The two men bent their heads towards the wind and set off the way they had come, heading back towards the snow covered dunes.
LXIII.
*Where is she?" Roger burst into the room and stared round at the sleepy figures sprawled around the fireplace. *Where in G.o.d"s name is she?"
*Who, Dad?" Greg stretched with a groan. They had all fallen asleep in the end, Anne and Kate and Paddy too. In the hearth the fire had died to cold embers. He shivered violently.
*Alison. Where is Alison?"
*She"s not upstairs?" Greg asked the obvious.
It was Paddy who stood up first, stretching. *I"ll go and look."
He disappeared through the door into the hall. Roger threw himself down in Paddy"s vacated chair and bent forward, rubbing his face wearily in his hands. He seemed to have aged ten years in the last few hours.
Kate stared at the greyness of his skin, the transparency of his face and she bit her lip. *Shall I make us all some tea?" she said, standing up. *And let"s get the fire going." She walked across to the window and pulled back the curtain. It was still dark. Thick snow had fallen and judging by the sky, there was more to come. She could hear the wind buffeting against the gla.s.s. In the distance the trees were thrashing their branches, and she watched as a cascade of dislodged snow fell to the ground.
She was filling the kettle when Paddy came back into the room. *She"s nowhere through there. Her boots and jacket have gone. I can"t believe she came past us in the night, but she must have, while we were all asleep. Sorry, Dad." He slumped on the sofa, crestfallen.
*Sorry!" Roger roared. *Sorry! Is that all you can say?" Behind him Susie had appeared in the doorway. Her hair was tangled and her face was still crumpled with sleep. The large bruise on her forehead from the car crash had turned a deep blue.
*Sorry! You know where she"s gone, don"t you! G.o.d only knows how long she"s been out there. Go outside, Paddy. See if you can see footprints."
*Outside?" Patrick looked at him doubtfully. He nodded. Dragging himself to his feet again he disappeared and moments later they all felt the rush of cold air as he pulled open the front door.
*There"s no sign." He called from the hall. *No tracks at all. Just birds and rabbits and a fox."
They heard the door slam.
*Not that it matters. We all know where she"s gone." Roger"s face was livid suddenly, the dry skin flushed with colour. *To that d.a.m.n beach. I"m going to have that dune bulldozed. I"ll have it destroyed utterly!"
Was it Kate"s imagination or was there a sudden frisson in the air, a charge of fear a and triumph. With a shiver, she hunted for the tea caddy. *That"s what he wants," she said over her shoulder. *That"s what Marcus wants."
*And once he"s got what he wants, perhaps he"ll leave us alone!" Roger rocked back in the chair, and threw his head back, closing his eyes.
*He might, but Claudia won"t." Paddy came and sat down next to his father. *The only way to put an end to this, Dad, is to get the dune excavated properly. Then we"ll know the truth."
*And you think that will put a stop to all this horror?" Diana had appeared in the staircase doorway. She was still wearing her crumpled smock; there were smears of blood on it, but whose, Kate could not remember. She turned to the kettle which was steaming gently, willing it to boil. *I can"t believe you are all sitting there, doing nothing, when Alison is outside in all this snow. For pity"s sake is no one going to do anything? I"m going to find her!"
*No, Ma." Paddy staggered to his feet again. The boy was white with exhaustion himself. *You"ve got to stay to look after the others. I"ll go." He looked mutely at Kate.
*I"ll come too." She found she had spoken automatically. *Of course I will." She glanced regretfully at the kettle.
*No, Kate. Drink something first." Roger"s voice was suddenly very weak. *Both of you. And have something to eat. For all we know she has been out there for hours. Five minutes isn"t going to make any difference."
*I"ll go with you, too." Anne stepped forward. *Safety in numbers, and all that." She gave a weak grin.
It was nearly ten minutes later by the time they had all drunk mugs of steaming tea, eaten a wedge of bread and marmalade each and dragged on boots and coats and scarves. As they headed for the door, Paddy glanced at the gun.
*Take it." Greg had hopped after them. His foot was stiff and throbbed agonizingly this morning. *We"ll be all right here."
Paddy looked at his brother. Greg gave a watery grin, then he punched him gently on the shoulder. *Take care of yourself, Paddy; and take care of the girls." He turned to Kate and touched her hand. She smiled at him, but it was a thin, tired smile. She had no strength left for more. The air was bitingly cold. She wondered how she would summon the strength to go even ten feet, never mind the best part of a mile.
Greg watched them go. All three were exhausted, he knew that. His brother could hardly lift the heavy gun he had so bravely hefted onto his shoulder. He glanced beyond them towards the woods. Was there anyone there, watching them, or were they as deserted as they seemed? He shuddered. The wind was increasing, coming from behind the house, tearing in across the marsh from the sea.
