---

The Living Thread - Chapter 1

The Kept House

The basement smelled like the inside of a church - not incense exactly, but something older than incense.

Published April 4, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 2

The Landline

The envelope contained three things.

Published April 4, 2026 The Living Thread - 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.

Published April 4, 2026 The Living Thread - 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...

Published April 5, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 5

What the Compass Does

Three days after the first Thursday meeting, Joshua went back to the library.

Published April 13, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 6

Thursday Again

He told himself he was going back because of the books.

Published April 20, 2026 The Living Thread - 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.

Published April 27, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 8

Tuesday Morning

Ambrose had told him to go to Mass on a weekday.

Published May 4, 2026 The Living Thread - 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.

Published May 11, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 10

What Ambrose Says

He had not planned to tell Ambrose about Tuesday morning.

Published May 18, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 11

The Colleague

The email from Paul Whitfield arrived on a Wednesday, which was the day Joshua usually spent in the library.

Published May 25, 2026 The Living Thread - 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...

Published June 1, 2026 The Living Thread - 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...

Published June 8, 2026 The Living Thread - 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.

Published June 15, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 15

The Hours

Vespers was at five-thirty, which gave him two hours in his room before he needed to be anywhere.

Published June 22, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 16

Saturday and Sunday

He woke before Lauds without an alarm, which surprised him.

Published June 29, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 17

The Drive North

He drove north for two hours and thought about almost nothing, which was new.

Published July 6, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 18

The First Thursday After

Mara's reply arrived on a Tuesday, which gave him two days to sit with it before Thursday.

Published July 13, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 19

The Phone Call

She called on a Wednesday evening, which was not what he had been expecting.

Published July 20, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 20

The Photographs

The photographs from Madrid arrived on a Monday, thirty-seven pages as promised, in a folder that Claire brought to Thursday and set on the ...

Published July 27, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 21

The Verso

He was at the bank when it opened at nine.

Published August 3, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 22

What Ambrose Says Again

He had been composing his reply to Aldric for six days without sending it.

Published August 10, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 23

Dinner

Aldric had chosen the restaurant, which told Joshua something, though he was not yet sure what.

Published August 17, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 24

The Second Sentence

He told Mara about the dinner on a Thursday morning, nine days after it happened.

Published August 24, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 25

October

He drove south on a Friday morning in the first week of October, and the Ozarks were a different country from the Ozarks of July.

Published August 31, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 26

The Library on Sunday

Ambrose was waiting outside the library door when Joshua came down from breakfast.

Published September 7, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 27

The Argument Building

He wrote to Mara from the kitchen table on Sunday evening, the October dark fully arrived outside the window, the house quiet around him.

Published September 14, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 28

Aldric Again

The email from Aldric arrived on a Tuesday morning, two weeks after the October gathering, while Joshua was at the kitchen table writing the...

Published September 21, 2026 The Living Thread - Chapter 29

Mara's Proposal

He packed on a Sunday evening, the night before his flight, with the specific care of a man who had been thinking about what to bring for th...

Published September 28, 2026