Before

Barrett looked at the lintel, the knocker, the wall-bricks, seeking some sign - any sign - that this was the right place. Nothing spoke to him except the ring of rebirth. He grew up under the care of a loving mother and father. Now he's about to meet them for the first time. Deprived of a past, Barrett Boyd must visit strangers to discover what obligations he may hold in the present. The visit will test his loyalty, not only to his unknown family, but also to the man he has come to love. This short story of disability and love can be read on its own or as the third story in the first volume of Dungeon Guards, an alternate history series about nineteenth-century prison workers who seek love and companionship as they fight together against danger. Dungeon Guards is part of Turn-of-the-Century Toughs, a cycle of alternate history series (The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Michael's House, Life Prison, Waterman, and Dark Light) about adults and youths on the margins of society, and the people who love them. Set in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the novels and stories take place in an alternative version of America that was settled by inhabitants of the Old World in ancient times. As a result, the New World retains certain classical and medieval customs.