At the End of the Day by Liz Byrski

Author:Liz Byrski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2021-09-10T03:58:56+00:00

Chapter Twenty-five

Mathias’s car, which travelled from Melbourne by train, had arrived in Perth with a nasty dent on the bonnet. No one at the station either in Perth or Melbourne seemed able to explain it, though it was clear something heavy had been dropped on it during the journey or when it was loaded or unloaded. The argument over who was responsible for the damage has gone back, forth and sideways for weeks now, but finally the insurance company had agreed to take responsibility and now he is driving out of the Volvo dealer’s yard with a gleaming new bonnet. It feels like driving a new car, but with the comforting reassurance of its familiarity, its connection to his earlier life.

His phone rings while he’s stopped at a traffic light and, glancing at it, Mathias sees it’s a call from Luc. ‘Hold on,’ Mathias tells him, ‘I’m in the car. I’ll just pull over and call you back . . .’

He parks by the verge and returns the call. ‘Okay now,’ he says. ‘How are you, my friend?’

‘I journey on,’ Luc says, ‘but with some difficulty. Each day is now quite hard work.’

‘Are you getting lots of rest?’ Mathias asks.

‘I am in a constant state of rest,’ Luc replies. ‘Sometimes I think I must have died already and am being held in a waiting cell until the Lord makes up his mind what to do with me. And you, Mathias? What about you?’

‘The move was unsettling at first, as I told you,’ Mathias replies. ‘But that feeling seems to have passed now. I’m still looking at houses, and this morning I’ve picked up my car at last and it looks like new. It’s so good to have it back again.’

‘So, soon things will be calmer and you can focus on ridding yourself of the burden you carry. Have you told Carla yet?’

‘I haven’t told anyone,’ Mathias admits. ‘I am a coward. Each time I come close to it, I start backing off again.’ He hears Luc’s sigh of frustration. ‘Yes, yes, I hear you, Luc,’ he says. ‘But it’s easier to think about it than to do it – to suddenly say to someone, Look, I have been keeping something from you, and then to tell a story I have kept hidden for more than sixty years.’

‘Do you realise that people can see that you are burdened?’ Luc asks. ‘Not only people who know you well, but those you meet for the first time. It is as though you are carrying a tray of precious crystal glasses and you are afraid of dropping them.’

‘That’s just how it feels, although the possible cost seems far worse than the loss of a few glasses.’

‘What about the book I gave you?’ Luc asks. ‘Have you read it?’

Mathias admits that he hasn’t.

‘You must confront this, Mathias, open it up. I know it was traumatic for you, but it is so long ago now that no one cares, except perhaps a few annoying historians. These

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.