All Chapters of The Master's Child: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

The company of so many: I can only take it for so long. As the party mood develops, I retreat again, looking for looking for... I'm not sure what I'm looking for...Still, I enjoy the festivities, when I can choose to be on the fringes, rather than immersed in the whole jolly-holiday thing.Rolling out from the lounge comes the sound of mixed voices singing...Mitch's voice... I'd not realised she could sing well... "Fo-ur calling birds... Threee... French hens... Twoooo turtle doves..."Then many voices all together... "And a partri-idge in a pear tree...""Kirstie's voice, "What's next? What's five?"Michael, Mitch and Jenny, Haswell and his wife, all shouting... "Gold RINGS!"... Followed by gales of laughter.In the quiet of the hall, I stand, an ear cocked, listening to it all, then realise I'm smiling to myself.Should I join them again??They might expect me to sing...I wander, aimless but not unhappy, along the central hallway of the house, simply looking

James"So... Tell me." Klempner leans over my shoulder, peering in at my screen.Mitch has followed us in. She stands in the background, listening in silence. I rub at the top of my nose. "I can tell you for a start that the contents of Finchby's hard drive turn my stomach."He cocks a brow. "Really?""Really. He had some exotic vices and the image files to go with it." I eye-point back beyond his office door. "I don't want the women seeing any of this. It would give Charlotte nightmares."In the background, Mitch huffs. Klempner shakes his head. "You seem surprised, James."His tone nettles me. "Klempner, you don't have to talk to me as though I'm stupid, or a child."He jerks up again to look me in the face. "I don't believe you to be either stupid or a child, James. But I do believe I have a much better idea than you of what people are actually capable of doing to each other."His expression hardens. "What was done to Jenny was deliberate. It was intended to abuse

JamesFor all her recent illness and the slightly odd positioning of the side-saddle, Charlotte sits atop Charlie with the skill of the accomplished rider and almost as we exit, kicks her heels, moving Charlie from a walk to a trot."Whoa there..." I yell. "Just walking for now. Gentle exercise.""But, Master...""You'll do as you're told, or we'll be straight back inside. And the only riding you'll get then is my crop on your backside."She eases back down, with Charlie herself slightly resisting. The mare is skittish and excited, understandably after her change of home then several days inside the stable.Too much to handle?But no, Charlotte knows what she's doing and with obvious competence, brings the mare under control.Side-by-side, we walk the horses to the top meadow; a shining snow-scape of dazzling white and brilliant blue. Not a cloud hangs above. And while cold, the temperature is a touch above freezing. The snow has lost its crystal edges and is beginning

KlempnerThe cafe is cheap and nondescript, serving the kind of food where the clientele looks for quantity over quality. The waitress sets down two breakfasts and two coffees then returns with a rack of toast. "Anything else?""No, that's fine, thank you."Hickman slices into an egg. "Pleasant holiday, sir?""Very pleasant, yes. But..." I exhale, regarding the rasher on my fork.Hickman chews and swallows. "... But sometimes you want to get back to real life?""Quite.""Indeed, sir. Families can be a worry." Hickman tips ketchup on the side of his plate then offers me the bottle."No, thanks. Can't stand the stuff."He shrugs and nods. "Family time is all very well...." He swipes a rasher through the sauce and engulfs the result, speaking through his mouthful... "... but it doesn't achieve anything."I absorb that. I'd never considered the personal life of this classic 'heavy'. "You have a family, Hickman?""Yes, sir." A forkful of mushrooms dipped in egg yolk

I shoot a look over Klempner's shoulder. As he clicks, the screen displays one document after another in something that looks almost, but not quite, like Spanish."Can I help?"He semi-turns, but with his eyes still fixed on the screen. "I don't know. Can you read Portuguese?""Nope, but I thought you might like someone to bounce ideas off."He slaps a palm onto the desktop. "On that, you're right." He swivels in the chair to face me. "I'm trying to figure how to trace Baxter. Before he tries again.""You're sure he will? He might just give up having lost the first time. He got his money after all."He pulls a face. "You saw how he was. Baxter wasn't doing it for the money. Finchby was, but not Baxter. It was personal. Against me. And since we..." He makes a circle with his finger, wrapping me himself and then the house in the circle... "...fucked him up the first time around, I don't see why that motivation would change. If anything, it might get stronger... thinking he h