The Fifth Harmonic by F. Paul Wilson Read Free Book Online

for another on that seat?” she said.
    Will shifted to his right and lifted the bottle out of her way.
    Catherine was average height, fortyish, and a bit on the plump side, but lively and pretty in a Lynn Redgrave sort of way. The tour consisted of four couples, plus Catherine and her brother, with Will as odd man out. The tour director had seated them together at the first dinner, and they tended to pair off on the daily vineyard walks. During those walks he'd learned that she too was divorced but had nothing good to say about her ex other than the fact that he was wealthy enough to afford whopping alimony payments.
    Will had gathered from a few chance remarks by some of the other males on the tour that they had a pool going as to when he and Catherine would wind up in the sack.
    Sorry, boys, he thought. No winner.
    He and Annie had had a passably active if not terribly inventive sex life during their marriage, and Will had had a few brief flingssince the divorce, but nothing serious. His sex drive, however, seemed to have shifted into low gear since he'd read the path report on the tumor. In fact, sex rarely crossed his mind these days.
    Even if that weren't the case, Catherine could be a little wearing. She seemed to think she was an authority on everything and had a tendency to expound on any subject, no matter how common or widely known.
    And to further dampen any nascent lust, damned if he hadn't begun recently to sense a swelling at the back of his tongue. His imagination? Or was the primary tumor finally announcing its presence?
    If his thoughts were on any woman, it was Maya. Why, he couldn't say. He almost wished she were here. She was a kook, certainly, but an intriguing one, and more interesting than anyone on this tour.
    “Are you all right?” Catherine said.
    “Oh, I'm just great,” he told her.
    “Good. Because you didn't look so hot when you walked out. We all thought you might be sick.”
    “Just needed some air.”
    “I know what you mean,” she said, moving closer. “I—”
    He felt her stiffen and glanced at her. Catherine was leaning forward, staring at the sky.
    “Oh, my God, will you look at that!”
    Will looked up and was startled to see a piece missing from an upper corner of the moon, as if some celestial predator had taken a bite out of it. Just moments ago it had been almost perfectly round.
    Catherine bounded from the seat and dashed toward the chateau, calling for everyone to come out.
    Will stayed where he was while the rest of the party emerged from the dining hall and gathered in Mouchac's courtyard, oohing and ahhing as they gazed skyward. Catherine returned to his side, but remained standing and staring at the shrinking moon.
    “This morning's paper had mentioned that an eclipse was due,” she said, “but I'd forgotten all about it. It isn't going to be a full eclipse, though.”
    The upper three quarters of the moon were gone now, leaving only a glowing horizontal crescent hanging in the sky.
    “Looks like a big grin, doesn't it,” Catherine said. “Like theCheshire Cat in Alice .” She slipped into her lecture mode. “The monthly crescents of the moon are a result of the angle of the sun, you know. This is different. That's the earth's shadow up there. So in a sense, the earth is making the cat disappear, leaving us with just the smile.”
    Will's glass slipped from his fingers, spilling wine on the grass as he shot to his feet.
    “What? What did you say?”
    “That it's good old Mother Earth creating that smile up there.”
    Shaken, he took a step toward her. “Who are you? Who told you to say that?”
    Catherine backed away. He could see the alarm on her face. “What are you talking about, Will?”
    His head was buzzing like a wasp nest. “Who sent you?”
    She moved further away. “I think you've had too much to drink.”
    She turned and hurried toward the others in the courtyard, leaving him alone in the dark under the tree. Will looked up at the glowing