Afterward, I took her hand and slipped the ring on her little finger. It adjusted its size to fit. I would have liked to give her a different kind of ring, but I had been in her mind and knew the truth: that no man could.
The back door of my house burst open. Doctor Humphrey charged out, leading a medical team carrying stretchers and first aid kits. They passed Jerry Doucette staring open-mouthed at his son, four years older than the last time he’d seen him mere days before. Jerry and Ridley greeted one another awkwardly, seemed like they might hug, finally settled on shaking hands.
Take care of my boy. Barnabus, don’t you dare let me down.
I hadn’t quite got to Ridley in time. One day he would have to deal with what he had been through. What he had done. Still, it was good to see him with his father again. I took some satisfaction in that.
Sarah produced a little green pill from her pocket. “Take it,” she said. “You’ll feel better.”
I stared at the pill as if she were suggesting I eat a bug. She was right though. If I wanted to feel better, I had no choice but to take that pill.
But I didn’t have to. Not if I didn’t want to.
It may not have been a real choice. But it felt like one, and that would have to do.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the following animals, people, and institutions for their help and encouragement during the absurdly long process of writing this book. Der Brotkorb, the European Bakery Café in the Whitby Mall, for their delicious coffee and danishes. Edmond Hamilton for his fine work. Frank Faulk for the conversation that inspired Chapter Twenty-Four. Nicky Borland, Kathy and Ian Gillis, Phyllis Gotlieb, Jennifer Grant, Fergus Heywood, Erin Mahoney, Keira Mahoney, Lynda Mahoney, John McCarthy, Angela Misri, Arleane Ralph (for the truth about the infamous cat chapter), Susan Rodgers, Robert J. Sawyer, Kathryn Shalley (for believing in this novel), Hugh Spencer, Lorina Stephens, Alex Taylor, Anjuli Tchalikian, and Shawna and Brian Wyvill for their support. GO Transit for providing the time to write. John Miller for respecting that time. Tom and Rosaleen Mahoney for their superlative parenting. The Saturday Night Scribes for listening. Paul and Carol White for being such great friends.
Special thanks to Dr. Robert Runté for taking on this project, and for his keen eyes and penetrating insights.
Finally, extra-special thanks to Barbara Bain of Parkside Elementary and Percy McGougan of Summerside Intermediate for fanning the flames, way back when.
About the Author
Joe Mahoney works full time for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where he’s helped make many radio shows over the years. His short fiction has been published in Canada, Australia, and Greece. Joe lives in Whitby with his wife and two daughters, and their golden retriever and siberian forest cat. A Time and a Place is his first novel.
Books by Five Rivers
NON-FICTION
Big Buttes Book: Annotated Dyets Dry Dinner, (1599), by Henry Buttes, with Elizabethan Recipes, by Michelle Enzinas
Al Capone: Chicago’s King of Crime, by Nate Hendley
Crystal Death: North America’s Most Dangerous Drug, by Nate Hendley
Dutch Schultz: Brazen Beer Baron of New York, by Nate Hendley
John Lennon: Music, Myth and Madness, by Nate Hendley
Motivate to Create: a guide for writers, by Nate Hendley
Steven Truscott, Decades of Injustice by Nate Hendley
King Kwong: Larry Kwong, the China Clipper Who Broke the NHL Colour Barrier, by Paula Johanson
Shakespeare for Slackers: by Aaron Kite, et al
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
Macbeth
The Organic Home Gardener, by Patrick Lima and John Scanlan
Shakespeare for Readers’ Theatre: Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, by John Poulson
Shakespeare for Reader’s Theatre, Book 2: Shakespeare’s Greatest Villains, The Merry Wives of Windsor; Othello, the Moor of Venice; Richard III; King Lear, by John Poulsen
Beyond Media Literacy: New Paradigms in Media Education, by Colin Scheyen
Stonehouse Cooks, by Lorina Stephens
FICTION
Black Wine, by Candas Jane Dorsey
Eocene Station, by Dave Duncan
Immunity to Strange Tales, by Susan J. Forest
The Legend of Sarah, by Leslie Gadallah
The Empire of Kaz, by Leslie Gadallah
