by Max China
‘Good morning, Timothy. I’ve got something I’d like to tell you.’
The mute raised his eyebrows.
‘Eleanor and I have decided to marry.’ Anderson detected no reaction save for a gleam in Timothy’s eye. ‘We’d like you to be best man.’
Timothy lowered his gaze, slowly shaking his head.
‘You know, I’ve been thinking ever since that night. I want to help you. This penitent life you lead, you punish yourself for something that wasn’t your fault.’
Timothy turned away, sank to his knees by the flower bed and resumed plucking out weeds. There was anger in his movements; he pulled them up with more vigour than he had when Anderson had initially approached.
‘Your sister wouldn’t have wanted this life for you,’ Anderson said.
Timothy stopped pulling. A fresh breeze whispered through the leaves. Timothy swayed. Anderson spoke, but he said what he thought Ryan would have. ‘God moves in mysterious ways, Timothy. If you hadn’t followed the path you took, if you hadn’t put that Bible in your pocket – you’d have died, followed by me and Eleanor. All of us were saved for a reason.’ Ryan’s words tripped from Anderson’s tongue. ‘Sarah died that you should live.’ He laid a hand on Timothy’s shoulder. ‘Can you not see that it’s your time now?’
A small sob escaped the mute’s lips. He sucked in air, struggling to contain his emotions.
‘Think about it. We’d love you to do it. If you don’t want to talk, I’ll read your speech out for you. What do you say?’
Panic seized control of Timothy’s movements. His hands flapped, fanning his face, eyes bulging as he sought to bring his breathing under control.
‘Hey, fella,’ Anderson said. ‘It’s all right. No one will ask you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with. Let me get you a glass of water.’ He strolled towards the conservatory. Reflected in the double glazing, he saw Timothy get to his feet, and pick up his scythe. He hurried towards him, a determined look on his face.
The older man’s heart picked up a beat. He lengthened his stride. He’d almost reached the door when a strange resonance stopped him in his tracks. A spluttering, like the first turning of a long abandoned motor vehicle. He began to swivel around. ‘Timothy?’
The noise repeated, the sound now like gravel dredged up from a long-dried riverbed, struggling for explication. ‘M-M-Mic-h-ael?’
Anderson’s face lit.
A message from Max
Thank you for reading The Night of the Mosquito. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, I’d be extremely grateful if you’d write a review, and possibly recommend it to friends and family.
Please check out my other books (available on Amazon):
The Sister
The Life and Times of William Boule
Don’t turn on the Light (Release date: December 2015)
For news of upcoming releases, follow me on links below:
Amazon http://amazon.com/author/maxchina (follow for updates via Amazon)
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/max.china.1
Twitter @maxchina3
Website http://www.maxchina.co.uk or http://www.skinnybirdproductions.com
To contact me via email: [email protected]
Thanks again for your support.
Max.
About the author
It is said that everyone has a book inside them, and I've wanted to write mine since I was seventeen. It took forty two years, but now I'm finding it hard to stop.
My debut novel, The Sister, hit the UK Kindle top 100 chart soon after release in late January 2014, peaking at no 81, something I'd have never thought possible, except in my dreams. It's still selling.
The book led to a listing in the Top 50 Crime Writers to Watch in 2014 and also received a Gold Medal award from HarperCollins site Authonomy, earlier this year.
The second book, The Life and Times of William Boule, is an action, adventure, crime thriller, and follows the lives of several characters introduced in The Sister. The story is complete in its own right - you don't have to have read the earlier book to enjoy it. Released late summer 2014, it's been well received, gaining some excellent reviews.
My third novel, The Night of The Mosquito, will be released 29 September 2015. It's an interesting blend of crime, mystery and psychological thriller. Set against an apocalyptic backdrop, it's a roller-coaster ride of a story!
Currently, I'm working on a fourth novel, an expansion of the short story, Don't Turn on The Light.
Other work in the pipeline, includes another three Miller stories, The Man in Brown, Finding Her, and The Resurrectionists.
I can't write quickly enough, but at the same time, I recognize the need to develop great characters, produce good, solid story lines, and quality writing. I hope those of you who've enjoyed my books so far will continue to do so. It is said that everyone has a book inside them, and I've wanted to write mine since I was seventeen. It took a long time, but now I'm finding it hard to stop.
My debut novel, The Sister, hit the UK Kindle top 100 chart soon after release in late January 2014, peaking at no 81, something I'd have never thought possible, except in my dreams. It's still selling.
The book led to a listing in the Top 50 Crime Writers to Watch in 2014 and also received a Gold Medal award from HarperCollins site Authonomy, earlier this year.
The second book, The Life and Times of William Boule, is an action, adventure, crime thriller, and follows the lives of several characters introduced in The Sister. The story is complete in its own right - you don't have to have read the earlier book to enjoy it. Released late summer 2014, it's been well received, gaining some excellent reviews.
My third novel, The Night of The Mosquito, will be released 29 September 2015. It's an interesting blend of crime, mystery and psychological thriller. Set against an apocalyptic backdrop, it's a roller-coaster ride of a story!
Currently, I'm working on a fourth novel, an expansion of the short story, Don't Turn on The Light.
Other work in the pipeline, includes another three Miller stories, The Man in Brown, Finding Her, and The Resurrectionists.
I can't write quickly enough, but at the same time, I recognize the need to develop great characters, produce good, solid story lines, and quality writing. I hope those of you who've enjoyed my books so far will continue to do so.