Page 59 of The Vanishing Place
“Oh, right…” He smiled as if Dad had said something funny, and shook his head.
He was clearly an idiot.
“Sorry. I got lost. I’m doing this sort of back-to-nature, trying-to-find-myself thing.” He smiled again. “Have you ever readInto the Wild? Great book.”
Dad just stared at him.
“Right, no. Anyway, I got myself a tent and boots and enough dehydrated food to last a month but…”
A massive idiot.
“I might have bitten off more than I can chew.”
Seriously, it was like he couldn’t stop smiling. Maybe he wasn’t right in the head.
“Do you want some cake?” Tia bounded forward before Dad or Effie could stop her.
“Oh.” The man-boy-idiot looked from Tia to Dad, then back at Tia. “That would be great. I’m pretty starving actually.”
“This isn’t a café,” said Dad.
“But he’s hungry,” said Tia. “And we’ve got loads of food. Please, Dad. Please.”
Tia smiled that smile, the one Dad could only say yes to.
“One piece.”
Tia took one of the stranger’s hands and Aiden took the other, and they led him inside. Into their secret place.
“How old are you?” asked Tia.
“Twenty. Well, almost. I’ll be twenty soon.”
Jesus.Effie rolled her eyes. He didn’t even know his own age.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” asked Aiden. “They’re weird.”
“Sorry.” The man half smiled.
“I think it’s cool.” Aiden grinned.
“Oh.” Asher sat on the floor, where Tia had set a cushion out for him. “It’s because my left pupil is permanently dilated, which—”
“Dilated?”
“It means big or widened. Which makes my left eye look much darker than the right.”
“Are you sick?”
“No.” He shook his head. “No. There’s nothing wrong with—”
“You’re quite pale.”
He laughed. “That’s from my mum. Her side of the family are from Scandinavia.”
“You should go in the sun,” said Aiden. “That’ll make you less white.”
“I don’t really tan. I just go red, like a crayfish.” Another smile. “I prefer the shade.”
