City of Time by Eoin McNamee Page B

on the ground was a shadow, until she realized it was a body. She ran forward. It was Mary.
    Martha put her hand on Mary's face. It was very cold and at first she thought it was the chill of the grave. But as she bent to put her ear to Mary's chest, the old woman moaned and her eyes opened. Martha looked into them. Mary was trying to communicate, but shedidn't have the power to speak. With a strength that belied her slender frame, Martha stooped and lifted the old woman.
    In Mary's cottage, Martha lit a fire and placed Mary on a chair near it. She heated some soup and held the cup to the older woman's mouth. “It'll warm you up.”
    “No, what chills me will never be warm again,” Mary said faintly. “Johnston used the Harsh cold against me.”
    Martha shivered. The name of the great enemy and their world stirred a cold memory.
    “But the Harsh are not the immediate danger this time. …”
    Mary's breath rasped and Martha could see the great effort she was making to speak. Mary took Martha's hand. “Time … is in danger. I'm sorry, Martha, I couldn't wake you until now. …”
    “Why not?” Martha asked. There were tears in her eyes. “And where is Owen?” But Mary's eyes had closed again and she did not reply.
    Martha sat with the old woman. And as she watched, her memory became more complete. She remembered things that made her smile. Owen as a baby looking up at her and laughing for the first time. She remembered things that caused her pain, that made tears of regret and longing spring to her eyes. And she remembered some things that were so hurtful she almost wished that Mary had not wakened her.
    The hours passed, but Mary did not speak again.
    When Martha touched her skin it was colder than it seemed possible for skin to be. But still the old woman's breath came.
    Martha stood up. She had to stay with Mary, who was the only person who could tell her where Owen was. She stretched and ran her hands through her hair.
    “Ouch!” she exclaimed. She had pricked her finger.
    Carefully Martha reached up and removed the long, thin key that Mary had hidden in her hair. She turned it over in her hand, frowning. The key also stirred a memory, something she couldn't quite grasp.
    When the boys returned to the Skyward, Dr. Diamond barely greeted Pieta. He had dragged a large blackboard into the middle of the room and was working frantically on it. Owen could see equations interspersed with arcs of what looked like planets.
    Cati watched Dr. Diamond. “What's going on?” she whispered to Wesley.
    Suddenly Dr. Diamond threw down his chalk and strode toward the door. “Follow me!”
    Puzzled, they did so, even Pieta. Outside it was almost as bright as day, the moon huge in the sky. They followed the doctor to the roof of the Workhouse, where he stood with his hands on the crumbling parapet, looking up into the sky.
    “She's too close,” Wesley said quietly. “Ain't that right?”
    “Yes, Wesley,” the scientist said. “The shortage of time means many things, all of them serious, but this is the most immediate problem.”
    “What is?” Cati asked.
    “The fabric of space and time is loosening,” Dr. Diamond said, “and as it does so, gravity is distorting. In this case, getting stronger. The earth is starting to pull the moon closer.”
    “Gravity keeps the moon in orbit around the earth,” Owen said.
    “That's right,” Dr. Diamond said, “and compared to other planets, the moon is very close to us. At the moment too close. You can see how large it is.”
    “What do you mean by too close?” Pieta said.
    “Soon gravity will bring the moon to within a few hundred miles of the earth, and then—”
    “It'll hit us?” Cati said, staring at the moon as if she'd never seen it before.
    “It won't need to,” Dr. Diamond said somberly. “When the moon is so close it will cause havoc—massive tides, tsunamis … The earthquakes have started already. But yes, Cati, eventually it will strike the