Dark Dreams, Pale Horses Page 18

  He winked at her, and his smile was honest. “Elvis isn’t the only one who can give away pink Cadillacs, you know.”

  They walked along the stars, absorbing everything, and came, at last, to the end, the final star: Elvis Presley. They had their photo taken and Julie whispered in his ear, “Now you’ve finished your dream.”

  They went back to their hotel and fell asleep in each other’s arms. Jonathan woke in the early hours with his heart gunning and tears in his eyes. He looked at the window. Is he out there? Is it really over? He pulled back the sheets, and was about to get out of bed and look when he felt Julie’s hand on his shoulder. “Stay with me,” she said, and he slipped back into her arms, and he stayed there.

  ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.

  “Somebody pinch me, because I still think I’m dreaming.”

  It happened like this:

  Nolan Peele (that was his name, though he hadn’t been called it for many years) had woken up in the doorway of the State Way office building, which had been his turf since the tail-end of last winter. The first thing he felt was the hunger in his belly. The second thing was the envelope in his hand. There was something inside the envelope. Something hard. A few coins, perhaps. A message had been written on the front, but he ignored it for now and eagerly tore open the envelope.

  A set of keys fell into his palm.

  “What the Jesus?” he said, the words distorted because of his terrible speech impediment. He looked up, expecting to see the purveyor of the strange keys standing on the sidewalk.

  A pink Cadillac was parked at the side of the road.

  “Pretty,” Nolan said, getting to his feet. Something in his tired brain clicked into place. Can’t be, he thought, and looked at the front of the envelope. Four enigmatic, but hopeful, words had been written in a neat script:

  To the Promised Land

  The keys glimmered in his cracked and dirty palm. His eyesight wasn’t good, but he could see the Cadillac logo stamped on the heads.

  His empty belly growled and his heart started to race with excited rhythm. It had been a long time since Nolan had felt anything like excitement.

  Can’t be…or can it?

  He looked at the envelope again.

  “To the Promised Land,” he said.

  Nolan Peele had smiled, scratched his head, and stepped hopefully out of the doorway of the State Way office building.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  These stories were a pleasure to write, but were not without their challenges. I firmly believe that challenges are good for the writer; they make you reach deeper, work harder, and the finished product is invariably more worthwhile. I owe thanks to the following people, who didn’t laugh when I approached them with my crazy ideas, and who were there when I needed to reach deep: Sergio and Sandy Valentim, for the Portuguese translations, for their beautiful friendship, and for having a surname so cool that I just had to steal it; Dr. Andrew Marsh, a living genius, without whom the story Pure would never have seen the light of day. To say that he thinks outside the box would be inaccurate—Dr. Marsh has never been inside the box; Brian Keene, for helping me to extinguish the flames, and for kindly providing the introduction to this collection; the PS Publishing crew: Michael Smith and Dave Newbert, for their tireless work and professionalism; Nick Gevers, co-editor of Postscripts (in which three of these stories originally appeared), and a huge reason why this book is in your hands; Peter and Nicky Crowther, my wonderful publishers, whose support—with so much of my work—has been nothing short of staggering. I owe them more than thanks; I owe them everything. Finally, I stand and applaud my wife Emily, who bears the unenviable task of being my first reader. Without her these stories would all be shadows…and so would I.

  R.Y

  DARK DREAMS, PALE HORSES

  Copyright © 2012 by Rio Youers

  The right of Rio Youers to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Originally published in printed book form by PS Publishing Ltd in 2009. This electronic version published in May 2012 by PS by arrangement with the author. All rights reserved by the author.

  FIRST EBOOK EDITION

  ISBN 978-1-848633-96-4

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  PS Publishing Ltd

  Grosvenor House

  1 New Road

  Hornsea / HU18 1PG

  East Yorkshire / England

  www.pspublishing.co.uk

  editor@pspublising.co.uk

  Contents

  PURE

  THIS IS THE SUMMER OF LOVE

  THE GHOST OF LILLIAN BLISS

  CHRYSALIS

  ALICE BLEEDING

  PROMISED LAND BLUES

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  DARK DREAMS, PALE HORSES