TIME out of TIME MAUREEN DOYLE MCQUERRY The TELLING STONE
FOR THE BOYS FROM THE BASEMENT WHO INSPIRED ME SO LONG AGO BRENNAN JOHN THE MICHAELS BEN AND BRENT SEE PAGE 345 TO LEARN ABOUT THE TREE GODE USED IN THIS BOOK
PROLOGUE Inside a BRIGHTLY painted caravan Balor stared into the cracking flames of a woodstove and wondered whether the rat had killed the woman His long golden curls fell forward almost covering his face Around him silver cages were stacked among traps and elegant snares He warmed his hands close to the flames The night was cold and strangely silent the only noise the hiss and pop of the burning logs After leaving the Market he had traveled deep into the surrounding woods Here nothing would disturb him except the hoot of owls or the rustle of night predators hunting for food He reached into the pocket of his tapestry vest and withdrew a small cobalt-blue bottle Unstopping the lid he sprinkled a fine gray powder into the fire The flames leapt higher Yes he could see things quite clearly now The boy Timothy James Maxwell was home tending to his mother Somehow she had survived Timothy had found a cure for the toxin that had entered her system when she was bitten by the rat Rat-bite fever wasn’t usually fatal but this had been no ordinary rat It had been sent as a warning to Timothy and a reminder of the Dark’s power The Dark didn’t like to have its warnings ignored Balor blew into the fire The flames shivered He had done every vi i
