Loss of Separation
Page 27
I woke up one day and the sun was crashing into the bedroom. No sounds of breakfast, of Andriy crying or lalling. No sounds of the television and Andriy giggling happily over his obsession for Show Me, Show Me or old episodes of Morph. Needled, I got out of bed and shuffled along the corridor to the living room. Nobody there. Nobody in the garden.
The doorbell rang. I felt a swelling of grief in my gut, something I had not felt for months, since Southwick. The shadow at the door. The policeman with his hat in his hand. The downturned eyes.
But it was Tamara. Andriy was in his buggy and he smiled when he saw me. Tamara was smiling too, but it was a sad smile. She looked as though she had not slept well. In her hands was a box. She held it out to me. 'Please,' she said. 'Burn this for me, please.'
I didn't know what to say. She kissed my cheek. And she said something in Ukrainian: 'Zabuty.'
Forget.
I opened the box. My scrapbook lay inside. We went through to the garden and I placed the scrapbook in the centre of the lawn. The first match ignited. I touched it to the edges of the pages. The flame tucked in. I watched Andriy's face as he became rapt by the fire. I saw the glimmer in his eyes and I went to him and held his tiny hand and it was warm and soft and good.
THE END
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Laurence Davy for opening doors in the plot; Tessa Kum for telling me straight, and wearing my book for a hat; Adam Nevill for support and helpful comments even as the nappies mounted up; Shaun Hamilton for pain management information; Tracy Savin for insights into a nurse's routine; Corrie Colbert for sending me air disaster links; and Peter Skinner, my old mate, who somehow manages to avoid flying passenger jets into mountains for a living.
Thanks also to Nicholas Royle, Graham Joyce, Jonathan Oliver, Darren Turpin, Sarah Pinborough, Susan Tolman, Carol Cummings, Rhonda, Ethan, Ripley and Zac.
Title
Indicia
Also by Conrad Williams
Part One
Flight Z - Departure
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Part Two
Flight Z - Dead Reckoning
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Part Three
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Flight Z - Arrival
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Advert - Decay Inevitable
Advert - The End of the Line
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Indicia
Also by Conrad Williams
Part One
Flight Z - Departure
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Part Two
Flight Z - Dead Reckoning
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Part Three
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Flight Z - Arrival
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Advert - Decay Inevitable
Advert - The End of the Line
Acknowledgements