The Ash House by Angharad Walker EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author:Angharad Walker
- Language: English
- Genre: Murder
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 22.2 MB
- Price: Free
THE NEW BOY
He wanted to change his mind as soon as they turned off the main road.
“Perhaps I should speak to my old doctor,” the boy said to the man
driving him. “Just in case.”
“We’re here now.” These were the first words they exchanged since
they’d left the hospital at dawn.
“I know, but maybe just to check …”
The car slowed to a crawl, and the driver turned around to look at him.
“The people at the hospital told me you either try this place or get
discharged. Which is it?”
The boy looked at the dripping, bristling trees through the windshield.
“I’ll try it.”
“Okay, then.” The car picked up pace again.
They passed a cluster of trees, where the boy noticed an old phone booth
with half its glass panes smashed in, then there were green fields, a stream,
and towering horse chestnut trees surrounded by shining conkers. Then they
turned a corner and started down the long, winding driveway. The main
road disappeared behind a wall of evergreens.
After a twist in the drive, he saw a dirty gold gate and a boy perched on
top of it. The car drew closer, and the boy uncrossed his arms and climbed
down, bouncing on the balls of his feet and waving. The new boy leaned
forward in his seat to get a look at him, but the droplets on the windshield
distorted the other boy’s face, smudging it in places. The driver got out and
went to speak to him.
Alone in the car, the new boy wanted to go back to the hospital.
He wasn’t sure that this was the right choice after all. He remembered
the stiff fingers prodding his muscles while his foster dad tapped on his
phone. More questions. More tests. A night in the hospital, when strange
dreams crept out of the shadows and twisted around his sleeping thoughts.
A rough shake at first light—a porter ready to usher him out and, of course,
the promise the night nurse had made about this place, before driving all
day.
The driver came back. He opened the door and stuck his head inside.
“Time to go, then,” he said. When the boy didn’t move, he added more
kindly, “Always funny, isn’t it? The first day at a new place. But you’ve got
a new friend right here. He says he’s going to show you around.”
The new boy told himself that he didn’t care about friends. He clicked
the door open, then stepped out into the relentless rain.
The other boy was tall and thin, and his brown hair was wet through. His
shirt was soaked and the peaks and grooves of his shoulders, collarbones,
and ribs showed clearly through the fabric. An old pair of binoculars hung
around his neck on a leather strap. His face was pale and perfectly round,
like his body had let go of every ounce of fat except on his cheeks.
“Hello. I’m Freedom. I’m going to help you find your way around.”
The ridiculous hippie name was almost enough to make the new boy
jump back into the car and tell the driver to take him back after all, no
matter what had been promised to him.
“You can call me Dom,” Freedom continued. “The others do.”
“Okay.
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