The Living Thread
Joshua's story. Present day. The custody chain in motion.
Chapters 1 through 3 are open to everyone, always.
Chapter 4 and beyond open when we know your name.
The Lost Crown opens with a subscription.
Chapter 1
The Kept House
The basement smelled like the inside of a church - not incense exactly, but something older than incense.
Chapter 2
The Landline
The envelope contained three things.
Chapter 3
The Crossing
He left Alton at five-thirty, which gave him more time than he needed and which was, he recognized, not an accident.
Chapter 4
The Four
There were three of them in the pew, and they looked at him the way people look at someone they have been expecting but are not entirely sur...
Chapter 5
What the Compass Does
Three days after the first Thursday meeting, Joshua went back to the library.
Chapter 6
Thursday Again
He told himself he was going back because of the books.
Chapter 7
The Cipher
He had been sitting on it for two weeks, which was long enough that bringing it up felt like a confession.
Chapter 8
Tuesday Morning
Ambrose had told him to go to Mass on a weekday.
Chapter 9
The Safety Deposit Box
He had been putting it off for three weeks, which was long enough that he had stopped pretending it was anything other than avoidance.
Chapter 10
What Ambrose Says
He had not planned to tell Ambrose about Tuesday morning.
Chapter 11
The Colleague
The email from Paul Whitfield arrived on a Wednesday, which was the day Joshua usually spent in the library.
Chapter 12
The Name
He had written to Mara Leclerc on a Wednesday evening, which was three days after Ambrose had given him her name and eleven days after he ha...
Chapter 13
The Invitation
The invitation arrived at the end of the meeting, in the way that things arrived from Ambrose - not announced, not prepared for, simply pres...
Chapter 14
The Drive South
He left Alton at seven on a Friday morning in the first week of July, which gave him three hours for a drive that should have taken two.