The Hatch and Brood of Time by Ellen Larson

Author:Ellen Larson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2014-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Natalie arrived home shortly after eight p.m. to find Trick meowing for his supper. The apartment was otherwise silent, and she was in no mood to disturb the stillness with TV, FM, or CD. She felt herself being dragged back into a life of alternating fear and anger, and wanted only to dig in her heels and stop the slide. She dumped her coat on a chair and walked to the back of the apartment, stepping over Trick, who had thrown himself onto the floor directly in her path.

In the kitchenette she found signs of hasty departure. A brown paper grocery bag sat on the counter, a damp spot darkening its lower reaches, a can of black olives beside it. Natalie peeked inside the bag. It was full of assorted goodies: green grapes, fresh spring rolls, Earl Grey tea. She identified a squishy carton of raspberry sherbet as the cause of the dampness.

Under the can of olives was a scribbled note: “Hi. The police have arrived to take me in for further questioning. Don’t worry, okay? There’s a box of cat food in the bag—we were out. I’ll call Evan’s office if I run into trouble. Sorry. D.”

Trick threw himself bodily at her legs with enough force to make her knees buckle.

“Just a minute!” she snapped. Then she sighed and rooted in the bag for the cat food, pulling it out from beneath the sherbet. Glued to the box by pink froth was a sticky register tape. As she peeled it off, blue ink stained her fingers. She looked at the slip of paper with distaste, and her eyes focused on the total: $32.71.

“Maaaannnnng!” said Trick.

“Jeez, cat, you’re worse than having a kid!” Natalie aggressively popped open the box with her thumb and filled the cat dish to the top. Then, having no appetite for food, she put away the groceries. She roamed aimlessly into the living room and stood by the picture window with folded arms.

***

At 11:05, Natalie, lying on the sofa under a Navajo blanket, heard footsteps on her staircase, and the long-anticipated sound of a key turning softly in the lock. Something deep within her—something existing apart from more complex considerations of right vs. wrong, society vs. family, and honesty vs. falsehood—cried out in blessed relief as Daniel Joday stuck his head into her apartment. She wanted to leap up and throw her arms around him and tell him how much she loved him and how outraged she was at what was happening. But—

“Hi,” was what she said.

“Hi,” was what he answered, and came inside.

Daniel appeared no more altered by the day’s events than by his recent night at the courthouse. His chalk-gray trousers and dark-green shirt were neat and fresh, his broad shoulders were square, his hair was soft and gleaming, his face showed neither pallor nor flush. Yet as he passed through the living room and into the kitchenette, Natalie looked for her brother behind his unruffled facade and could not find him. A

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.