Closer to the Dead by Scott Hunter

Author:Scott Hunter [Hunter, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Myrtle Villa Publishing

Chapter Twenty-Six

Alice Roper checked the table for the umpteenth time. Spotless. Scarlet tablecloth, John Lewis matching brass candles in position, freshly-laundered napkins, brand new place mats. It all looked fine. No, it looked lovely. Pleased, she retreated to the kitchen, checked the oven temperature. Down a touch, Alice, I think…

She went through to the lounge. Peter had calmed a little since this morning, but he still wasn’t himself. He was watching the Tokyo Olympics – swimming, this time, but he didn’t seem as engaged as he usually was.

‘Are you all right, Peter?’

‘Yes.’

There was nothing odd about the monosyllabic response. Alice was used to that, as she was used to all Peter’s quirks and habits. Learning to manage Peter when she had assumed his guardianship following her sister’s mysterious disappearance in 1976, had taken a lengthy period of adjustment. She had studied autism, read all the books, but it had been in the day-to-day, practical business of dealing with him, befriending him, gaining his trust, that her understanding had reached a level where she felt able to cope.

She had learned not to treat Peter as some sub-intelligent being, but rather to assume intelligence, instead of a lack of it. She had determined to presuppose absolute comprehension and act normally. It had been tempting at first to adjust her vocabulary as if speaking to a small child, but she quickly found that Peter responded far more positively to an adult lexicon.

In short, she treated Peter as a neurotypical man, not the opposite, and allowed him full human credentials. Consequently they enjoyed a close relationship, with only a few troubling incidents over the years disturbing the status quo. Yes, minor wobbles were not unknown, even now, but by and large, as she had told Moran, they rubbed along very well as a team.

But this last few days Peter had seemed preoccupied, unsettled – clingy, even, which was almost unheard of. He rarely took any interest in her daily tasks around the house, but this morning had insisted on following her every movement, from room to room, even to the extent that he had declined his usual late afternoon TV in favour of keeping her close company as she prepared the evening meal. It had taken all her powers of persuasion to settle him so that she could get on and concentrate on the job in hand.

She left Peter to it and returned to the kitchen. She glanced at the clock. Plenty of time.

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