Chapter 14

William looked up and cocked an eyebrow. “And that is twice now that you’ve asked me that question.” “And twice that you’ve evaded it,” John said.

William spun the plate in quarter turns, removing crusts: no more than necessary to snip away the harder edges, but no less than required in a single spot. “It is not your question I’m evading, John. It is the process. I don’t wish to be part of this. I really, really don’t.”

John frowned. “What are you afraid of? What don’t you want me to find out?”

William slid the plate across the island without an answer. Instead, after a pause in which William sat back down and continued rolling plain food into miraculous, colourful little masterpieces, William pursed his lips and asked, “You didn’t sleep well?”