He watched until they were out of sight, then turning, he closed the door. Shooting the bolts across seemed a terrible act of treachery with them outside, but there was nothing for it. He hobbled back into the living room and stared at his father, shocked. Roger was lying back against the cushions, struggling to catch his breath. His face was blue and he was sweating profusely. Diana was bending over him.
*Ma a "
*It"s all right, Greg." Her face was as white as a sheet. *Your father has had a bit of a turn, but he"s OK now." She stroked his face gently. *Rest. love. She"ll be all right. They"ll find her."
*They will, Dad." Greg knelt by his father"s knees. The syringe, empty now of painkiller, was lying on the arm of the chair. *They"ll all be fine. It"s broad daylight now, and the weather is a bit better." It was a lie but he doubted if his father would know it.
Roger managed a slight grin. He patted Diana"s arm as she pulled a rug over him. *Better now, love," she whispered. She kissed the top of his head. He had relaxed visibly, lying back against the cushions and his colour was better. Taking Greg"s arm she pulled him towards the kitchen end of the room.
*I"m fairly sure he"s had a slight heart attack," she whispered.
Greg started back towards his father but she caught his sleeve. *No. I"m sure he knows, but don"t say anything. Can you go upstairs and wake Joe? He"s got to try and go for a doctor."
Greg nodded. With a glance at his father"s white face he dragged himself across to the door and pulled it open. The staircase was dark. Putting his hand on the rail he set his teeth grimly and somehow he hauled himself to the top, sweat pouring off his face as he dragged his injured foot up, step by step, after him. Joe was snoring loudly when Greg limped into the darkened bedroom and shook him awake but it took him only a few minutes to shake off the deep sleep and climb to his feet. *Right. Don"t worry. I"ll get there."
He too was fortified with a marmalade sandwich and a mug of scalding tea before letting himself out into the cold.
*I hate to see you going out on your own, Joe," Greg murmured as he stood with him on the doorstep. He was leaning heavily on his stick.
Joe smiled grimly. *Don"t you worry about me." He carried his gun, broken, beneath his left arm. *You take care of the others. Your Dad and Cissy and Sue. I don"t like leaving you on your own here a "
*We"re safe here, Joe." Greg did his best to sound confident. *Don"t worry about us. Just get us some help for Dad."
Joe nodded. Pulling the collar of his coat up around his ears he stepped out into the dark.
LXIV.
The footprints were filling up as they watched, disappearing beneath a new layer of snow. Pete was slightly ahead, walking fast, his head down against the wind. Around them the landscape was uniformly white: sh.o.r.e, sea, sky, a formless, cold frame without definition.
*She went this way," Pete had slowed almost to a standstill. He was casting around him, like a dog searching for a new scent. *Then the footsteps seem to stop." They stared around desperately, both men doubled over, studying the snow. *I can"t see ..."
*Here." Jon had walked closer to the sea and suddenly he spotted the tracks again. Lighter this time, and scuffed, as though she had been running.
Kate.
He shaded his eyes against the imagined glare and stared past the dunes towards the sea. The beach stretched in both directions, the shape of the dunes flattened by the snow, and in the cold emptiness nothing moved.
*Kate!" His shout was swallowed by the wind, m.u.f.fled by the snow. It had no resonance, as though he had shouted through several layers of cotton wool. The sound would not have carried more than a few yards. *Kate!"
Pete made no comment. He had moved on, head down against the wind, his face immobile now with cold, trying to see new footprints through the whirling snow.
*She was heading towards the sea," Jon shouted at him at last. *Why?"
*Lost her sense of direction? Panic?" Pete had stopped, his hands rammed down inside his pockets. *Poor woman must be in terror of her life." He shook his head. *Shall we go on?"
*Of course we go on." Jon was shaking. *We go on until we find her."
He plunged on, across the snow, sinking now and then through the white blanket into softer sand. *Kate!" His voice rose and dissipated into nothing, whirled to shreds on the wind. *Kate!"
The voices were still warring inside her head. Standing staring down into the snow-filled grave, Alison saw nothing of the snow, nor of the two figures floundering against the wind.
*Kate!"
The word whirled past her and was lost. It meant nothing.
Wh.o.r.e Murderer They were inside her head, both of them, sucking her energy. Soon she would be drained and they would go.
*It"s not Kate!"
She did not hear the words; did not see the two men who stood now, one each side of her.
*Who then?"
Jon shrugged. *I don"t know." Tentatively he reached over to touch her arm. *Are you all right?"
Alison ignored him. She did not see or hear him. Her gaze never left the drifting snow at her feet.
*Hey, kid, are you OK?" Pete"s touch was stronger. He took her by the shoulders and shook her gently.
