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The Cilla Rose Affair

Page 28

by Winona Kent


  Anthony crossed the road, and within a few minutes, was home.

  As he stood in the shadows, digging out his key, he was aware of somebody coming up behind him. He turned around, startled, on the defensive, and then, just as quickly, relaxed.

  “You,” he said, with a smile.

  “Sorry,” his father answered, apologetically. He looked tired. “I was waiting for you to come home. You’re somewhat later than I expected.”

  “I went exploring.” He jingled his keys. “Care for a spot of tea?”

  Evan touched his son’s hand. “I feel the need for a walk.”

  Anthony put away his keys.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  They walked together in silence through the deserted streets of the village.

  Evan glanced at his middle son. “What?” he said.

  Anthony shook his head. It took a moment before he was able to speak. “I was just thinking, that’s all. I was thinking…here we are…a couple of chameleons…schooled in the fine art of climbing into somebody else’s shell…taking on somebody else’s personality…able—upon the whim of a director—to shed all inhibition and pretence—”

  He stopped. They had arrived at the gates of Primrose Hill.

  “Up there?” Evan inquired.

  “Up there,” Anthony confirmed.

  They began the long ascent.

  “You were saying.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Never mind.”

  They climbed in silence.

  “I haven’t been up here in years.”

  “I know,” Anthony said. He thought for a moment. “Do you know why I decided to become an actor?”

  “I would have thought it was because you were passionate about the theatre, Anthony. And talented.”

  “But the passion and the talent had to come from somewhere—from you. Nobody else in our family’s the least bit inclined towards the stage.”

  He stopped, not because he was tiring, but because his father was. He’d forgotten how steep the pathway to the top was: the walk was too familiar to him.

  “I think I must have become an actor,” he said, “so that I could talk to you. So we could have something in common. Besides DNA.”

  Evan smiled, and Anthony began to walk again, with his hands clasped behind his back, a small jauntiness in his step. He reached the summit well before his father, and waited for him by the bench.

  “London,” he announced, when Evan had, at last, arrived, considerably out of breath, the backs of his legs aching.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “Changed a lot in twenty-five years, hasn’t it?”

  “More lights,” Evan judged.

  “More money,” Anthony replied. “Were you pleased with my performance?”

  “Pleased with your performance, pleased with all your help. Couldn’t have done it without you, Anthony. Thank you.”

  They stood in silence.

  “You were saying.”

  “About what?”

  “‘Here we are, a couple of chameleons.’”

  “Oh. That.”

  “Yes, that.”

  “It’s all right. It was only a thought.”

  Evan waited.

  “We’re on opposite sides of a canyon,” Anthony said. “That’s all. A huge, deep slash in the earth…and we want to touch each other—but we can’t. Neither one of us can bring ourselves to hurl a rope bridge over…and stagger across.”

  He swallowed. Courage.

  “Instead,” he said, slowly, “we send signals to one another, you and me. You’re on that side and I’m on this side and we’re both jumping up and down like a couple of lunatic mime artists.”

  He stopped again, and blinked away the tears. He reached out, and drew his father close, clumsily, and was surprised by the strength of the arms that embraced him in return, readily, holding him tight.

  More from Winona Kent

  Persistence of Memory

  Combining the language, humor and manners of Jane Austen’s era with charming characters and colorful storytelling, PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY is a mystery, a love story, and a speculative novel about accidental time travel.

  Charlie Lowe has two obsessions: saving the Stoneford Village Green from unscrupulous developers and researching her ancestor, Louis Augustus Duran, whose mysterious origins perplex her.

  When a freak lightning strike and a rogue computer virus send her back to 1825, Charlie discovers she must persuade a reluctant Sarah Foster to marry Duran, or two centuries of descendants—including herself—will cease to exist.

  Unfortunately, Louis Duran turns out to be a despicable French count who spends his days impregnating a succession of unfortunate housemaids and attempting to invent the first flushing toilet in Hampshire.

  A hopeless romantic, our heroine does her best to encourage the happiness of those who surround her—but will she be able to mend a matrimonial wrong, restore the Village Green to its rightful owner and, of foremost importance, conclude the tale in the company of the gentleman with whom she was always meant to be?

  Skywatcher

  Robin Harris grew up watching the 60's spy show Spy Squad, starring his dad, Evan Harris. So when the police deem the mysterious death of a Russian woman with rainbow-colored hair a suicide, Robin knows better.

  Robin soon finds himself in the middle of an awesome plot that seems to be lifted directly from one of his father's old Spy Squad episodes, and, as he discovers, his father really was a spy. Now Robin and his brothers have inadvertently walked onto the scene of a real life-and-death spy drama, and as far as the free world is concerned, Robin's entrance into the family business comes not a moment too soon.

  Cold Play

  Jason Davey ran away to sea after the death of his wife, finding work as a contract entertainer aboard a cruise ship, the Star Sapphire. But when faces from his past come aboard as passengers, Jason's routine week-long trip to Alaska becomes anything but relaxing.

  Jason's wife once worked for Diana Wyndham, a beautiful and eccentric actress. And hard-drinking ex-rocker, Rick Redding, once toured with a band Jason has strong ties to. Now Diana occupies one of the ship's luxury suites, and Rick dwells in the stateroom next door. Between them, they may know more about Jason's secret past than anyone suspects.

  Jason narrates his—and the Sapphire's—story with drama, humor, and a touch of the supernatural as he tries to survive a trial by fire and ice on the journey to Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay.

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