The Fire Stone by Nick Hawkes

Author:Nick Hawkes [Hawkes, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780648110361
Publisher: Hawkesflight Media
Published: 2019-09-04T22:00:00+00:00

When they finally arrived home, she told Sebastian that he was cooking tea, and she was going to be in the bath for an hour.

Chapter 22

The water in the sink burped, gurgled, and drained away leaving a residue of soap scum and whiskers. Sebastian looked at himself in the mirror. So much had changed—and not just his appearance.

It was Saturday, and nothing particular was scheduled to happen during the day. What on earth should he do?

There was precious little he could do. It was now a waiting game. Would there be peace? Would he be able to get on with his life? Would Pip and David be safe? Waiting wasn’t easy. He imagined prisoners feeling much the same as him as they waited for a jury to come to its verdict. It was a nasty feeling. Everything was outside of his control. The reality of this left him feeling both vulnerable and angry. It was unfair that evil men should have the power to determine whether or not he would live in dread, or not.

Val took charge of the wet shoes. He’d removed the laces, stuffed the shoes with newspaper, and they were now drying in front of the slow combustion heater. It was a humble service that left Sebastian feeling curiously warmed.

Val was currently beside his camping bed doing press-ups—pushing himself up so fast he was able to clap his hands before falling down on them again. Sebastian shook his head. The man was a machine. “Bathroom’s free,” he said.

As he waited for breakfast, Sebastian reflected on the events of the previous morning. As dramatic as they were, it was the kiss that haunted him the most. How real was it? He shook his head. How could it not be real? The kiss was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. It wasn’t the open-mouthed, saliva-rich, cannibalistic mouthings of lust, but something altogether different. He searched for the right words to describe it. It was golden honey; it was a warming hearth; it was the headiness of intimacy—with all its vulnerability and delight. Above all, it was indescribably Pip.

He tried to read but was too restless to persist with it. Sebastian wished he was back at the farm where he could collect the dogs and check on the sheep—and let the wind blow away the bewilderment of life.

His other fallback position was to make something, but there was nothing to work with. The small bronze clasp he had made in the engineering laboratory two days ago was finished. He took it out of his leather pouch, then reached for the Fire Stone. After unwrapping it, he fitted the gem between two small metal caps on his clasp. Tiny arms connected each cap to a central spine, which came in two parts, enabling it to be screwed together. This allowed the gem to either be worn as a pendant, or to be removed. Val had told him that, for some reason, the best opals lost value when they were mounted as jewelry.

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