The last bus left just as I turned the corner of the street. I run after it, my heels clattering on the pavement, making me think briefly about the clattering of hooves on the cobbled streets of times long gone. Long gone, like my last bus is gone. I reach the bus stop and stare after the bus. “Another one will be along soon enough,” a deep voice says and I look round and see a tall, slim man, slightly older than me, with...