The Skin Map Read Online Free Page A

toilet.”
    “Pity.” The elder gentleman sniffed. “Sad, really. Names are very important.”
    “It’s a matter of taste, surely.”
    “Nothing of the sort,” replied the elder Cosimo. “People get named all sorts of things— that I will concede. Whimsy, ignorance, sudden inspiration—all play a part. But if anyone guessed how monumentally important it was, the process would be taken a lot more seriously. Did you know—there are tribes in the jungles of Borneo that refuse to name an infant until it is four years old? See, the child must develop enough to demonstrate the attributes it will carry into adulthood. The child is then named for those attributes. It’s a way of reinforcing desirable qualities and making sure they don’t disappear from the tribe.”
    “But . . . Cosimo ?”
    “A fine name. Nothing wrong with it.” He gave his young relation a glance of stern appraisal. “Well, I suppose you have a point.”
    “I do?”
    “We cannot both be called Cosimo, after all. As we will be spending a lot more time together from now on, it would make it far too tedious and confusing.” He tapped the table with his fingertips. “Very well, then. Kit it shall be.”
    Although he was unable to say why, Kit felt a slight uplift of relief at having won the point. “You still haven’t said what any of this has to do with me.”
    “It’s a family matter, you might say. Here I am, your dear grandpapa”—the old man winked at Kit and flashed a disarming smile—“and I need your help with a project I’ve been working on for quite some time. You’re all the family I’ve got.”
    Kit considered this, but in spite of everything, he could still scarcely credit that he had any residual familial ties to the relic sitting across the table from him. His expression betrayed his disbelief. The elder man leaned forward and grasped Kit’s hands in his own.
    Speaking in a hoarse and persistent whisper, he said earnestly, “See here, young Cosimo—excuse me, Kit . It will be the adventure of a lifetime—of several lifetimes. In fact, it will change you forever.” The old gentleman paused, still holding the younger man’s hands and fixing him with a mad stare. “I need you, my boy, and I’ve gone to a very great deal of trouble to find you. What do you say?”
    “No.” Kit shook his head, as if waking from a dream. He pulled his hands free, then ran them through his hair, then clutched his tankard. “This is crazy. It’s some kind of hallucination—that’s what it is. Take me back. I want to go home.”
    Cosimo the Elder sighed. “All right,” he agreed, “if that is what you wish.”
    Kit sighed with relief. “You mean it?”
    “Of course, dear boy. I’ll take you back.”
    “Fine.”
    “Only, funny thing—I think you’ll find there is no going back. Still, if that’s what you want. Drink up, and let’s be off.”
    Kit pushed aside his tankard and stood. “I’m ready now.”
    The old man rose and, digging two coins out of his coat pocket, flipped them to the serving girl and promised to come back next time he was passing through. They walked out onto the dockyards and returned to the narrow alley between two warehouses. “Here you are. Just continue on the trackway and you’ll be home in a trice.”
    “Thanks.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Kit started down the alley.
    As he passed into the shadow between the two buildings, he heard the old gentleman call behind him, “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
    Fat chance, thought Kit, hurrying into the shadows. He cast a glance over his shoulder, but already the alleyway entrance was dim and far away. A wind gusted through the alley and the shadows deepened; clouds gathered overhead and it began to rain—sharp, stinging little pellets—and above the sound of the swiftly gathering storm, the clear, distant voice of his great-grandfather shouting, “Farewell, my son. Until we meet again!”

CHAPTER 3

In Which