In the Shadows

“Come eat breakfast with me.” It wasn’t a request; it was a

command. Thom waited for Charles to ease out of bed and walked

to the dining room with him.

They’d barely begun eating when their father leaned away

from his untouched food and clicked his heavy gold pocket

watch open and shut in a beatless tick that made Thom want to

scream.

Finally their father snapped the watch shut and put it away. He

didn’t look at either of his sons as he said, “You’re going away for the

summer. To Maine, to take the ocean air for Charles’s health.

Agnes will pack your things.”

Thom stuttered in disbelief, “Why? Since when?”

Their father stood, straightening his tie with a slight tremble

in his fingers that Thom hadn’t noticed before. “It’s already

decided.”

He left the room without another word. Charles shrugged

impassively at Thom. “Could be fun, right? Gotta smell better

than the city in the summer.”

Without answering, Thom hurried after their father, catching

him at the elevator. “Dad?”

Edward Wolcott didn’t turn around. The ramrod-straight

lines of his shoulders and back were sloped today. Everything was

off, everything was wrong.

“Why are we going to Maine? And who was that woman here

last night?”

When Thom’s f

ather turned to face him, his steel-gray eyes

looked haunted. “Your brother is dying,” he whispered.

Though Thom knew it was true — had known for months

now — hearing it spoken like an inevitability shook him to