s motel. His parents and one sibling remained at the Eos Express Inn, his mother and brother operating the rundown little motel to the best of their abilities while his father, half–paralyzed by stroke, spent his days propped up in their private quarters, watching TV. Griffith introduced his family to Sloane, and promised to repay them the three hundred dollars he’d borrowed three years earlier. His mother in particular noted how “high on themselves” the pair seemed. Sloane in particular “wouldn’t stop talking about New Tahiti. How they were going to go there and stay as long as three months, or maybe forever.” When questioned as to how the pair could afford such an extravagant trip as Sloane proposed, Griffith smiled his big, bright, handsome smile, and told his mother not to worry about it.
The couple spent four nights with Griffith’s family. The first day there they vanished for about an hour, taking their luggage with them. Griffith claimed he wanted to show Sloane around the motel complex. His mother remembered that they had very little baggage despite having been living on another continent for three years and, she noted particularly, almost no clothing. Griffith took showers almost compulsively during his stay in Eos, she recalled, three or four times a day. “And they were tired, both of them,” she maintained. “Slept twelve, fourteen hours that first day.”
On November the thirteenth, Griffith borrowed another four hundred and fifty dollars from his mother and took off, Sloane by his side. She didn’t expect to hear from them again anytime soon, or to see the money she’d given him. “But he’s my son,” she said. “I gave him what I had to give.”
On Tuesday, November thirteenth, at 8.15 am, the secretary at Riccioli High School called the county sheriff, Jamee Philips, to report the continued truancy of the Keck children. The day before Philips had taken a call from Mrs. Hope
Both Jen and Hershel were absent from school that day without an excuse. When the school’s secretary called their mother, the phone went straight to voicemail. The secretary made a note to call again on Monday.
No one saw Shelly Keck in Hartmann all day Friday, but that was not, in and of itself, notable. Keck’s visits to town were regular but not so frequent that she was missed. And her husband rarely ventured off the Keck property; no one remarked his absence.
It wasn’t until Monday the twelfth of November that anyone became concerned. The Goyas called before driving to Blackacre, and again got only voicemail. Both mother and daughter left concerned messages, but did not drop by the farm on their way to school. The Keck children were, again, absent without excuse or explanation; the school secretary called every phone number she had for the Keck family, and received no answer. Most alarmingly, perhaps, was when Shelly Keck missed a council meeting on Monday evening. Shelly, who had never missed a single appointment for anything, as far as anyone could remember, was a no–show.
Friday the ninth of November found Sloane and Griffith disembarking from an all–night transport to the AT. Caps from the transport hall’s CCTV show the pair red–eyed and slouching, staggering as though very tired. Neither carries much baggage.
They landed at the major transport hall in Eos, Griffith’s hometown, and made their way to his family’s motel. His parents and one sibling remained at the Eos Express Inn, his mother and brother operating the rundown little motel to the best of their abilities while his father, half–paralyzed by stroke, spent his days propped up in their private quarters, watching TV. Griffith introduced his family to Sloane, and promised to repay them the three hundred dollars he’d borrowed three years earlier. His mother in particular noted how “high on themselves” the pair seemed. Sloane in particular “wouldn’t stop talking about New Tahiti. How they were going to go there and stay as long as three months, or maybe forever.” When questioned as to how the pair could afford such an extravagant trip as Sloane proposed, Griffith smiled his big, bright, handsome smile, and told his mother not to worry about it.
The couple spent four nights with Griffith’s family. The first day there they vanished for about an hour, taking their luggage with them. Griffith claimed he wanted to show Sloane around the motel complex. His mother remembered that they had very little baggage despite having been living on another continent for three years and, she noted particularly, almost no clothing. Griffith took showers almost compulsively during his stay in Eos, she recalled, three or four times a day. “And they were tired, both of them,” she maintained. “Slept twelve, fourteen hours that first day.”
On November the thirteenth, Griffith borrowed another four hundred and fifty dollars from his mother and took off, Sloane by his side. She didn’t expect to hear from them again anytime soon, or to see the money she’d given him. “But he’s my son,” she said. “I gave him what I had to give.”
On Tuesday, November thirteenth, at 8.15 am, the secretary at Riccioli High School called the county sheriff, Jamee Philips, to report the continued truancy of the Keck children. The day before Philips had taken a call from Mrs. Hope
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