CHAPTER 30- Matiu -
Matiu sets the teacup down and then, rather stiffly, makes his way back into the kitchen for the second cup. As ever, Mārama’s house is cloying with damp heat, yet in spite of this, Matiu feels a chill across his back. It flows from inside him, from the hollow places he stepped through, in that half-reality, half-nightmare of the museum basement. Cups of tea and sunshine haven’t yet managed to banish that cold from under his skin, and he’s not sure it ever will.
He pauses for a moment, cup in hand, looking out the window and across the street, sunshine lying thick across the lawns and parked cars like warm honey, the world melting beneath it. Kids run back and forth, a ball bounces and there’s shouting, shoving. So much focus, so much energy bound up in the physics of
