Nightside 05 - Paths Not Taken

some kind of relationship with it, and she's sworn a blood oath against you."
    "Bad news there, old thing," said Tommy. "You're not even safe in your grave, when that demented little filly is out to get you."
    "Shut up," I said. I find a little effete goes a long way.
    "Then," said Suzie, glaring at Tommy, "there are all the very well connected families of the thirteen Reasonable Men you killed. These grieving families have been putting out some serious paper on you, backed up by very serious money. Enough to tempt every bounty hunter in the Night-side. The families want you dead, and they aren't at all fussy about the details. They did try to hire me."
    I raised an eyebrow.
    "I was busy," said Suzie.
    "But for the right money you'd take me down?"
    Suzie smiled briefly. "For the right price I'd take God down. But I'd have to be paid a hell of a lot to go up against you, Taylor."
    "Well," I said. 'That's reassuring. Who else is after me?"
    "Walker, for the Authorities, but then you probably already know that."
    I nodded. "He sent the Shadow Men after me."
    It was Suzie's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You defeated the Shadow Men?"
    "Not as such," I said. "We ran away."
    "Finally getting smart in your old age," said Suzie. "I wouldn't go up against the Shadow Men for all the gold in Walker's fillings. In fact, a trip through Time is probably the safest thing you could do right now. Even Walker has no power over Old Father Time." She glanced disparagingly at Tommy again. "You sure you want to drag him along with us, Taylor?"
    "Yes," I said firmly. "I have a use for him."
    "Oh good," said Tommy. "Am I going to like it?"
    "Probably not," I said.
    "Some days you shouldn't get out of bed in the morning," said Tommy. He glared at Suzie. "I don't think we should take her along, actually. She has a reputation for sudden and unexpected violence and a complete disregard for things like consequences. And unthinking acts in the Past can have terrible consequences. Change things too much in the Past, and the Present you return to might have nothing in common with the Present you left from."
    "I thought you were desperate to go Time travelling," I said.
    "Not necessarily this desperate."
    "I'm going, and so are you," Suzie said briskly. "Now shut your face, or I'll rip your nipples off." She turned her cold gaze on me. "He may be annoying, but he does have a point. Time travel really is a last resort. You sure there's no-one else in the Nightside you could talk to about your mother?"
    "The only other person who knew my mother, and is still around, is Shock-Headed Peter," I said. "And he's crazy."
    "How crazy?" said Tommy.
    "Crazy as in, criminally insane. He murdered three hundred and forty-seven people before the Authorities finally caught up with him. That's three hundred and forty-seven victims that they're sure of... Walker once told me, very much off the record, that the real number was probably in the thousands. That's a pretty respectable body count, even for the Nightside. They never did find any of the bodies. Or any trace of forensic evidence. Just the victims' clothes .. The Authorities have him locked up in the nastiest and most secure dungeon in the Nightside."
    "Why didn't they execute him?" said Suzie, practical as ever.
    "They tried. Several times. It didn't take. I'll talk to him when I've tried absolutely everything else first."
    "I would," said Tommy.
    And that was when the Shadow Men found us again. Somehow they'd tracked me half-way across the Nightside in a matter of minutes, without even a trail to follow. They came slipping and sliding across the open Square, great black shapes with long reaching arms, and the few people in the Square ran screaming from them. I would have liked to do the same, but once again they'd silently surrounded me, blocking me off from every exit. They'd even been careful to get between me and the Time Tower. They moved in slowly from all sides like a creeping black tide, taking their time. They wanted to savour this. And I had nothing left with which to fight them.
    Suzie Shooter had her shotgun in her hands again. She blasted the nearest Shadow with both barrels, and the darkness absorbed the blast without even a ripple. Suzie swore dispassionately.
    "I have silver bullets, blessed bullets, cursed bullets, and a couple of grenades I stole from some Satanic terrorists. Any of them do any good?"
    "No," I said. I was having trouble breathing, and I could feel cold beads of swe# popping out