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Stories from the Verse
Multiverser: The Thirteenth Story
Chapter 21: Brown 371
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Takano 163
One thing caught Derek’s eye: there were big blue lines running along the map, not straight to anything but connecting between very near Chicago and right into New Orleans. He realized that the one was the Mississippi River, and that it must be some other river--the Ohio maybe?--that was closer to them. That meant boats--there were already riverboats running up the Mississippi when they were in New Orleans maybe a decade ago, and by now there should be decent transportation between the Windy City and the Big Easy. How could he find out about steamboats?
He sat on the bench staring out at the town without seeing, but then something caught his eye--a blue uniform. Decades ago his mother would always tell him that if he was lost he should find a policeman.
“Grab everything, and come,” he said to Vashti, and started walking briskly toward the uniformed officer. “Excuse me!” he called. “I wonder if you could help us.”
The man turned toward him. “What seems to be the problem, young man?”
“My wife and I have to get to New Orleans--there’s been a death in the family, and apparently we were left something.”
“Wife, is it?”
“Yes,” Vashti said. “We were married in Persia a while ago.”
“Anyway,” Derek continued, “I haven’t been to New Orleans in a few years, and I’m not sure how to get there--I mean, like, what kind of transportation goes that way?”
“Oh, I see. Well, if you’re in a hurry, a train can get you there overnight. A bit pricey, though. I know they say not, but a steamboat will cost considerably less, although it’ll take two to three days.”
“That sounds good. How do we get on a steamboat?”
“They run the canal from Chicago to the Illinois River, and down into the Mississippi, stopping at several ports along the way. You might be able to catch a boat out of Joliet--that’s about thirty miles that-a-way,” he waved toward the southwest, but Derek figured Joliet would probably be on the map.
“Thank you very much,” he said.
“Oh, and I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, but I’m sure we’ll meet in another world.”
The officer nodded. “Amen,” he said.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
