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Chapters (62)
  1. Title
  2. Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Book
  6. Dedication
  7. Your Worst Nightmare
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. The Answer to All Your Prayers
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. FIFTEEN
  24. SIXTEEN
  25. SEVENTEEN
  26. EIGHTEEN
  27. NINETEEN
  28. TWENTY
  29. TWENTY-ONE
  30. TWENTY-TWO
  31. TWENTY-THREE
  32. TWENTY-FOUR
  33. TWENTY-FIVE
  34. TWENTY-SIX
  35. TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. TWENTY-NINE
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. Somebody Else’s Child
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. Sunlight on Water
  60. July
  61. September
  62. Acknowledgements

The landing light is on. It’s always been left on since Evan arrived, for times such as this, in case light can be any help to him with his night terrors. They don’t come every night; sometimes days go by now without them suffering broken sleep. Claire has left medication for if it gets too bad, but Jack has his own method which everyone prefers to the drugs – especially Evan, who hates the morning-after feeling from the tablets, the spaced-out weirdness and tiredness which lasts all day and (far worse) reminds him of that place.

Outside Evan’s door, Jack listens. There’s momentary quiet, and it’s possible the nightmare’s passed and Evan’s fallen back into dreamless sleep. If there’s a chance he might be sleeping peacefully, Jack doesn’t want to disturb him. But listening with an ear pressed to the door, he can hear mumbling, a low, disturbing murmur of no no no no no, the soundtrack of some terrible memory his grandson shouldn’t have. Jack’s heard it many times before but still it gives him chills. The mumbling subsides, and there’s a silence; then a shout which makes him jump, and he knows it’s time to act before the yelling starts in earnest.

He and Evan have a pact: no barricaded doors by night. Jack won the battle for access by arguing the house’s age and the dangers of fire. Turning the handle cautiously, he opens the door a crack. Startling Evan is to be avoided at all costs. In the early days, Matt made this mistake, and Evan flew at him and punched him in the face.

He opens the door further. Evan is subsiding back into mumbling, and this is a good time to begin. Slipping through the door, Jack grabs the book he needs from the nightstand, sits down in the chair and by the light from the landing, begins to read aloud.

‘Biggles leaned out of the cockpit of his Vandal amphibian aeroplane, pushed up his goggles, and peered ahead anxiously.’

‘Grandpa?’ Evan’s voice is drowsy. Jack can see his eyes reflecting the light.

‘I’m here, son,’ says Jack. ‘It’s just you and me.’

Evan’s eyes close, and Jack reads on, an entire paragraph before the import of what has happened hits him. In these dark watches of the night where time seems suspended, the exchange was entirely natural.

Evan spoke to him. Evan actually spoke to him. Jack’s lost his place on the page, and it takes him a few moments to find his last sentence and regain his rhythm. But then he reads on, page after page until Evan’s breathing is even and Jack’s certain he’s immersed in peaceful sleep.