Alison did not react. Claudia"s face was white against the snow, her gown, still stained with blood, as blue as the sky. She could feel the woman"s need, the longing, the fear and hate: May the G.o.ds of all eternity curse you, Marcus Severus Secundus, for what you have done here today.
She was winning now: Claudia.
*What"s wrong with her?" Pete glanced at his companion. *G.o.d knows, but the kid"s freezing." Jon wriggled out of his jacket and wrapped it around Alison"s shoulders. *Let"s get her back to that cottage."
*I don"t know that that"s such a good idea."
*Maybe not, but where else can we take her?"
The two men looked at one another for a moment across Alison"s bowed head.
She could not hear them. He was there now, his fury blistering inside her skull. The grave. Destroy the grave!
With a sob she wrenched herself free of Jon"s arm. Staggering a few steps from him, she aimed a kick at the snow-covered sand. *Destroy it!" The voice which came from her lips was guttural; low pitched. A man"s voice, for all the words were clearly English.
Jon stepped back in surprise. Then, regathering his wits, he moved forward again to pick up the jacket which had slipped from her shoulders and wrap it once more around her. *Come on. You must keep warm." His own voice was shaking with cold.
*No!" She shook him off with ease. *Keep away from me." She threw the jacket down on the snow and leaped down into the shallow hollow below the dune with a sudden, last surge of energy. *The sea will take it soon." She threw back her head and laughed. *The sea will take it at last! Two thousand years it has taken for the tide to come and tonight it will wipe the slate clean!" She stood staring at the sea, her hair streaming back from her forehead, her eyes fixed on the horizon. Jon and Pete, surprised into silence, stared with her. The wind was strengthening from the east, whipping the snow in across the water, building the waves, pushing the sea higher and higher up the beach.
*Alison!"
The cry barely reached them. For a moment none of them reacted, then Jon turned. Three figures were hurrying towards them, heads down into the wind, almost lost in the white whirl of snowflakes.
*Kate?" As he recognised her Jon felt his heart leap inside his chest. Relief, joy, worry a all three seemed to swirl around his head as he stepped towards her. She was accompanied by a young man a a boy he saw as he looked closer a and Anne.
*Jon?" Her astonishment stopped her in her tracks.
*Hi." He found he was smiling. He shrugged. *It"s a long story."
She stared at him for a moment, overwhelmed with relief, wanting to throw herself into his arms, then her glance moved on past him, resting briefly on Pete before she turned to Alison.
*Allie? Allie, are you all right?" Her questions to Jon could come later. The fact that he was there, on the beach in the snow, spoke volumes. She slid down the side of the dune after Patrick who had thrown his arms around his sister.
Alison shrugged him off viciously, and he staggered back, bewildered. *She"s gone, Kate." There were tears running down his face. *She"s gone. She"s not here. It"s not her."
*Allie!" Kate took Alison"s hand and chafed it in her own. *Allie, come on. Fight it. Please. You have to fight it. Come back to us!"
*What"s wrong with her?" Pete slid down beside them.
*She"s ill. She doesn"t know what she"s doing." Pushing her hair out of her eyes, Kate began to b.u.t.ton the jacket across Alison"s chest. *We have to get her back out of the wind. She"s no strength left."
*She seemed to have plenty of strength to me, love." Pete grimaced. *She nearly pushed me across the beach."
*But don"t you see, that"s not her!" Kate cried. *That"s not her strength. He"s possessing her. He"s draining her. We have to get her away from here."
*I"ll take her." Jon did not waste time asking her what she was talking about. He lifted Alison off her feet and turning, began to tramp inland, with his back to the wind.
He knew the exact moment when the strength went out of her. He could feel it draining away as he walked. Physically, she seemed lighter suddenly a a bag of bones in his arms where moments before he had held a rigid, angry body. He clutched her more closely, glancing down at her face as he cradled her against his chest. Her eyes were closed, her face white, a child"s face, when a moment before it had seemed to belong to someone else entirely. He shuddered and suddenly there was a hand on his arm. He glanced sideways and met Kate"s eyes. She smiled as she stumbled along at his side. *Thank G.o.d you"re here." Did he hear the words against the wind or did he imagine them? He wanted to reach out and touch her, but all he could do was smile and stagger on, feeling the weight of the girl dragging at his arms. Suddenly, her head lolled back and her eyes rolled open. He stopped, horrified, staring down at her face. She was limp now, cold inside the roughly-b.u.t.toned jacket.
*Jon, what is it?" Kate was beside him, looking down at Alison"s face.
He met her eyes. *We"ve got to get her inside quickly, Kate."
Wordlessly she nodded. Tucking the jacket more closely around Alison"s inert body, she followed as Jon walked on across the snow through the dunes, his shoulders hunched against the wind.
In the cottage he carried her straight upstairs and laid her gently on Kate"s bed, then he stood back as Kate pulled the blankets over the girl and chafed her hands.