Cat’s Pawn
Cat’s Gambit
Growing Up Bronx, by H.A. Hargreaves
North by 2000+, a collection of short, speculative fiction, by H.A. Hargreaves
A Subtle Thing, by Alicia Hendley
The Tattooed Witch Trilogy, by Susan MacGregor
The Tattooed Witch
The Tattooed Seer
The Tattooed Queen
A Time and a Place, by Joe Mahoney
The Rune Blades of Celi, by Ann Marston
Kingmaker’s Sword, Book 1
Western King, Book 2
Broken Blade, Book 3
Cloudbearer’s Shadow, Book 4
King of Shadows, Book 5
Sword and Shadow, Book 6
A Still and Bitter Grave, by Ann Marston
Indigo Time, by Sally McBride
Wasps at the Speed of Sound, by Derryl Murphy
A Quiet Place, by J.W. Schnarr
Things Falling Apart, by J.W. Schnarr
A Poisoned Prayer, by Michael Skeet
And the Angels Sang: a collection of short speculative fiction, by Lorina Stephens
Caliban, by Lorina Stephens
From Mountains of Ice, by Lorina Stephens
Memories, Mother and a Christmas Addiction, by Lorina Stephens
Shadow Song, by Lorina Stephens
The Mermaid’s Tale, by D. G. Valdron
YA FICTION
My Life as a Troll, by Susan Bohnet
Eye of Strife, by Dave Duncan
Ivor of Glenbroch, by Dave Duncan
The Runner and the Wizard
The Runner and the Kelpie
Avians, by Timothy Gwyn
Type, by Alicia Hendley
Type 2, by Alicia Hendley
Tower in the Crooked Wood, by Paula Johanson
A Touch of Poison, by Aaron Kite
The Great Sky, by D.G. Laderoute
Out of Time, by D.G. Laderoute
Diamonds in Black Sand, by Ann Marston
Hawk, by Marie Powell
YA NON-FICTION
The Prime Ministers of Canada Series:
Sir John A. Macdonald
Alexander Mackenzie
Sir John Abbott
Sir John Thompson
Sir Mackenzie Bowell
Sir Charles Tupper
Sir Wilfred Laurier
Sir Robert Borden
Arthur Meighen
William Lyon Mackenzie King
R. B. Bennett
Louis St. Laurent
John Diefenbaker
Lester B. Pearson
Pierre Trudeau
Joe Clark
John Turner
Brian Mulroney
Kim Campbell
Jean Chretien
Paul Martin
Stephen Harper
www.fiveriverspublishing.com
The Great Sky
ISBN 9781927400999
eISBN 9781988274003
by D.G. Laderoute
Trade Paperback 6 x 9
August 1, 2016
The first time Piper Preach died he was ten years old. But the Anishnaabe spirits thought otherwise.
Now, six year later, Piper struggles with the hard realities of life in a big city. T
he ancient ways of his people are a distant memory. But the spirits aren’t done with him.
Pulled into their bizarre world, the place the Anishnaabe call The Great Sky, he’s plunged into the middle of a brutal war raging just a step away from reality. And this time there may be no escaping death – or even worse.
A Town Called Forget
ISBN 97819274034
eISBN 9781988274041
by C.P. Hoff
Trade Paperback 6 x 9
August 1, 2016
A tender and often hilarious debut novel from Alberta writer, C.P. Hoff.
A Town Called Forget is Anne of Green Gables turned on its head. But in this tale it is not an over-imaginative redheaded orphan that takes center stage but the off-beat town itself, full of individuals that should be restrained if not medicated. And the poor heroine of this yarn, banished to live with her Aunt Lily whom her parents have never publicly recognized, has to navigate the delicate balance between her aunt’s sanity and neuroses. Amid adventures and misadventures, she learns about patience, tolerance and even love.
This humorous Canadian story is completely different. From everything. Maybe it’s Anne of Green Gables with a little Alice Through the Looking Glass thrown in.
Tim Armstrong
author of Avians
Eocene Station
ISBN 9781988274058
eISBN 9781988274058
by Dave Duncan
Trade Paperback 6 x 9
October 1, 2016
A new Dave Duncan novel is always a reason to celebrate, and his trademark blend of high adventure, hard science, and wry humour makes Eocene Station a must read.
K. N. ‘Cannon’ Ball and his superstar wife, Tempest, are running for their lives. Cannon has exposed a fraud so huge even heads of government are implicated and determined to keep Cannon from ever testifying. Nowhere is safe, so they step out of time to a research station fifty million years in the past. The dinosaurs died out eons ago and there aren’t any people around, so they ought to be safe then, right? Wrong, very wrong!
Absolutely smashing.
Goodreads
…brilliant settings, plot, action and character development…entirely enjoyable.
LibraryThing