Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 52

            After my breakfast, I walk downstairs. Yates sits at the counter, a steaming mug of something set next to him. The manuscript of The Alchemist lies open in front of him.

            He turns as I approach, a smile on his middle-aged features. I feel a lot closer to him than I should. I suppose I’ve seen him at all stages of his life, childhood, adolescence and now adult; a crash course in Yates.

            ‘Easton!’ he says, excited. ‘Come and see what I found.’

            ‘Thank you for breakfast,’ I say as I cross the kitchen.

            ‘It was my pleasure,’ he replies.

It’s good to see him full of life when I’ve seen him at his darkest. I resolve to visit here whenever I can.

‘I see you haven’t returned the book.’

He looks mischievous.  My stomach plummets slightly. I realise I’ve given a priceless treasure to possibly the greatest book thief who ever lived.

‘There’s just so much here!’ he says. ‘In his annotations I mean. He was so so clever that man. Did you know Cecily was based on a girl he knew as a child?’

I shake my head. The fire of interest is lighting inside me but I know I have a mission.

‘Do you promise you’ll take it back?’ I ask, like a disapproving parent.

‘Of course,’ he says, looking down at the paper.

‘What else have you found then?’

‘Well I’ve been taking notes,’ he says, showing me the wad of paper next to him. ‘It’s so rare that you get a glimpse into what the author was doing when he wrote the book. Thacker wrote the time and place of each piece of writing at the top of the page. He started it in Switzerland, high in the alps. You know how he and his wife often visited there. He said he felt more whole in the mountains. I suppose I can see what he means.’

‘Why don’t you visit where he used to live?’

His eyes light up for a second. ‘Perhaps,’ he says. ‘There’s just so much work to do on this.’

‘You will go out won’t you?’ I ask, a little worried.

‘I will, Easton, I promise I will.’ He sounds like a child again. ‘After all you’ve done for me, I have to show you I can. My first mission will be bringing the book back. Later this afternoon I’ll go.’

I know I have to trust him. It’s difficult to, but I walk the line of beginning to irritate him. No grown adult wants to be lead and told what to do.