To Drown in Dark Water by Steve Toase

Author:Steve Toase [Toase, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: mobi

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We went back the next two days, starting after breakfast and working until teatime, until he slumped to the forest floor exhausted. Each day there were more gifts spread across the leaf litter, scraped out shells stuffed with moss, or animal bones arranged in intricate designs that broke up when we stood on them, unseen in the forest floor. I didn’t draw attention to them, and neither did Ethan, though I saw him notice them, his gaze flicking over the patterns, and filing away the memory for future.

At the end of the third day, we sat down with our backs against a nearby tree and shared a small packed lunch, dividing the sandwiches between us. I knew the question was coming, in the silence between us and the expressions flickering across his face.

“Daddy? Can we camp out here? We can put a blanket across the front of the doorway, and the plaster on the wood will keep the wind out.”

“I’m not sure, Ethan,” I said, taking a sip of coffee from the flask cup. “It gets very cold at night.”

“But you’ve got those really warm sleeping bags and it would only be for one night.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Sarah said when we got back home.

“It’s only for one night, and you can always sleep in the car if it gets too cold.”

“I won’t get any sleep if I do,” I said, trying to talk her out of talking me into it.

“You won’t get any peace if you don’t,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter. He’s going back to his mum soon.”

Sarah’s gaze flicked behind me. I didn’t need to turn around to see him. Sarah’s expression said it all.

“Well done,” she said, and ran out of the room to find where he had hid himself.

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