Christina Kilbourne - The Limitless Sky

Christina Kilbourne

Copyright Christina Kilbourne, 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

All characters in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Publisher: Scott Fraser | Acquiring editor: Kathryn Lane | Editor: Robyn So

Cover designer: Laura Boyle

Cover image: Capitol building: istock.com/smartboy10; landscape: shutterstock.com/Tithi Luadthong

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: The limitless sky / Christina Kilbourne.

Names: Kilbourne, Christina, 1967- author.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20210368896 | Canadiana (ebook) 2021036890X | ISBN 9781459748873 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459748880 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459748897 (EPUB)

Classification: LCC PS8571.I476 L56 2022 | DDC C813/.6dc23

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

The publisher is not responsible for websites or their content unless they are owned by the publisher.

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For Callie, Bella, and Leo, for believing in ArHK from the start.

F rom down the street, I can see the Fixers set up outside our door, repairing the sky.

Its about time, I complain.

Are they finally replacing the piece that hit Sparrow? Ruby asks.

I nod and we stop at her corner to watch the figures working in the distance. One of them is at the top of the scaffolding with a trowel. Two others are on the ground bent over buckets, mixing plasterflex and paint.

When was that? Two weeks ago and they still havent fixed it? I hear the outrage in Rubys voice.

The Fixers didnt even contact us to apologize for almost killing a child. You should have seen the bruise on her back.

Its inexcusable, Rook! They shouldnt have let it get to that point of disrepair. What if other pieces started falling off? Your mam should submit a formal complaint. Thats the only way to get things done.

Her face is flushed with indignation, and I can tell by the way shes twirling the strap of her personal messenger that shes ready for a fight. She loves rules and to make sure people follow them. Shell be a perfect Governor one day.

I shrug but dont commit either way. Even though Ruby has been my best friend since before I can remember, Im more of a live-and-let-live kind of girl. Sure, they should have noticed the crack in the sky before it became dangerous. But I know the Fixers are busy. They have a lot of repairs to keep up with and complaining just makes everyone miserable. Ruby says my complacency drives her mad, but I call it patience.

Before she heads home she straightens her vest and pats down her hair. Hers is a very proper family they have to be as Governors and perfectionists to boot.

Message me later?

Of course, I say. With so much excitement in the Keeper household, Ill be bursting to tell someone.

Ruby ignores my sarcasm and bounces off down her street. Even though it can be hard to take sometimes, I admire her energy. It was no accident that she was a three-time recipient of the ArHK Apprentice School Spirit Award.

When I get to our pod, I pause. The Fixers have spread a drop cloth in front of our door.

Uh, is it okay if I go inside? I ask, and point at the 78 on the arch above our pod.

Sure thing, one of the Fixers says. The cloths still clean. You wont track any mess inside.

Although I know Mam and Sparrow must be home, the pod is quiet when I step inside; that is, until I close the door and the latch clicks into place. Then Sparrow rushes from the kitchen and just about knocks me off my feet.

Rook! Rook! Can you take me outside to watch the Fixers?

Shes jumping up and down and clapping her hands, as if she needs to release some of the excitement stored in her wiry little body.

Why dont you watch out the window?

I tried that but I cant see past that scaffold stuff.

I just got home.

Sparrow stops jumping and crosses her arms. She lowers her head and scowls at me from behind a veil of dark hair.

Beyond the noise of the Fixers, I can hear Mam chopping vegetables. The tap is running, and the radio is playing a new release by the Entertainers.

Mam! Sparrow wants to go outside and watch the Fixers, I call out.

I know, but Im in the middle of making dinner, and I dont want her to go out alone. Shell get in the way, Mam defends herself from the kitchen. I have to admit that Mam has a point. Sparrow is very curious.

What about Da? Cant he take her?

Hes still at the Archives. Finishing a report for Governor Hawk.

Sparrow crinkles her nose at the mention of Governor Hawk, and I shiver in response. Neither of us are fans. He has a way of lurking around corners and appearing out of thin air. Ive always imagined hes hollow inside, like if he ever took off his robes youd find out hes just a head hanging on a long hook. One time, when Ruby and I were Sparrows age, we set up a pretend school outside with our dolls. He stood across the street and watched for so long we ended up going back inside. When I complained to Da and Mam, they said he didnt have a family of his own and was just lonely, that he enjoyed watching us play. But it felt like he was waiting to catch us breaking a rule so he could tell Rubys parents that I was a bad influence. Hes never liked me for some reason, or my family come to think of it. Its nothing I can put my finger on, but its like theres some weird history there.

Please, please, please will you take me out? Just for ten minutes? Sparrow pleads. Ill do whatever you say.

I smile down at Sparrow. I knew the minute I walked inside that Id take her out to see the Fixers at work. After all, its not every day they repair the part of the sky that almost killed you.

Okay, come on. Ill stand out there with you for a few minutes if you promise not to touch anything and not to ask the Fixers any questions.

Sparrow squirms with excitement and slips on her walking shoes. I take her hand and we ease ourselves through the front door. Then we join the growing crowd on the opposite side of the street to watch the Fixers repair the sky.