The Homecoming (60 page)

“What are they playing?” asked Kate.

“That new game Rainey and Axel made up. They’re teaching it to Hannah.”

“What are the rules?”

“No idea. It involves a lot of whispering. I think there’s a secret language too. Kids only, anyway. No adults allowed. They all stop and stare at me like owls whenever I go down there.”

The sun went into clouds and the dappled gold coins disappeared. It got cool. The children were whispering together. Kate felt a chill. So did Beth.

“Getting colder,” she said. “We should go in soon. Can I get you a wrap?”

“No. I’m fine. We’ll go in.”

They watched the children for a while longer.

“Kids do love their secrets,” said Beth.

“They do. Probably harmless.”

“Probably,” said Beth, suppressing a dark feeling. Kate was doing the same while they listened to the children murmuring at the bottom of the yard.

Beyond the kids, the river bubbled and flashed in the deep shadows under the old pines. The sun stayed behind the clouds. It got colder. Kate looked up at the sky and thought,
Winter is coming
.

First and foremost I am profoundly grateful to my wife, Linda Mair, for her wit, her style, her acute sense of business and writing, and above all for her amazing ability to put up with me.

Beyond Linda, I need to thank Barney Karpfinger, my rather steely agent, and Cathy Jaque, who runs the Foreign Office, for their loyalty, patience, and fire. I need to thank Carole Baron, my editor at Knopf, the consummate pro who taught me that
better
is not acceptable when you’re capable of
best
, to Ruthie Reisner, Carole’s indispensable Two-IC, to Victoria Pearson—who brought it all home—to Jason Booher, who gave the Book the Look, and Cassandra Pappas, who gave the pages their grace, to Emily Stroud, for utterly brilliant graphic design and a killer website, and to all the copyeditors around the world who saved me from myself a hundred times.

And of course, thanks to Sonny Mehta, who took a flier on
weird
and made it all possible.

Carsten Stroud is a highly praised writer of fiction and nonfiction, including the best-selling true-crime account
Close Pursuit
. Among his novels are
Sniper’s Moon
,
Lizardskin
,
Black Water Transit
,
Cuba Strait
,
Cobraville
, and
Niceville
. He lives in Toronto, and is currently working on his next novel.

Other titles available by Carsten Stroud in eBook format

Niceville
• 978-0-307-95858-7

Visit:
www.nicevilleusa.com

Follow:
@CarstenStroud

For more information, please visit
www.aaknopf.com