“How did you find me?” he asked.
“I asked for Wind Runner,” said Tapestry. “You aren’t as discrete as you think you are, Malcolm. People know where you live.”
“Wind Runner…” he said, darkly. “That’s not who I am anymore.”
“Sure,” said Tapestry. “And I’m just Aubrey now.”
She lost her powers, too. I never stopped to give that as much thought as I should have.
“I would have thought that your focus would be on just protecting Melanie,” said Malcolm. “Even just coming to Vanderbrook is dangerous, let alone digging for information.”
She opened her jacket for him. Malcolm saw the curve of her breasts first, and then the holstered gun. It was encouraging, but still not enough to put him at ease. He’d had a gun too, and it hadn’t done much more than make him a more enticing target.
“I just came to find out about something,” said Tapestry. “I wanted to check in with some of my contacts here in town.”
“Contacts?” asked Malcolm. “Did you meet with Wax and the others while they were around? They came to see me a couple of days ago.”
Tapestry shook her head.
“No,” she said. “I haven’t worked with any other champions since I first left Vanderbrook.”
“Then why are you back?” asked Malcolm. “Do you realize the risk you’re taking setting foot in this town? It isn’t a safe place.”
Tapestry’s expression hardened.
“I know it isn’t safe,” she said. “But the rumor that I overheard makes coming here worth it. I would have gotten in touch with the others if I’d known ahead of time that they were going to be around. Maybe I still can. But my focus right now has to be on finding out if what I heard is true.”
“What’s the rumor?”
Tapestry licked her lips. She proceeded as though she hadn’t heard his question.
“Have you heard of anything unusual?” she asked. “Strange arrivals or departures from Vanderbrook, or Halter City?”
Her evasion was not lost on Malcolm. For whatever reason, she was holding back.
She’s the one keeping secrets, now.
“Your arrival is pretty strange,” said Malcolm. “Though you always were a bit of a weirdo.”
She didn’t smile. That hurt Malcolm more than the coldness in her voice, though he reminded himself that even the old Tapestry rarely smiled at his teasing.
“Keep your ears open, if you can,” said Tapestry. “If my information is accurate, this could be big.”
“What’s your information?” asked Malcolm. “It would help if you told me.”
She let him have the smile he’d been waiting for, but it wasn’t of the kind Malcolm liked.
“I don’t trust you like that anymore, Malcolm,” she said.
The refusal dug into a wound Malcolm had forgotten about, and he felt like he deserved it. Of course she didn’t trust him. He’d deceived her, lied to her, and then, through Second Wind, betrayed her in the worst way possible.
“Fine,” said Malcolm. “Well… I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“Quit feeling sorry for yourself,” said Tapestry.
Her words stirred an old anger in him, a frustration with how she always managed to act like she was watching everything play out from on high, hoarding her many decades of accumulated experience.
“What are you doing here, Tapestry?” he snapped. “You came to check out an interesting rumor? But you won’t tell me what it is? I’m not feeling sorry for myself, I’m feeling sorry for you. Because you’re an idiot if you came all this way to investigate a rumor. You’re more likely to get yourself killed than to find out the truth.”
She didn’t react the way Malcolm wanted her to. There was no surge of emotion. He wanted her to get mad at him. It’s what the old Tapestry would have done. The woman he saw now, who stood in a thin shaft of moonlight in a ruined world, merely shook her head and looked disappointed.
“My house was raided,” said Tapestry. “My old house here in Vanderbrook, I mean. Can you put me up for the night?”
Malcolm blinked.
“Uh… sure?” he said, carefully. “I mean, are you sure?”
“I’m just asking for a spot on the floor to sleep, Malcolm,” she said.
“You can have my bed.”
“I don’t want your bed.”
Malcolm licked his lips and shrugged.
“Right,” he said. “Well, come on down, then.”
CHAPTER 13
Malcolm felt oddly self-conscious as Tapestry glanced around his hideout. The illumination from his LED flashlight made the colors look washed out, but even if the basement had been open to the sun, it still wouldn’t have impressed anyone.
“I have some extra blankets and pillows,” said Malcolm. He rummaged through the pile he kept in the corner and handed a few of each to her. “Uh, not much for food, but there’s water.”
“This is fine,” said Tapestry.
She found a spot near the ladder, all the way across the cellar from where Malcolm’s bed was, and spread out one of the blankets. It left no doubt in his mind that she had no interest in talking to him any further that night, but he still had things left to say.
“I’m sorry.” Malcolm licked his lips and considered what else he could add. “I understand if you can’t forgive me for all of the secrets I kept, and how badly I hurt you. But I hope eventually, we can be friends again.”
Tapestry didn’t react for a couple of seconds. Malcolm thought he was being ignored until she stood up and walked over to him. She came into his personal space, within a foot of where he stood, close enough to make the air between them prickle with potential.
“You’ve apologized to me so many times before,” she said. “It’s meaningless.”
She stood where she was for another moment, as though daring Malcolm to try something that might potentially ruin what little thread of friendship they had left. He was smart enough not to, and as soon as she’d stretched out on her blanket, he climbed into bed. Sleep did not come easy that night.
***
Tapestry wasn’t in the hideout when Malcolm woke up the next morning. He was surprised that she’d managed to climb the ladder and open the hatch without waking him up.
She’s probably gone off to investigate this mysterious rumor of hers.
Malcolm wasn’t about to make assumptions about whether she’d be coming back. He was hungry, and figured that if she did return, the least he could do was offer her a meal.
He sacrificed one of his old, tattered shirts for the sake of creating a few long pieces of makeshift string, and then converted an old pair of pants into a very simple fishing net. He walked through the outskirts of Vanderbrook and into the forest, back out to where he’d originally set up his now ruined traps.
It only took him a couple of minutes to build a new log trap, as he stumbled upon a spot perfect for it on the way to the brook. The fish were out in numbers, and Malcolm didn’t have to wait long before managing to scoop one out onto the grass with his pants-net. It almost managed to flop back into the water, but he gave it a quick stomp and finished it off.
He spent a few hours trapping, fishing, and gathering as much food as he could. Malcolm was surprised to notice how proficient he’d become at it over the months. He’d failed often enough to learn all of the pitfalls to avoid, and by early afternoon, he had a small feast of fish, squirrel meat, wild dandelions and onions.
He used his net to carry it all back, humming to himself quietly. In truth, Malcolm enjoyed having Tapestry back, as frosty to him as she might be, and as temporary as the situation might be. He had missed her far more deeply than he’d ever let himself admit.