The Angel Maker--Chapter Sampler by Alex North

Author:Alex North
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Celadon Books

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It had started about three months ago, Katie’s mother told her, with a knock at the door. It had taken her some time to open it, but when she had, Chris had been standing on the doorstep. He had been an addict for much of his adult life, and borderline homeless for most of that, but she told Katie he had been dressed in neat clothes and looked healthy and well.

“I’m not making this up,” she said.

“I didn’t think you were.”

“I mean about him being well.”

Katie said nothing to that. While she was prepared to believe her brother had reappeared, she was far more skeptical about him no longer using. But her mother had never given up on Chris, even though Katie had watched her heart break a hundred times over the years. She was a proud woman, and always seemed inured to it when the inevitable occurred—when Chris relapsed and then drifted out of contact until the next time he needed something. Katie was worried for her sake that this was going to be another example of history repeating itself. However proud you might be, there are only so many times a heart can break and mend.

“It was properly him,” her mother said. “He seemed so happy and together. Not like he used to be. Like he was meant to be.”

“Where had he been all this time?” Katie said.

“He didn’t want to talk about it. I respected that.”

“Okay, then. What did he want?”

“Just to see me. Is that so hard to believe?”

“No,” Katie lied. “What happened next?”

“He kept calling round.”

Twice a week, her mother told her, and always at the same times, which Chris had claimed fitted in with his work schedule. Which was new. As far as Katie was aware, her brother had never held down a legitimate job for any length of time, but the details of his employment were another mystery her mother had respected. Regardless, Chris hadn’t asked her for money and didn’t seem to want anything beyond reconnecting with her. The puzzle on the table had been a present from him, she said. There had been one day he’d wanted to look through some old photographs, and he’d had it made afterward from photos she’d let him take away.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was back?”

Her mother hesitated, and Katie leaned forward.

“Mom?”

“Because he didn’t want you to know.”

She was gracious enough to allow Katie a moment of silence then, and not to mention that the last time she’d seen Chris had been when she called the police on him. But Katie thought about that anyway, and the sadness of it all ran through her. Had Chris hidden from her out of shame because of what he’d done? Was he angry with her for reporting him to the police? Or had he simply assumed it was she who wouldn’t want to see him, and had decided to spare himself the pain of facing that?

Regardless, it hurt badly that the two of them had come to this.

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